From Cork to Mallorca: Meet the family who recently relocated to the Spanish island

IT’S always a going to be a huge decision to up sticks and move your family to a new part of the world. To leave the known and venture into the unknown is a daunting and exciting prospect, and one which certainly takes courage and resilience.

In the first interview of the returning series ‘Corkonians Abroad’, I caught up with Des and Alma who have recently relocated their family to the Island of Mallorca off Spain.

Tell us a little about how you ended up in Mallorca?

Alma: Des is from Cork and I’m from Offaly, but I moved to Cork in my early 20s and met him a few years later, in 2005. We now live in Puerto Pollensa on the island of Mallorca with our boys, Archie and Sonny, aged 10 and seven.

Des’s cousin Colin and wife Gayle introduced us to Mallorca as Gayle had spent her childhood holidays here. And so we decided to book a holiday and try it out. And that was the start of it... we instantly fell in love with the island.

Every time we would come, we would leave talking about it and really missing it. For us it was more than a holiday destination. We loved the way of life, the people, the beauty of the island.

When did you move there and what prompted the big move?

Des: We took the plunge a few months ago, in June, 2023. It took us a lot of planning and organising but we finally got here. And we still can’t quite believe we are here.

We moved for many reasons. To experience something new, another culture, a new language (Catalan and Spanish is spoken here), and a little more sun too. The boys are young so we thought ‘do it now or we’ll regret it later’.

We love everything Mallorca has to offer. The food is great, the locals are unbelievably friendly and we have some great friends here too. We also have a retreat business, Revive You Retreats, which we are trying to develop and it’s based mainly on the island, so it makes life a little easier for us all to be together here.

It’s been a tough few years and after Covid we realised that life is precious and there’s a whole other world out there. We thought if it doesn’t work out, we can always come home.

What is life like in your new home?

Alma: It’s great, to be honest. We live beside the water so we swim most days and we get out on the SUP (stand-up paddle) board most evenings. If you’re stressed, there’s nothing like the water to calm you down.

The boys have started school locally and it’s taught in Catalan and Spanish - it will take time for them to settle but so far so good, and the support we’ve had from the school has been fantastic.

What has been the biggest challenge?How have you tackled it?

Des: I left full-time employment after 20 years working in a variety of medical sales roles, and the security of a good salary and I’m now trying to build a performance and well-being coaching business. Slowly but surely, we’re building great connections. It takes time and patience.

Alma: The boys left their friends and school they loved at St Anthony’s in Ballinlough and that’s been hard, but they keep in touch with all their friends, and we’ll make sure of that.

It’s a huge readjustment for us all. There are days when you question why you’ve done this BUT those days are rare. And we are finding more routine to our days now that the boys are in school.

Alma, has it been hard to leave behind your yoga clients in Cork?

Alma: I had my last class in Cork at the Marina Market on June 21, 2023, where we all gathered for International Yoga Day. I couldn’t have picked a better spot to have my last class. The Marina Market is one of the best things to happen in the city and they (Tom & Co) have always been such a wonderful support to me since they opened. Leaving Cork after such a long time teaching was hugely emotional, but also hugely exciting at the opportunity to teach and meet new faces in Mallorca.

I started teaching in Cork in 2008, I ran studios and workshops and met so many wonderful people. I have taught thousands of classes at this stage and will continue to do so.

It was sad to go but I’ve been so lucky to have what I had. 

Some of my regulars have joined us on retreats here in Mallorca so it’s so lovely when that happens. And there are more coming out to our Yoga Teacher Training here in November. We’re not gone forever, we’ll be back. We’re just enjoying a new adventure.

How do you spend your weekends?

Des: Outside mainly. We love exploring parts of the island. The boys have sports too and play soccer with a local team.

Palma is also a beautiful city which we can get to in less than an hour. In Mallorca you have free travel so it’s as easy to hop on a bus and go anywhere and not worry about parking.

What do you do for work?

Alma: One of the reasons we moved was due to our business, which we launched in December, 2019, Revive You Retreats. It took off on its launch date and lots of retreats sold out and then it all fell apart when Covid hit. We lost so much and really it felt like we should just throw in the towel, but we didn’t, and when people were allowed to travel again we thought we might as well give this a proper go. But with more of a focus on Mallorca.

By being here, we can already see the potential to grow the business and we are also meeting so many people here on the island who we can work with. We have some big plans coming for 2024.

Des has so many strings to his bow, including Performance and Wellbeing Coach, which only adds to the retreat business and also on his own. He’s also a sports massage therapist.

We are both qualified Yoga Teachers (me since 2008 and Des since 2021). I’m better though!

What has been your most memorable moment in your new location so far?

Alma: There are two really... I think the day we arrived will always stay in my heart. We dropped the bags and Archie ran out to the water and just jumped in after what was a hugely emotional day. We all had a bit of a cry in the water together but then burst out laughing when we realised where we were and that we had finally made it.

The second was Des arriving two weeks later and surprising us all a day early. It was unbelievable and so many people were in on it, even the taxi driver. It was just brilliant.

What are you looking forward to in the coming months?

Alma: The change of seasons and experiencing Christmas here.

Is there anything that you especially miss about Cork?

Des: Yes, family, friends, we miss where we lived in Ballintemple, the walks, the Marina, Pairc Ui Chaoimh, The Venue for pizza, Cortado for coffee. We had everything on our doorstep and the people are great. We miss friends a lot. Cork also has the best food, and we miss that. There’s no place like home at the end of the day.