# What I wish I knew about Spain before I came here.



## Sirtravelot (Jul 20, 2011)

And it's got to do with renting.

All in all, the advice on this forum is pretty damn good. Maybe it focuses on the negative a bit too much sometimes, but whatever.

One popular piece of advice is this: rent before you buy. Pretty good advice in general.

...but here's the problem: it's quite possible that the majority of people will go to Spain looking for a place between March and September, and that's a BIG problem, because: 

*-Landlords will try to make as much money renting out for holidays than long-term.*

This means you can come over and drive yourself nuts contacting different agents, just to be told the landlord is not interested in long-term renting. Why would the landlord want 1000 euros a month if he can get 1000 per week?

...and here's another thing:

*-The GOOD properties will be aimed for holiday lets anyway.*

If a property is really good, good sized, and in a good location, chances are the landlord WILL have more financial success renting out for holidays.

So, what's the solution? Personally, it seems a lot easier to find properties to rent long-term inside cities. However, this means the landlord and the agent will only speak Spanish or very little English, so if you have taken Spanish lessons, this is where they come in handy. 

I'm making this thread because before jumping over we were told that, thanks to the Spanish real estate crisis, there has been a glut of properties and there's "many places to rent", "just ring them up". Well, it's true, there's plenty of places to rent...but not long-term. The places that were available for long-term were often away from everything, expensive for what you were getting, and small.

Of course, this phenomenon is not unique to Spain, lots of properties in big cities in the world are having trouble with landlords letting out their properties through AirBnB, creating much more competition for good, affordable property.

Perhaps we should mention this more often when people ask for advice on this forum?

Cheers folks.


EDIT: And one more thing: quite a few of these properties for long-term rent are stuck in the 80s/70s or are "Jesus Christ homes", where the owner has got pictures and figurines of Jesus everywhere. Nothing wrong with that, but it's not exactly how I would present a property to rent myself.


----------



## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

I think alot depends on the time of year you look. Obviously the end of the holiday season may bring better deals for long term renters - also, there are properties available as sometimes, landlords find life easier to have a good, long term tenant. They may not make as much money short term, but they have less hassle (in general) and its a long term income, rather than a quick buck for half the year with double the aggro (cleaning after every tenant, holiday makers who dont take pride, care....). Lots of people wouldnt want to live in a city

Jo xxx


----------



## Tammydog (Mar 7, 2015)

Very good point and advise. Renting is what we are about to do? Hopefully as our house will be sold within a month. And want to go to Spain a few weeks later. But find a flat rent for 3/6 months through the summer look as tho not possible. Don't want to waste money on rent in UK as it is expensive in our area. And want to purchase in Spain and check out areas. But looks like we're going to have a serious problem? Looks like we will have to live at our sons unto Autumn. But really want to get to Spain as we're not getting younger!


----------



## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

Sirtravelot said:


> And it's got to do with renting.
> 
> All in all, the advice on this forum is pretty damn good. Maybe it focuses on the negative a bit too much sometimes, but whatever.
> 
> ...



Thank you! You have discovered for yourself something I've mentioned before on this forum when people have said that it is more advisable to rent long term in Spain than to buy. In my very large town, there are currently less than 50 properties listed as available for long term rent on idealista.com, for example - but more than 10 times that many for sale. And as you rightly say, a lot of the long term rental properties on offer aren't places I'd be happy to live in. If I was coming to Spain and found myself having to accept somewhere to live which I didn't like, even for 6 months, I think I'd be very unhappy and it could well put me off the whole idea.


----------



## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

I think it depends 
Where you are - If you want to rent/ live in a popular tourist area you've surely got to expect it to be more difficult to find non holiday rents. However, they must exist. Friends who have properties in Orihuela prefer long term renters, and have them! In Madrid, Segovia, Bilbao you'll have no problem finding long term rents

Where you look for info - As an "outsider" you don't always have access to the same info that the locals do and your language skills will have a lot to do with that. You won't know that Mari Pili's cousin has got a property in the block you're looking at or that Evaristo's brother owns the house next to the post office. You won't know that the property section of the local paper comes out on Thursday etc etc.
Also the speed at which people want to do things can influence the success or not of finding a property. There are many posts which talk about making plans for next year or so, but there are just as many from people saying they have to find something in a week, and often that's the wife/ husband looking on their own. Some things shouldn't be done in a rush, and they have to be, then expect imperfect results

and maybe

Who you are - Some landlords will see foreigners as more of a risk, and if I had a house for rent I'd prefer to rent to people I could communicate. My MIL rented to a Japanese family in Algorta and everything was done in English through my BIL. If he hadn't been around there wouldn't have been a rental contract, as simple as that.


