I Need A Friend

Hiya,
Im 54 years young, my children have now flown the nest and settled, its is now time for me to do what ive wanted to do for a very long time, MOVE TO SPAIN. I must admit i am very excited but very nervous at the same time, its a lonely place when your on your own, with big decisions to make, but im going to do it.
I am going out to spain for the first two weeks in October, i will be looking for work, then somewhere to live, even if only temporary, just to get me on my feet.
It would be lovely if there is someone out there, is in the same situation as me, that would like a friend to go through all this with.
I am very determined to make a new life for myself in spain, its been my dream for a long time, lifes been pretty unkind to me here (apart from the kids) and its now time for ME.
If you have any information, advice or can help me in anyway, i would be really grateful.

Linda xx

[Travel Dude]

Hi Linda xx,my suggestion is to look at the major Spanish newspaper in the city you plan to live in. Look to rent a room in a private home with a nice family.I live in Lima Peru but in the past I lived in Honduras in which I lived with a family in a rented room.

A better suggestion is to enroll in a Spanish language school and take a weekly course and in addition,enroll in the PRIVATE HOME STAY where the school will place you with a nice family for the week you are studying Spanish.
There you will have a private room with a bathroom,meals and be able to make friends with the family.

It maybe costly but what you can do is (before the week is over) make a deal with the family to pay room rent monthly without the school.This is up to you.

I did this in Honduras and I didn't feel alone.If you need more suggestions,you can P/M me.I hope this helps.

Tony

[Penguins_Pet_Pumpkin]

Hello Linda, and welcome to the forum. I really like Tony's advice. Sounds like a very viable plan. I'm sure you'll find some friends here, probably even worldwide, with similar situations. I hope your new life gives you great happiness and peace!

Thanks tony,
You have been a great help and i am really grateful.
Take care
Regards
Linda

[synthia]

One nice thing about Tony's plan is that you could spend some time, a month here, a month there, checking things out. And to see as much of the country as you want. Then you could choose a place to rent for a year, to see if you like it all year round.

Hi Synthia
Thank you for your advice, i will keep this in mind.
Regards
Linda

[FX Specialist]

Hi Linda

Where are you going to be based? Costa Del Sol? Costa Blanca?
There are many areas I can point you to where expats get together and go through the process of relocating together. However I would suggest that before you begin putting your faith into others - you firstly set your mind to ME mode (which I can see you have) - but when I say ME mode, I mean don't let others here (depending on where you're going to be) get into your life unless your absolutely sure of them. I don't want it t sound scary, I'm sure you'll be fine, but especially here on the Costa del Sol there are so many 'fly by nights' it's unbeleivable. So just be wary of who you befriend.

I know many people who have lived here, then one day, their gone! No contact at all...

Myself and my girlfriend have lived here for quite some time. And we know the area well. If you need any help at all - feel free to ask!

Kin regards

FX Specialist

[Trish]

Hi Linda

Im in a similar situation to you. I moved to Cyprus from the UK a few months ago. Ive wanted to emigrate for 2 or 3 years and have finally done it. Im still settling in but glad that I made the move.

It was great to hear from you, I know how you feel.

Good luck, let me know how you get on
Regards
Trish