I’m(30m) from Scotland but have lived in Spain since 2017 I was a musician and music teacher I’ve been an English teacher (just kind of fell into it and turned out to be quite good at it) and I’ve lived in a few different cities and I’ve run summer camps for English learning. I’ve been in the north of Spain since September after I got a bit overwhelmed with living in a huge city as a neurodivergent person it was getting a bit much for me.i always thought Spain would be my forever home. I decided to travel Latin America between leaving city life in Barcelona and moving up here.

I have an ok job my living situation is ok not ideal but very cheap. But things just aren’t how I thought they would be after 4 months. I miss my friends and my family I’m struggling to make friends here and feel quite unmotivated to start from scratch when I have friends already I’m speaking to frequently at home and I’m falling into a bad cycle where I just go to work and sleep during the week and wander around on my own listening to podcasts on weekends.

In the back of my mind I have been toying with moving back home to Scotland…

Ive noticed there is limited career prospects in Spain and though I am an experienced English teacher after 6 years my pay doesn’t reflect it. I love the Spanish way of life but I think it would be a good idea to go to graduate school in the UK to try and have a feasible job in the future so I’m not living pay check to paycheck.

If anyone has moved back to the UK how did you find reconnecting and fitting in. I find my self thinking a lot about home all the things I have missed being away from and feeling nostalgic about being home and seeing family frequently and catching up with old friends who I’m still in contact with but I know the reality is very different and I would probably harder to adjust than I think.

Any advice appreciated.

  • Ripper31189@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    10 months ago

    I’m also an ESL teacher and going back to the UK hit hard, especially just the lack of employment prospects there, our experience is worth nothing, it’s basically like starting again from the beginning.

    That, and the reverse culture shock hits like a freight train. The boredom, normality of everything and while friends/family will be polite, nobody could give a damn about your overseas experience. I spent many a day looking out the window at the rain and reminiscing riding a motorcycle along a beach in Thailand or eating pizza in Italy and wondering where my life went wrong.

    I was on a plane out again within 4 months and have no desire to ever go back to Blighty.