----------



## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

PS People from the UK looking for long term rents need to know_* Alquiler de Larga Duracion *_or _*Larga Temporada*_
Here's a link which will probably be no good after a day or two, but these are for long term lets ONLY in Mijas
Alquiler cala mijas larga temporada - Trovit
So perhaps that's the info they need to get in forum answers.

PPS I know what you mean about the Jesus Houses!


----------



## Gazeebo (Jan 23, 2015)

Here's our experience.

For a few years we looked around Spain until we recently found an area we both liked. When we looked around Spain, it was usually in the summer months and up to October. We did have a holiday in February when the weather was not so good, but we actually found the area we have now decided on during that trip.

We know we like Spain in the summer, so here's the thing - we are going from October to March to see whether we like it in the winter too!

Yes, finding rental properties is a pain, but my partner went over a couple of weeks ago to view 'winter lets'. He found one that he thought we would both like, in a convenient area and one willing to accept a small dog. Ours is owned by an English couple living in the area and the contract is in Spanish and English. We made appointments for him to view on-line before he got to Spain and then contacted more agents in the area whilst there.

Our approach may be belt and braces - but at our age (59 and 62) and owning our house in England, we are not willing to sell up and go just yet in case we do not actually like living in Spain.

I have made lots of enquiries as to clubs and things to do in the area, including some voluntary work to keep me busy as I do not want it to feel like a holiday for the 6 months.

Here's hoping we like it - but then sometimes life is what you make it!

Good luck with your move.


----------



## Lolito (Aug 25, 2012)

It depends where you are looking, if you want to live in Benidorm or the likes, then probably the rentals are more expensive, but here where I live, 90% of rental properties are for a year and very very cheap. When it is a holiday let, it says on the text. 

Eeek! Who'll want to live in a holiday place? I spent the weekend (sadly) in Albir (near Benidorm) and it was a nightmare... fish & chips shops all around, 'expats' drunk at 10am... and it reminded me of Blackpool. Awful. Awful. Awful. 

Who would come and live in places like that, as if they were at home but with the nice weather? Eek!

Pah...!


----------



## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

Lolito said:


> It depends where you are looking, if you want to live in Benidorm or the likes, then probably the rentals are more expensive, but here where I live, 90% of rental properties are for a year and very very cheap. When it is a holiday let, it says on the text.
> 
> Eeek! Who'll want to live in a holiday place? I spent the weekend (sadly) in Albir (near Benidorm) and it was a nightmare... fish & chips shops all around, 'expats' drunk at 10am... and it reminded me of Blackpool. Awful. Awful. Awful.
> 
> ...


And some people would say, who'd want to live in that backwater Oliva where there are no Fish and chips bars, pubs and streets fights?!

Others would argue that some Spanish did very well out of the Benidorm Boom and that thousands of people from the UK have happy summer holidays there each year.

As long as each one is happy with what they've got.

But back on topic, yes, you say the same as I did. Some of it depends on where you are looking.


----------



## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

Tammydog said:


> Very good point and advise. Renting is what we are about to do? Hopefully as our house will be sold within a month. And want to go to Spain a few weeks later. But find a flat rent for 3/6 months through the summer look as tho not possible. Don't want to waste money on rent in UK as it is expensive in our area. And want to purchase in Spain and check out areas. But looks like we're going to have a serious problem? Looks like we will have to live at our sons unto Autumn. But really want to get to Spain as we're not getting younger!


Which area of Spain do you want to be based in?


----------



## Pazcat (Mar 24, 2010)

There seem to be less properties to rent now than there were 2 years ago when we found ours, that said some of the same properties are still there not rented.
Still shouldn't be a problem finding one to rent though, there are lots available but less of the type we were looking for.

