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This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Christine Job, a 38-year-old who moved from Atlanta to Spain in 2017. Job has lived in Logroño, Barcelona, and, most recently, Valencia. The conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

After graduating from law school in 2013, I moved back home to Atlanta after living in Miami for about four years for law school.

Atlanta is a beautiful Chocolate City. There’s both new and old money, with Black leadership represented in government. The city is home to sports stars, teachers, real estate developers, and lawyers. It’s a vibrant, nurturing community, especially for young Black professionals.

But in my time away from Atlanta, I had changed, and how I felt about the city had changed, too. I also had a death in my family, which made me think hard about my life. At the time, I had already been working for a few years, and I was already quite burned out.

I needed some time and space to rethink things, and I decided to move abroad. My reasoning was less about Atlanta not being a good fit and more about my desire to explore and experience a different lifestyle.

I felt guilty about having so much free time in my new job

I moved to Spain in 2017, before the pandemic and before digital nomads became popular.

It was an incredible experience, though those first years were mostly about adapting to the culture and getting comfortable with myself.

I came to Europe with some savings, but I’ll admit I hadn’t fully considered everything. My plan was simply to live modestly.

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The first city I lived in was Logroño, in northern Spain’s La Rioja, a very famous wine region. I worked as a teacher — though I use that term loosely — teaching English to primary school children. The cost of living was low, and I received a stipend from the school, which helped. I also picked up a couple of side hustles along the way.

I was working about 12 hours a week and had every other Friday and Monday off. Coming from a culture of startups and law school, where overworking was praised, I felt really guilty about not being busy.

It became a turning point for me. I had to redefine what success meant and decide what I wanted to do with my life. I didn’t want to just spend my days drinking La Rioja’s incredible wines or lingering over long, lush lunches with friends — though I certainly fell into that rhythm at times.

Deep down, I knew I needed to live with intention and give this experience real purpose.

I started a podcast to support Black women who want to live abroad

After my first year in Spain, I moved to Barcelona in 2018, where I found a beautiful community of young Black professionals, which was really helpful for me.

Toward the end of 2019, I went on an impromptu trip around the world with my mom, visiting places like Bali, Thailand, Colombia, and Malaysia. When I returned to Spain, the pandemic and lockdowns began, and they were severe.

It was a pretty jarring time, but it was also fruitful. That’s when I relaunched my consultancy as a business development strategist and launched my podcast. Now, my podcast is five years old and has over 150 episodes.

My podcast centers Black women’s voices and explores the intersection of migration, Blackness, womanhood, and wellness.

There’s a narrative that usually frames Black women and migration only through struggle and strife. But there are so many different flavors of migration, whether you do it on a whim, for love, a corporate move, or for family.

I have listeners from all around the world, but specifically, the Black American women who reach out to me often express frustration with the United States and their position within it.

They are highly educated, they did the corporate job, they got the house, all of it. And yet they feel dissatisfied. Many of them recognize that the lifestyle they aspired to may not be what they truly want, so they’re very curious about the possibility of cultivating a new life abroad.

Moving to Spain has given me many new career opportunities

I moved to Valencia in August 2021. It’s the third-largest city in Spain. Trying to find a place to live was a little bit stressful, but it ended up working out fine.

I live in the Old Town of Valencia, where most of the tourist attractions are. When I first moved here, it was right after the pandemic, so things were quiet and low-key. But now that tourism has returned, the area has become much more lively.

Valencia has so much to offer architecturally. It can get a little hectic in the summer, especially in August, and during the Fallas celebration in March, when there are massive bonfires in the plaza.

Overall, though, it’s a truly beautiful and walkable city. It doesn’t have the same hustle and bustle as Madrid or Barcelona; it’s more relaxed.

Spain is not a utopia, just like any other place. I disrupted my life to move here. Migration is, by nature, disruptive — it’s not glamorous, it’s hard and full of sacrifices and difficult choices. Yet, without making those choices, I would have missed out on so many opportunities.

Living abroad has definitely changed my life for the better. I’ve made friends from all over the world, and my podcast has taken off: I’ve spoken on numerous panels and been a judge at the International Women’s Podcast Awards. I’m even writing a book about the experience of living abroad.

I never say never, and I still have family in the States, but I don’t see myself moving back to the US permanently. Once your eyes have been opened to a different way of life, returning to one you know isn’t a good fit becomes very difficult.