My name is Alannah and I am an expat from Canada. I currently live in beautiful and sunny Malaga with my husband. I wanted to share a bit about our story.
We always dream of traveling and exploring new countries. Everytime we get an opportunity we book a flight somewhere. Our first trip together was to Italy. It was my first time in Europe and let me say…I fell in love. I knew I wanted to come back and to continue to see and learn about different cultures and explore different countries. Let’s just say our Italy trip sparked our “travel bug”.
ALSO CHECK OUT: Our travel bucket list
I worked as a Dental Hygienist in Canada, I loved it but I knew I didn’t want to settle just yet. One morning I was at work and Collin (my husband) sent me a screenshot of an ad he saw online. It was about a company looking to hire someone to work in Spain doing what my husband does. Funny enough…my husband just sent a message “wouldn’t this be cool”. I laughed and replied “You should apply and see where it goes”. To be honest I didn’t know where it would go, didn’t know what to expect.
In the end he applied, weeks went by and so did the interviews. He kept moving to the next phase. It became a big thing and the chances of him getting the job were really high.
I thought “If he gets the job, we wouldn’t move to another country, it’s just too crazy”, too crazy of an idea at the time we were in our lives. Yes, it was something we always wanted but at the same time I thought our time for that had passed. We were getting settled in Ottawa and had just bought a house and in the process of talking about starting a family.
Weeks go by and sure enough, Collin tells me…“I got the job!” OMG, I didn’t even know what to say. It was crazy!! This was the one thing we always talked about but never thought we would do.
We talked about all the pros and cons. Lots of tears! You wonder why? Well, at the end of the day it was such a stressful moment and we would be changing our life so much.
What next?
We had just been offered the opportunity to move to Southern Spain, a dream for us. After lots of back and forth we decided to do it and move abroad. Did we have something to lose? Not really, if we had something to lose it wasn’t worth it for us. It was more important to take advantage of this once in a lifetime opportunity.
Only 3 months went by from the moment we got the job offer until the moment we landed in Spain…only 3 months!!! We got out visas in about 3 weeks, rented our house, sold most of our things, quit our jobs, said bye to family and friends and bought a one way ticket.
As I write this it sounds so crazy and surreal. Without a doubt it has been the best decision we made.
In Malaga we get beautiful weather, great seafood and are located near different and breathtaking Andalusian cities and countries. Something we couldn’t have even dreamed of.
If you are ever wondering about moving abroad I just have one thing to say…DO IT!!
If you are considering moving abroad:
Yes… do your research when it comes to housing, jobs, quality of life and lots of other things. Have somewhat of a plan. For us everything happened so quick that we really didn’t have much time to do the research, but still landed on our feet.
Yes… you will miss friends and family but they can come visit. Now they will have a new country in the world to go visit.
Yes… you might be judged by people saying or thinking “you are making the biggest mistake of your life“. At the end of the day it’s your life, follow your dreams and don’t let anyone stop you.
DO YOU…and if it’s something you want to do, go for it. Trust me, you’re going to go through amazing experiences. And maybe some bad ones but you will come out of it with many memories unlike anything else.
If you have any questions about moving abroad don’t hesitate and message me. I would love to tell you more about our journey and help out if I can.
Talk soon,
Alannah✌?
ALSO CHECK OUT: Do’s and Don’ts when renting an apartment in Spain
TOOO crazy! Came across your Instagram and now reading your blog. I think we were sisters in another life haha. I am a Canadian, a dental hygienist, and now living in Sevilla! I will be in Malaga shortly and would LOVE to meet up, be each other’s photographers, not talk about teeth! Love the blog
Haha thats crazy and awesome that we have so much in common!! For sure…lets meet up.
It’s amazing that the two of you managed to take this leap. I agree that moving abroad was the best thing I ever did and now I tell everyone DO IT! too haha.
Did you learn Spanish? That would be the biggest struggle! I live in the UK now and everyone speaks English!
It was definitely a big decision but happy we decided to come. I grew up speaking spanish so the language wasn’t an issue.
My husband did learn spanish here.