Last winter I was sitting around a bar near Vancouver, BC, watching the rain fall down while sipping an India Pale Ale. I was thinking about my upcoming trip to Europe, still about four months in the future, and talking to a friend of mine about just how bored I was. Instead of living life, I guess the truth is I sort of felt like my life was on hold until that plane lifted off again, taking me to Europe.
Over the last six years or so, I have visited roughly 39 countries while working remotely. And for me, Canada has always been my home base I go back to. But often I end up in Canada during the winter months, which are quite depressing (rainy and cold for months), even though I have the ability to be anywhere due to my job. But unfortunately renting my Canadian cottage out during the winter months is a bit of a challenge, and it doesn’t make sense for me to leave it empty while I travel the world, since I still have a mortgage on it and monthly payments to contend with.
Of all the places I have visited over the last few years, only a few have stood out in terms of places I would actually want to live for a long period of time. Of those, Spain is one country I always seem to love coming back to – I love the people, the climate (320 days of sunshine a year in some areas), the beautiful architecture, and the proximity to the Mediterranean.
So not long ago, I came up with a solution to my winter dreariness problem – what if I actually rented out my cottage for a year and simply moved to Spain? While it’s hard to rent my place just for the winter, it’s much easier to rent out if it includes the summer too since I live near a lake in a resort-like area. Plus, moving to Spain would finally let me finish learning Spanish too, which is something I’ve wanted to do for a long time.
I actually recently had a conversation with a new friend about ticking off boxes in your life. That is, if you made a list of five to ten things that were important to you, where could you live in the world that allowed you to check off the most boxes?
For me, learning Spanish is near the top of that list, as is being able to sail from time to time (I learned how to sail in New Zealand years ago, but haven’t had the chance to sail since). I also would like to get in better shape, so somewhere where I can be outside for longer periods of the year I imagine would help with that (I hate going to the gym, but love doing things outside like rollerblading, etc.).
So in terms of checking off boxes, moving to Spain would help me tick off almost all of them – it would allow me to skip a dismal four to six months of rain and cold back in Canada, let me finish learning Spanish, give me access to the Mediterranean (and hopefully a sailboat), and also let me spend more time outside each year – sounds heavenly!
In terms of visas that would let me move to Spain for a year as a Canadian, there are really only two visas that apply: the entrepreneur visa, or the non-lucrative visa.
The entrepreneur visa is available to anyone who wants to open a company and employ Spanish workers. I’m not opposed to that at some point, but it seems pretty daunting to open a company if you don’t even have a comfortable grasp of the language. So I scratched that one off the list for now.
The non-lucrative visa is much easier to get with two caveats – you can’t work in Spain with this visa, and you must be able to provide proof of income (or savings) for the entire year. Since I sold my company a few years ago and still have a chunk of money in the bank, I should easily qualify for this visa.
So right now I’m actually in Spain on a tourist visa, working through opening a bank account and acquiring medical insurance. In about a month I’ll head back to Canada, and with luck, submit my entire application for the non-lucrative visa. I’m also in the process of renting out my cottage back in Canada, so hopefully will have that sorted out shortly as well.
So hopefully in approximately four months I’ll be on an airplane, heading towards Madrid, ready to spend an entire year living and travelling around Spain. I can’t wait!
