Expat Experts #41 | Moving to Spain: Spirituality, Risk & Starting Over Abroad

Thinking about moving abroad? Wondering why some places feel right and others feel off? Today’s episode will change how you see the world 🌍✨

We’re joined by Isabel Guerreira, founder of Your Stellar Truth — a New York City expat who moved to Spain after discovering the power of astrocartography, the branch of astrology that reveals where in the world your energy flows best.

In this conversation, we explore:
✨ How your birth chart can guide your relocation decisions
🌐 What happens when you move toward the right planetary energy lines
🇪🇸 The emotional + cultural reality of living abroad in Spain
💼 How Isabel launched a relocation-focused astrology business as an expat
🧭 Tips for expats, digital nomads, and anyone seeking a life that feels aligned

If you're curious about expat life, relocating to Spain, digital nomad living, or how astrology and geography intersect, this episode is for you 🌙🧳💫

🎙️ Guest: Isabel Guerriera
Isabel Guerreira is a New York–born astrologer and relocation coach living in Spain who helps people align their life choices and where they live through astrocartography.

🔗 Guest Links
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yourstellartruth/
YouTube:  @YourStellarTruthAstrology-o4h
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@yourstellartruth
Substack: https://practicalastrology.substack.com/
Website: https://www.yourstellartruthastrology.com/

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Chapters

• 0:00 Intro
• 1:37 Guest Background, Expat Journey, and Challenges
• 22:44 Life as an Expat: Fast Reply Questions
• 53:19 Guest Promotion
• 56:16 Wrap-up & Final Thoughts

Transcript

0:00
Spain is a country that has very high unemployment. Um, and I think more than unemployment,
0:06
very high underemployment. You you study to be a psychologist, but you're working, I don't know, in a perumeia,
0:11
like a junior or something. Not to knock those jobs, but it's not what you studied for, you know?
0:17
I don't know. Like if you're speaking English very loudly with a group of other English speakers, the locals might
0:25
be like a little bit, I don't know, like turned off by that. I think it's important to try and befriend locals,
0:34
but not to only want to befriend them because they're a local. Like, I would
0:39
say visit before you come here. visit before you come here because if you're looking for that like
0:46
very charming Spanish life, it's not really what you're going to get in
0:51
Madrid. Today we will talk with a New York born astrologer and astroctographer who
0:57
relocated to Spain in 2019 and launched her own business, Your Stellar Truth,
1:03
blending relocation expertise with modern western astrology. We will talk about her journey, her work helping
1:10
people align not only with their birth chart but also with the place they live or they are planning to move to and how
1:17
magic and practicality came together in both her personal and work practice. Today on expert experts, Isabel
1:25
Gueriera. Let's start.
Guest Background, Expat Journey, and Challenges
1:36
Zel, welcome to Expat Experts. I'm I'm really happy to have you here. Yeah, maybe we can start from the beginning. I
1:42
mean, you can tell us a little bit about your background and where did you grow up and what what was your life before
1:48
moving to Spain? you moved to Spain and we will talk about it later. But you're from New York originally, no?
1:54
Yes. Thank you for having me, by the way. Um, really happy to be here, too. Yeah, I grew up in Brooklyn, New York
2:01
City, in a pretty residential part of Brooklyn, I would say. Like not super
2:07
super super urban. It's kind of far from Manhattan and all those places. And yeah, I grew up too uh Italian parents.
