The answer to the question is probably yes, but what have we got to lose? Here we are, a couple in our 30's, with a toddler, two dogs, and we decide to sell off all our belongings, our cars, our house, and leave California, the only place I've ever known (yikes), to move to Alicante, Spain. The real kicker is...we've never actually been to Spain! In fact, the closest we've been to traveling abroad has been hopping the border to Mexico. So what makes, for all intents and purposes, a sane couple change their whole lives? Let's begin!
So real quick, here's a brief intro to the crazy people you will be traveling with. There is me, Tiffany (34), my husband Johnny (39), and my son Jackson (3). We see ourselves as pretty down-to-earth people but found trying to make a life in California kept us anything but grounded. I am an original Californian, and my husband moved here about 9 years ago. At that time, we were married (2016), bought a house (2017), and had a baby (2018). We were living the dream, or we were supposed to be, right? And then came the pandemic...
When the pandemic hit, I was working 40+ hours as a mental health therapist, Johnny was working 40+ as an installer, and our son spent more time at daycare than with us. I started working from home and realized other than not going into the office every day; my life didn't really change much (not a good sign). Like most couples, the problems began to show. We separated and even talked about divorce. Through some therapy of our own, we were able to work it out but realized something in our life needed to change. We had always talked about moving to Europe as we felt there was an energy there that was much more our style (based on the European tv shows we watched, haha). This was when the light bulb turned on.
Living in California, "the best place in the world," I realized I had bought into the hype. Working like a dog to pay my $2200 mortgage and paying $1000 a month in daycare, to work to pay for daycare seemed worth it to live here. When I thought about moving to Europe in the past, I was told how expensive it would be, and "why would I ever want to live anywhere else?" But I decided to look into it because what the hell, nothing else is happening.
I began in Italy because it was a dream but realized immigration was a little tricky, so I moved on with my search. Being from California, I have about an 8-year-old's Spanish level, so it made sense to look in Spain. What I discovered blew my mind! We could live in Spain with rent, utilities, medical, food, school, etc., for what it cost to pay my mortgage!!! Also, my dream of living by the beach, which would never happen here because I don't have millions, was a real option, because a beautiful, 3 bedroom house, 1 block from the beach cost, wait for it, $70,000. I could actually be around to see my son grow up! It was a no-brainer!
Now you're probably here to get help with the process and not listen to me blather on and on, so thanks for making it this far! This is my first time doing a blog, so it may be a little rough at first, but so are diamonds, hehe. This is just the beginning of our journey and the start of our story. If you'd like to see how the process is going and get some tricks (since it has not been going smoothly, haha), please keep reading my blogs and don't hesitate to ask any questions. Hopefully, these blogs help people answer questions that I struggled to find answers for in my own searches but maybe helps us make a few friends along the way.
****also, thank you, Grammarly, for making it seem I remembered anything from high school about grammar!
Next up, if you can fill out the Visa paperwork, you can do anything!
Written:04/04/2021
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