This is what my husband said to me mid-December of last year. We had gotten married in May (yea!), I finished my PhD in June, we went on our honeymoon in July, then I moved to New Zealand for a short-term teaching position (so cool), and I had just gotten back to the states when Mitch got into the MBA program at IESE in Barcelona. As if 2017 wasn’t wild enough! But of course I absolutely said yes! Mitch had supported me for 5 years in getting my PhD in kinesiology from the University of Minnesota, so it seemed only fair I return the favor. Plus, it was taking us to Spain! Mitch grew up abroad in Singapore, so it was a continuation of ex-pat living for him, but for me it represented the next step in my travel-fetish: living abroad! At that point, I was in-between jobs after finishing my contract in New Zealand so the timing was right. So within the span of about a week, Mitch had interviewed, been accepted, and submitted a deposit. In-it-to-win-it! The excitement lasted for several weeks as we began to dream about what life would be like in Barcelona- wandering around the El Gòtic, sipping vino (wine) or cava (Spanish sparkling wine), eating tapas, playing on the beach, taking in the impressive views of Sagrada Familia, Park Güell, Arc de Trimof, not to mention begin able to see the rest of Europe. Oh the possibilities!
Then reality set in. We’re moving to a foreign country! What does that mean?!
- Telling all your friends and family you are moving very far away
- Selling your condo (Mitch’s) and therefore repainting and decluttering it for sale
- Renting out your house (mine) and getting a property manager
- Quitting your job
- Selling, donating, or just trying to give away all your possessions, including my beloved Ford Taurus (affectionately named Llyod)
- Changing your house, condo, and car insurance
- Updating all your address information to your in-laws (somebody has to get the important ish)
- Getting a Spanish visa (that will get a whole post in itself, maybe 2)
- Figuring out your phone service options (I don’t want to lose my precious 719 area code)
- Moving all your “gotta keeps” to your parents (thanks for not charging storage fees)
- And finally getting all your remaining possessions into FOUR checked bags and your carry-on’s
Phew. I’m tired just remembering all we had to do! All of that happened across 6-7 months so we had lots of time… well we had some time because we sold the condo in May and left the US in August. But I’ll regal you with tales of what we’ve affectionately dubbed the “Summer of Wandering” next time. For now it’s sufficient to say we were excitedly (though somewhat anxiously) ready to fly the coop!
Cheers
-LS
Flying The Coop 