Still, over time, I came to regret that decision.<\/p>\n
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Gonzalez during her college internship.<\/p>\n
Courtesy of Giovanna Gonzalez<\/p>\n
In 2019, I returned to my former hometown, El Centro, California \u2014 a small agricultural border town \u2014 for a high school career day.<\/p>\n
I’m a financial educator and influencer who offers career tips to first-generation professionals. At the school, I spoke with Algebra 2 students about my path since leaving college and my career.<\/p>\n
Love Business Insider? Log into Google\u00a0<\/strong>and make us a preferred source<\/strong><\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n We discussed how to navigate college, and I encouraged everyone to study abroad if they had the opportunity. I shared how the people I know who did still light up when they talk about their experience \u2014 being young, free of major responsibilities, and surrounded by other young people in a new culture.<\/p>\n After career day, I had a moment of self-reflection. Was my current life really for me? Would I ever get to experience life abroad?<\/a><\/p>\n I knew it was time to make a change.<\/p>\n Moving to Spain was a fast but expensive process<\/p>\n My husband and I would have left the US around 2022, but the world was still in the thick of the COVID-19 pandemic, and things hadn’t returned to normal. We decided to wait a few more years, while continuing to live in Chicago.<\/p>\n When 2024 came around, we had a conversation about the presidential election and decided that, regardless of the outcome, we were going to move to Spain<\/a>. It felt like a now-or-never moment.<\/p>\n Gonzalez in downtown Chicago, across from the Tribune Tower.<\/p>\n Courtesy of Giovanna Gonzalez<\/p>\n My husband and I researched how to get a Spanish visa. The easiest option was for me to apply for a digital nomad visa<\/a> and add him as my dependent.<\/p>\n That’s because by then, I had left my desk-bound corporate job<\/a> and had been running my own business for four years. While my husband’s employer was open to transferring him to their Spanish branch, they weren’t willing to sponsor his visa.<\/p>\n Related stories<\/p>\n Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know<\/p>\n Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know<\/p>\n To help us through the process, we worked with an immigration attorney who guided us every step of the way.<\/p>\n Gonzalez at a Madrid restaurant.<\/p>\n Courtesy of Giovanna Gonzalez<\/p>\n I’m a dual citizen of Mexico and the US, so I used my Mexican passport when applying for the digital nomad visa. Because Mexico was once a Spanish colony, Mexican citizens can apply for Spanish citizenship after just two years of legal residency, compared to 10 years for US citizens.<\/p>\n We flew to Spain to apply, which qualified us for a three-year visa instead of one. We were approved in about two and a half weeks.<\/p>\n The process was fast but expensive. Flights alone cost us around $3,590, and the Airbnb we stayed in<\/a> while applying for the Visa was about another $652. We also paid roughly $4,000 in legal fees and spent more money on things like apostilles, certified translations, and other required documents.<\/p>\n Valencia was the perfect city for us<\/p>\n I wanted to live in a big city so I could easily travel to other parts of Europe. Madrid came to mind, but housing is very scarce and competitive there. The same thing is true in Barcelona<\/a>, if not worse. I found that the next biggest city that we liked was Valencia.<\/p>\n Valencia is right on the beach<\/a>. It has a Mediterranean climate, and is sunny almost every day \u2014 a big change coming from Chicago<\/a>. The city has a lot of beautiful architecture and a rich history.<\/p>\n It’s walkable, has great public transportation, and is clean and safe.<\/p>\n We lived in a nice neighborhood in Chicago, but even there, I had to constantly check my shoulder when it was dark. Here, I’ve been able to go for a walk in the park at 10 p.m. and have never felt unsafe. I’m very thankful for that.<\/p>\n Valencia, Spain.<\/p>\n Sergio Formoso\/Getty Images<\/p>\n We live in a multi-unit building next to the Ciutat de les Arts i les Ci\u00e8ncies<\/a>,<\/a> and we have a beautiful view of it from our terrace. We live on the top floor in a two-story condo, which costs \u20ac1,900 ($2,226) a month.<\/p>\n In Chicago, we were bougie and lived downtown in a high-rise building with a doorman and amenities in a two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment.<\/p>\n Although our rent in Valencia is significantly cheaper than what we paid in the US, our utilities are not. Summers in Spain<\/a> are extremely hot, and since homes here aren’t as well-insulated as in the US, you have to run the air conditioning almost constantly. Our electricity bill alone has been over \u20ac500 ($586) for each of the past two months.<\/p>\n It’s more difficult to be an entrepreneur in Spain<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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