The adventure begins!

As many of you know, Bucky and I are embarking on a new adventure in Spain. As I did when we pulled our crazy stunt and moved to the South of France, I am going to document our adventures via this blog. Because of the interesting recent political ongoings, I considered calling this Walls in Catalonia, but decided to stick with Walls in Spain for ease. Besides, we are still not sure how things will pan out so this may remain Spain for our planned three year stint here!

We came to Barcelona because of Bucky's job. He was consulting for a marketing, events and training company, Intracon Spain, and when he traveled here on business at the end of the summer, they asked him to take over as Head of Training due to the impending departure of the person who previously held the role. Since we both love adventure, we were immediately enthralled. We had some major obstacles to prevent us from doing it including my job (which I loved very much) and the fact that we wanted to (actually, needed to, since my parents live there!) keep our house in Charleston. Plus, our two daughters are in college so we have that financial commitment to boot.

The job opportunity was a great one for Bucky. The team with whom he would work was eager for him to join their family. The draw of Spain, travel in Europe, new experiences and adventure were strong! We pulled together a list of pros and cons and made the decision to come to Spain! So, Bucky came over at the beginning of September to start his job. I joined him for a week over Labor Day so that we could get settled into our new home.

Before coming to Barcelona in September, we worked with a wonderful relocation company, SuiteLife, to find an apartment. Our preference was to be in the Gracia neighborhood, within walking distance to the train (for Bucky's commute), with two bedrooms and an outdoor space. We knew we wanted to bring Bisoux, Bucky's cat, and India, my dog, so we had them in mind as we house-hunted. With the help of Julio from SuiteLife, we found the perfect place and were able to move in the first week of September.

We were unsure about my working arrangements so we knew Bucky would be in Barcelona on his own for a period of time. Therefore, we went ahead and brought Bisoux with us when we came in September. Bisoux was in charge of keeping Bucky company and he did his job well. I worked with my employer to try and do my job remotely and gave it a trial run for a few weeks in October/November. While I was here, my employer and I determined that working remotely was not possible at this point, so I gave my notice and made my plan to come back to Barcelona for the long haul on December 7th.

Since I was bringing India, and she had to go into the cargo hold to travel, we had to leave from Atlanta. Fortunately, my parents were headed to Atlanta for a festive weekend with friends, so they took India and me to the airport. India was unsure about the kennel and what was going on, but she did a great job! I, however, had a slight meltdown on the flight from Atlanta to Frankfurt. We were flying Lufthansa and I couldn't find space for my carry on which caused me to burst into tears. The flight attendants reassured me that they would find a place for my bag, but I was crying so much, it took me a while to get out that I was just worried about my dog who was traveling in cargo. I am sure they thought I was crazy!!

At any rate, India and I made it to Barcelona and as Bucky says, the adventure now begins! We will keep you posted on what we experience from the mundane daily life to the exciting excursions we plan to take! Stay tuned and enjoy!

India in the kennel about to board the plane!

Bucky with Bisoux and India at home in Barcelona!