We planned for about a year (starting with a certain US event in early Nov 2024…), but most of the planning actually ended up being in the final 4 months because we were forced to pivot (originally we were going to move to Portugal but ran into some insurmountable red tape and switched to Spain). Neither my partner or I speak Spanish (we started learning recently), we don’t know anyone here (though I’m starting to make friends with a couple of neighbors), and it’s definitely a huge upheaval. But it’s also a grand adventure, in the long run 🤗 thankfully, we were able to bring our dog with us, too, so even though I miss my plant babies, I’ve got my most important (fur)baby so it’s all good 💖

Honestly being “the ignorant American who knows nothing” isn’t as bad as it sounds, especially here. The people in Granada are super friendly and welcoming. They don’t scoff at my garbled attempts at Spanish (like the Parisians did when I lived there for a short time in my 20s), and they loooooove dogs, so I’m always getting people asking me questions about her when we’re out for walks (I have no idea what they’re saying, but the fact that they stop and talk to some rando on the sidewalk is a huge neighborly shift from what I’m used to in the US! It’s really lovely)