On September 25th, I boarded my flight from JFK to Valencia, Spain to spend the next nine months of my young adult life. Before I dive into the details of moving to Spain, let’s first rewind a bit to me getting on this flight. September 25th was a day that was a long time coming for me. Phone calls, paperwork, appointments, and even some tears all culminated in me getting on my flight on September 25th. After circling the airport numerous times searching for my terminal, I made it. I took my time saying my goodbyes and then headed over to check in. As I was making my way to security, a worker yelled after me that the last bus was coming at 8:45. A bus?! Since when was I taking a bus to the plane and why was the last one leaving so early?! I was a bit worried but I knew I’d be fine. Worry turned to full panic when I saw the wait time for security was 40 minutes. I wasn’t going to make the bus, not if I just stood by and waited. It was at this moment I activated some sort of turbo mode within me and jumped into action. I asked the people around me if I could cut ahead of them in line. Once I got through security, I broke out into a full sprint for my gate (which made me feel kinda cool if I’m being honest). I ended up making it with plenty of time actually, because since when are these buses ever punctual? So fast forward about 12 hours and now I’m here in Valencia! 

It may seem like a daunting undertaking moving across the world, but when you break it down into the necessary steps, it’s not so bad. I followed the directions to fill out the application to become an English Language Assistant in Spain and once accepted, I followed the steps to complete the Visa process and then joined the English Teachers in Valencia Facebook page and found my roommates. It’s much more digestible for my mind when a huge undertaking like this is defined simply by the step-by-step process needed to get there.

It’s been about a month since moving to Valencia, and I can say this is the best decision I’ve made thus far in my life. The auxiliary community and just the international community in general here is huge making it so easy to connect with new people. It’s refreshing meeting like-minded people in the sense that our main goal for our twenties is to explore and have as many new experiences as we can. I love walking out of my apartment building into the bustling neighborhood of Rufassa where there’s a bar, restaurant, and thrift shop in every direction you turn. Each night, no matter what day of the week it is, you’ll hear friends laughing over a few beers outside on the patio and couples walking hand-in-hand down the street. The culture of enjoyment is truly contagious, you are made to feel like you deserve a break from your work and responsibilities and it is only right that you spend your free time with friends.

One of my biggest fears in life is being comfortable. Don’t get me wrong, comfortability, and establishing a routine that you thrive off of is great and oftentimes necessary for our well-being. I’m referring to comfortability from a wider lens. The type of cycle that is so repetitive and predictable that you eventually forget the zest of life that’s all around you. If you’re reading this and feel like you’re stuck in the loop of predictability, I think it only takes baby steps of exposure to break out of it. Taking the action to do one thing out of the ordinary for you will open your eyes to all that the world has to offer. This doesn’t even have to be something so grand. It can be asking an old friend for coffee and learning about what they’ve been up to. New people bring new information and new information gives us new ideas for our own lives.