How to Plan a Scouting Trip to Spain Before You Move

Speaker A: I love talking to people who are planning their move abroad and trying to figure out where in the world they want to land. It's one of my favorite conversations, and what I love the most about it is so often this move abroad is the first time that, at, uh, least for my clients, they are able to move just exactly where they want to be. They're not constrained by school or family or work obligations. They just know that they want to move to this country. They feel called there, and now they need to figure out where exactly to land. And that's where the, the power and the importance of, uh, a scouting trip comes in. Because you can only do so much research online, you can only rely on other people's opinions about a place to a point. You really do have to experience it for yourself. But if your idea is to move to Spain, for example, for example, which is where I live, uh, it's a big country. There are lots of different lifestyles you can experience here. So how do you narrow it down? So today, what I want to do is to talk through how to plan a scouting trip so that you get the most out of your time, how to structure your trip, how to think about what's important to you, and how to prioritize those things that are important to you as you decide where to visit and then what to do on a day to day basis. Just a little bit of background on me. Before landing in Girona, my husband and I moved 10 times in 10 years, including four international moves. And two of those international moves were, uh, done sight unseen. We moved for, well, once for my husband's work and once because we wanted to leave the US and both times we relied on other people's opinions of that place. And for us, reality didn't match our expectation and we ended up moving on. That's not to say that you shouldn't or, uh, can't move to a countryside unseen, but I would strongly advise against it. And I, having done it myself a couple of times, would highly recommend going on a scouting trip before you pack up and move. So today, after living in Girona for almost 10 years and helping hundreds of people make the move abroad, I have a pretty good perspective on how to structure one of these trips, how to think through the areas that are going to be best for you. And I'm really excited to share all of that insight with you today. So. So without further ado, let's talk about how to structure and plan a, uh, scouting trip so that you can find your place in your new country. The big Idea that I want you to take away from this is that you can have a checklist of all of the things that are important to you and you can find a place that checks every box on that list and, and it can still be the wrong place. What I want to encourage you to do is to trust your gut to be open to new experiences and open to places that you wouldn't, um, normally consider. And, uh, don't be too rigid. Give yourself a chance to slow down, experience a place, and be really honest with yourself about what feels good. This is such a unique opportunity to be able to find a place where you really want to call home without any other constraints or very few constraints. And give yourself the freedom to, to do that. And don't be in such a rush to nail down a spot. I know that's not easy for everyone. If you're moving with kids and they need to be in school, sometimes you can't do that. But a lot of my clients come to me retired or semi retired or they're digital nomads and they have the freedom to bounce around just a little bit and to, to not settle in too deep right from the get go. And I would encourage you rushed into a place and give yourself time to explore. We're going to start with a bit of a philosophical bent, shall we say? Before you start planning your scouting trip, I want you to focus on knowing yourself. So there are some really core things that will impact where you are going to feel most at home abroad. And it's worth it to get really honest with yourself. One thing that I've discovered as I lead scouting trips through Spain is that people's comfort level with grit has a huge impact on the place that they're most comfortable calling home. So when I say grit, I mean the texture of a city. How lived in does it feel? How is it chaotic? Is it dirty? Is it noisy? Or is it very clean and organized? I've lived in Costa Rica, I've lived in Italy and in Portugal. And what I've learned is I have a low tolerance for grit. I need things to be pretty clean and organized and uh, and well functioning. And Costa Rica wasn't a good fit for me because of that. So that's something I know about myself now. And as I think about other places I might want to live in the future, I'm aware of that. Weather is another really big consideration. I like to say I like to see the snow on the Pyrenees and I know that I can drive to it, but I don't want to shovel it. I grew up in Iowa, I've done that. Don't need to do it again. Lived in Boston too. Definitely don't need to do that again. So for you, it could be weather, it could be the importance of being, uh, close to an international airport because you want to be able to travel internationally often and you don't want to have to spend a lot of time going back and forth to the airport. You may decide that you're ready to ditch the car. And so you need to be in a fairly large metro center where you don't need a car for your day to day activities. So slowing down and thinking