A beautiful couple of singer-songwriters from Peru, Alejandro y Maria Laura, released a song earlier this year called “Yo no pasé por aquí” – I didn’t pass through here. The first lines say –
Una parte de mí se quedó en otro país
A part of me stayed behind in another country
No pude viajar con todo lo que me hace feliz
I couldn’t travel with everything that made me happy
Estoy un poquito allá y un poquito aquí
I’m a little bit here, a little bit there
Buscando el camino que me lleve del fruto a la raíz
Searching for the path that can take me from the fruit to the root
Yo no pase por aquí, aquí paso por mi
I didn’t pass through here, here passed through me
I remember when I first heard it, my eyes filled with tears, especially when he says he puts photos up on his walls to imagine his whole family in one place. But the chorus really got to me – that feeling of being somewhere that feels like more than a vacation spot, more than a temporary landing. That feeling of being somewhere that feels like home, a place that you carry with you that inspires you to search for your roots.
I played this song that morning in October, when our plane landed in Alicante, at 9:33AM.
Welcome to Alicante, the flight attendant said.
So…yes! We moved to Spain! It was so simple. We just chose the country we liked, we sold everything and moved!
Ha! I wish. Nick and I began planning this move in late 2021, when our son was about to turn 1 and we began to think about our future as a family. We visited many cities around the US but none of them felt quite right. I think deep down we knew we didn’t want to stay in the US for many reasons, but it isn’t an easy thing to come to terms with. We felt the pull to move abroad around March 2022 and so we planned a trip to Spain for Nick’s birthday. After 2.5 weeks in Barcelona, L’Escala, Girona and little towns in the Costa Brava, we were in awe of a country that aligned with the things we wanted so much.
But upon returning to the US, we had no idea where to start, how we would make it work financially, or how to even go about picking up and moving across the globe with a toddler. So we began exploring other cities. We liked some, loved some, but we always compared them to Spain. None of them made us feel what we felt there.
Now, one thing about Nick: he’s a Virgo. And he’s the most Virgo who ever Virgoed. The man began compiling spreadsheets. He was determined to calculate the perfect city for us. He developed metrics and a point system for the things that most mattered to us: school for Ale, green space, air quality, proximity to cool coffeeshops and of course, poke bowl availability for me.
Forbes put out a list of the top cities for ex-pats (I hate this term and will write about it and being a double immigrant soon!) and Spain had all top 3: Malaga, Valencia and Alicante.
So we embarked on yet another scouting trip. Valencia and Costa Blanca for 2 weeks, but this time, with data.
The thing about data is that it’s just that. A starting point. By our calculations, Valencia was the best city for us. By our hearts, it was Alicante.
The week after we returned to the US we got in touch with a lawyer. After exploring all avenues to move to Spain, we came across their new Digital Nomad visa which allows non-EU citizens to live and work in Spain for up to 3 years. We found the best lawyer – yes, the best – and so began the process.
I am so excited to share the details of it all. How we told our parents, and friends. The steps we took to let go of our life in the US. How we felt love and support and also got some negative responses. How even at the last minute we had doubts. How we held our breaths after submitting our application. The call from our lawyer after 6 days (we were told to expect a month) saying we were approved.
How for nearly 1 month we have been living a life that is truly the closest to what we envisioned life to be when we began to dream big in 2021. Our days are simple, slow, and full of sunshine and love.
We found our nido, here in Alicante. Stay tuned for more 🙂
Love,
Ana