It’s May 31st, so I’ve officially spent two years in Barcelona today. It’s a little over two years since I graduated college with big dreams of living in a cool European city. So what’s changed over the past 2 years?
I’ve traveled more than I expected.
From day trips to pretty medieval Girona to weekend jaunts to Salamanca to week-long party cruises to Ibiza, I’ve suddenly gotten quite a taste for traveling around Spain. It’s fascinating to really travel around a country in depth. There’s still so much I haven’t seen in Spain – País Vasco, La Tomatina and San Fermines festivals, and more of Castilla y León are on my list.
So far this year, I’ve been to Ibiza, celebrated Las Fallas in Valencia, partied for Carnaval in Sitges, and been to see a beautiful flower festival in Girona.
![Valencia-Las-Fallas-traditional-outfits-2013](http://barcelonablonde.com/wp-content/plugins/lazy-load/images/1x1.trans.gif)
Traditional Valencian outfits at Las Fallas. I’m the tallest here, but I’m actually really short – the taller girls must’ve only been around 13.
My social life clicked.
Moving to a new city is hard. I hadn’t anticipated that; I was used to school, where it’s practically impossible not to meet people. Add into that mix a super stressful year, and I wasn’t feeling very social. But finally, something clicked, and now I meet and hang out with the kind of people I was hoping to be friends with – smart, interesting, sociable, and adventurous.
I finally found a job I like.
Teaching English abroad is the default option for lots of new college grads who want to travel and don’t have defined career goals yet. It can definitely be a good choice for some people….but for me, it was not a good fit. I haven’t talked much about this, but let’s just say between flaky academies, power-tripping language directors, and difficult students (one word: Alzheimer’s), I got burnt out on teaching English pretty fast.
Luckily, I fell into a fun job that I like. I translate a Spanish celebrity gossip site for teens, plus write content in English and test out games. Yep, that’s right – I read celebrity gossip and play online games for work. It sounds like something out of a sitcom, and people occasionally think I’m joking about my job.
On top of that, I freelance for magazines, which is something that I actually enjoy a lot. Seeing your name and work in print feels so cool! I got really lucky with my job search this time around.
Just so you’re not too envious of my job, it does require some tiresome specialist knowledge, like being able to:
- Identify and locate every single one of Justin Bieber‘s tattoos
- Distinguish all five members of One Direction (Harry Styles is the cutest one!)
- Keep up to date on Miley Cyrus‘s ever-changing relationship status with Liam Hemsworth.
None of those pieces of knowledge are impressive or even interesting at parties (unless Liam himself is at the party in question. In that case I would be very interested to know what his current relationship status is).
I got my official introduction to the “real world.”
When I graduated college, I figured I was taking advantage of my time to travel and have fun. I thought it would buy me time to think about what I really wanted to do, and I thought I was unstoppable. And to be fair, that was all the people around me told me too.
That wasn’t how it turned out.
Maybe some people would throw out the word “entitled” here. I don’t think that’s really the right way to describe it. I didn’t believe that I was owed anything. I didn’t think things would magically fall into place. But nobody told me how hard things could be. Nobody even suggested it would be hard – they just said I was so smart, my future was bright, and that I could do anything I wanted.
I learned pretty fast that sometimes you get a bunch of bad luck at one time, and sometimes there’s nothing you can do about it. It was hard seeing my dream of moving to Barcelona become a nightmare. It was even harder to realize that sometimes working hard, trying your best, and being kind isn’t enough…no matter what I’d always been told.
Blogging!
I started my blog the same way almost everyone else does; I was studying abroad and wanted to share my adventures. Like any good study abroad student, I’d ditched the blog by mid-October. When I moved back to Barcelona, I posted a few scattered entries. I really started posting regularly a little over a year ago. This time, it’s stuck.
I have been absolutely shocked and thrilled by the positive response. It’s helped me come out of my shell, grow more confident, develop new skills, and really take advantage of my time here.
It’s also been a huge confidence booster after the tough year I had. I know there are much more successful blogs, but this has honestly surpassed my craziest fantasies about my blog. I’m still kind of taken aback – me?? When people encourage me to shoot for even bigger goals, my first reaction is always “Um…are you sure you’re talking to the right girl?” But they are!
