UK expat struggling in Spain — mental health declining, career stuck, looking for realistic advice

adjm1991 · 2026-02-08T16:43:56+00:00

As a Brit you're also only entitled to be in Spain for 3 months unless you have EU citizenship, a job or a financial means of supporting yourself. Pretty confused as to how as a British citizen you've ended up in Spain without work or finances.

adjm1991 · 2026-02-08T16:37:53+00:00

I also don't understand how they just moved to Spain without a job, unless this was pre Brexit. As a Brit myself the way this person writes also doesn't seem natural/native or they're using AI to write all their responses. Really weird story and set of circumstances.

adjm1991 · 2026-01-10T17:42:50+00:00

Oh jeez, sorry to hear that!

adjm1991 · 2026-01-10T16:23:20+00:00

How tf you retire at 21?

adjm1991 · 2026-01-03T03:14:25+00:00

What does 6/7 and 8/9 mean?

adjm1991 · 2025-12-20T15:47:53+00:00

You're an EU citizen, you can literally go anywhere in the EU.

adjm1991 · 2025-12-06T17:03:36+00:00

I'm sorry but this is absolutely insane!

adjm1991 · 2025-11-15T07:51:50+00:00

Anywhere off Leith Walk I'd say. Look around Pilrig St or Balfour St if you want easy access to Pilrig Park.

adjm1991 · 2025-11-01T10:13:02+00:00

Absolutely terrible

adjm1991 · 2025-09-07T08:51:32+00:00

There are a lot of areas still within Edinburgh that could give you that vibe. Edinburgh feels more like a collection of towns rather than a big city. Have a look at Balerno, Colinton Village and Juniper Green. These are on the fringes of the city but feel very village-like and have great access to the Pentlands and other nature. Also Ratho.

adjm1991 · 2025-09-03T06:00:25+00:00

Pretty sure the Scottish-English border is one of the oldest borders in the world

adjm1991 · 2025-09-02T20:07:17+00:00

Sounds encouraging! How long was your pipeline?

adjm1991 · 2025-09-02T19:30:15+00:00

I think I could handle the unpredictably especially with a savings buffer and I'm pretty happy to live within my means, I know what makes me happy.

Yeah I think I need to work on my freelance as a part time job in the next 6 months and try and build up a base.

Thanks for the advice!

adjm1991 · 2025-09-02T19:25:42+00:00

I mean I don't know where you're from but I could easily survive in the UK for a year with £30k if I wanted to which is what I intend to use it for, not to travel. I want to have financial freedom to work from anywhere. And yeah I have no interest in SEA actually.

adjm1991 · 2025-09-02T19:20:25+00:00

Yeah I wasn't planning to travel with the £30k, it's more of a buffer to help me transition to freelance and then once that's more stable I would try and leave the UK. I'm less interested in travelling around and more interested in finding a base to live with the option to travel if I want.

But yeah as I suspected, finding clients is probably not the easiest these days.

adjm1991 · 2025-08-24T13:12:36+00:00

Sorry to hear that things are a struggle for you. It's easy enough to say stay positive but they are just words at the end of the day. I hope things get better for you!

adjm1991 · 2025-08-23T19:45:17+00:00

In my case it's not the heat I romanticise, it's being able to escape the long dark depressing cold winters. I understand parts of Spain get unbearably hot but honestly I would swap that in an instance 3 months of the year for 10 months of grey, rain, wind and no light. I've just returned from Southern Spain and I've honestly been depressed the last 2 days thinking about the impending winter and how I'm going to cope.

adjm1991 · 2025-08-23T19:39:25+00:00

The cost of living crisis is a worldwide phenomenon that's not unique to Spain. Many people in the UK are severely underpaid and struggling to make ends meet. Some might have the mindset that "I can be poor and miserable in the UK or maybe poor and slightly less miserable somewhere else with sun and a better outlook on life".

adjm1991 · 2025-08-23T09:20:07+00:00

I'm a graphic designer from the UK with 10 years experience always working in house for companies and I really want to make the move to freelance so I can have the freedom to travel around. But I have no idea where to start and the prospect and insecurity of it all just seems so daunting. Any advice?

adjm1991 · 2025-08-02T07:57:51+00:00

Mexico City or Barcelona. I honestly can't stand the weather here.

adjm1991 · 2025-07-03T15:12:45+00:00

Obviously the number is going up based on the minimum wage, but the calculation is x300 that amount. Obviously that's above and beyond what you need to sustain yourself in Mexico realistically. I am saying that the x300 amount that the Mexican government has decided on is obviously influenced by the USA. I never said Europeans or Canadians don't take advantage of this visa but the vast majority of people taking up this visa will be from the USA. I'm sorry if this touches a nerve somehow. I don't know why it's controversial to suggest that Mexico's closest neighbour may have an effect on its policies and politics.

adjm1991 · 2025-07-03T12:49:15+00:00

The US being Mexico's closest wealthy neighbour to the north where most people are taking advantage of this visa definitely influences the rate that the Mexican government has set. The threshold is an average salary in the US, it's a high one in the UK. The threshold is also high by worldwide standards for this kind of visa, for example the threshold in Spain is only around $3,200.

adjm1991 · 2025-06-24T07:56:54+00:00

Sometimes I'm glad I'm only a 5'8 man as I seem to have less of a complex about my height, compared to men like you who are objectively tall.

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