2:15
So I always kind of had that cultural connection somewhat with southern Europe. Like I grew up going to Italy
2:23
like every couple of summers, sometimes every summer, but not always. You know, I had visited Spain and Portugal,
2:31
France. So I guess growing up in that background, I always felt like drawn to
2:37
that area of the world. And I think that might have influenced me to move to
2:42
Spain eventually when I did like about six and a half years ago almost. But
2:47
yeah, in New York I not the most interesting like I you know I was I
2:52
always lived in the same house and then for university I lived in upstate New
2:58
York which is like very it's kind of like the countryside, right? Like there's a lot of mountains, more nature,
3:05
it's less densely populated and there I studied journalism
3:11
and then I worked in journalism briefly. Um and then I kind of had an inkling. I
3:20
kind of knew I wanted to move abroad and I wanted to kind of pursue a profession that could let me get my foot in the
3:26
door abroad. So I decided to get my masters in New York City in Tissel
3:32
education like teaching English as a second or other language. It's what it stands for, Tissole Education. Um, and
3:38
then I got that masters and I worked at the same time I worked at a community college teaching students from all over
3:46
the world, like literally in Manhattan. And then, yeah, after I finished my
3:52
masters that summer, I moved to Spain. I applied for a job and I had an offer to
3:59
teach and yeah, that's how I got there in the first place.
4:05
Why Spain? Like you were proactively searching for Spain itself or you were like open to wherever you had the option
4:12
of work. Let's say like this. There were definitely different factors. First of all, like I wanted to go live
4:19
in a country in Europe, specifically more like southern Europe. Like I don't I don't love places that are super
4:25
rainy. I like sunshine. I I'm very prone to like
4:31
sort of prone to like seasonal depression. So, I wanted a place that had like better
4:36
weather and I wanted to go to a country where I spoke the language. So, the options would have just been like
4:43
basically Spain or Italy because I speak Italian and I I speak Spanish like I already spoke Spanish before moving to
4:50
Spain. I definitely improved it a lot like since moving. I had like maybe a
4:55
B1ish, maybe like a high B1, but now I would say I'm closer I'm like more like
5:00
a mid C1. Hm. So, I don't know. I just chose Spain
5:06
because it h it has like pretty good public transportation at least compared to Italy. I kind of did my research on
5:14
that and um also my astroctography like because I am an astroctographer and I
5:20
looked into my astroctography for both countries and uh in Spain it seemed
5:27
more promising and I definitely energetically feel better here than um
5:32
in Italy. Like I love going to Italy but I can't see myself really living there long term.
5:39
And so that was another factor in my decision. And so I'd say it was a combination of like the language,
5:45
knowing that it had good public transportation cuz I don't drive. Like I still don't have my license. I'm about to turn 32 and I I still don't have my
5:53
license. Um I'm a bit scared of driving. Um yeah, the astroctography,
6:00
wanting to like improve my Spanish and yeah, that's those were the factors. I know it's kind of random and yeah, I
6:06
didn't even bother applying to jobs in any other country, just Spain. Okay. Nice. I mean I have a couple of
6:13
questions already because I'm zero knowledgeable about astrology astrocast
6:20
everything that you are doing currently right now. So when you say like you did check countries from an astrographic
6:27
perspective how how does this work? Like what are the factors that you need to check out to see if a country fits more
6:34
in your personality or what what are you checking in there? Yeah. So I guess I'll give you like a
6:40
mini lesson. Astrology is based on birth charts and so is astroctography. So
6:46
everyone has the birth chart that they're born with and then in astroctography the theory is that when
6:53
you relocate your chart like relocates with you and it changes and so when you
7:00
look at your relocated chart in a country there's definitely things that you want to look at like there is this
7:06
angle in the birth chart. So, there's four main angles in the birth chart. And the ascendant is like, and you might
7:13
have heard people talking about it like your rising sign. It's your identity, like parts of your personality, your
7:21
inclinations, and then you have your descendant, which shows like your
7:26
approach and your desires out of relationships with other people and like the kind of people you might attract.
7:32
And then your midheaven is your career. And then your IC is like how you relate
7:39
to a location and the associations you make with a location. And my IC in New York was in Aries and I felt a lot of
7:47
danger there. I felt a lot of hostility just energetically and literally like physically physical danger. And then my
7:54
IC in New York, sorry, in Madrid shifted to Cancer. And cancer is all about
8:00
feeling at home, feeling more comfortable, feeling like you're at home, feeling like you're with family.