I’m excited to see where things go from here. I have a few things on the horizon that I’m really stoked to see come together, and I’ll be sharing updates with you soon. 🙂
So a HUGE HUGE HUGE thank you to everybody who’s been following my adventures and misadventures in Barcelona! It’s been incredible to get so much support from people and positive feedback. It really has changed my year, and who knows where it will lead in another year? It might sound cheesy but it’s true!
I’ll be partying with a bunch of my friends at a theme party tomorrow night, and I can think of no better way to celebrate. One more time – muchas gracias to everyone! Here’s to another year of traveling onwards and upwards.
(And Spain, if you could also make summer get here faster, I would be even happier. 🙂 )
Gracias y besos!
-Jess
Congrats Jess, two years already! I didn’t realise that, so massive kudos to you for making your dream happen, and particularly during a really difficult time in Spain! Keep up the top blogging too, as you know I’m always entertained (and envious) with your tales of what’s going on in my favourite city!
Oh and most importantly – Happy Birthday! 😀
Thanks Carl! I always love reading your travel tales too. You’re always welcome in Barcelona! 🙂
That was supposed to be “Happy Barcelona Birthday” btw! Haha…
Hey! I’ve recently subscribed to your blog and I really like what you write. I’ve just started blogging myself and after passing through some difficult years I feel that with blogging a new world has opened to me, a new one where I really feel happy and proud of posting and it really helps!!! Good Luck with your new adventures and looking forward to hear more from you!
Thanks very much! Blogging really does help. I was so surprised, and you’re absolutely right – it does give you something to be proud of.
I thought that my job was pretty much ‘el no va mas’, but yours tops it, no question 🙂
Nice to hear that things are turning out so well for you. Sadly, here in Spain, it’s rare that you hear positive stories like this, especially from young people. As you well know…
Haha yes yes, I did get extraordinarily lucky with the job! Especially considering it’s Spain, but things aren’t in bad in Catalunya as they are in the rest of the country. (I’m sorry, did we just add another reason to your list? 🙂 )
I think you just did 😉
So, you reckon I could find a job in Barcelona without knowing any Catalan? (Not that I need another job, but you never know…)
Yes, definitely. I don’t speak very much, and almost all of my friends who are Spanish-speaking but not Catalan don’t speak any at all – and somebody hired us anyway!
That’s v encouraging, thanks 🙂
Congrats on 2 years! I can definitely tell you that my best times here have been after I was here for 2 years so count on things only getting better!
Thanks very much! I’m excited to see what happens next.
Happy Barcelona birthday!!! Congrats!
Gracias! 🙂
¡feliz cumpleaños! I’ve loved checking out your blog and delighted to hear of your success. I don’t know your story from the start, but going through the hard stuff builds character and is part of life. Congrats on persevering! Thanks for following my blog. You are getting me excited for my trip next month–if that was possible. 🙂
Oh, and I love those flamenco aprons. Gotta pick up one of those in Madrid so I can cook Spanish food in style back in the states. Are they easy to find or is there a specific shop I need to find to get them? Thanks!
Gracias! Oh, and about the flamenco aprons…I saw them in quite a few places in Madrid. These were at the El Rastro market, which takes over the city center on Sundays. They’re so bright they’re easy to spot!
Congratulations on your 2 year anniversary in Barcelona. Good for you for sticking it out through the tough times. Your job sounds awesome. I love the flamenco aprons too.
Gracias! As much as I complain about the Bieber-related parts of my job, I actually really enjoy it. 🙂
Congrats, Jessica!! It’s been fun to follow your journey; here’s to many more years!
Thanks chica! Cheers to more adventures in Spain. 🙂
Isn’t Harry Styles always the favourite….?! Well done on two years, a great blog and hope you achieve what you want. If you’re ever in Orgiva or surrounding area, we’ll say hi (and let you do the talking to the locals…).
Thank you very much! Likewise, you’re always welcome to a tour of Barcelona. 🙂
Many congratulations on your 2 years in Barcelona!! Can’t wait to celebrate!
Thank you! See you tonight to celebrate 🙂
Happy Barcelona birthday! I love following along with your blog – hope there are many more years to come!
Thanks very much, Laura!
Happy Barcelona birthday Jessica! Hope you had a blast! Here’s to many more Barcelona anniversaries 🙂
Thank you very much! 🙂
happy barcelona birthday and, look! summer’s here! seriously what’s this weather? it changed from one day to another! (probably to celebrate, hahah!)
