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Moving Abroad?

  • Writer: heartbcn
    heartbcn
  • Apr 11, 2016
  • 3 min read

Some of us dream of moving to a different country, changing jobs, changing our lifestyle and having what we consider to be a more exotic way of life, the other side of it is that it’s certainly not everyone’s “cup of tea”. Why move when you can just visit on holiday? For me it was always one of those things that you talk about with your friends on a night out or your partner when on holiday…. “Wouldn't it be great if we could live here?” or“How cool would it be to work in this city?" Until one day I found we were having the conversation with a view that our dreams could become our reality.

My partner and I had spoken about moving abroad many times since our relationship began, a common idea we both shared. As the story goes though, life gets in the way and so for years we only ever “wondered” what it would be like and got the holiday blues after every holiday! I had been in the same job for some time and simultaneously studying for my degree. As I neared completion of my degree we both decided the time was right and that it was “now or never” and so we started researching the idea. The criteria was simple; we wanted a better quality of life, to live and learn another culture, meet new people and I had always wanted to try and learn another language (I am still working on that bit!)

So, we used the whole of that year to plan and research. I had visited the city many times and considered it my first “travel love” and my partner loved it too, so we knew it was the right place to move to, somewhere new, but also somewhere we were both familiar with and felt comfortable in. As soon as I finished my degree we left on a flat hunting trip. We used an apartment finding service "Moving to Barcelona" to advise, guide and translate for us, luckily everything went smoothly. By the time we came back from that trip we had the keys to an apartment!

Whilst that was all so simple and smooth, it’s never easy to actually finally “make” the decision to move and it took a while to decide for definite. For a long time I was consumed with guilt about leaving. Leaving my family, my friends, my job, essentially life as I knew it. Let me tell you, it’s as scary as it is exciting. What would I do when my partner was away at work? What if we didn't like it? But you eventually come to realise that the dreams that you always talked about will only ever happen if you make them happen and you have you live your life for you, no one else. Yes it’s scary but if you really want to do it, you have to overcome those fears.

Fast forward and over a year has passed, the truth is we are loving it! We are glad we made the move and are finally fulfilling our dream of starting a new life abroad. Two weeks into Spanish last year and I met some people who have become good friends, as well as meeting other good friends over the last year. New opportunities have opened up in terms of work, I am now perusing things that were once upon a time a hobby and trying to carve a new career. Of course, it’s always difficult being away from the ones you love, but it’s not far on a plane and we have had so many visitors, everyone has been very supportive and continues to be. We feel lucky that people have spent their time and money coming to visit us here and let us show them this beautiful city.

So moving abroad? It’s scary and difficult at times but all the amazing things we've experienced in between completely outweighs the other things. Life is for living, not wondering.

 
 
 

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2016 Gemma Reid

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