about the things that are really important, the framework of your life that you want to have when you move to the new country is, is really important. Before you start to, uh, nail down cities, another thing, especially if Spain is your country of interest, understanding your tax profile or the tax implications, moving to Spain is quite important. Different regions in Spain tax wealth differently. And for some people, they look at their finances and realize that Catalonia is not going to be a good fit for them because of their tax profile. And Madrid or Andalusia is going to make more sense for them. So having an initial conversation with a tax consultant is something I strongly recommend. When somebody comes to me and they're in the beginning of the process, there are two conversations they need to have up front. A conversation with the visa attorney to make sure that they can move here. And they need to talk to a tax consultant to understand what their budget really will be once they move. And I will include links to the people that I recommend in the description. But once you understand your budget, then you have a better frame of reference for the areas that will make sense for you. For some people, Madrid is not going to be a place where they can live comfortably and they should look at secondary cities like Alicante for example, or Murcia. For other people, that's less of a consideration. And really they could live anywhere their heart desires in Spain. So understanding your take home budget is also an essential pre planning step in this process. Next, I want you to narrow down your preferences to the main regions that call to you. There are so many dramatic differences between Andalusia and Catalunya or Cantabria in terms of weather, food, culture, the architecture. They're very different places. And that's the research you can do online and have a good general idea of the areas that seem like they would fit for you. For example, if you are from Southern California and you want a very soft landing in Spain, the Costa del Sol is probably your place. That is almost as close to a one to one comparison as you can get. Miami and Malaga, I'd say, have a lot of similarities as well. Although Malaga is much easier to navigate than Miami and less humid. But there are some things that track there, or maybe you want to swing completely in the opposite direction and be in a completely new environment. Then, uh, you know, there are obviously other places in Spain that uh, would fit for you as well. But as you focus on your list, I don't want you to get too dialed into one big city because some of the most interesting and livable places in Spain aren't the big name places. For, uh, example, you may feel called to Valencia, but actually the Costa Blanca north, with its beautiful little interconnected towns only an hour away from the big city. Life in Valencia is a better fit for you. Same thing with Barcelona. Being within an hour of Barcelona means you can go into the city and experience everything it has to offer. But you could live in Girona or Sitges or Tarragona and have a more livable small city life with all of the amenities at your fingertips without some of the big city headaches that cities like Barcelona inherently have. And speaking of Barcelona, one of the strategies that we use in the scouting trips that I lead is called the, the hub and spoke method. And I think this is a strategy. So for example, if you are interested in Catalunya, I would recommend starting in Barcelona and then traveling out from there. Spend a day in Girona, it's an hour away. Spend a day on the Costa Brava, Go down to Sitges, which is only a 30 minute train ride from Barcelona. Go down to Tarragona, you can do the same thing from Valencia and heading down into the Costa Blanca north or heading up the coast a little bit. This is a lot more efficient than changing hotel rooms every couple of days. And even if you decide not to live in the core city, it's nice to understand what the amenities are in the city and then what you get when you're only an hour away from it in terms of price, livability, but then also access to the city. So the hub and spoke method is a really good strategy to use when you want to see a lot of places fairly quickly. Another piece of the strategy that I want you to consider is, uh, if you have the time and the resources, doing the hub and spoke method and seeing a lot of different places fairly quickly. So spend a day in each city and then circle back and spend as long as you can. A week, five days, two weeks, if you can, in the place that you felt most drawn to. Rent an apartment, go to the grocery store, really dig in and experience that place firsthand. When I take people on these scouting trips, people can, I can see it in their eyes. They will walk into a town or a city and they will have had an expectation about whether or not they were going to like that place. And you can see it on their face. They feel it. It either calls to them or it doesn't. And a lot of places will give you an instant reaction. Now, first impressions are not always an accurate impression. And so if you are on the fence with a place, I would recommend slowing down and going back. But there are some places that you're just going to be able to knock off the list because it doesn't feel right. And there are other places that will surprise you and you'll feel drawn to and you'll want to spend more time. But if