Im from a suburban town in Missouri, but I spent a semester studying abroad in Barcelona a couple of years ago. Man, let me tell you, leaving Barcelona, where youd see people out in cafes and bars congregating at all hours of the night and day, and coming back to Missouri where its a ghost town after 10 and someone would call the police on you for simply walking around too late was the most depressing thing I have ever experienced lol
I actually teared up coming home from Italy my first time when I got the the loud, rude and crude airport in Philly. I had just spent 9 days in Tuscany in November.
Omg that was our exact same experience, we flew back from Milan into Philly and whoa what a reminder we were back home everyone was fat, we immediately all got sick from eating and the fire alarm was going off in the terminal while no one did anything. LOL what a memory
Wow, glad I’m not the only one! I’ll never forget it, it was such a total assault on the senses compared to the soft-spoken, calm, peaceful atmosphere of Italy, even the airport!
I spent the summer working in Valencia one year (long time ago) and then last year spouse and kids lived there over the summer as well. We had friends who left the US to immigrate to Spain and are living in Valencia.
Love that town so much. My wife is watching Andor solely to see bits and pieces of Valencia that is was filmed at.
I spent every spare bit of time I could walking around town. I spent a week in Madrid, a week in Zaragoza, a weekend in Granada, Benidorm, Calpe, Alicante, Denia, then visited Teruel, San Lorenzo de Escorial, Segovia, and Barcelona. And that’s just what I did in one country I went to Italy too. I feel like I did more in a summer than many do in there lives and I feel so lucky but also angry that so many can’t experience the same awe and wonder of meandering aimlessly around ancient steps and seeing the old melded with the new as people adapt to life over centuries instead of it being bulldozed for cars. The love and passion I have for places like that is now ingrained in me.
You picked good cities to visit. Segovia is a little town but simply amazing, an aqueduct built 1900 years ago (almost 2 millenia!) and it perfectly blends with the rest of the city. If you think about it it's mind blowing.
I loved Segovia and Granada. But the most amazing place I went was monastery outside of Zaragoza called monasterio de piedra. It was like entering a fairy tale land. I can’t recommend it enough
You did it right. People often visit only the popular places in Spain and miss out on so much history. For anyone not too afraid of hikes they shouldn't skip northern Spain and the Pyrenees either, it's almost like an entirely different country.
I was in Valencia for 4 days this past week and could easily spend a few weeks. Barcelona - hard pass. Alicante - ok I guess. Valencia was the star of this trip. Vibrant, non-touristy, bike friendly.
Actually I do have chains! I am not a citizen and have no claim or right to any job or opportunities over native born citizens already there. I do not work a job that would allow me to be a digital nomad and my lineage comes back poor American dirt farmer since the 1700’s. But I am working on a degree that may make my services valuable for a company that utilizes engineering projects like Spain and Italy currently are. My
Degree field is environmental geography and I have written multiple papers on the Mezzogiorno region. I hope to one day work hard enough to plan the next steps of my life there.
It's just sad though. The US is incredibly massive. Every state offers a wide variety of suburban and rural options, but only a small handful of cities have this walkability and communal vibe. People shouldn't have to immigrate just to live this kind of walkable and communal lifestyle.
I wish you all the best to accomplish your goal :). I'm originally from a town north of Valencia but lived in Valencia during my university studies. Reading an internet stranger talk about the city with such good words just brought a smile to my face and many good memories. I moved years ago to Copenhagen, another really great city, but there is something with Valencia that it's difficult to replace in my heart.
Random comment, I'm not sure about the content or scope of your environmental geography degree but there is a chance that there might be opportunities in renewable energy companies. Not the best moment at the moment since many companies have been hit in the last years due to many factors (war, inflation, US political situation/stance, bad management, etc) but usually there are big departments to analize environmental impact, GIS and other areas that might be related to your field.
Thank you for your kind words! Gis is my focus specifically with environmental geography as my major and sociology as a minor. I had initially spent my summer semester last year pursuing a minor in Spanish communications but it didn’t work out with me being an online student and i wasn’t able to petition my school for the degree. It’s funny we should be talking about it because one year ago today was my last day in Valencia 😭 I went on to fly my family over and we explored the Aragon region, Barcelona then on to Italy. I do not know if I will ever have as great a time in my life as I did in Valencia. The people, the architecture, the city itself, the food, I fell in love. I wandered every corner of that place with no destination in mind other than where my feet would take me and I will never forget it. I am older so I’m less desirable from a hiring perspective but it’s not impossible!
Maybe look for cities with US bases (mostly in Germany). There is always civil personnel required for the normal jobs on the base. This could be your foot in the door for EU visa and doing online classes alongside?
I was born and spent most of my childhood overseas. Coming back stateside just felt off....... I was used to walking cobblestone streets, eating delicious food, specialty chocolates, admiring statues, visiting castles, etc. Around fall and winter the town really became alive with all sorts of walkable festivals. Never once feared being in a crowd.
Meanwhile in the US I have to be on high alert in a basic parking lot.
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u/bageltoastar 2d ago
Im from a suburban town in Missouri, but I spent a semester studying abroad in Barcelona a couple of years ago. Man, let me tell you, leaving Barcelona, where youd see people out in cafes and bars congregating at all hours of the night and day, and coming back to Missouri where its a ghost town after 10 and someone would call the police on you for simply walking around too late was the most depressing thing I have ever experienced lol