What Does Your Expat Life Look Like?

When I moved to Spain, I began playing padel, a delightful racquet sport very popular in the country. I’m now obsessed with it.

When you close your eyes and imagine yourself living in a new country, a new culture, what do you see?

If you’re going to jump through all the hoops to move abroad, it is my definite opinion that you should make it worth your while.

That is why I recommend before you arrive and life starts rushing at you, that you sit down and think about what you want this new adventure to look like.

Do this exercise: Take a sheet of paper or write on your notes app how you imagine spending your time on a garden-variety day. Not a holiday, not a weekend, but let’s say a Tuesday. What time will you wake up? What will you do first? What activities do you want to be a part of your daily routine?

Not to say there’s anything wrong with how you spend your time now, but things are likely to be different in your new habitat.

For example, we moved from the United States to Spain, and life is lived very differently here. Everything tends to happen much later. Lunch? That’s the biggest meal of the day here, and traditionally people don’t eat it until 2 in the afternoon. Dinner happens starting at 9, or well after. There are many other examples, but just those alone show how much your normal day may need to adjust, if you want to live at least somewhat like a local.

For me, I really wanted to be a part of a culture that emphasized quality time with loved ones and friends, so I imagined getting coffee with a friend in the morning or getting involved in a sport of some kind.

Not everything you imagine will come true, and there will be things you think you want to do that in the end you won’t pursue. But it’s great to start from a place of what is most ideal, and then work your way backward from there.