8:06
Mhm. And so I really that really has been reflected here like even though things
8:12
haven't been perfect and I have definitely gone through difficult things here like challenges as I think most
8:17
expats do or expats immigrants there's a whole debate about that word. I'm not
8:22
going to get into it, but you know, I think that it's been reflected here. Like, I feel very
8:27
comfortable here. I feel very comfortable to stay here for a very long time. I feel very at home. I feel like
8:33
I've integrated really, really, really well with the locals. Mhm.
8:38
So, yeah, that and also like the planetary lines which are reflective of
8:44
your relocated chart. So, I'm on um my moon descendant line. So my moon is near
8:49
the descendant angle in the relocated chart. So the descendant remember is your relationships with others and the
8:55
moon represents emotional resonance and connectivity. I met like I immediately
9:01
within like less than six months like met my fiance here. Mhm. And we're still we're together and I
9:08
made a lot of very close like ships. I wouldn't say big groups but like close
9:13
like onetoone connections. found a lot of good collaborations for my business here. So everything that's been
9:20
reflected in the relocated chart has like manifested in real life. Does that make sense? I tried my best to
9:26
explain it um in a in an easier way. Thanks. I mean thanks for that. I mean
9:32
at the end I just like I know some things. I mean at the end I know that there is astrological signs assigned to
9:38
you. I know that there is a descendant and ascendant but I didn't even know for example that when you relocate these
9:43
things can change for example depending on the on where you are. So definitely interesting. you talk a bit about also
9:49
challenges and and I mean cultural adaptation language wise it's very important normally and it's a topic that
9:55
we touched a lot in this podcast but for you I suppose that wasn't the biggest barrier because as you said you already
10:00
were speaking Spanish when you moved out so I suppose that make it easier but how
10:06
was the transition in general because Spain has a very different energy rhythm everything compared to New York I
10:11
suppose so how was the cultural shocks adjustments I don't know well I guess like you know going from
10:17
New New York to Madrid, like it's one big city to another. So like I felt like
10:22
a difference, but it still feels like very international. Like it's a very Madrid is a quite international city. I
10:29
wouldn't say maybe not as much as Barcelona, but like you know, it's quite international compared to every other
10:35
place in Spain, you know. And so in terms of that, it didn't feel too different. I actually wish it had a bit
10:42
of a slower pace. Sometimes I do get overwhelmed with that. Like I came to Spain like wanting a bit of a slower
10:48
pace in life and it was really interesting when I first moved my first year I lived in a city I don't know if
10:55
you know it called Alcala and it's pretty well known and I lived there for
11:01
for almost a year and it there I felt a much slower pace like things were very
11:06
calm. Yeah, it felt like more I guess cozier is the
11:13
word. But the thing is that like most of my friends and like you know my fiance at the time we were just dating but you
11:19
know they were either in Madrid like or closer to Madrid and I felt like I would
11:24
just have to take the train or the bus like into Madrid like about an hour and
11:30
it got tiring and I decided to move into the city. But Alkala definitely had um
11:37
the best of both worlds because it is a little a small city. It has uh you know
11:42
a main street, a main area. There is also places to go there's there are also places to go hiking.
11:49
There the anatis river is there and I really liked living there. I had a very good quality of life
11:57
but it just socially I felt a bit like isolated. So the first year I guess you could say there was there were issues
12:03
with feeling a bit isolated like far from where most of my friends and you know my people were
12:09
but I was working in Alcala that's why I stayed there the first year
12:14
then I commuted my second year so the commute was hard and then I guess I
12:20
guess with Spain versus New York I guess like there is like a difference in like
12:26
LA like you know like the way of being I don't know like I found that I just find
12:34
like Europeans in general like maybe compared to US Americans sometimes they're not as welcoming like
12:42
when it comes to like a group like if you're brought into a group like you really have to make a very like a strong
12:48
effort whereas I feel like in the US like people love small talk and they
12:54
like to get to know new people even if it's very superficial but at least to get your foot in the door, right? Like
13:01
to get your like you're standing in a group, it's a bit easier. And also like you know in the US we tend to learn more
13:07
like Mexican Spanish or Latin American Spanish. So speaking the Spanish here in
13:13
the beginning was really hard for me like the lisp and just understanding certain changes of words and expressions
13:20
and it was a little hard. Like I speak very well and I spoke pretty well back
13:25
then, but like sometimes I'd go into a store and I'd have to like ask the same
13:31
question like three times and I hated that feeling cuz they're not the most patient here like with that like and
13:38
it's sad because I feel like you know I would I always have tried and and I I've improved and improved and improved and
13:44
despite how much I've improved like sometimes I'm still met with like people correcting me or people kind of being
13:50
like oh you're not from here and I'm just like yeah I'm not and what about it you know um
13:56
yeah I mean at the same time I assume like you you make a comparison that it's
14:02
it's very difficult the question that I ask you because comparing a whole country with a city it's not uh it's not
14:07
ideal so that the the fact that you just pointed out like cities like Alcana Alcala or other small cities around big
14:15
cities have a complete different life than going and living in the big cities in Spain Bilbao, Madrid, Barcelona. It
14:23
has different vibes between regions of Spain also like the vibe changes.
