People see photos of our place and think:
“Wow, off-grid paradise life. Sun, sunsets, palmtrees, stars, only solar. So dreamy.”
Reality: it’s dreamy, yes. But it also includes stolen batteries, a noisy generator, a flooded cellar, a snake-and-rat swamp disguised as a pool, and two 80 kilo Spanish mastiffs arriving in a tipping trailer as a surprise on our off-grid hill in Spain.
Our off-grid hideaway in Spain
We’re not connected to the electricity grid at all. There’s no cable from the street, no company in the background to call when something breaks. If we don’t create our own power, we don’t have any.
The beautiful part is obvious: when the grid goes down in the village, we just keep going. No monthly bill, no waiting for a technician, no black-outs. Once the system is in place, our electricity is free. The sun shows up, the hideaway runs. That feeling of independence and freedom is amazing. Just the way we like it.
Getting there, though, was anything but romantic.
You don’t just buy “some panels”. You need an inverter, a proper setup and expensive batteries to store the energy. We did that. We were proud and already dreaming of the comfort of having at any time. We didn’t even live here full-time yet. The house was still empty and unguarded. Within one month the batteries were gone.
Stolen. The insurance company found a way out, of course they did… so bye bye €10.000,-
So yes, we entered the generator phase again. A generator is basically a big, loud box that drinks fuel and spits out electricity. It kept us going energy-wise, but it made noise, ate money and forced us to think about every hour of power we used. Good for awareness, not great for the bank account. Later we tried again with a new solar system, better protected batteries and more knowledge. Now, when the grid goes down, we really can just make coffee and carry on.
Two unexpected 80 kilo guardians
After the theft I didn’t always feel safe here on my own. Big piece of land, empty house, no neighbours right next door. Until one day my Spanish farmer friends drove onto the land with a huge tipping trailer.
“Carmen! Tenemos un regalo,” they said. We have a gift.
The back slowly opened. First I saw four enormous paws, the size of lion paws. Then two massive heads. “These are your new guardians,” they told me. “You never have to feel unsafe here again.”
Just like that, I had two Spanish mastiffs.
A lovely male and a queen female. As a gift. The sweetest and most hearth warming gift I ever received.
I didn’t even live here full-time yet, so I asked: “How am I supposed to take care of them if I’m not here?” They just smiled. The neighbours would help, they would keep an eye on them, as long as they could have one litter later to give puppies back to the community. That was the deal.
For a while it worked for me. The dogs loved this land. Still, I wanted them to have more daily attention, more human presence. So I found house-sitters for almost a year, people living here for free, watching the land, caring for the dogs. I found them on trustedhousesitters.com
And of course, in that period my female got pregnant. Nine puppies.
So there I was: between the Netherlands and Spain, flying over for the birth, arranging everything from a distance and suddenly running a mastiff family of 11 dogs on top of an off-grid project.
And that was just the dog chapter.
From HR heels to DIY mini-resort near Valencia
The house itself? When we started, the cellar was literally under water. The pool wasn’t a pool, it was a snake-and-rat pond. Not an Instagram blue rectangle, but a green soup you don’t want your kids anywhere near. Everything was old, damp, neglected.
We rebuilt it with our own hands. At first together with Thomas, later mostly with my then 16-year-old son Eddie when we actually moved in. From HR manager in high heels I turned into someone who has built brick walls, plastered, sawed, painted and drilled like crazy. Eddie just as much. We pushed ourselves way beyond what we thought we could do.
Sometimes we walk around here and say to each other:
“Do you realise we kind of live on a mini-resort now?”
A tiny, self-built mini-resort on an off-grid hill in the Valencia region of Spain.
Because that’s what it feels like. Small and homemade, but with a real holiday vibe.
The animals, the birds, the trees, the stars, the sun, the blue sky, the smell of jasmin and rosemary, the silence, the view. And for the first time in my life I could fully pour my high sensitivity into a place. Into scents, fabrics, colours, taste and products:
- Bedding made from 100% cotton, no plastic duvets you sweat in.
- 100% natural homemade skincare from our own atelier.
- Filtered drinking water without fluoride and chlorine.
- Fresh organic cooked food with good olive oil, high quality meet and fish.
- Feel-good uplifting music in the background.
- Massages, yoga and workouts on request.
- Creative cosy corners to curl and catch up in.
- Real conversations, real animals, real small scale magic.
We truly love it here. My kids and I share the same love for food, travel and natural self-care. The three of us carry this concept together. They taste, test, help cook and create, think along about details and help with guests. This isn’t just “my project”. It’s our life and we love to share this with like minded people.
