Common question, which continues with a : because we are considering to come to live there ... Question proposed every day by so many of you.


How do you live here ? It depends on how you want to live. On what you like to do. On what you are looking for. For me, super bien.
I love the sea, I live 5 minutes walking from one of the most beautiful beaches on the Costa Blanca.
I love summers and the mild winter weather. Here even in December I wear short sleeves.
I love staying outdoors. We spend ⅔ of our day outside. Children too, where even at school they spend at least 1 hour of the morning on the patio, winter too.
I love sports in general. And here I have nothing but to choose from. Water sports, at the beach, in the parks. All year round.
I love to party. The city is not huge, but its many venues of all kinds allow you dancing, have fun and cerveza, for all ages.
I would add, quiet city, manageable traffic, not too expensive life, smiling people, a few pizza places that make good pizza and you live super bien ! At least for what I am looking for !

What is it like to live in Alicante ?

Reasons and benefits of playing Golf. Concentration Relax and Fun. For everyone !

I always thought it was a boring sport and for old people, this morning I changed my mind.
With my little boy we went to the open day event at one of the best Golf Club in Alicante 

 and we are welcomed by Juan, very kind and super helpful who explains hand position, feet position, body movements, all to be coordinated well.

The first attempts together with my son are many laughs ! 

the ball stays there and we hit air or ground ! 

Then little by little the mind figures out how to control the body and more and more times the ball flies ... 'ha salido ha salido' what a fiesta !

After half an hour we have to give way to the families after us. I would have stayed hours. As soon as we left I immediately realized how relaxing it is because you are forced to focus on that ball, on your body, and you don't think about the rest. Problems and breakups, you leave it all out. The mind disconnects. It's a meditation between blue sky, green grass and the birds singing as a soundtrack. A very fun meditation !

Googling I find that according to Swedish researchers at Karolinska Institut, playing golf would give as many as five more years of life. After this morning I can believe it !

Once again, long live Alicante, long live the sunshine that accompanies us for most of the year, long live the experiences it provides, long live the super friendly people who live here and the charge that this place gives me !

Reasons to play Golf

The weather is very nice, sun bathing and swimming. The first couple of weeks pools are still full of kids.
The sun and the heat make a very good temperature that has nothing to envy to the summer. The day is not as long as in the summer, but it is good this way.
October in Alicante is a time to enjoy.

The beaches offer a spectacular sunrise and sunset. Peace and calm in the streets, a little tired of the exceptional summer hustle and bustle. The every night party is over, but beer and tequila go on at the weekend.
Kids go back to school, we go back to work; we have colleagues and friends to enjoy Saturday nights.

It's also time to start your golf course. Alicante offers you a variety of very good Golf Clubs, you just have to pick your favorite and play ! or wait for the next article where I'll help you in this choice !

Important days for the Alicantinos are the 12th of October, a holiday in all of Spain, the day of the Hispanic, Discovery of America, a symbolic date as a solemn honour to the moments of social and cultural history of modern man.

And of course, nowadays the worldwide tradition, the night of Halloween, here too is celebrated with parties and masks and children in the streets.

Trick or Beach - October in Alicante

Because it was a choice that took my sleep, for months and months. For the head full of doubts and fears. For the desire to leave. For the courage that then came.

I write because going back I would do it again.

Below the interview from Francesca from the Expat.com website where I tell a little bit about my experience

Tell us about yourself, who were you before you expatriated and how did the project of going to live abroad come about?

In Italy I live in a small inland village in the Marche region, few opportunities for work and leisure. Small villages, communities and mentalities firm in time, closed. Static and somewhat boring life. For many years I have dreamed of moving, at least for a while, to some European city.

What city in Spain did you move to and based on what criteria did you choose it?

Alicante, for me metropolis since there are more people in my urba than in the small village in Italy where I was living. Chosen for climate, quality of life, convenience of connections with Italy, people smiling.

What can you tell us about the post-pandemic Spanish job market? What are the sectors that are looking for workers?

I've only been here a few months so I can't give an opinion, I use the conditional, plus I'm looking for work at the moment too :) in the summer in tourism there should be work, especially Italian cooks and pizza makers. Activities related to beach\pools\gardens ditto. Cleaning cooperatives are constantly looking. There is a strong focus on sports and personal wellness, so professions in this area should be sought. Obviously there is a lot of competition everywhere.

