Yesterday marked the 9 year anniversary of my arrival in Spain. Moving here was the best decision I ever made. I remember that on the day I left my friend Jono took me to the station in Waterloo to take the train to Paris, from where I would take another to Madrid. He told me that I was incredibly brave, which I thought sounded ridiculous. It didn’t feel brave, it felt completely insane! Anyway, the photo on the left is me at the Jerez sherry fiesta in May this year, in my element, en mi salsa, feeling pretty damn good about having made that move. If you are thinking about doing something similarly insane, just do it! Things can only go horribly wrong, but chances are they will go horribly right.
Oh, and I’m 35 today, and still feeling about 28, thanks, no doubt, to the good life in Spain 
Andrew
1 Sep 07 at 9:49 am
¡Feliz cumpleaños Ben! Esta bien verte tan contento en la foto…lo que necesitas ahora es niños
ValenciaSon
1 Sep 07 at 12:51 pm
Niños, un dia alomejor, pero antes de eso, tomate un poco mas de jerez
Stuart
1 Sep 07 at 3:03 pm
Well done Ben.
Brandon
1 Sep 07 at 5:01 pm
Congratulations, Ben, on everything! You are now the poster-child for the adventurously insane! Happy Birthday, all the best, and keep living the good life!
Ben
1 Sep 07 at 5:16 pm
“You are now the poster-child for the adventurously insane!” – I love it, not sure I can live up to that though!
Enrique
1 Sep 07 at 5:26 pm
Well done, bravo!
Colin
1 Sep 07 at 5:31 pm
Happy birthday, Ben, But I have news for you. Like the rest of us, you will always be 28 . . .
A bit unchivalrous not to mention Marina’s part in your good fortune.
Just the sort of thing I would have done. My daughters tell me.
celia s
1 Sep 07 at 10:06 pm
Happy birthday to you………..
I hope you are having a really good day!
I must say that Fino suits you!
Cheers.
Palmer
1 Sep 07 at 11:40 pm
All the best to you, Ben! I can’t tell you what a wonderful thing it was for me to have found your website. It has changed my outlook on improving my spanish so much. If you had not made that brave move to Spain, all this may not have happened. You have affected a lot of people’s lives for the better. Many thanks to you and marina. May you have many, many more happy 28th birthdays
. Now, maybe I’ll do something really crazy at age 56 and move back to Puerto Rico?
Jan Paul
2 Sep 07 at 11:54 am
Happy birthday!
Jon Hundt
2 Sep 07 at 3:14 pm
sorry Ben, but that photo’s on the left on my computer… maybe it’s on your right since you are looking out of the monitor….
oh well, that don’t matter. Hoist another glass of sherry and enjoy your birthday.
Ben
2 Sep 07 at 9:36 pm
Thanks everyone for the comments, and Jon, you are right, it should have been left, I’ve changed it!
gary
3 Sep 07 at 12:12 am
Re the 35 feel like 28 thing – it never changes, Gill says Im 54 going on 23 – the falling down bit hurts more as you get older and recovery times are longer, but on balance, if you can get off the lead, the misbehavior is still worth it – when its not put me in a pine box and burn/bury me!!!
Uncle Drew
3 Sep 07 at 4:37 pm
Hey Ben, I’m turning 41 this week and can appreciate your sentiments as I’ve lived in Hungary almost continuously since 1990 (arrived on 17 October).
Living abroad is really living! I’m thankful nearly every day for having chosen this path.
Joe Cawley
4 Sep 07 at 9:55 am
Happy Birthday Ben! Went through the same insanity, and landed in Tenerife. Been there, done that, wrote the book (More Ketchup than Salsa: Confessions of a Tenerife barman). Congrats on your success.
luke
4 Sep 07 at 6:35 pm
You obviously haven’t been driving around Atocha much; it’s put ten years on me!
David
7 Sep 07 at 4:51 am
Wow, nine years is a long time. Felicidades por la vida que te has hecho ahí, feliz cumpleaños y que tengas muchos más allí en España con tu esposa.