Haha yes, to celebrate! 🙂 I like that theory. But I don’t really mind why it happened. I’m just happy it’s finally warm! Fingers crossed it stays that way.
Happy Barcelona Birthday!
Do you think you’ll ever write about the more challenging parts of your 2 years in Barcelona? I mean if you don’t want to, no one would blame you, but since you are doing so well now it’d be nice to read about the problems you’ve had and how you ended up overcoming them (read: encouraging for the rest of us [aspiring] expats).
Hmm, that’s a good question! I have a LOT of drafts written up and always wonder if I actually want to post them publicly. Most of the things that happened to me would have been bad no matter where I was so I’m not sure they fit the expat/travel blog focus. Some of them are still too raw for me to feel comfortable posting them online, and others might ultimately be too personal. Basically, I haven’t decided yet!
I understand that. I had a living abroad WordPress when I lived in Seville, but I posted the more private things on my years-old friends-only blog elsewhere, and the posts about my ex were filtered so everyone couldn’t read them…so I ended up barely updating my WordPress lol
Haha I didn’t even bother posting them on my blog anywhere – they’re all safely hidden away in a document somewhere! 🙂
But who knows, they may make an appearance someday!
Great post and happy anniversary on living in Spain! It’s been great reading about your experience, you may be inspiring me to move back someday. 🙂
Let me know if you move back to Spain and we’ll have to meet up somewhere for cañas! 🙂
Congrats! So happy to have connected over the blogs 🙂
Me too! I’m looking forward to reading lots more of your adventures. 🙂
the two have split as of yesterday you know
Haha Miley & Liam? But then why was she photographed wearing her engagement ring again early this week? It’s an ongoing mystery! 🙂
hey, you tell me. you get a bloody expensive ring from somebody who decides not to hang out with you anymore, are you going to go “no no, please take this bloody expensive ring with you as I cannot bear to hold on to this anymore and continue to make my friend feel jealous of me”
Hahaha fair enough!
Congratulation Jessica, your blog is amazing and for me, that i had a similar experience (I came as a student 4 years ago), it’s really interesting to see your point of view!
Check my blog “caNNot miss” if you are interested in nice things to do/see/eat in barcelona 🙂
Thanks very much! I just checked out your blog and love it too. 🙂
Happy Barcelona birthday! Your job sounds like so much fun! Isn’t it great to get paid for work that you actually enjoy doing?
Thanks very much! 🙂 I agree, it’s SO nice to get paid for a fun job.
Happy Barcelona birthday! Your job sounds like so much fun! Isn’t it great to get paid doing work that you actually enjoy?
Hi Jessica! Congrats on your 2 years in Barcelona! 🙂
Keep up the good work! 😉
Best wishes; Rita
Gracias, Rita! 🙂
Great reflection! Second that, moving abroad isn’t as easy it may seem! It is hard. I’m glad you pushed through and things are finally falling into place for you! Glad you were able to find an alternative to teaching and your blog has taking off!
Yess, everybody thinks I’m on a permanent vacation! It’s like people forget real life exists in pretty places too. By the way, I hope you’re enjoying being home again. 🙂
Thorough and insightful post Jessica. When it comes to living abroad there are two versions – the postcard version that envious friends have back home, and then there’s reality. It sounds like you’ve worked hard to make your life in Spain a success, and as you describe, hard work and flexibility is exactly what it takes. This post will also be helpful for aspiring expats. ~James
Thanks very much, James! You’re absolutely right – people only see the postcard and don’t realize how much hard work it can be. It’s tough!
Hello Jessica,
I am working on a music video for an original song dedicated to Barcelona. I am in love with this city and am trying to make a video collage about it.
I was wondering if you have any stock video footage that I could use?
Here is the link to a tumblr blog with more details: http://shareyourbarcelona.tumblr.com/
Otherwise, I’ll be happy to answer any questions about the project,
Thank you,
Olga![My Profile](http://barcelonablonde.com/wp-content/plugins/commentluv/images/littleheartplus.png)
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Hmm..I don’t, but I have a friend who might! I’ll have a word with him about it. 🙂 Cool project, by the way, and best of luck!
Thanks, Jessica. That would be amazing if you did!![My Profile](http://barcelonablonde.com/wp-content/plugins/commentluv/images/littleheartplus.png)
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