you can see lots of different places and then circle back to the ones that call to you, then that is one strategy that will make the trip more productive for you. Another thing that I just cannot stress enough is that you need to slow down now. I think one of the big mistakes tourists make when they're trying to get a, uh, feel for an area is they get up early and they get out and they're going from site to site, landmark to landmark, and then they're going all afternoon and they'll, they'll walk into an area and it will be dead. Nothing's going on. Maybe the shops are even closed. And their impression of the area is, oh, uh, this isn't a very interesting area. There's nothing going on here. And they've completely missed the point because especially in Spain, life happens at night. So go take a nap in the afternoon, go enjoy a long lunch and a siesta, and then come back out at 7 o' clock at night and do a little walk through town. Go get a tapa and a glass of wine or a vermouth and, and then have dinner at 9 o' clock at night and see how different those areas are in the evening. I'm going to show a little video of Esteponev on a Sunday night. Just a random Sunday night. I think it was about 8 o', clock, 8 or 9 o' clock at night on a Sunday. And this is what Estepona looks like in the middle of the day. It's pretty quiet, not much going on, and this is true in a lot of places. So pick your Timing, um, appropriately. If you're interested in a beach town in Spain, the time of year matters a lot, right? The summers are lively and vibrant, and some of these towns completely shut down in the winter. It's important to understand whether the place that you're evaluating is more of a local town where people live year round, or if it's a tourist center that is going to clear out for half of the year. These are things to keep in mind as you're moving from place to place and trying to judge whether this place feels like a fit. One of the other mistakes that I see people make when they're on a scouting trip is they try to pack too much in. I want to encourage you to slow down. Just slow down. And I realize that I just said you're going to go from city to city and see a lot of things. You can do that and also sit at a cafe and people watch. Take, uh, a leisurely stroll from point to point. Slow down, get off of your phone and just look around and just think, how does it feel? How does it sound? How does it smell? Estepona is a great example of this. Estepona smells beautiful because it's just filled with flowers, and people, uh, comment on it when we're there on our scouting trips. And other places don't smell as nice, right? So use all of your senses and get out of your head, get off of your phone, get out of the taxi, walk and. And soak it all in and ask yourself whether you feel relaxed, energized, comfortable, anxious in that place, and is it a place that you would want to come back to over and over and over again. Next, I want you to talk to the locals. I want you to strike up conversations. Ask people, hey, how long have you lived here? What do you like about it? Where did you move from? What made you choose this area? Talk to people. Another really great way to get a feel for an area is to join the local Facebook groups. In every single town, at least in Spain, I mean, I think in most cities around the world, there are groups for basically everything. And you can find expat groups or international groups or English speakers or women from the Nordic countries, like, you name it, there's a group. If you're into a certain sport, pickleball, golf, sailing, whatever, there's a group, join it and introduce yourself and say, hey, I'm thinking about moving to the city. If you'd be willing to have a chat with me, I'd love to find out why you chose to live here. And people are really happy to share their experiences. One of the things that I hear a lot when I'm consulting with clients is they say, you know, I really want to find community. I'm really concerned about connecting with people and, uh, you know, not feeling isolated. You will not be isolated if you are just willing to go outside and smile. You will meet people, join the local groups. There are volunteer opportunities for parades and festivals all the time. They're always looking for people. Um, this is, this is a very social place, and the international community isn't as dug in. I think one thing to keep in mind is people who grew up in a city and only speak the local language are going to be less open generally to bringing you into their life because they're already settled. But other people who have chosen to move to that area are generally more open to making new friends because they're in the same situation you are. And it is not hard to build community when you're an immigrant. And yes, you definitely want to learn the language and integrate with the local community, but it's okay to also want to have friends who speak your language and have had that similar immigrant experience as you are having, because they're the ones who know which dentist speaks English and where to get, uh, the cranberry sauce. It's really hard to get cranberries in Spain, by the way, for Thanksgiving. And, you know, they can guide you through some of those hurdles that you'll experience as you settle in. So talk to people, talk to locals, talk to immigrants who have chosen that area, and get a feel for whether or not those people and their shared experiences to yours