Welcome! ¡Bienvenidos!

I'm Rachel, an American who traded Oregon rain for Spanish sunshine in 2022.

If you've ever moved somewhere and felt equally happy and homesick, you're in good company.

Every week, I talk about what it's really like to build a life in Spain—the bureaucratic nightmares that make me question my sanity and hoard every piece of paper and the shinier moments when everything clicks and I feel like I’ve discovered heaven on Earth, sipping a beverage on a terrace with friends.

Sipping a vermouth at my favorite place in Madrid

If you're looking for picture-perfect stories of living abroad, keep scrolling. But if you want the messy, honest truth about cultural displacement served with a side of Spanish vocabulary, then welcome to the club! Subscribe below for first dibs on weekly posts.

We meet every week, and we can’t wait to read your relatable stories in the comments.

Some Posts You Might Enjoy…

🍽️ Five Spanish Sayings About Food

🍽️ Five Spanish Sayings About Food

Some say Spanish food is just as good as Italian, but without a flashy marketing campaign.

📣 Fluency Didn't Fail Me

📣 Fluency Didn't Fail Me

The longer I live in Spain and the better my Spanish gets, the easier it is to be myself—in this country and everywhere.

🏁 Mind Games and Motor Skills

🏁 Mind Games and Motor Skills

Ultimately, the Spanish driving theory exam is less about learning and more about surviving a punitive reading test that demands total memorization, not to mention a litany of scheduling logistics.

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Weekly letters from my life in Spain

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An American in Spain, enjoying the sunshine in the shade, learning to socialize at midnight, and spinning cultural differences into funny stories ☀️