By the time the rain-soaked winters, spiralling bills and endless greyness of British life finally broke her, Renae W\u0105sik knew she couldn\u2019t do it anymore.<\/p>\n
\u201cI felt like I was going crazy,\u201d says the 43-year-old PR boss.<\/p>\n
Renae and her husband Pawel left for Greece last November<\/p>\n
\u201cGrey skies make me feel sad, bleak and trapped. I didn\u2019t want my baby growing up in that.\u201d<\/p>\n
So in November 2025, Renae and her husband Pawel made the decision together to pack up their life in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, and move with their two-year-old daughter, Rocca, to a tiny village most Brits have never heard of: Vasiliki, on the Greek island of Lefkada, tucked between Corfu and Kefalonia.<\/p>\n
Just months later, she says the change has been life-altering.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the UK, we were paying close to \u00a33,000 a month just to live, that covered rent, council tax and utilities, for a suburban home with a tiny garden,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was wet, miserable and exhausting. Now we\u2019re renting an off-season Airbnb for \u20ac800 (\u00a3690) a month, I can walk to the sea, and I wake up feeling free.\u201d<\/p>\n
Renae, founder of the Atticism PR & Brand Development, has built a successful career over more than two decades and regularly shares her new life on TikTok, where her videos have racked up more than half a million likes, but not everyone has applauded her move.<\/p>\n
While some viewers dream of following in her footsteps, others have accused her of being \u2018privileged\u2019, \u2018out of touch\u2019, or even \u2018stealing housing from locals\u2019.<\/p>\n
Renae isn\u2019t having it.<\/p>\n
Renae, founder of the Atticism PR & Brand Development<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople say it\u2019s \u2018not that easy\u2019 to live and work overseas, and they\u2019re right,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not easy. But it\u2019s also not impossible. If it\u2019s truly your goal, you\u2019ll work for it. Nothing falls in your lap.\u201d<\/p>\n
She also bristles at the suggestion that she\u2019s taking more than she gives.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve been really conscious about contributing,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
\u201cI work in PR and I help get the island press exposure for free. Pawel is a painter and decorator and has been helping locals who are desperate for skilled labour. We\u2019re living in an off-season Airbnb that sits empty all winter, and when we build our house, we\u2019ll hire local trades. This isn\u2019t a \u2018take, take, take\u2019 situation.\u201d<\/p>\n
The emotional shift, she says, was immediate.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe moment we arrived, my husband and I looked at each other and said, \u2018Oh my God, we escaped\u2019,\u201d she laughs.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe UK feels like a rat wheel. You work to live, and by the weekend you\u2019re so exhausted you just want to order Deliveroo, which is so expensive you have to work even more. Here, the pressure just lifted.\u201d<\/p>\n
Renae is quick to point out that Greek island life isn\u2019t a glossy holiday brochure.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you\u2019ve done Santorini or Mykonos and think that\u2019s real life, you\u2019re in for a shock,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
From the end of March, the family will move into a two-bedroom home for \u00a3430 a month, a short walk from the sea
For two-year-old Rocca, the move has been transformational, says mum Renae<\/p>\n
\u201cIt rains, a lot. There\u2019s no food convenience. I\u2019ve lost three kilos because I can\u2019t just snack whenever I want. Sometimes I honestly can\u2019t look at another courgette.\u201d<\/p>\n
But she shrugs. \u201cI sacrifice convenience for peace.\u201d<\/p>\n
And this isn\u2019t a temporary adventure. \u201cOh yes, this is forever,\u201d Renae says.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve bought a 4,600-square-metre plot of land overlooking the sea for less than the price of a one-bedroom flat in Bedfordshire. We\u2019ll build our home here.\u201d<\/p>\n
From the end of March, the family will move into a two-bedroom home for \u20ac500 (\u00a3430) a month, a short walk from ferries, beaches, a marina and fresh fishing boats, with a balcony bursting with orange, lemon and mandarin trees.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur neighbour gives us all the olive oil we need, and we\u2019ll help him with the harvest,\u201d she smiles.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone helps everyone. It\u2019s a real community.\u201d<\/p>\n
The family has bought a 4,600-square-metre plot of land overlooking the sea for less than the price of a one-bedroom flat in Bedfordshire<\/p>\n
Renae still travels back to the UK for work and to see her two older daughters, aged 22 and 23, but Britain is no longer home.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll always come back,\u201d she says. \u201cBut this, this is where we\u2019re building our life.\u201d<\/p>\n
And for anyone watching from a grey British sofa, wondering if it\u2019s possible?<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not saying everyone should do it,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m saying I did, and I\u2019m finally happy.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By the time the rain-soaked winters, spiralling bills and endless greyness of British life finally broke her, Renae…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":741384,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5008],"tags":[748,393,4884,32744,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-741383","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-england","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-england","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-spotlight","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116011476339583621","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/741383","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=741383"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/741383\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/741384"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=741383"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=741383"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=741383"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}