In my August recap the other day I made a little bit of an announcement. I didn’t want to go into too much detail there because I think it deserves its own post entirely. I mean, I don’t want to push it into a corner or anything. In fact, I want to sing it from the blimmin’ rooftops.

The announcement? I’m moving to Spain (again) at the end of September.

You might remember that in June, at the end of my last stint in Spain, I was unsure about what steps lay ahead – would I stay in Igualada? Would I move to more tropical climes? Or would I venture back to the UK for good?

Well, the score has finally been settled and I’m excited to say I’ll be moving to Spain but not to Igualada. In fact, you could say I’m moving to more tropical climes.

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Okay, enough build up already! Where are you moving to?

I’m moving to a lovely little city (well, Google maps says it’s lovely) about an hour outside of Madrid called Aranda de Duero. There’s a river, there’s ample wine-guzzling opportunities (oh hell yes, it’s in a wine region), and there’s windy old cobbled streets. There’s even an impressive cathedral and a cute square with a bandstand in.

After weeks and months spent fretting over where to move to and why, I’m now riding that cool wave of calm that comes after a major decision has been made. I’ve even been looking for apartments (and oh my, is that exciting!).

Why Aranda de Duero?

Firstly – why the heck not? The boyfriend and I were looking at big cities like Seville and Bilbao, but we like the community feel of smaller cities. Igualada pretty much had a party every weekend and I’m hoping the same is true of Aranda.

Like last year, the boyfriend will be teaching English in a school in Aranda whilst I’m sipping champagne on the balcony. Sorry, I mean, working really hard and all. I’m sure the views of the river will ease the pain of all that work.

Luckily, Aranda is only about an hour and a half from Madrid, which means it’s still easy to catch flights and explore a large cosmopolitan city whenever the urge arises (I actually spent a month in Madrid a few years ago and had mixed feelings about it, so I’m looking forward to facing my demons and learning to love it again). It’s also just an hour or so away from Burgos and two hours from Bilbao, an arty city I’m frothing at the bit to explore!

Finally, there is no Catalan in Aranda. No misunderstandings. Don’t get me wrong, Catalan is a lovely language but I can’t speak a word of it. Give me Castellano any day of the week. It’s hard enough moving to Spain with its new, different culture, let alone moving to Spain without being able to speak the language, so it’ll be a nice change only having one language to listen out for (and that language is one I can speak/understand fairly well).

Enough about the where and more about what I’m looking forward to! After nine months in Spain I was looking forward to coming back to England for some home comforts, but now I’m eager to get stuck back into the laidback Spanish lifestyle.

What I’m Looking Forward to About Moving to Spain

1. The Food

Oh my god the food. Spanish food is definitely one of my favourite cuisines in the world – all those tiny plates and bitesize morsels are enough to get anyone’s stomach rumbling (and not just because they’re small portions). Moving to Spain means stuffing my face with patatas, croquettes, Spanish hams and cheeses, and fishy dishes. Bring. It. On.

2. The Easy Living Lifestyle

Life in Spain is so laidback it’s basically horizontal. It took a while to get used to after moving from England where everything is Go, Go, GO all the time, but I grew fond of it and found my stress levels decreasing and my health improving. I learnt not to worry about things as much as I usually would and I adopted this easy-come-easy-go attitude (I’m sure my friends and family would object to that one, though).

3. The Weather

Towards the end of my last stint in Spain I was sorely missing cool weather. I’m not a sun-seeker by any stretch of the imagination and the Spanish sun was really starting to wear me out. For the first few weeks in England the cooler summer was a very welcome change, but come August the weather turned and it rained like it was the end of the world. Now I’m looking forward to getting my face back in the sun and enjoying the last of the rays before winter sets in.

4. Exploring a New Place

This is probably the thing I’m most excited about. I didn’t get to visit Barcelona as much as I wanted to last year so this year I’m making a concerted effort to get out and explore both Aranda and Madrid. There’s still a lot for me to see in Madrid and I can’t wait to get to know Aranda like the back of my hand. I’m gunning for hikes every weekend, browsing markets in the morning, and sipping coffee in a different square every day… or something like that at least.

5. Having Ample Time on My Hands

I had completely forgotten how demanding life in England is until I was thrown back in at the deep end this summer. There’s friends and family to be seen, work to be done, and very little time for anything else. I wanted to spend as much time as possible with the people I love and enjoy the English summer with them, but I’m looking forward to moving to Spain again and cracking on with all the ideas and projects I have swimming around in my head (seriously, don’t go in there, it’s a mess!).

I want to write another book. I want to create some products that will help you guys live the life you want. I want to create longer, more in-depth posts with worksheets and workshops. I want to start making art again. I want to make more videos.

The list is endless and I’ve been putting it off all summer so I could enjoy the good life. In Spain it’s back to work (maybe with a sangria on the terrace?).

6. The Passionate Culture

It’s no secret that I love Spanish culture. Seriously, it’s so lively and fun and they really know how to throw a good festival. I suppose the food, weather and lifestyle all come under this heading, too, but there’s so much more to the culture than that. I’m looking forward to digging a little bit deeper into it this year.

There’s way more things I’m looking forward to about moving to Spain again, but I’m not sure you want to hear about my late night eating habits or how inexpensive things are (or maybe you do?!). Just know that I am going to be sharing all of the things I see and learn about with you guys whilst striving to push my freelance business forward and take things to the next level.

I’m excited for it to begin.

Your turn! Have you lived abroad? What did you look forward to the most?