実業家 bored of a 'humdrum middle class life' やめるs his £42K 職業 to build an off-grid home in 田舎の Portugal - and now 生き残るs by farming pigs and selling cork grown on the land

  • Kees, 55, and Ingrid Goossens, 53, left home in Holland to start again in Portugal
  • They built remote 丘の頂上 home and are not connected to the mains for 力/強力にする?
  • Couple said they finally feel '解放する/自由な and ourselves' now that they don't live in a city

A 実業家 who やめる his 職業 to live off grid with his wife on a remote 丘の頂上 has said they finally feel '解放する/自由な' and 行方不明になる?nothing about their former life.

Kees Goossens, 55, and his wife Ingrid, 53, a nurse, left their modern brick home in Breda, the Netherlands, to build a new house from scratch in a remote area of Portugal.?

The couple walked away from their 職業s in May 2017 and spent two months building their new 選び出す/独身-story home which isn't connected to the?mains electricity, gas or water 供給(する).?

They now live by farming pigs and selling cork grown on the land.??

Explaining their bold 決定/判定勝ち(する), Kees who used to earn ?50,000 (£42,800) a year, said he was 'bored of humdrum middle class life.'

Kees and Ingrid?Goossens quit their jobs in Breda, the Netherlands, to build a single-storey house, pictured, on a remote hilltop in Portugal

Kees and Ingrid?Goossens やめる their 職業s in Breda, the Netherlands, to build a 選び出す/独身-storey house, pictured, on a remote 丘の頂上 in Portugal

The couple, Ingrid pictured during the build, spent two months constructing their new home

The couple, Ingrid pictured during the build, spent two months 建設するing their new home

The Goossens' home has?one bedroom, a kitchen/living area, pictured, and a bathroom uses solar panels for electricity

The Goossens' home has?one bedroom, a kitchen/living area, pictured, and a bathroom uses solar パネル盤s for electricity

Kees, pictured?making homemade wine in Portugal,?spent £24,800 on buying the land and a further £25,700 on materials to build the house

Kees, pictured?making homemade ワイン in Portugal,?spent £24,800 on buying the land and a その上の £25,700 on 構成要素s to build the house

Kees, pictured, used to run a successful construction company and used his knowledge to make the plans for the new home which isn't connected to the mains for electricity

Kees, pictured, used to run a successful construction company and used his knowledge to make the 計画(する)s for the new home which isn't conn ected to the mains for electricity

He said: 'We lived very 井戸/弁護士席 and had everything - success, 高級な, 慰安.?But there was always the feeling in the 支援する of my mind that there could be something else. After years of living comfortably, I started to think - is this it?'

It was during a two week holiday in the 田舎の Portuguese 地域 of Alentejo in March 2016 that Kees and Ingrid, whose student sons, Tuen, 23, and Drik, 20, still live in the Netherlands, fell in love with the landscape and decided to stay.

'We 設立する something there that we had never experienced before,' Kees explained.

'The natural beauty was astounding and the people were so friendly and open that, straight away, I knew I 手配中の,お尋ね者 to live there for the 残り/休憩(する) of my life.'

It took just a few months for the couple to sell up in the Netherlands and buy a 陰謀(を企てる) of land for ?29,000 (£24,800) on an 孤立するd 丘の頂上 近づく the village of Monte Sobreiro.

And eight weeks later, Kees had finished building their home, which they designed and 建設するd themselves after spending ?30,000 (£25,700) on 構成要素s.

Kees said he couldn't imagine leaving his new life in the hills and that it feels 'strange' to go back to the Netherlands and the city now. Pictured is the inside of Kees' self-built home

Kees said he couldn't imagine leaving his new life in the hills and that it feels 'strange' to go 支援する to the Netherl ands and the city now. Pictured is the inside of Kees' self-built home

Kees and Ingrid's house is pictured under construction and looks out over trees and fields
Animals, including a dog and chickens, roam around the hilltop house

The couple's home, left during construction, is surrounded by 50,000 square metres of land and they keep chickens, pictured 権利

Now they live off the 50,000 square metres of land that surrounds their home, by 収穫ing cork from their quercus suber trees which cover it and 産む/飼育するing pigs for sale.?

