Why Spain? Why Valencia? And Why Did It Take Three Years? Part 2 of 3

So to refresh your memory, it was March 2020, and we were on spring break in Valencia to find an apartment and open a bank account. We had an apartment locator lined up to help with both and even though the Corona Virus (that’s what we were calling it then) was all over the news we had traveled anyway. Then all hell broke loose while we were in Spain when the pandemic was announced. We eventually made it back home (30+ hour journey) and life as we all knew it hasn’t been the same since. 

There was nothing we could do to move our move-abroad plans forward so we waited. John worked from home, son did online school, and after quarantining for three weeks, I went back to the office since remote work was not an option for me.  

By January 2021, vaccines were becoming available for certain age groups. On a drizzly Sunday afternoon, I went to an open house down the street and saw the jaw-dropping price they were asking, met the real estate agent and shared the “Spain Dream” with her. By the time I walked home I had decided we need to sell our house and act as if. As if we were really going to move to Spain this time: sell the house, move to a small apartment, and downsize our stuff. The housing market was H-O-T! We had already decided we weren’t cut out to be landlords, but hadn’t committed to selling yet since we didn’t know when we could move. Our son would be going off to college soon so if we were going to live abroad with him we needed to do it now. Act as if. 

This is where the flying by the seat of your pants part comes in. After signing with the real estate agent I’d met that drizzly day, we spent February getting the house ready to sell. I hired a painter and repairman and things were moving along. Then Winter Storm Uri hit. We lost power just as millions of other people did, but Mr. Oscar, our painter and neighbor, kept coming everyday that week to work! He didn’t complain; he just kept working and his wife, my carpool buddy, sent hot homemade soup, tea and coffee as she had a gas stove and knew we didn’t.

For the two years we had been trying to move to Spain, we ran into multiple obstacles, but this time was different. People we needed kept appearing when we needed them and things kept falling into place. It felt like we were meant to do it this time.  

We signed a five-month lease for a small apartment nearby so we could start downsizing and move out before putting the house on the market. Downsizing from a three bedroom, two bath house with two-car garage to a two bedroom, one bath apartment was no small feat. I worked diligently downsizing our stuff, taking carload after carload to Goodwill. We also sold some things on OfferUp and Facebook Marketplace but mostly gave things away. We moved to the apartment in March, and closed on the house in April without ever having to put it on the market thanks to the red-hot housing market. Things were happening when they needed to. 

Completing all the necessary paperwork for a visa is a nightmare. It’s doable, but it isn’t for the fainthearted. A visa is required if you’re planning to stay more than 90 days, and there are a lot of requirements. John worked tirelessly on all the documents needed for the three of us. We each needed health certificates signed by each of our doctors. John and I had to redo our background checks; the ones we did in 2019 were too old to submit. We needed apostilles for certain documents like birth certificates and marriage license. We had to present a Spanish apartment rental agreement for at least one year, school admission paperwork, financial statements and more. It was tricky because some of the documents needed to be dated not more than 90 days out from the travel date, and we weren’t sure when that was going to be since we didn’t know when or if the visa would be approved.

In April, acting as if, I arbitrarily booked refundable, one-way flights to Valencia for July 29. The date would, hopefully, give us enough time to get all the documents in hand, get the appointment with the Consulate, allow time for the visas to be approved and mailed to us and have us on the ground in Valencia a few weeks before school started in September. I booked the flight for three people plus two cats. The cats were non-negotiable and a whole other level of complication, but we all agreed we wouldn’t go without them. They needed kitty passports, travel documents, check ups, and international chips. One veterinary document had to be done within 10 days of the flight and had to be overnighted to Austin for state certification and then overnighted back to us. Nail biting time!

At the end of May, I quit my job. A couple of weeks later John was informed by the Consulate that they would need proof that he was not employed to process the paperwork for his non-lucrative visa. He had been hesitant to resign, but with this requirement he put in his notice the next day. At this point, we had a pretty good idea we would be moving, but it was still a leap of fate to quit working without visas in hand. 

And then what happened? https://marthamillerwrites.com/why-spain-why-valencia-and-why-did-it-take-three-years-part-3-of-3/

I hope you’re enjoying our journey to Valencia. If you’d like to receive the next post automatically, check the box below to subscribe or scroll back to the top and click the blue SUBSCRIBE button. 

Want to know how it started? Read part 1 here.