I wish we knew! If it stresses you out not knowing where we are going to settle in, just know we are winging it just fine so far. The problem is we have too many good choices and can’t decide. Not to worry, we will figure it out. Want to know how this American family living abroad made decisions? When we did our scoping trip in the Spring, we made a huge loop from Madrid, East and then along the coast and back. Of course stopping at every little town and village along the way. Madrid>Valencia>Javea>Alicante>Almeria>Almuñécar>Malaga>Granada>Madrid. We really liked Calpe and Almuñécar. So for the past several months we have been focusing on the southern coast area of Almuñécar. About 2-3 weeks prior to our departure, we were second guessing ourselves. We were very torn between the small town of Almuñécar vs possibly living closer to a bigger city like Valencia.

American Family Living Abroad Thoughts

We were thinking that if we are closer to the bigger city, then there will be more to expose the kids to as far as culture and living via public transportation. We both love city life as we have lived in SF as well as London. Now with kids, we are torn if this is what we want to do. That said, we decided to spend at least 4 nights in the Valencia area, just to see if we wanted to live the city life. Our first 2 nights were out in the suburbs and the next two nights are booked in an apartment, right in the city. it is 40 Flats and it very modern. This will give us a little flavor of the life to see if we want more.

	Pro	Con
City	All modern conveniences are at our finger tips and we likely wouldn’t need a car. Full of energy and life.	It will be more expensive and less intimate, somewhat like USA. We will be near the coast, but not likely to be walking distance or have a sea view. A bit noisy.
Town	More intimate, can get to know locals, kids may be able to walk to school, good chance to have sea view, close to multiple airports, likely less expensive. More relaxed.	Fewer conveniences, likely to require a car.

As of Saturday, we will spend a week in the South and see if that suits us better. We will then begin the hunt for our long-term apartment. We decided it is better to take our time and find the right location rather than rush and just find a place. We think school starts in mid September, so we should be good to go. Even if the kids aren’t at school on day 1, that should be fine. So they mystery will continue and we will keep everyone posted on our plans.

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