Five Years in Spain: An Update

I can’t believe it’s been five years since I said goodbye to my life in the United States and started over in Spain.

Six years ago, I was sitting in my basement office, preparing to teach a new group of college students the rules of journalism and the joys of creative writing, while waiting for the world to right itself after descending into the horrors of the COVID pandemic. My kids were doing school in their bedrooms, while el esposo claimed the dining room to teach his college courses. Needless to say, thoughts of leaving all of that behind and moving to another country was the perfect escapist fantasy I needed to keep me from going insane during quarantine.

Of course, that escapist fantasy quickly turned into the “best idea of my life,” and el esposo and I somehow managed to liquidate our entire lives and move to Spain within 9 months of saying yes to a long-held dream.

The Plan: Make Our Dreams Come True

Moving to Spain to pursue my dream of being a full-time novelist, wasn’t a new idea or some pandemic-induced absurdity.

When I graduated from college, I told everyone I wanted to be a writer who chased stories all over the globe. When I was 10, I told my mother I was going to write the great American novel. And then there was that one time I was a featured author at the Calabash Literary Festival in Jamaica, when my memoir came out, and I got a taste of what it felt like to be an author with a global audience and I loved it so much. So, I knew my decision to move to Spain was in alignment with my professional and artistic goals, so I put my whole self into the planning and the process. And because of that meticulous planning - minus leaving some of our most precious possessions behind - we had a rather soft landing in Spain, even though the pandemic was still raging.

We knew we wanted to live in the south of Spain to be close to el esposo’s family, and because Andalucia is obviously the best part of Spain. It took us a moment to find the right city and then the right neighborhood, but once we did, we got down to the business of building new lives for the kids and for ourselves. Because the COVID virus was still a threat, the one thing we weren’t able to do was start a social life. But we were content to have gotten all of the other necessities taken care of, and we used the forced isolation to bond as a family.

Five Years Later: We’re Still Here and Happy

The truth is, these five years have flown by. I still feel like I just arrived in Spain. But there is a highlights reel. My son, who arrived in Spain with two years to go to finish high school, completed the two hardest years of schooling in Spanish and is now in college in The Netherlands. My daughter finished elementary school and is now in her final year of Spanish “high school.” She still has two more years after that before college though. We added to our family by adopting an adorable wanna-be poodle, who is small enough to cuddle, but too big to fit under a seat in an airplane, unfortunately. That’s why he hasn’t been able to travel with us on our global adventures. Since moving to Spain we’ve traveled to The Netherlands, Morocco, Portugal, England, France, and Ghana.

I am so happy that the move to Spain has allowed me to pursue a career as a creative writer and a literary entrepreneur. Not only did I launch a global community for BIPoC women writers called The Sanctuary, I also sold my second novel to a British publisher, so I will be able to promote the book here on this side of the Atlantic Ocean, and my dreams of being a global literary superstar can finally come true! Okay, maybe superstar is a bit hyperbolic, but why not dream big?

What’s Next?

Suffice it to say, five years in and we have no plans to return to the United States. Because we arrived during the pandemic, we still have some catching up to do in terms of building community and finding our people. Also, I have yet to go to the movies since moving here since theaters were closed when we arrived, and I just got used to watching everything via streaming services. Going to the movies on a regular basis is definitely on my BINGO card, as is writing more novels, and traveling more around Spain. I also want to improve my Spanish language skills so I can participate more fully in the Spanish literary community. There is literally a book festival in every Spanish city, and it kills me that I can’t participate as a greedy reader who knows all the famous Spanish writers.

So, basically what I’m saying is that I just want to live my life. My new life in Spain. I am ready and excited to see what the next five years will bring.

Stay tuned!