Certainly, as all over the world, there is a shortage of plumbers ... I've been looking for one for 14 days :)

Lower salaries than ours, and living costs that are leveling off instead.

You moved with your children: how are they finding living in Alicante and have they adapted to the change?

The little ones have adapted wonderfully. The big one, 14, is struggling a bit more, also being a bit shy in character.

They play different sports, afternoons they go out with their friends to the urba park, some birthday parties and friends for dinner every weekend !

They miss their grandparents and Italian families, however we try to take them often to Italy especially these first months so that they do not miss too much the people they are attached to.

What rigmarole did you have to go through to enroll them in school?

The first months they attended a private one, I called in the afternoon and the next morning they were already in school :) Cost the right amount of money and they were followed very much and well.

The following year at the public, enrollment openings have to be waited for, and the required documents turned in.

With the big one we had difficulties due to an error in the system, phone calls and various rounds, however in the end everything was solved !

To find housing in Alicante, how did you go about it?

I turned to a very professional agency that proposed various solutions, helped me in the choice and also in the 'post' with the whole series of appointments for documents of all kinds that the Spanish bureaucracy requires !

It is not easy because guarantees must be offered, as in Italy for that matter, especially if you are looking for a solution that accepts animals !

Can you give some advice to other moms who would like to move, to help them take this big step?

Visit more areas, both in the summer and in the off season, get an idea of how and where, and prices. Begin early on to familiarize yourself and your children with the idiom, if you do not already know it. Talk to them about this choice and make plans with them; you cannot take them overnight without proposing it for a while. For them it is an important change, emphasize all the good things (there are many!) without hiding the difficulties, that children notice everything, but also without making it heavy.

If you have financial means but very little time, you might consider the option of having the various figures help with relocation.

Expect unforeseen events, put in half days doing all kinds of paperwork, and otherwise enjoy the city and its people !

As a last very short story my experience : we had been thinking about the change for a while already, we went on vacation in December to see how the children reacted and we tore up the return ticket ! From the vacation we stayed in Alicante !

The reason why I write about

There is no better gift to give oneself than to make the most of every moment of life.

A quote for this season that is beginning, a simple, obvious and banal phrase as well as a profound one that we have to put on top of our priorities.

Which one do you like the most? Are you doing enough to live with and from your passion?

Put in front of you a white sheet of paper. Take a pen. Start writing down your dreams, your passion, how you want to live.

If the answer is no, don't put the pen down and start to list the things that block you, the reasons that don't make you enjoy what you love the most.

Solutions ? List. And always put it first in your mind: You think you can do it and you are already half way there. and work towards it.

An event for this fall, in Alicante, Firanovios https://www.firanovios.com/

and if you are thinking of getting married, here are many reasons to get married in Alicante.

https://www.firanovios.com/5-razones-para-celebrar-tu-boda-en-la-provincia-de-alicante/

The best gift

Your new beautiful life in Alicante. How to deal with the Spanish language.

True English is everywhere spoken in each and every street in Alicante, people are speaking a good English level in offices, shops and in most schools they take care of kids in an exceptional way.

But, we now live in this beautiful and graceful city, and we want to get used to their language.

Spanish is musical, full of sound when natives are talking to each other, and the thing you will notice the most, they smile and are always happy !

Don’t worry for your kids, in school they take care of him\her. Let your tribe hangout with new local friends, they’ll make everything by themselves and you just have to wonder how fast they will.

For you, Courses online, classes here, read a good book, and read it aloud, watch some Netflix in Spanish and above all, make friends here ! People are so welcoming. Hangout with a new colleague, a new friend you made at the gym or swimming pool, take a painting course.

If you’re on Socials, checkout for specific groups, as Expat en Alicante on facebook. Present yourself and ask for someone to join you for a coffee.

Offer a language-exchange, you will teach your native language and your new friend will teach you the Spanish one.

Mandatory is to have a good attitude ! Smile, be ind and grateful to locals that are helping and supporting you. And think of all the beautiful things you can leave to them !

Archive

What is it like to live in Alicante ?

Reasons to play Golf

Trick or Beach - October in Alicante

The reason why I write about

The best gift

If you still don't speak Spanish