Moving abroad can be a scary prospect, not only because of the cultural changes that take place and leaving your comfort zone of friends and family, but because of the dreaded V word - VISA!

I hope this travel journal can ease your worries and answer any queries you may have.

To start, I am going to briefly talk about the visa process. For me, it was not as plain sailing as others I knew moving to Spain. I managed to finally get all my documents together by mid-August after a plethora of problems I didn’t even know existed: my doctor’s signature was not registered with the FCDO database, ACRO Criminal Records Office was hacked, so there was a delay in my completion of the form and then after waiting more than a month to get my criminal record check, they had spelt my name wrong. From what you can tell, I was so frustrated and at this point I was due to move to Spain in a week with no sign of a visa. A lot of people would have decided to stay in the UK until their visa was processed, yet I, after having previously spoke with an immigration lawyer in Granada in the midst of my stressed summer, decided to go to Spain as a tourist and get my residency there within my first 90 days.

To sum up, start the visa process as soon as you possibly can, I would say the May before you are due to move abroad. However, before this, I would recommend checking which Consulate you are in the catchment area for (either London, Manchester or Edinburgh). This is really important because not all the Consulates follow the same document requirements. Once you have found which Consulate is yours, read through their website and document requirements thoroughly and make a list of websites you will need when getting documents (have a look at the student booklet for these websites). Being organised is key as there are so many companies and documents you need to stay on top of within the space of a couple of months. Saying all of this, be assured that it is not the end of the world if it suddenly becomes out of your hands: there is always a second option.

Moving on swiftly, I am going to talk about the university itself. Don’t be fooled by the reassuring statement about only having to pass half your modules. This soon became apparent that it would be a lot harder than it was made out to be, for many reasons. Firstly, you have to remember that you are suddenly sitting in fully Spanish classes (with an Andalusian accent, might I add). It takes time to acclimatise to the speed and accent of the teacher, as well as the brain capacity it takes to sit in a 2-hour class completely in Spanish. Give yourself this time as it will help later on, however, because of this, you will end up being a few weeks behind schedule on content. Another reason I found university hard in Granada was because the system is completely different to Lancaster. This doesn’t have to be a bad thing, though. You can take it as an opportunity to absorb yourself in a new culture.

To end on a more positive note, a year abroad is such a good opportunity to improve your language skills, whether that be from simply hearing Spanish in your classes or wandering through town, to talking with new friends on a regular basis. Moving abroad is also such a great way to meet new people and just relax; and this can be made easier through companies such as ESN and Best Life. They run trips to places around Spain and internationally, as well as providing deals for nights out, which I will talk a little more about in the next section.

I signed up for the company Best Life Experience, which is a company based in Granada, Málaga and Jaén, with a strong focus on the student experience of Erasmus and international students. It cost me 12 euros at the beginning of the year and with this I received deals such as free drinks and entry into clubs as well as discounted travel to places around Spain. My friends and I managed to visit Seville, Córdoba, Ronda, Setenil and beach locations through this company, as well as doing the Caminito del Rey and a trip to Morocco. I would highly recommend getting this Best Life Card as it is a great way to meet people and fills your weekends with a fun trip away. I definitely saw the deals it gave me as a once in a lifetime opportunity - you are in Spain, you might as well make the most of it!

At the end of the day, I made friends for life from my time in Granada and am so thankful for the memories!

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