We lucked out with our property and I'm glad we chose this path first, the whole buying process has taken a lot longer than we expected and if we had moved with the intention to buy straight away and just rent a holiday let or hotel it would of been an expensive disaster.


----------



## Chopera (Apr 22, 2013)

Pesky Wesky said:


> And some people would say, who'd want to live in that backwater Oliva where there are no Fish and chips bars, pubs and streets fights?!
> 
> Others would argue that some Spanish did very well out of the Benidorm Boom and that thousands of people from the UK have happy summer holidays there each year.
> 
> ...


I suspect more Spaniards live in Benidorm and go on holiday there than Brits.


----------



## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

Pesky Wesky said:


> If you want to rent/ live in a popular tourist area you've surely got to expect it to be more difficult to find non holiday rents. However, they must exist. Friends who have properties in Orihuela prefer long term renters, and have them! In Madrid, Segovia, Bilbao you'll have no problem finding long term rents
> 
> Where you look for info - As an "outsider" you don't always have access to the same info that the locals do and your language skills will have a lot to do with that. You won't know that Mari Pili's cousin has got a property in the block you're looking at or that Evaristo's brother owns the house next to the post office. You won't know that the property section of the local paper comes out on Thursday etc etc.
> Also the speed at which people want to do things can influence the success or not of finding a property. There are many posts which talk about making plans for next year or so, but there are just as many from people saying they have to find something in a week, and often that's the wife/ husband looking on their own. Some things shouldn't be done in a rush, and they have to be, then expect imperfect results
> .


That's the funny thing about where I am - it's not a holiday resort and there is in fact very little tourist accommodation in the town (3 hotels, a couple of B&Bs but hardly any houses to rent for holidays) and yet there are still so few places available to rent long term. I have people (Spanish people) knocking on my door sometimes asking if houses nearby which have been empty for a long time are available to rent.

Yes, local knowledge can be very useful - but what do you do say if you go and look at a house belonging to somebody's cousin and it turns out to be awful with 1970s kitchen and bathroom tiles and junk shop furniture (which a lot of properties to rent do have, as the OP said)? I'd find that a bit embarrassing, I prefer to see photographs first to see whether it looks as though it would suit me or not.


----------



## Horlics (Sep 27, 2011)

Sirtravelot said:


> All in all, the advice on this forum is pretty damn good. Maybe it focuses on the negative a bit too much sometimes, but whatever.
> ........
> If a property is really good, good sized, and in a good location, chances are the landlord WILL have more financial success renting out for holidays.


Ummm yes!

And make in excess of 6% yield on his investment.

Just making a point. The negatives can save their keystrokes, I'm not getting into a debate about it.


----------



## Horlics (Sep 27, 2011)

Sirtravelot said:


> I'm making this thread because before jumping over we were told that, thanks to the Spanish real estate crisis, there has been a glut of properties and there's "many places to rent", "just ring them up". Well, it's true, there's plenty of places to rent...but not long-term. The places that were available for long-term were often away from everything, expensive for what you were getting, and small.
> 
> Of course, this phenomenon is not unique to Spain, lots of properties in big cities in the world are having trouble with landlords letting out their properties through AirBnB, creating much more competition for good, affordable property.
> 
> Perhaps we should mention this more often when people ask for advice on this forum?


I think people are told that they might struggle to find something where they want when they're trying for a long term rent over the summer.

Flexibility is the key thing, if people are flexible then across a lot of Spain they should be able to find something.

But if wanting to rent in a particular area in order to get to know it ahead of possibly purchasing, then yes, that's a problem.


----------



## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

Lynn R said:


> That's the funny thing about where I am - it's not a holiday resort and there is in fact very little tourist accommodation in the town (3 hotels, a couple of B&Bs but hardly any houses to rent for holidays) and yet there are still so few places available to rent long term. I have people (Spanish people) knocking on my door sometimes asking if houses nearby which have been empty for a long time are available to rent.
> 
> Yes, local knowledge can be very useful - but what do you do say if you go and look at a house belonging to somebody's cousin and it turns out to be awful with 1970s kitchen and bathroom tiles and junk shop furniture (which a lot of properties to rent do have, as the OP said)? I'd find that a bit embarrassing, I prefer to see photographs first to see whether it looks as though it would suit me or not.


