Choosing Where to Land: The Decision

Part 2of a 3-part series on choosing where to live abroad as a family

Now that I got you all up to speed on how we were looking for a place to live in our last post, we can tell you where we decided to land for our next home. This decision felt big and while we spent a lot of time researching and visiting and talking with the family about it, the reality is that it is big. The decision was more than planning a vacation, but less than a lifelong commitment. The city we chose isn’t just somewhere we would like to live, but a place that can support us in how we want to live.

Drumroll please….We’ve decided to move to Zaragoza, Spain!

Not because it’s perfect—but because it feels right for this season of our family.

The Places We Seriously Considered

• Washington, D.C.: great lifestyle, but concerns with falling back into the hamster wheel we are trying to get out of
• Leiden, Netherlands: loved the culture, but no mountains & logistics were hard
• Madrid, Spain: close contender, but too “city” for us
• Valencia, Spain: we were hopeful as many expats move here, but we realized we are not a beach family, we are a mountain family

When It Started To Feel Clear

In the last post, I talked about how listening to that gut feeling is important to us. Unlike most of the other cities, Zaragoza gave us that near-immediate feeling that we could live here. While walking around, we could visualize our daily lives there – our normal lives, not just our worldschooling lives . A moment I will always remember is walking through the suburbs of Zaragoza with the kids and hearing Harriet quietly say, “I could live here”. Coming from our skeptical country girl, this meant a lot. It’s not Vermont (her first choice), but it could work. We could live abroad with kids.

Why Zaragoza Works For Us Right Now

There isn’t one place that we considered that checked ALL the boxes. We have to be realistic that there will be adjustments to be made wherever we go. The boxes Zaragoza did check for us when choosing where to live abroad with children were big ones:

• For our kids – opportunities for independence (safety), schools/making friends, and learning Spanish
• For daily life – easy public transportation, safe, and a sweet spot between city and country pace
• For us as parents – a smaller community feel, easy access to Madrid & Barcelona for travel in and out of Spain, access to the Pyrenees for our mountain/skiing fix

The Practical Pieces That Made This Possible

While all of the options we considered had real possibility of working for us, Zaragoza also offers a lower cost of living when compared to other cities. While still providing access to healthcare, schooling, and the cultural aspects that we love so much about Spain, the city feels like a real win.

What We Don’t Know Yet

We are in the very early stages of this transition. We have secured an awesome immigration & tax lawyer that specializes in Americans moving to Spain and have started conversations with many schools in an effort to find the best match for our situation.

The road ahead of us is sure to be tedious, frustrating, and emotional, but also exciting, interesting and fun! There will be adjustments to the language, the culture, school transitions, and more. There is so much we don’t know (yet) and that in turn may change our course, but as of today, we are let’s say *big toe deep* in the process and already seeing that it’s going to be quite the ride!

Big questions I’m asking myself lately are “Will we survive all this bureaucracy?”, “Will we be able to place the kids in the right schools?”, and “Will we be able to find a home that checks all the boxes?”. If you ask Jay he’d say yes to it all without a second thought (I love him for this), but I’m going to be honest with you and say that sometimes it feels impossible. Things that you’d think would be simple are far from it. Things that should be quick take ages. I’m not going to sugarcoat it – my patience has already been tested. I’m learning to breathe and to believe in the process. I’m sure there will be many moments that surprise us (good and bad) ahead and will be sure to document it all for our memories but also for anyone else that might be looking to do something similar. There is nothing more helpful than learning from others.

What This Choice Really Means For Our Family

All 6 of us are ready for stability after these adventurous months of exploring. While we’ve had fun, we are eager to stop living out of suitcases, to unpack and to make a home somewhere new. This means starting a new chapter as expats – of living life as immigrants. We will be the minority in Spain – not speaking the language, not knowing all the customs, and not having a village (yet). It will be an opportunity to grow and to learn together as a family unit.

This move for us is very intentional – we are not running away (though to be honest, there is plenty we’re not loving in the states right now), but running towards a life of more intention over momentum. Our goal is to slow down, to spend more time together, and to experience more of what the world (and Spain) has to offer.

This is a new chapter in our family story that we are so very excited to begin and to share with you! While it’s not necessarily forever, it is what feels right to us for now. So tell me – where did you think we’d pick? If you were moving abroad, where do you think you’d want to live?

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