I’m(30m) from Scotland but have lived in Spain since 2017 I was a musician and music teacher I’ve been an English teacher (just kind of fell into it and turned out to be quite good at it) and I’ve lived in a few different cities and I’ve run summer camps for English learning. I’ve been in the north of Spain since September after I got a bit overwhelmed with living in a huge city as a neurodivergent person it was getting a bit much for me.i always thought Spain would be my forever home. I decided to travel Latin America between leaving city life in Barcelona and moving up here.

I have an ok job my living situation is ok not ideal but very cheap. But things just aren’t how I thought they would be after 4 months. I miss my friends and my family I’m struggling to make friends here and feel quite unmotivated to start from scratch when I have friends already I’m speaking to frequently at home and I’m falling into a bad cycle where I just go to work and sleep during the week and wander around on my own listening to podcasts on weekends.

In the back of my mind I have been toying with moving back home to Scotland…

Ive noticed there is limited career prospects in Spain and though I am an experienced English teacher after 6 years my pay doesn’t reflect it. I love the Spanish way of life but I think it would be a good idea to go to graduate school in the UK to try and have a feasible job in the future so I’m not living pay check to paycheck.

If anyone has moved back to the UK how did you find reconnecting and fitting in. I find my self thinking a lot about home all the things I have missed being away from and feeling nostalgic about being home and seeing family frequently and catching up with old friends who I’m still in contact with but I know the reality is very different and I would probably harder to adjust than I think.

Any advice appreciated.

  • conorf193@alien.topOPBEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    Thanks for the feedback everyone. I think it would be a good idea to spend some time at home and I could try to get a qualification. I love living in Spain but don’t want to waste my life in TEFL jobs without progression. I’ve noticed way too many older teachers working and getting paid the same as me some of them have 20 years plus experience on me I think the quality of life here can be a bit of a trap when we get a few years down the life and want to think about buying a house and kids etc. I don’t want to be in the same position forever for pretty low to average pay and don’t see much else progression teaching English.

    I’m just curious to see how I would fit in again. I do miss live music and arts culture that I think the UK does better. But the Spanish speed of life is hard to pass up. I really don’t mind the rain and seasons I’m in the north of Spain so it rains a lot here. I think the hardest thing for me would be the short winter nights but I guess it’s balanced out by long summer nights. I may even try a different career I trained as a carpenter before going to university to study music and fell into teaching. I hear trades jobs are super in demand and highly payed in the UK now so may look into re entering that sector.

    Thank you