# Moving to Barcelona late 20's/30's ?



## mattyboo (Jan 8, 2017)

Hello!
I need some advice  it would be great if anyone has been in a similar situation to me.

I've just been given the opportunity to take a job in Barcelona but as silly as it sounds I feel like I'm too old for such a big change, yet something about it excites me hence why making this post.

If I was in my early twenties I would move in a heart beat, but at 30 years old the chances of making a solid group of friends and integrating properly worries me. It's so much easier in your earlier 20's to make friends through proximity to the same people in your neighbourhood and college/ university and the parties.

Obviously it seems the easiest way would be through work, hobbies and meetups with people my age.

Has anyone moved to Barcelona in their late 20's/30's? How did you find it?


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## GreenGreen88 (Apr 22, 2016)

mattyboo said:


> Hello!
> I need some advice  it would be great if anyone has been in a similar situation to me.
> 
> I've just been given the opportunity to take a job in Barcelona but as silly as it sounds I feel like I'm too old for such a big change, yet something about it excites me hence why making this post.
> ...


You only have one life to live the opportunities in front of you. I am 29 and I moved to Barcelona 3 years ago. I did feel like I was perhaps not following what is the typical path Americans in their late 20s follow. But look what experiences I have? I live in Barcelona, I have friends, I have people as close as family with me here and none are other Americans.

As an introvert I won't pretend it was easy making friends. Catalan people are not the warmest people to get close to the way it is in Madrid or the south. 

The city and the country is what you make of it. You would easily have the opportunity to make a group of British friends if that is what you wanted. Almost every British person I know of in the city mostly hangs out with other Brits living there. However, my suggestion, is try to make Spanish friends. You'll feel a lot more integrated and a lot less like youre living in an island. 

Ultimately its your choice and its what you want in your life. In my last Spanish class there was a guy in his mid 30s who had spent the last 4 years living in Barcelona after his job in London gave his group an opportunity to move their department to Barcelona and he took it. It did not look like he regretted it one bit.


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## mrryder99 (May 22, 2017)

We moved here 2 years ago and I'm in my 40s!! I have the advantage of 3 children at school so you immediately get thrust into life here.

It's a wonderful place, the quality of life (in terms of real life, not wealth) is a different level to life in the UK (IMHO obviously). We lived in Sydney for 7 years before and as much as I loved Sydney, again, this is a whole different league. It's also very international so you can choose the groups you want to be part of.

As said in the previous post, integrating into the Catalan world is a different story - we got a dog and suddenly we were considered local. Up to that point we were the strange foreigners


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## kernowexpat (Jun 20, 2017)

mattyboo said:


> If I was in my early twenties I would move in a heart beat, but at 30 years old the chances of making a solid group of friends and integrating properly worries me. It's so much easier in your earlier 20's to make friends through proximity to the same people in your neighbourhood and college/ university and the parties.
> 
> Obviously it seems the easiest way would be through work, hobbies and meetups with people my age.


You're a long time dead my friend. Do it and if it doesn't work out you can always move home and say, oh well, I tried.

I moved to Thailand at 33 y/o to DJ and had the literal time of my life. I came home to be with my gf and we moved to London (by which time I was 35) and I knew pretty much no one. I now have a bigger and more diverse social group than I did in my hometown.

I'm about to move again, this time to either France or Spain. And now with gf and a new baby - so yeah, eeek. 

BUT. I'm a big believer in getting out of your comfort zone as thats the only was to really live and experience things. 

Also I gotta say, NEVER use your age to justify not doing something. My dad is 65 and is about to move to Grenada (Carribbean). A Spanish mate of mine is 42 and is about to do a tour guide season in Prague. I'm nearly 40 etc etc etc.

Another thing. Barcelona is a massive global city with people from all over the world. You will find friends and in ten years when you look back, no matter how it pans out, you'll be glad you did it.


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## Overandout (Nov 10, 2012)

I have changed my country of residence twice (in fact yesterday it was 13 years since I left the UK), moving to Spain when I was 30 and to Thailand when I was 40. I am already wondering where I will go when I am 50!

The hardest part of relocating for the vast majority is not the social side. It is the eternal “how to make a living” issue. You already have that resolved so you are streets ahead of many “dreamers” who would love to be in your shoes.

Yes, you may take a while to find a social group that you feel comfortable with, but if you persist, you will be fine. If you throw in the towel after two or three experiments, you may fail (no point pretending that failure is impossible!) but unless you try, you will never know. Better to try and fail than spend the rest of your life regretting a missed opportunity.


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## kernowexpat (Jun 20, 2017)

Overandout said:


> The hardest part of relocating for the vast majority is not the social side. It is the eternal “how to make a living” issue. You already have that resolved so you are streets ahead of many “dreamers” who would love to be in your shoes.


Incidentally, how do you find being able to make a living in Spain? I'm looking at that myself currently and wondering if I should just take the plunge.



mattyboo said:


> I've just been given the opportunity to take a job in Barcelona but as silly as it sounds I feel like I'm too old for such a big change, yet something about it excites me hence why making this post.


You've got a job lined up, you gotta do it! If you don't want it, can I have it please...?


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## Overandout (Nov 10, 2012)

kernowexpat said:


> Incidentally, how do you find being able to make a living in Spain? I'm looking at that myself currently and wondering if I should just take the plunge.