14:28
So different. It's it's crazy. Like I compare, you know, I think of Galysia, I think of like Andalucia, Madrid, like
14:36
Catalunia. Like they're all just so varied, I guess. It's like
14:42
m some places are like when I think of like Valencia and Catalunia like there's
14:48
more similarities there but like there's still so many differences and then like Madrid is its own world like Galysia is
14:56
its own Yes absolutely and I expected that honestly that didn't
15:02
shock me because like Italy my my parents are from Italy and Italy north south is the same Italy is the same Italy is
15:09
the same way like even within Sicily or my parents are from like there's so many
15:15
rivalries between towns and between cities and there's so many differences. So I expected that even in my own like
15:24
country like the like where I'm from like where I grew up like the US similar
15:30
every state has its own kind of vibe and identity. So, I expected that. But I
15:35
guess like like for example like what surprised me I guess was you know growing up in New York I I was around a
15:41
lot of people from Latin America especially from like Mexico and the Dominican Republic. Those are like and
15:47
and Puerto Rico like groups like immigrant groups in New York that are quite prominent like that there
15:53
is a lot of people from those countries. Um, and people from those countries like tend to be very very warm, like very
15:59
friendly. And I just I was expecting that more in Spain. And it's like
16:05
they're they can be very friendly and I've made great friends here, but they're much slower to warm up to you.
16:13
And in Italy, I think like I think they're a bit like in the south, at least where my family's from, like
16:19
they're they're quite warm, too. So I I guess I haven't really in Madrid you don't get that as much. Like they're
16:25
nice but with like distance a little bit, you know? So that's another thing
16:31
that I guess surprised me. But I wouldn't say I had such difficulty with the transition. Like I'm a pretty
16:37
adaptable person and knowing the language already and uh living in Alcala
16:43
I think forced me to really improve my Spanish cuz they are like nobody spoke English. Like in Madrid people speak English.