I didn't mean to imply that the same policy holds true for all and everywhere. I'm sure there are places where it's just difficult to rent. In other areas you need to know more about the area or you need to be more flexible.
I'd just say, much as sirtravelalot has said, don't take it as a given that long term rental is easy. In addition I'd say that you open up your possibilities by looking in Spanish, and by not starting your search in the summer, well after Easter actually which is common sense when you think about it.
Of course you could always end up in a nightmare situation where your landlord tries to turf you out when the holiday season comes along as Jojo found I seem to remember.
As for what do you do if you see the cousin's 1970's house and you don't like it, well you just have to truthfully say it's not what you were looking for, as you did pre internet.


----------



## Tammydog (Mar 7, 2015)

Actually we have been looking along from the coastline of Costa blanca South but willing to go inland around say up 30 minutes. Not Benidorm though. We don't want to buy a house a a busy expat area but want to have English speaking around. As Although having Spanish lessons not sure how good we will be as now in around Mid 60s. We have stayed in La Zenia, handy for getting every where.Not sure I could cope living that area full time though? But need somewhere to go to as we are coming over by ferry, bringing our car for 3 months. Need somewhere for probally longer though. But realise we will have to come back with car in between. Just spoke to and Agent in La Zenia and they say will have loads in September along the whole coast and inland so may need to wait until then. Difficult to be there to be in the know if you haven't anywhere to stay when you get there. I did try Airbnb by the way and nothing available then either. Seems a lot of rental sites do not always update their calendars. And they are already rented out when I check them out.


----------



## Tammydog (Mar 7, 2015)

Actually Lolita Olivia sounds nice we will look that way as well? But we're needing to be around English speaking hospitals such the one at Torrevieja or Murcia really as hubby as some health problems. And seems to get that with English speaking doctors you need to be in Expat areas. Really would like to have both...not likely to happen though? What is the health care situation in your area with hospital and Doctors as we will not be able to get any private health care. Be we do qualify for the state system.


----------



## ccm47 (Oct 15, 2013)

Jojo and others query why a landlord would prefer


----------



## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

Since this seems to be degenerating into a thread about renting, here's my twopenn'orth:
If you are planning on renting in a smallish community, e.g. a village - ask around locally. You will invariably find people who know of somebody with a place to rent, especially with Spain's inheritance laws which, regrettably, mean that a house is inherited by a number of family members who cannot agree whether to sell or not nor for what price but might be willing to rent while the selling market is a bit depressed.

Back to the title of the thread:
What do I wish I knew before coming: That it got quite as cold in the winter. Admittedly we are over 2,000 feet up but some winters, the temperature barely touches below freezing but after acclimatising oneself to the heat of summer, one is less prepared for the cold of winter. However put on another layer of clothes and another log on the fire...


----------



## ccm47 (Oct 15, 2013)

Jojo and others query why a landlord would prefer to let to holiday makers rather than long term.
We gave this a long, hard think before deciding to go for holiday makers for the following reasons.
1. The bills remain in our name and get paid when due. Nobody can rack up debts on our property but us. Nothing can get cut off.
2. The managing agent and his staff have their offices just across the road and accompany guests to our property. They are paid up front, with no chance of anybody falling into arrears.
3. The agent takes a deposit and checks the inventory both before and after a let. Short term guests generally replace what they have broken as they don't want to lose this deposit.
4. Any problems tend to get reported for fixing pretty quickly. The tenant is much less likely to try and bodge a fix.
5. We are in an area that is popular with French, Belgian and German holiday makers as well as Spanish and a few British. The first three are used to having to present the property in the best condition they can before leaving. They often bring their own bedding, as they've come by car, and we feel fairly confident that our property will be respected even though it is not theirs.
6. How do we know, in advance, who will make a good long term tenant? We don't. If they are noisy drunkards etc but short term they will be gone very shortly and we will not have made enemies of our neighbours.
7. We, or our friends and family, might get the opportunity to occupy it occasionally ourselves.


----------



## MagicWriter2014 (Jun 11, 2014)

Kyero always seem to have lots of long term rentals at reasonable prices when I look.