fit what you're looking for in your life in Spain. There are a few tours that I strongly recommend if you are really interested in an area. The first is really easy. It's a food tour. We use the food lovers, and I'll include my affiliate link in the description, but we use food lovers tours, and we've used them for our expatsy scouting trips in multiple cities. And, and I love these tours. They're led by a local guide. You go to four, sometimes five different restaurants. These restaurants are in different neighborhoods at different price points, different types of food, and it's such a great way to experience a city. And I mean, I think most people would agree, you know, the understanding a, uh, culture through its food is one of the best ways to understand who they are and what's important to them. And these tours are so different in different cities. I highly recommend using a food tour as a way to Understand some different neighborhoods and understand the food culture in that area of Spain, because it is wildly different in different parts of Spain. The other tour that I recommend is one that I organized through my partnership with Moving to Spain. And these are local location tours. Now, Spain doesn't do open houses. It's very difficult to get in to see real estate unless you are ready to rent or buy. In our group scouting trips that I lead through Spain, we do get to see real estate. We tour real estate in every single city, so you get a real sense of what you get for the money. These location tours that I'm able to organize through our real estate partnerships are not real estate tours. They are location tours, meaning you will meet with a, uh, local real estate agent or real estate specialist, depending on what city you're in. And they will take you to the neighborhoods where you will, uh, most likely want to live based on your budget, on the type of housing you're looking for. And they can pull up listings online and show you, okay, so this is a two bed, two bath apartment in this neighborhood. It goes for this amount. This is what you could expect to get for the money here. And these are so valuable because when you go into a city as a tourist and you get stuck in the tourist center or maybe you wander off into some neighborhoods, you don't really have perspective. These tours give you a real sense of what it's like to live there as a local. What grocery store you might go to, what pharmacy is the best, where the schools are, what kind of public transportation is available and how reliable is it. And they will open your eyes to neighborhoods and different pocket communities that you would just never find on your own. So if that's something that is of, uh, interest to you, if you have a specific city that you really want to dive into, just contact me and I can help you set that up. But that's a really valuable way to get more information about a city. So I would say food tours or other local tours like that. And then also, these tours are really valuable ways to add more color and context and a deeper understanding of a place that you feel drawn to. One thing I want to emphasize is when you're choosing a place to live, you're not just choosing a place because it's aesthetically beautiful or because it checks certain boxes. It also has to fit your routines. So if you have children who are going to be in school, what kind of housing is close to the schools and does that fit for you? Things to consider are, how difficult is it to get the daily things accomplished that you need to do. Getting to the pharmacy, the grocery store, the local hospital, uh, getting to the airport, if you're going to be traveling in and out often. So when you start to really dive into an area and you're really thinking about is this the right place for me? I want you to think through your daily routines and what that experience would be like in that area. Um, and this is where coming back to an area, renting an apartment, an Airbnb for a little while, and then going to the grocery store, taking the bus, taking the train is so valuable so, so that you can really experience it. And again, sometimes it's just a matter of aligning expectation with reality. Even if it's not perfect, that's okay when you know that up front. But if you have this vision that you're going to be living car free in an area with a big yard and then you find out that well, technically yes, that's possible, but you have to walk five blocks to a bus stop and, and that bus comes once an hour to get you to the grocery store, then it's, it's not the car free life that you are envisioning, right? So making sure that you reality check the lifestyle that you're envisioning and making sure that lines up with the kind of housing that's available and the structure of that area is really important. And again, going on those location tours makes us so much easier because that guide can really reality check what your day to day life and those routines will look like in that area. Now I want to talk about trusting your gut. I've seen people on the group scouting trips that I lead with a checklist and they know exactly the weather, the type of housing, uh, that they want to be car free, that they want this. They have their whole checklist and every place that we went, they would measure it against a checklist, which I think is really wonderful to a point. And then at some point you just need to trust your gut. Does it feel good or not? Does it excite