Thread: Crazy about Spain, hoping to move there in the next year or so

Hello everyone, just wanted to take the opportunity to introduce myself.

I'm 43, male, single and live in south Essex in the UK. I currently work in the public sector for a regulatory body although likely to lose my job by the end of the year as part of the spending cuts. I'm not fed up of life in the UK or anything like that, it's just that I love Spain and living there would be a dream come true. However my eyes are wide open and I know that it's not a bed of roses.

I've been obsessed with Spain, Spanish culture, language lifestyle etc for about 15 years now, have holidayed in different parts of the country and have been learning Spanish (slow progress) for about 2 years. With my impending redundancy, I'm thinking of taking the plunge and moving out there, initially to maybe teach English and do some translation work and then take it from there.

I love the sea and would have liked to move to somewhere like the Costa del Sol, but my research has shown that the sort of work I'll be looking for is more available and rewarding in Madrid so I'll probably move there. I'm giving myself a year to get my Spanish up to scratch and do the TEFL exams to give myself the best possible chance to get work.

Any further advice would be great. From what I've seen on the forum so far people seem genuinely helpful and positive. I'm pleased to be here.

Bienvenido essexman!

Being passionate is great, especially combined with "wide open eyes"

You are right about the Costa del Sol and Madrid. Jobs for [qualified] expats are more abundant in Madrid... Then again there are people teaching languages throughout Spain with great success, it all depends on the person's ambition and expertise. What do they say, where there is will, there is way...

Best of luck and enjoy the forum!

Originally Posted by essexman

Hello everyone, just wanted to take the opportunity to introduce myself.

I'm 43, male, single and live in south Essex in the UK. I currently work in the public sector for a regulatory body although likely to lose my job by the end of the year as part of the spending cuts. I'm not fed up of life in the UK or anything like that, it's just that I love Spain and living there would be a dream come true. However my eyes are wide open and I know that it's not a bed of roses.

I've been obsessed with Spain, Spanish culture, language lifestyle etc for about 15 years now, have holidayed in different parts of the country and have been learning Spanish (slow progress) for about 2 years. With my impending redundancy, I'm thinking of taking the plunge and moving out there, initially to maybe teach English and do some translation work and then take it from there.

I love the sea and would have liked to move to somewhere like the Costa del Sol, but my research has shown that the sort of work I'll be looking for is more available and rewarding in Madrid so I'll probably move there. I'm giving myself a year to get my Spanish up to scratch and do the TEFL exams to give myself the best possible chance to get work.

Any further advice would be great. From what I've seen on the forum so far people seem genuinely helpful and positive. I'm pleased to be here.

Wellcome To ASF if we can be of any use just shout

Hello Essexman, I wish you all the best of luck, do let us know how things are progressing as you move along your roadmap ;-))