With one bedroom, a kitchen and a bathroom, their 丘の頂上 home also has two outhouses with 付加 bedrooms for guests.

And having no 関係 to mains electricity, gas or water 供給(する), they rely on 支持を得ようと努めるd burners for heating, solar パネル盤s for 力/強力にするing their refrigerator and lights, and water pumped from a nearby brook for washing.

Kees said: 'When we go 支援する to Holland now we try to stay for the shortest 量 of time possible, as it feels very strange for us to be there.

'We don't want to become part of that world again, as we are so happy with the lifestyle we now have.

'It sounds very cliched perhaps, but here we feel 解放する/自由な and we feel ourselves - something we've spent our whole lives looking for and finally 設立する.?

While the house was being built, pictured is Ingrid working on the site, the couple lived in a small cabin

While the house was 存在 built, pictured is Ingrid working on the 場所/位置, the couple lived in a small cabin

The home has two outhouses, one pictured, for when visitors come to stay with the couple

?The home has two outhouses, one pictured, for when 訪問者s come to stay with the couple

Kees, pictured building the roof, said his sons, Tuen, 23, and Drik, 20, were skeptical about the move at first but now understand their parents decision to move

Kees, pictured building the roof, said his sons, Tuen, 23, and Drik, 20, were skeptical about the move at first but now understand their parents 決定/判定勝ち(する) to move

'After spending our entire lives living in towns and cities, it's amazing that we really 行方不明になる nothing about our former life. The re isn't a 選び出す/独身 高級な that I feel I would have 支援する.'?

Before starting their build, the couple revisited the area in August 2016 on a 事実調査団.

Kees said: 'We spent a month talking with 地元の 公式の/役人s and architects, trying to find out all the necessary 必要物/必要条件s for buying land and building a home.

'We 手配中の,お尋ね者 to be 確かな that it was a good step to take and the visit 固く結び付けるd our belief that it was. After that we were both 納得させるd.'

製図/抽選 on his years of experience in 契約ing to create a 詳細な計画 for the house, Kees then passed it on to an architect to check.

With the 陰謀(を企てる) of land bought and given the go-ahead on his 計画(する)s, he started the building work in June 2017 - with Ingrid and Kees doing everything themselves.

Two months later, during which time the couple lived in a small cabin they had built beforehand, their 選び出す/独身-storey home was 完全にするd.????

Kees and Ingrid live off the land and breed pigs, pictured, to sell so they have money for food

Kees and Ingrid live off the land and 産む/飼育する pigs, pictured, to sell so they have money for food

Kees, pictured at his new home, said he wouldn't return to the city and that: 'For the first time in my life I feel that I am really living the way I want to'

Kees, pictured at his new home, said he wouldn't return to the city and that: 'For the first time in my life I feel that I am really living the way I want to'

にもかかわらず their unwavering 信用/信任 in their 決定/判定勝ち(する), Kees says that friends and family were いっそう少なく sure.

He continued: 'At first, people thought we had gone crazy and said to us, 'What are you doing?'

'Our two sons 特に couldn't understand why we were doing this and were very 懐疑的な about our choice.

'But more and more they have started to understand, 特に after they (機の)カム to visit us for the first time.

'They could see how special the place we have is and 徐々に they realised that we were happier than ever before.'

With 計画(する)s to become 完全に self-十分な one day, when they will no longer need to buy food or drinking water, the pair are working hard on developing their farm - a 仕事 that, tog ether with 週刊誌 lessons in Portuguese, keeps them fully 占領するd.

'Every day is a joy because we are working for ourselves and doing things that 事柄 to our lives,' explained Kees.

'For the first time in my life I feel that I am really living the way I want to.'

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