----------



## Tammydog (Mar 7, 2015)

Magicwriter. I know that there is lot but,the ones I've enquired about are not available for rental until September. But I can understand why Landlords preference is holiday lets. May take a short term basic place say 1 month first at holiday prices. While we look for longer term. In the meantime going to purchase tent. But camp sights probally full as well? Wonder if I can camp on the beach?HAha! ..and please no comments on that one...as its really not going to happen.


----------



## ccm47 (Oct 15, 2013)

Tammydog you could have a plan there, rent a holiday place for 3 or 4 weeks, prove you're a good tenant (which I'm sure you are) and the agent may find you what you want for a longer stay, or negotiate a better deal if you wish to stay where you are.
Have you tried camping in Spain? I've not stopped near La Zenia but the one at San Per Pescador (near Girona) further up the coast has superb facilities and adjoins the beach. There are two camp sites in Aguilas, further down in Murcia, neither seem to get full in summer but in winter it's another matter as the campervans arrive for the entire season. These are mainly owned by Dutch, Belgians, French and German. They get really good rates and mix well. If the sites are full when they arrive the vans simply join the motor home cities on the beach or in a car park until there is a space. The Ayuntamiento even let's the occupants register for evening classes, with no penalty for joining midway through a course.


----------



## stevesainty (Jan 7, 2011)

When we were looking for a long term let we found all the local agents next to useless.
We wanted to take our time looking for a place to rent, so we took a holiday let for 6 weeks starting from the beginning of October, in La Zenia as it happened, and managed to get it for 100 gbp per week.

We then got on our bike, as it were, and toured the areas where we wanted to rent. When we came across people sitting out on their terrace we asked if they knew of anywhere to rent long term. This is how we came across our perfect long term rental, someone had their property up for sale for a long time, and were willing to rent it to us for a year. As we had sort of been vetted by the person we spoke to, turned out he was the president of the community, the owners knew that at least the property would be kept tidy and weed free in the very least. We had to agree to show potential buyers around the place, but this only happened once, near the end of our year.

We spent the year finding out if a) whether Spain was for us permanently, b) whether we had chosen our area correctly and c) gave us a good long time to find something permanent, at our leisure.

As it happened a) was a yes, b) was a no and c) we found a wonderful home from home to buy.

Unfortunately you cannot always do things remotely, or rely on agents. Besides it was fun.


----------



## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

Tammydog said:


> Magicwriter. I know that there is lot but,the ones I've enquired about are not available for rental until September. But I can understand why Landlords preference is holiday lets. May take a short term basic place say 1 month first at holiday prices. While we look for longer term. In the meantime going to purchase tent. But camp sights probally full as well? Wonder if I can camp on the beach?HAha! ..and please no comments on that one...as its really not going to happen.


Campsites can be cramped and noisy in the summer, but again it depends on the region. We were on a very small site in July in Catalonia and it was practically empty as it was a mountaineering area and the busy months were in the autumn and spring. Another site in Rojales was also very quiet (except for the empty outdoor disco that went on until 4:00am every morning despite the lack of clients) and they said they were busy at New Year with foreigners like the Dutch and Germans...
Most campsites have bungalows/ wooden cabins that might be ok for price. 
One thing though, when we were in Rojales the weather was unbearably hot. They had told us we had booked a cabin, but it was in fact a tin caravan with just a fan. We hadn't wanted to go in July knowing it to be the hottest month, but my parents insisted. They hit a learning curve that summer I think.


----------



## Tammydog (Mar 7, 2015)

Really Steve, sound like the dream we are wanting...if only....but can but try ..need to get the most out of life in our later years...time for chances. So be it! Thanks!


----------



## Tammydog (Mar 7, 2015)

Pesky, that's sounds like a plan. We have looked at camper vans/mobile homes but think we need LHD as easies and would need to buy in Spain? So still need somewhere to stay...so tent first in the summer heat ..sounds quite good actually.


----------



## Sirtravelot (Jul 20, 2011)

Horlics said:


> Ummm yes!
> 
> And make in excess of 6% yield on his investment.
> 
> Just making a point. The negatives can save their keystrokes, I'm not getting into a debate about it.


6? Try 10%.

I've been tracking what the house down the road charges, as well as its vacancy rate, and if we charged the same we'd get very close to 10%. 6% easily.


