Franklin and Danielle Acosta, formerly of Buffalo, have been together for 8 years. While many couples have hopes and dreams for the future – this particular couple is making all of theirs come true right now.
The Acostas love to travel and see the world, so they’ve made it their life mission with their two dogs to do just that. They even created their own YouTube channel, From Coast A Costa, where they document their travels for others to enjoy. They’ve worked very hard on this project, so when HGTV reached out to them to see if they would like to be featured on House Hunters International to film their move to Cork, Ireland, they were beyond thrilled!
“When they first contacted us we were over the moon,” said Danielle. “When we were back in the U.S. preparing to move abroad and trying to decide which country to move to, we used to watch episode after episode of House Hunters International and sort of use it as a guide to where we might want to go.”
It also gave the Acostas a sense of hope.
“It’s really not easy to leave your home and move to a foreign country. It’s a long and complicated process. Watching other Americans on the show fulfilling their dreams of life abroad gave us so much inspiration. So, when we were contacted about doing the show it was almost surreal. We had been such big fans for so long and now we were about to become a part of it.”
But finding an apartment in Cork wouldn’t be easy. The couple has two large dogs that they will never part with and Danielle wanted a more modern apartment close to the city, while Franklin wanted to be by sea. They also needed to find something within a one income budget as Danielle had to sacrifice her job for the move. The show follows the couple’s dilemma as they try to choose between three apartments that would best suit their needs. In the end, the couple found a happy medium.
“It was amazing working with HGTV. They made us very comfortable through the process. We were a bit nervous being on TV for the first time. Even though we’re on camera for our YouTube channel, being on camera for TV is totally different and it reaches a much wider audience. Given the opportunity we would 100 percent work with them again. It was so much fun!”
The Acostas are now enjoying their time in Cork before they make their next move.
“Life right now is fantastic,” exclaimed Danielle. “We absolutely love Ireland and especially Cork. The people here are like no where else we’ve been. They’re very friendly, always ready to strike up a conversation, and they are so quick witted it’s sometimes hard to keep up. We’ve also just started learning to sail in Cork, which it turns out is a great place to learn.”
Franklin hopes to one day be proficient enough in sailing that the couple can say goodbye to living on land and to start a life living on the water.
“We’ve got a ways to go before that happens,” said Danielle. “For now, we’re going to keep doing what we moved to Europe to do in the first place and that’s to travel and explore as many countries as we can.”
To view the “By Land or By Sea In Cork” episode visit watch.hgtv.com/show/HHINT/House-Hunters-International/3642740/By-Land-or-By-Sea-in-Cork/
And to view Franklin and Danielle’s YouTube channel, from Coast A Costa, visit www.fromcoastacosta.com.