you? Does it, do you feel good in that place or not? And at the end of the day, that's probably where you need to be. Even if it doesn't check every box. If you've ever gone house hunting about a house, you've probably experienced this. You know, there's, there's a saying in real estate in the States, buyers are liars. And what they mean is a buyer will say they want a four bed, three bath townhouse in town and they end up buying a farm in the country. Because sometimes the thing that draws out your heartstring is completely different than this, this expectation that you had coming in to your search. It's the same thing with cities. And then again, when you're looking for housing in the city, and I would also say don't get so hung up on the housing piece. Worry about the location first. There are lots of different housing options, and if you love a location, you'll find housing that will fit for you. People want to see housing up front and they're really fixated on finding a certain kind of housing at a certain price. But you can have the perfect house, but if it's in the wrong area and you don't, you're not excited to leave and experience life in that, that town. What's the point? So finding housing is your last step. Worry about the space first, the culture, the vibe, the energy, the amenities first. And then we'll figure out the housing. And then finally, if you have the resources to do so, I want you to pick one off the wall place to check out. One place that seems completely out of left field for you. Even if you validate that that's not the right place for you. It gives you perspective. So if you know that Andalusia is where you want to be, that you want it hot and you want, you know, flamingo and you want all of that. If you can get yourself up to Bilbao or Santander or, or Catalonia and just see something else, give yourself some perspective and try not to pigeonhole yourself in one area. Because even if you do decide that you were right in the first place, you'll feel like you're making a better decision because you, you know what your alternatives are. Okay, so what's your next step? So, you know, we've talked about getting to know yourself first and get clear about the things that are really important to you and what kind of research to do and then how to navigate, um, through your scouting trip so that you get the most out of your, your time in the country. If you'd like some help with this process, there are a few different ways that I help people navigate discovering where to live in Spain. I do offer a one hour move abroad consultation where I can answer all of your questions about different areas. Um, some people use this call to just help them get started with the process. Other people have a trip planned and they just want to kind of gut check or reality check the cities that they're planning to go to and the times that they're going to be there. And I'm happy to offer my feedback. I also lead group scouting trips through Expatsi, and we have five trips planned this year. I'll leave the, uh, link in the description, so go check that out. These are an incredibly valuable way to see a lot of Spain at once and to get a lot of your questions answered in a really supportive and guided way. We stay in four star hotels. We see a different city every day. We meet with local real estate guides, and we preview property. We also build in some cultural events. Look, if it's not fun, I don't see what the point is. And yes, these are working trips. Like, this isn't a vacation. Every day we're out looking at areas, learning, asking questions, discovering. But it's got to be fun, too. So we do expat meetups, international people meetups in a couple different places. We do food tours. And for our Granada to Sevilla tour in May, I've lined it up so that we can attend La Feria in Jerez de la Frontera. And now we accidentally ended up here last year, just, uh, overlapped with our trip and we were not prepared. So this year we're doing it right. We're going to go in the evening, we're going to experience the pageantry and the spectacle with the horses. We're going to try Sherry, we're going to see flamenco. Um, and we're, we're really going to go all in and experience this really important cultural event that happens every year in Jerez. And if you choose to live in the southern part of Antalusia, this will be part of your life. This will be part of your life experience. So I think it's important to get to see it and experience it. So if going with a group and having this sort of support and guided experience would be valuable to you, definitely check that out. If you're more of a solo traveler or the dates don't line up, I do help people organize custom scouting trips. So I can put you in touch with those local guides. I can help you organize your travel schedule. Um, we can customize a trip that makes sense for you. So those are the three ways that I can help you discover whether or not Spain is for you and then narrow down the cities that might be a best fit. If you've gone through this process and you're ready to land, then I can help connect you with a local real estate expert to help you rent or buy. And of course, reach out to me for that. But that's how I can support you. Through this process. I'd love to hear from you. How have you navigated a scouting trip in the past? Or are you planning one in the near future? And what cities are you most interested in? Leave your comments below.