About Me

Hola! I’m Jessica, I’m from England, I grew up in California, and now I live in beautiful Barcelona, where I work in communications.

You can read all about what I do for work here (and that’s my professional picture over to the left). But I wanted to talk about how I wound up here!

Growing up as a dual citizen, I knew I should take advantage of my lucky passport situation at some point. A more concrete idea started forming when I first visited a European capital at age 14. I instantly fell in love with the big city vibes.

Within about five minutes, I announced I was moving somewhere like that when I grew up.

At that point, a move to a European city for a fast-paced life full of travel was pretty much guaranteed; it was only a matter of waiting for the right moment.

That moment came when I was a few months away from graduating college. My original plan had been to go straight into a Ph.D. program. But after a magical summer in Barcelona I decided I wasn’t quite ready to head to grad school.

Instead of hitting the books for five more years, I decided to take off for some aventuras in Spain. Two weeks after I got my diploma, I jetted out of L.A. for a life-changing move to Barcelona, my favorite city in the world to date.

Hasta la vista, California, y hola Barcelona!

Or maybe we should call it “Barcelon-ahhh”, because people back home say it that way with a sigh when I tell them where I live. For me, it really is a great place to live – the big but not too big size, the culture, the history, the public transportation, the beaches, the architecture, the nightlife…I could go on and on!

And I actually do go on and on; a lot of my work day is spent writing about Barcelona! That also means I get to connect with lots of other fans of Barcelona, Spain, and traveling.

What’s it really like to live here?

Of course, life in Barcelona definitely isn’t like being on a permanent vacation. Working in foreign city where they speak two different languages is challenging. Then there’s the whole economic crisis thing to deal with.

On top of that, throw in the occasional life crises that get thrown your way when you’re figuring life out in your 20s , and you’ve got a recipe for some, well, interesting times.

But on the whole, I’m definitely enjoying my Mediterranean adventures. I’ve also discovered a whole new love for travel, from quick little weekend jaunts to long-term living in another country.

I never imagined the opportunities that have popped up over the past couple years, but I am definitely enjoying them.