Moving abroad to an overseas property means more time for active pursuits
Many people who buy overseas property use the change of environment to alter their lifestyle, take up a hobby or a sport, or simply to indulge their passion for golf, horse-riding, skiing, diving, hunting, hiking.… Moving abroad or buying a second home can mean you finally have the opportunity, the facilities and the time to discover sporting skills you never knew you possessed or to improve your sporting prowess at a favourite sport.
Of course, no country where you might buy yourself a second home is going to offer facilities for every sport - try finding a bobsleigh club in Florida or a wreck-diving centre in Czech Republic - but you might be surprised at the sports available in some unlikely places where many UK nationals buy an overseas property as either a permanent or second home.
Moving abroad to Dubai, for example, makes it possible to ski in the world´s largest indoor snow dome and play golf in some of the world´s most fabulously green and beautifully landscaped courses. But such sports do not spring to mind when you think of buying an overseas property in a desert environment. So investigate the opportunities available wherever you are thinking of buying a permanent or second home. You might be surprised!
A second home in the mountains may not be essential for alpine sports lovers
As the above example of Dubai shows, it may not be necessary to have a backdrop of snowy peaks from the window of your overseas property if you love snow and ice sports. Many countries now offer indoor or artificial ski slopes and ice rinks.
However, if you are intent on buying a second home or moving abroad where you can perfect your parallel turns or triple Lutz on the real stuff, you have a choice of overseas property in either the traditional, high altitude European winter resorts or some lower altitude and local resorts. Bulgaria´s mountains, for example, are proving popular with skiing tourists, overseas property investors and Brits buying second homes. Spain, while seen as a destination for sun lovers moving abroad, also has some excellent ski slopes just a few hours drive from the coast where so many own second homes. Romania, too, has a few ski centres, and there are small resorts for both downhill and cross-country skiing dotted throughout the Pyrenees.
Walking, hiking, tramping, rambling… call it what you will, there´s a lot of great outdoors out there
One of the greatest delights many people find when moving abroad to a new permanent or second home is a sense of space - few countries are as built up as the UK, after all. There are dangers in some of these landscapes, of course. Australia is famed for its long list of poisonous creatures, and Florida witnesses a few alligator attacks every year, but if you do some research, exercise common sense and don´t take too many risks, you should be able to freely explore and enjoy almost any countryside near your new overseas property. Just as in Britain, however, private ownership of land should be respected and the local countryside code observed.
Many new overseas property developments are specifically geared to golfers
Golf enthusiasts just cannot get enough of their sport and have spawned a specialised market for tailor made golfing holidays in recent years. Taking that market a little further, there are now hundreds of overseas property developments catering to those who want to tee off morning, noon and night and it seems that many golf nuts are moving abroad to do just that! Many of these new overseas property developments are built around or close to the greens.
If your golf obsession is one step down the addiction ladder, you may prefer moving abroad to a location in easy distance of some top courses. Spain, France, Florida, Portugal and Dubai are obvious choices for second homes for golfers but don´t automatically rule out some of the less obvious or emerging markets such as Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic and Ireland where you may find buying overseas property suits your pocket better.
If you crave watersports, you´ll find your second home near a coast or lake
The lover of watersports is spoiled for choice when it comes to moving abroad or buying an overseas property as a second home. Just head south and find a coastline - any coastline in a warm climate - and you are sure to find a vast range of sports from deep sea diving, sailing and snorkelling to swimming, windsurfing and jet skiing. Simply choose a nearby overseas property and you can mess about on the water to your heart´s content.
