Needless to say I've had an interesting life so far. To start things off I want to tell you about my life between the ages of 5 and 12.
My parents worked very hard to get to where they were, especially my dad. At the age of 17 he moved out of home and brought his own house. He started investing and worked his way up a company. By the age of 21 he had a Ferrari and would take his girlfriends to America regularly. My dad knew that to get to where you wanted to in life you have to work hard and that's exactly what he did. By the time he met my mum he was still working hard and wasn't at where he wanted to be. They got married, had four children and yet still weren't completely happy. My mum had done a lot of travelling in her early 20s and came across a town called Airlie Beach in the Whitsundays, Queensland, Australia. -- Just a quick side note myself and my family are British not Australian.
So, my parents decided to move to Australia. They had the money and us kids were all still young so they thought 'why not?' I was only 5 at the time and didn't fully understand what was going on. We moved into a gorgeous house overlooking the marina and that's where it all started. Life in Airlie Beach was a lot different to life in Uppingham, England. The weather was amazing, the people were friendly and the lifestyle was bliss. We moved from house to house as my parents continued to invest but it didn't bother us kids that much. We actually got so used to moving we enjoyed the change. Sometimes we'd have bigger houses, other times we'd have houses with 3 bedrooms and no air-con. Anyone who's been to Queensland will know how hot it gets up there.
On weekends we would go to the islands or the Great Barrier Reef or simply have a bbq by the lagoon. I can't say we ever had a dull time. Five or so years pass and my dad has built his own company, brought a Cotton On store and invested in other businesses and houses. And then my parents find the land of their dreams. Situated on a private estate overlooking Airlie Beach and the ocean. They found the land they wanted to build their forever home on so that's what they did. 'Sunset View' was finally finished 2 years later and it was everything they hoped for, they made it. At the time I was so young I didn't fully appreciate what we had but looking back on it my parents are definitely my role models.
We lived in that house for a little over a year before everything came crumbling down. Due to reasons (A little too personal to tell) my parents lost everything. The house, the business, everything they worked for. We had to move back to England and live with my Granddad. I was 12 at the time. We stayed with my Granddad for a bit until we could find a house to rent. Lets just say those first two years weren't the best. I'd get bullied in school, the people weren't the same and I felt so alone. My parents on the other-hand never gave up and they started to invest again. A two bedroom cottage with a decent sized garden but it was small, tiny.
The rental we were staying in was put up for sale and we had to move out immediately. We had nowhere else to go besides the tiny cottage. My parents had gutted the house so there was no carpet, tiles, kitchen, nothing. We'd sleep on mattresses on the floor - myself and my mum in one room and my brothers and dad in the other. My mum would have to cook on the BBQ outside in the snow as we had no oven. Times were tough but boy they did an amazing job on the renovation. It made me even prouder of them. They had multiple offers on the house above the asking price!!
They got another renovation and started again. My dad got a job in Melbourne, Australia and here we are. They still have a house in England and have started to plan to renovate over here. They've taught me that no matter how hard you fall down, you get back up and start again.
I hope you enjoyed reading.
Until next time,