Barcelona
Ten years ago this month (I can't believe it's been ten years!) I moved to Barcelona Spain.
I quit my job, sold my car, got certified to teach English (TEFL), and bought a one way ticket. I didn't plan on staying forever, but I also had no idea when I would be coming back home. After falling in love with Europe 7 years earlier during a study abroad trip to Florence Italy (and then again on a backpacking trip 2 years later), I knew I had to experience living there longer than 6 weeks. I had the itch.
Why Barcelona? I don’t know. I had been once and loved it…it seemed like a cool place to live. I had also thought about Italy because I loved it so much, but I already spent some time there and figured I should go somewhere else. So Spain seemed like a good idea. Originally I decided on Madrid, but went with Barcelona at the last minute. I liked the beauty, culture, and artsy-ness of Barcelona.
I’ve had a lot of people ask me "what program did you go through" or "what company set you up?" after hearing that I lived in Spain and taught English. I didn't go through a program or a company, I did everything on my own. It sounds crazier than it actually was…I had done my research and knew I would find a job and a place to live…at some point. Many other people were doing it, so I was confident I could too. Don’t get me wrong…I can clearly remember my first night in Barcelona, walking around the Gothic Quarter and wondering what I had gotten myself into and if I was crazy for moving there. I didn't have a place to live or a job, and I didn't know anyone except for a few people I had connected with through a Facebook group for Barcelona teachers.
Before leaving Chicago, I had booked three nights at a hostel, hoping to find a more permanent place to live and some job leads in those three days. I hit the ground running my first morning there, planting myself at a nearby cafe with my laptop, coffee and some chocolate croissants (not the best chocolate croissants I have ever had…they were definitely stale). I searched the English teaching job boards and craigslist-type websites that had been recommended to me, and I told myself that I wouldn’t do anything fun until I had a place to live.
After two more days at the cafe, I finally found a room to rent in a cute apartment in the neighborhood of Gracia, with two other women, one local and one American. And a week or so later I was hired by two families to teach their kids private English lessons. Shortly after that I applied at a preschool to teach English four mornings a week, and I got the job.
Two weeks after arriving in Barcelona, I went to an English teachers meeting at a bar called La Cigale, down the street from my apartment, where I met some really amazing, fun people (see the photos at the bottom of this page). We had some crazy adventures, lots of late nights, and went on a few weekend trips to other countries together. Some of them have turned out to be very close friends of mine to this day.
Living there satisfied my itch of wanting to live in Europe…for like, a minute. Honestly…does that itch ever go away?? I think I will always want to live in Barcelona again, or Florence, or Amsterdam, or Prague.
I wasn’t even there for a full year, but living in Barcelona changed my life. Not only did I learn a lot about the city and culture, but I learned a lot about myself. Moving abroad can be very satisfying, but it’s not without its challenges. The world becomes so much bigger…you find yourself in a place where everything is new, and nothing is familiar. I didn’t speak Spanish or Catalan (the language spoken in Barcelona) well, so that was one of the most challenging things for me. When you’re in a foreign country and you don’t know anyone, or speak the language, and you don’t have a home or a job, you definitely learn a few things about yourself. Of course, there were times where I felt homesick, anxious, and lost. But more often, I felt capable, strong, and independent. It’s a pretty great feeling to move to another country and create a life for yourself.
Before living abroad I never quite understood it when people would say they traveled and “found themselves.” But I totally get that statement now. You really get to know yourself better than ever before. It was definitely one of the best things I have ever done in my life, and I’m so grateful for my experience.
I concluded another blog post with this quote but I feel like it’s more appropriate for this one.
"Travel isn’t always pretty. It isn’t always comfortable. Sometimes it hurts, it even breaks your heart. But that’s okay. The journey changes you; it should change you. It leaves marks on your memory, on your consciousness, on your heart, and on your body. You take something with you. Hopefully, you leave something good behind."
-Anthony Bourdain
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