----------



## Tammydog (Mar 7, 2015)

Ccm,we are good Tenants. Although only ever had holiday rental for a fortnight but leave everything clean, always clean before we leave, everything in place as I like it that way, think I'm a bit OCD? Replace any glasses or even stuff like ice trays,mugs crockery and t towels ,towels. But leave them there.As I'm really fussy and rather buy new stuff even for two weeks. Also replace any cleaning stuff and toilet rolls ect. But been a while since we rented in Spain as we have going to Portugal the last few years. We stayed in a friends house in La Zenia but he is using it through the Summer and his parents staying through September. Something will work out 20+ years of this dream cannot go wrong. Got to be our time now. To many bad things already have gone . Time to live for us&#55357;&#56844;


----------



## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

Tammydog said:


> Ccm,we are good Tenants. Although only ever had holiday rental for a fortnight but leave everything clean, always clean before we leave, everything in place as I like it that way, think I'm a bit OCD? Replace any glasses or even stuff like ice trays,mugs crockery and t towels ,towels. But leave them there.As I'm really fussy and rather buy new stuff even for two weeks. Also replace any cleaning stuff and toilet rolls ect. But been a while since we rented in Spain as we have going to Portugal the last few years. We stayed in a friends house in La Zenia but he is using it through the Summer and his parents staying through September. Something will work out 20+ years of this dream cannot go wrong. Got to be our time now. To many bad things already have gone . Time to live for us��


You can save yourself a lot of anguish by doing lots of research. It is so much easier now on the internet. 15 years ago when I was researching, there was less [reliable] info available. You can check on climate for your chosen area; check news stories that might show up that there is a crime problem; cultural activities; and using Google Earth, see whether you would be in an area subject to tremors, then switch to Google Earth's Street view and take a virtual tour of a town/village.


----------



## ccm47 (Oct 15, 2013)

Tammydog I wish you well in finding somewhere to start to enjoy your dream. My contacts are much further south in Aguilas Murcia so of no use to you.
One good thing about waiting till September will be that you will quickly acclimatise to the temperatures. 40° hits you for six for more than a few days, even the Spanish complain its too hot to sleep properly, whereas 30 ish is much more comfortable and below 20° warrants an extra layer of clothing.


----------



## GallineraGirl (Aug 13, 2011)

Tammydog said:


> Actually Lolita Olivia sounds nice we will look that way as well? But we're needing to be around English speaking hospitals such the one at Torrevieja or Murcia really as hubby as some health problems. And seems to get that with English speaking doctors you need to be in Expat areas. Really would like to have both...not likely to happen though? What is the health care situation in your area with hospital and Doctors as we will not be able to get any private health care. Be we do qualify for the state system.


As Oliva is in Valencia, the local hospital is Gandia where I believe there are not many English speaking doctors and a translator is needed. However, Oliva is very close to the border of the Alicante Region ( Pego direction). This area comes under the Marina Alta Hospital which is just outside Denia. Here many Doctors speak English and are happy to do so. When English is not spoken, translators can be easily arranged at a very reasonable rate and, I think, may be free during certain hours via the'Help' service - a charity group which operates at the hospital..


----------



## garryg163 (Jun 10, 2015)

*Renting*



Tammydog said:


> Very good point and advise. Renting is what we are about to do? Hopefully as our house will be sold within a month. And want to go to Spain a few weeks later. But find a flat rent for 3/6 months through the summer look as tho not possible. Don't want to waste money on rent in UK as it is expensive in our area. And want to purchase in Spain and check out areas. But looks like we're going to have a serious problem? Looks like we will have to live at our sons unto Autumn. But really want to get to Spain as we're not getting younger!


Most "Urbs" have for rent ads in the supermarkets, so you may be able to circumvent the dreaded Agents with their mark up and fees!


----------



## Leper (May 12, 2010)

Sirtravelot said:


> And it's got to do with renting.
> 
> All in all, the advice on this forum is pretty damn good. Maybe it focuses on the negative a bit too much sometimes, but whatever.
> 
> ...


Without a doubt, this is the Post of the Year. But, if the Poster had been listening to me and others he would have already known. But, I am too modest to take praise.

But, for anybody looking in Read, Read again, Think, Think again, Rent off season if you are coming to Spain. Don't burn your boats in the UK. Leave room for an organised retreat. And above everything else do not trust anybody but yourself.


----------