16:50
because of the tourism, but Alcala is already an hour away, you know, and I
16:55
lived with people that didn't really speak any English, like roommates at the time. So, yeah, the difficulties, I
17:01
think, with moving here were really more like finding housing has always been
17:06
like always been very stressful. Um, and it has it's only gotten worse over the
17:12
years. Um, and I just I warn everybody like that is coming to different like
17:18
cities in Europe, like if you're coming to Lisbon, if you're coming to Barcelona, Madrid, you need to give
17:23
yourself months these days. Months. Yes. And it's not affordable and the quality
17:29
is not good. I hate sounding so negative, but that for me has been the the most negative
17:36
and most difficult part of adapting because also in the US like our houses, our apartments tend to be bigger and
17:43
better and better quality. Yes, it's more expensive, but like you they're
17:48
bigger. They're just they're better. I don't know. Yeah, makes sense. I mean we will talk a
17:54
little bit more about this but in the fast reply questions I want to ask you one last question before we jump to to
18:00
the next section. you were coming from journalism then you teach English you were teaching English for some years in
18:06
in Spain but then you did a change of career completely when is uh your project with your stellar truth comes in
18:15
where did the idea spark so it's in so it's interesting so I worked in journalism for like two
18:22
publications one was actually in upstate New York um in Albany it was like um
18:28
reported on state politics but it wasn't wasn't really on one angle or the other. It was just kind of reporting on like,
18:34
you know, new bills, new laws that were being passed by the state, like Senate
18:39
and stuff like that. So, I worked for that one. And then in Brooklyn, I worked for a hyper local um online news source
18:47
called the Brooklyn Reader. um and uh as a freelance journalist and then um I was
18:55
teaching at the community college and then in in the US, this is in the US um New York in New York City in Manhattan
19:02
and then um in Spain I got my first job
19:08
teaching at an FF like a professional for many vocational vocational school we call it
19:14
in English a vocational school for tourism and hospitality students. So I
19:19
was, it was actually really fun. I was teaching to tour guides, like like aspiring tour guides, chefs, you know,
19:26
restaurant workers, mostly teenagers and young adults, but there were some people that were much older that were going
19:32
back to school and uh most of the students for the most part, they were very, very sweet, very,
19:38
very, very funny, great to work with. I really liked my boss there, my co-workers. But the program it was only
19:45
for two years because if you want to really work there long term you have to do the opposition and like you know the
19:52
enter the public sector. Yeah. And I can because I have a European passport like I have an Italian
19:59
passport but it was I would have to like go back to school again and like I just don't I
20:05
don't really want to do that right now. And then I worked at a primary school for a year. I hated it. I prefer
20:12
teaching adults, okay? I just do better with adults. And it was very big class sizes. I was very
20:18
underpaid and overworked compared to the other school. And I just wasn't happy.
20:23
And then I um a friend of mine told me that his company, like a an online
20:29
journalism company that wrote newsletters, was hiring and it paid really well, at least for Spain, like
20:36
you know, relative to what? Yeah. For the standards, it paid really well. And then I got a job there writing
20:42
newsletters about business topics like I wrote about cloud computing, I wrote
20:47
about marketing, I wrote about like wine and spirits, just different business topics, AI, just different developments
20:55
in the business world. But then that company kind of went under and shut down. And then when that happened, I had
21:03
been thinking about launching my astrology um and astroctography business. And I kept saying like I guess
21:10
I kind of manifested it because I was just like okay like I was like if this
21:15
company fails or if it ever closes down like that's when I'm going to open my business
21:21
because I I had been saving money like crazy working there. And I was like I'll have savings like and I'll have the way
21:27
to do it. And then um that's when I decided to launch it. It was like uh I
21:32
want to say April May of last year. Okay. But I have been doing readings
21:37
like chart readings, astroctography like for fun or just for like you know just
21:44
for people I knew like for years especially during COVID lockdown like I had a lot of free time
21:50
and I was doing that and people were like you really should make like something out of this. They were like we
21:56
really like your interpretations and this and that and that's how I got to like start everything. So it was it's
22:01
been a really interesting journey of kind of like working in different fields and right now for my business I write on
22:08
Substack. I write a Substack multiple times a week. My astrologer friend and I just launched a podcast. So
22:15
yeah and I still do teach privately online uh for like Cambridge and TOEFL
22:20
exams because I love teaching. I really do like enjoy it. I really love it. I love connecting you know with the
22:26
students like helping them and stuff. So yeah, makes sense.
22:32
Cool. Um that's a very interesting like change of journeys and everything. So um
22:38
sounds sounds like interesting but challenging I suppose at some points. Also I would say we jump to the next um
Life as an Expat: Fast Reply Questions
22:44
section that I prepared. Um this one it's like I call it like the fast reply round. So basically I will put you some
22:51
topics and then you need to reply to it one minute 1 minute and a half let's say
22:56
like this per question. So the idea is to give the listeners a little bit the snapshot of what is life in Spain or
23:03
what is your experience of life in Spain uh and what it's really like. So the first one that I have it's like in
23:09
general cultural adjustment. We touch it a little bit but what is the thing that took you a while to adapt for example
23:15
from the Spanish culture? People might get offended by this but like I think there is due to the history
23:21
of what they went through. I think you know what I'm referring to the dictatorship. Yes.
