Part Two: 3 Things I Wasn’t Prepared for Teaching Abroad

Quick Recap

In my previous blog about things I was surprised to encounter in my move to Spain, I shared that learning Spanish was harder than I thought. 

I felt prepared with the skill I had from studying in school (over 10+ years ago…) and having lived with a Spanish host family would suffice. But quickly into my move to Madrid, I came to terms that I still had a long way to go.

I’m happy to say I took some steps in improving my language skills throughout my time in Spain rather than stay discouraged. You can read more about how I overcame this struggle in Part One: 3 Things I Wasn’t Prepared for Teaching Abroad.

Now let’s dive into the second thing I wasn’t expecting upon moving to Madrid.

Número Dos: My Desire to Travel Within Spain

I was really excited to venture out to new countries around Europe. The possibilities were so overwhelming that I almost didn’t know where to start.

I knew that I could go about it two ways: travel around the continent and spend a few days in each city or do Spain really well.

I didn’t want to confine myself to one country just because I was living in it, so I attempted to travel outside Spain as much as possible. However, I quickly learned how costly that was. The trips I made were usually last-minute which didn’t help with pricing especially since the destinations were farther out and often required flights. While the trips I made were worth it, I couldn’t help but think that perhaps I was too ambitious.

My Resolution and What I’d Do Differently:

After re-evaluating my finances, I decided to focus on traveling within Spain. Instead of traveling to any and every city in Europe, I took advantage of having access to smaller cities in Spain that I normally wouldn’t have considered had I not already been living there. 

My past itineraries as an American tourist in Spain focused on major cities like Barcelona and Madrid. I never would have thought to explore cities like Toledo, Segovia, Córdoba, Málaga, Alicante, Benidorm, Bilbao, Asturias, Ponferrada, or Ávila, but doing so helped me understand the geography better and get a look at how unique each place is even though they be within the same country.

These cities were usually accessed by train or bus which meant they were cheaper. But they could also get expensive depending on how soon in advance they were booked. I would have planned these trips at least a month in advance to save some euros.

Where do you want to travel when you teach abroad? Let me know! Find me on Instagram @travelwithmiv.

The third thing that caught me by surprise when I moved to Spain is the thing that was the hardest to process. Continue here for the last chapter in this blog, Part Three: 3 Things I Wasn’t Prepared for Teaching Abroad.