Why I Always Choose Spain
Apart from the obvious reasons such as an inexhaustible amount of sun, mountains, nature, fresh air… Simply living every day, even when I am working, as a holiday…? What’s not to like?
It’s a poor country! How can you live in Barcelona without having a job that pays you well? I get these questions all the time. Do you not feel culturally deprived in Barcelona?
It does take a special person to be able to leave the big city!
One gets pension schemes, holidays pay and a very enticing package depending on an experience and marital status. It’s very difficult to break out of that because everyone else does the same; buy a house, a dog/cat, children then holidays, cars and children’s’ schools. You are “tied in” and it’s very difficult or almost impossible to get away from the life in the city.
If there’s a will there’s a way!
I know quite a few people who would just pack their bags and go to Spain. Somehow they manage to come up with ideas to live in Spain. We are programmed to believe, if you live or lived in London, you have to have a corporate job to be able to live. You have to have some comfort too go out for dinners and holidays and etc.
You have to have a five star hotel or an apartment to show off your hard work through wealth you accumulate. To me this is only showing how much you sold your soul to work for the man. Each to their own! Don’t get me wrong, I like luxury and beautiful things but they are not my end goal and it never was. I like lovely places to stay at and enjoy it.
I don’t slave most of the year as most people or my ex-colleagues do to get a two week holiday. I choose to do things differently and not follow the crowd. Who said you need a corporate job to live? I work so I can create something out of my life for somebody or something else. (That’s in another blog post!)
The sun and soul
In Spain the worst cafe in the smallest town worth more than an exclusive club/bar/cafe in London. Why? It’s got some soul and rawness to it that the corporate world hasn’t destroyed it. Maybe I idolise the life in Spain. However, if anyone escapes the grey, cold, drunk city to anywhere in the sun is amazing. In Spain, people talk to you even if they don’t speak English!
They speak to you in Spanish and are the most friendliest people on the planet I have ever met. They’ll try to help you in any way they can. If you were looking for a place to stay they offer to ask around the town about places to rent. They’ll tell you their life stories if you give them a minute of your time and plenty of advice.
The smooth system
Things work in Spain. These guys have their siesta depending on where you are in Spain but from 1 or 2 pm until 4.30 or 5.30pm they close for lunch. Amazing! I am forced to have lunch too. They do work hard when they work. I love how they value their time off. The post office service is amazing. However, there’s a lot of paper for little things.
Once you get all your papers ready it all seems to work. They have worked it out. For a foreigner, it may seem like a silly or funny process with all the document requirements but they’ve got their system and it works somehow. If you go to a bank it will take you a while because they love paperwork and a chat. You might loose half a day but you’ll come out of it with everything you need.
I do consider it being as a smooth system it only takes time.
Jobs, Money and Culture
There are plenty of jobs in Spain. Obviously it depends on your sector. Spain doesn’t offer high salaries but it offers longer LIFE. You don’t need a lot of money to live well in Spain. The food isn’t expensive. You live most of the time outside not inside. You are surrounded by nature. You have a freedom of your own choice how to enjoy nature.
You can go horse riding, running in the mountains, hike in the mountains, tennis, paddle, rock climbing, go the sea, jump in the pool… Ok take your pick there’s plenty of choice. I know you can do many of these things in the big city but most of it’s indoors it’s not the same. Nothing beats when you go for a mountain walk on a real mountain, or play tennis in the mountains or horse ride in the mountains. You get my point, right?
There’s a lot of culture here. What a fascinating history too! There’s so much art, theatre, music and dance and contemporary dance. Let me say this way, you won’t be culturally deprived in Spain. Spain has so much to offer but most importantly it offers you your own time and gives you back your life. You believe it once you live in Spain how life can actually be.
Most of my days are like holidays. When I first moved here I didn’t believe that every day can be like a holiday. Funny, I live it every single day like a holiday even if I am working. The feeling you get when you walk to a town through a mountain walk or when you drive and see the most amazing mountain peaks — is breathtaking.
I have to remind myself it’s not a holiday it’s my actual life.
