When I told people I was quitting an amazing job, ending my lease on an apartment I adored and packing up my life to move to Barcelona , the reactions were mixed. There was shock, some envy and a lot of questions. But now after a year here I can say it is - without a doubt - the best decision I ever made.
In June 2023, escaping a cold Sydney winter, my partner and I boarded a one-way flight with two suitcases each and an enrolment to a Spanish language school. READ MORE: 'Solo cruising: Here's everything you need to know' READ MORE: 'Flying budget? Three things I'm glad I realised before my long-haul flight' The year before we had both turned 30, and despite having fulfilling and comfortable lives in Australia, decided to move overseas - calling it an 'adult gap year'. It was one of the most terrifying, surprising, and incredible experiences of my life.
It's not for everyone, but for those looking to make a big change in their lives while they still can. Here are some things I learned. Whether moving to a new town, job, or continent - it's likely there will be a lot of unfamiliarity.
You will be out of your comfort zone and likely disconnected from your support networks. Add in a time difference and those regular calls home become a little less regular. We were fortunate to know a few people in the city before we arrived, but we also made a conscious effort to say 'yes' to things - even things we would never do at home.
READ MORE: Hotel worker reveals 'red flag' that suggests you shouldn't stay The most incredible example I have of this is a story about a French woman I met in an airport in South America in 2017. Waiting around bored, We chatted for a bit while waiting for our delayed plane, and by the time we landed in Chile it was late and we ended up sharing a taxi with a lovely German businessman. Before we parted ways, this woman and I followed each other on Instagram, as you do when travelling, and that was it.
We never spoke again. Until, six years later, the week I arrive in Barcelona I get a message from her asking if I want to get a drink and do I need any help, because she saw I'd just arrived in the city. We met up, got along famously, and my partner ended up joining her boyfriend's football team - opening up a huge circle of wonderful people who have become our closest friends here.
But if she hadn't asked, and if I hadn't said yes, our lives would have looked very different. Social media understandably gets a bad wrap, but the ability to stay connect to people you meet for a fleeting moment can help those relationships blossom into wonderful friendships. As someone who has struggled with anxiety and often finds themselves with a pretty noisy mind, a seemingly simple task like going to the supermarket or pharmacy in another country has the potential to be a pretty high stress experience.
How do you make sure you get the right medication? How do you ask for the bread to be sliced? How do you select oranges at the self-service checkout (Naranja in Spanish, Taronja in Catalan for those playing at home)? However I was shocked to find moving to a country where you don't know your way around, and hardly speak the language (and this is before you come to terms with the fact people in Barcelona speak both Catalan and Spanish - and you never quite know who will prefer to speak what) made me less stressed about the little things. Things like translating apps and the internet have made unfamiliar experiences infinitely easier, but I also found the euphoric sense of accomplishment that came after successfully buying a specific herb or explaining health symptoms in another language far outweighed the stress. The same can be said for hearing about other peoples' challenges.
Through the language school I attended I met people from all over the globe - many from Europe and the US but also Russia, South Africa, Jordan and Guam. A very common topic of conversation was of course visas and the Spanish bureaucracy - but also the reason people chose to leave their home countries, either temporarily or permanently. Explaining to my new friends my partner and I had left Australia for "fun and an adventure" and not because we were forced due to war, or to escape an oppressive culture made me very grateful for our situation.
For the first time since my partner and I have lived together, we had a spare room in our apartment. Given that our flat was in central Barcelona, close to a main train station and we had the room - we were fortunate enough to have many, many, many visitors. During our year living here we counted up 20 people that had stayed with us - from family and friends to colleagues - that's more than one a month.
And while we're incredibly lucky to have so many people wanting to stay (or to take advantage of the free accommodation) we found there were weeks that felt like we were running a hotel. My advice - either space the visitors out or learn to say no, so you're not trying to wash and change sheets and towels in the one day between one person leaving and another arriving. It's inevitable that at some stage you will find yourself homesick, frustrated and wondering if this was the right choice.
Sit with it. When we first arrived I - naively - assumed that simply packing up and jumping on a plane would solve all of life's problems. In some ways it does - but it will always throw other things up too.
The reality is wherever you are in the world you will face challenges. Face them, ask for help, throw a tantrum, cry - whatever you need to do. But there is no doubt in my mind that this experience has made me a more resilient person in the long term, and it could do the same for you.
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