I have posted a "complete" record of my career progress in some other posts in the past, but I would struggle to find them now!

The short story is that after months of trying to get a job lined up from UK, it became obvious that it was impossible. So I quit my 50K+ job in the UK and pressed the "reset" button.
First job in Spain was teleoperator for 600€ / month, supplemented by teaching English in the evenings. 14 hour days with no lunch break for less that 1000€ / month. 
Thankfully, I have managed to move up the ladder a bit since then!
If I had to pinpoint the most difficult part of getting work in Spain I would say that the language is the killer. Your Spanish needs to be very, very good.


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## BMC77 (Aug 15, 2009)

mattyboo said:


> I've just been given the opportunity to take a job in Barcelona but as silly as it sounds I feel like I'm too old for such a big change, yet something about it excites me hence why making this post.


Jeez, since when did 30 become "too old"?!  I moved abroad just before my 33rd birthday. Since then, I've lived and worked in Vietnam, Portugal, Poland, and Spain, and have plans in the pipeline to change country again next year. I refuse to see age as a barrier to doing what I want to do.



mattyboo said:


> If I was in my early twenties I would move in a heart beat, but at 30 years old the chances of making a solid group of friends and integrating properly worries me.


It definitely takes longer to form solid friendships as you get older, but it's far from impossible. Indeed, a friend of mine moved here last year aged 30 and quickly made a great circle of friends, comprising flatmates, work colleagues, classmates from his Spanish class, and friends of friends. The biggest barrier to integration is lack of language skills. If you don't speak any/much Spanish, you will need to make time to learn it. 



mattyboo said:


> Obviously it seems the easiest way would be through work, hobbies and meetups with people my age.


There are literally hundreds of meet up groups, language exchanges, social activities, classes, etc., through which you will be able to meet other people.

You will undoubtedly meet people from work, although it may take time to form real friendships with them. I'm an English teacher so the people I meet tend to be other English teachers, which definitely makes things easier. My experience after almost five years in Spain is that while Spaniards are friendly enough, they have their own friendships from childhood and, of course, the omnipresent family, and they often don't think to include you in their plans. Nonetheless, I have made a couple of Spanish friends over the years. That said, my best friends here are, and always have been, fellow Brits.



mattyboo said:


> Has anyone moved to Barcelona in their late 20's/30's? How did you find it?


I moved to Barcelona almost two years ago at the grand old age of 38. I had always wanted to live here so I made it happen. Do I love it? Honestly, no, but I am glad I tried it, even if long-term it's not for me.

Life is too short to have regrets, so if this is something you will always wish that you'd done, I'd say go for it. After all, once Brexit is finalised, you might find that door has been slammed shut.


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## mattyboo (Jan 8, 2017)

Thanks for all your stories its been great reading them! Keeeeeep em coming.

P.S @kernowexpat I really like the saying "you're a long time dead" because it true, most people stick in the same job, same area, living up to how peers want them to live and do naff all with their life.


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## kernowexpat (Jun 20, 2017)

mattyboo said:


> Thanks for all your stories its been great reading them! Keeeeeep em coming.
> 
> P.S @kernowexpat I really like the saying "you're a long time dead" because it true, most people stick in the same job, same area, living up to how peers want them to live and do naff all with their life.


Yeah mate make the most of it! Whats the job and when do you start?


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## John98103 (Nov 12, 2015)

*Don't like it -*



BMC77 said:


> Jeez, since when did 30 become "too old"?!  I moved abroad just before my 33rd birthday. Since then, I've lived and worked in Vietnam, Portugal, Poland, and Spain, and have plans in the pipeline to change country again next year. I refuse to see age as a barrier to doing what I want to do.
> 
> 
> It definitely takes longer to form solid friendships as you get older, but it's far from impossible. Indeed, a friend of mine moved here last year aged 30 and quickly made a great circle of friends, comprising flatmates, work colleagues, classmates from his Spanish class, and friends of friends. The biggest barrier to integration is lack of language skills. If you don't speak any/much Spanish, you will need to make time to learn it.
> ...


*Can you elaborate on why you don't like living in Barcelona? Thanks*


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## BMC77 (Aug 15, 2009)

John98103 said:


> *Can you elaborate on why you don't like living in Barcelona? Thanks*


I'm not interested in p*ssing on anyone else's parade or trying to put others off. After all, if I had listened to the people who told me they didn't love Barcelona, I might never have come. Now, after almost two years here, I've concluded that Barcelona isn't right for me, and I'm fine with that. I'm still glad I tried it because it was an itch that needed to be scratched.

If you want to move to Barcelona and you have the legal right to do so, I'd say go for it. The worst that will happen is that you don't love it.


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## maldo1366 (Jun 25, 2017)

I'm in my mid-fifties, and so look forward to living in Barcelona (Badalona neighbourhood) It's been a absolute dream come true so far! It's been much easier process knowing the language I must admit, but the chance to live in Europe is going to be "fantastico" - Ole!


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## Michael Kelly (May 30, 2017)

Badalona is actually not in the city of Barcelona but is on the metro line.


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## maldo1366 (Jun 25, 2017)

Badalona, Barcelona, its all the same to me! Can't wait - Cheers!


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## Michael Kelly (May 30, 2017)

maldo1366 said:


> Badalona, Barcelona, its all the same to me! Can't wait - Cheers!


When will you arrive? Got a place to stay already?


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