At the age of 14, my parents decided to pack our bags and move from Spain to the UK – having spent my teenage years in London, there are some things I wish I had lived back at home
Ashley is an Audience Writer for The Mirror’s Emerging Content Team. She covers entertainment, culture, and travel for under-35 audiences. Prior to joining The Mirror, Ashley worked as a sub-editor for Snapchat Discover at MailOnline.
I moved from Spain to the UK at the age of 14(Image: Ashley Bautista)
My generation – which is Gen Z – dream of moving abroad and living their 20s like they do in the movies.
It’s funny because, now that I’ve lived abroad for quite some time, I still reminisce about my life in Spain and can only hope for the day when I can move back. In search of the British version of the ‘American Dream’, 11 years ago, my parents made the life-changing decision to pack all our belongings and drive a total of 14 hours from a little town in the Costa Brava called Empuriabrava to the UK’s capital, London.
At the age of 14, the only thing I cared about was hanging out with my friends after school and having the typical Spanish teenage rebellious life.
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I never understood the British lifestyle, or perhaps I didn’t get the memo about running to the ice cream van after school hours for a traditional 99 Flake. During the majority of days after school, I would go home and do my homework, and I wouldn’t make an effort to make plans.
Well, I guess it’s hard when everyone is from different boroughs, and it takes ages to get from one place to another. Being from a small town, it was much easier to make friends and spend time with them. Even now, at the age of 25, I can still relate to it.
Despite everything, my teenage years in the UK were fulfilling. I made good memories, and I will always cherish them. Thinking back about my life in Spain, it always makes me wonder how things would’ve turned out if my parents hadn’t made such a drastic decision.
But I guess I’ll never know, but I’m not mad about it.