Ireland will always be home, but I wake up here to clear blue skies. Salaries are much lower in Spain, but the cost of living is so much cheaper. I can’t see myself going home anytime soon.
I am from Naas in Co Kildare and, growing up, I never really saw myself leaving Ireland, until my parents left and I began to realise that there could be something better out there for me.
The high cost of living and the lack of proper healthcare made them follow their dreams and they now live in Torrevieja on the Costa Blanca.
I had been working for Intel on the laboratory construction site. I loved it most of the time, as it was an amazing position to have for team-work development and I got paid very well indeed.
But, as time wore on, I began to question my commitment to leaving home at 5.30am and getting back home again after 7pm most days. I was working, but I wasn’t living. I couldn’t even enjoy weekends or the odd day off because I would always be trying to catch up on myself.
Mum and dad had moved to Spain and I had started popping out to see them. I loved it there, particularly the weather and the people and I realised I wanted more of that.
So I took the plunge and picked up work here and there before working for a healthcare company in the Costa Blanca area.
I realised I loved the job of looking after patients who had travelled there for operations from Ireland using the European Union’s Cross Border Directive. While I loved the work, I didn’t particularly like how some things were run so I left with no particular plan in mind other than looking for another job in Spain.
By chance, a friend mentioned that Surgery Now, an Irish company which also brought Irish patients to Spain for surgeries, were looking for a carer/driver. I sent in my CV, did the interview, and was offered the position. I felt welcomed straight away, there were proper management meetings and structure and I loved all of that.
So I’m the person who meets patients when they land at Alicante airport and I take them to their appointments, or physio sessions – and, when there’s time, I will take patients and family members into Alicante to go shopping. And I ensure all the paperwork needed for patients using the EU directive (so they get health costs reimbursed by the Health Service Executive) is supplied.
As the lead driver and patient/family liaison, I see up close how an illness has left someone in excruciating pain, but I also see them go home post-op.
There is enormous job satisfaction.
Here in Spain, I find the cost of living is so much cheaper than at home. Things like car insurance and tax are so much cheaper.
There isn’t too much hassle getting somewhere to rent for a quarter of what you’d pay at home. I don’t drink that often, but, when I do, I can still get a pint here for €2. I don’t need €100 for a meal and a night out.
With housing costs and cost-of-living issues in Ireland, I just can’t see myself going home any time soon.
When I get up in the morning here and feel the sun on my face, I feel alive. My mental health is so much better here – doing my job with huge satisfaction every day.
- Scott McCormack (31) is from Kildare lives in Torrevieja, Spain, where he works in healthcare.
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