23:27
I think there's a lot of like lack of trust here. Um
23:33
especially when it comes to foreigners and just, you know, when you're trying to to rent a flat and just do certain
23:40
things, when you're like applying for jobs, like there's this notion I feel that you really have to prove yourself.
23:47
And that has been the hardest thing like because as a very as as an astrologer I
23:55
go on vibes like I go on energy. I don't go like I don't base this kind of stuff
24:01
on like checking the boxes and I think they're a little bit like rigid in the
24:07
way they see things sometimes. So that's for me that for me has been the most difficult part of adjusting here. So I'm
24:15
like sorry if I offend anyone but absolutely I mean it's about your experience and this is
24:21
I want to make it clear like the podcast and the episodes are about your experience abroad and not it's not
24:27
always generic. The second one related to this actually it's social life like how do you usually meet friends uh here
24:33
in Spain and how you describe Spanish making connection with Spanish people in
24:38
general maybe. So, it's interesting. Like, I've met people like through very
24:44
random ways, right? So, I've never been one of those that's like, "Oh, I'm going to go to a meetup and like
24:52
like, you know what I mean? Those kind of communities." Like, I've never been I don't know. I just haven't met people
24:57
that way. I meet people sometimes. I met them through work. I've made friends
25:02
through my past jobs here. I've made friends like I did do a master's where like uh we got the tuition paid for if
25:10
we were teaching. So I did that my second year in Alakala and I made a lot of friends through that who I'm still
25:16
friends with and I guess I other friends I just met like through my fiance like he is Venezuelan and he has a lot of um
25:24
he work he like you know has always worked in different like for different organizations in Spain. Um, sometimes I
25:32
met I befriended some of his co-workers and I kind of usually they were women
25:37
and I became closer to them than he did and yeah, you know, like that kind of thing.
25:42
Um we're like very like he and I are very relaxed about that like you know like we could be friends with who we
25:49
want you know I guess through him through the masters
25:55
through work through just going to certain social outings and connecting with people there
26:01
like I don't know. Yeah, I I guess I've never met friends like going to the gym or going to a meetup or any of that
26:08
really. Like it's always been maybe like oh I met this person like one of my really good friends that I started the podcast with. She's from South Africa. I
26:15
met her at a birthday party of a Spanish friend of mine. So it's like through other people like the context contact style of
26:22
connecting with people. Yeah, maybe that's just my style. Um because I I find like in big groups of
26:28
like new people like everyone's a bit nervous and a bit awkward and I just it
26:34
it's not my setting I think. I see. Next one. It's about the language. I mean, it's a bit difficult
26:41
because you already spoke the language back in the day when you arrived to Spain, but do you really think that you
26:47
can arrive and live by get by without speaking Spanish or I don't know any tip
26:53
that you would give anyone who wishes to move to Spain and speak the language? Can you get by without Spanish? I would
26:59
say it depends where you are. Obviously, it's always about the context, like the situation. Like in Alcala, I don't think
27:07
so. Like where I lived in the beginning initially? No. But in the city of Madrid, if you live in like the dead
27:13
center, if you're in Seoul, Malasagna, like those places, yeah, probably. And
27:19
or if you're in the down south like, you know, in a very like heavy like British community, you know, there's a
27:26
lot of those um like heavy expat type of community then. Yeah. Like there a lot of them don't
27:32
speak any Spanish. I think they should learn. But I think it's it's I don't think it's fair for the
27:38
locals to expect perfection cuz you know we're all trying our best, but I think
27:45
people should learn the language. I mean, it's just it's so you integrate better. You get more done. You don't you
27:50
you save money because I hear of all these people that they need to pay someone to go to an appointment with them. And I'm like I'm like when I first
27:58
moved here, I was like barely scraping by. Like I couldn't even afford like to pay someone to do that, you know?
28:05
Everything had to be me paying certain like obviously you need to pay lawyers for certain things but sometimes it's like
28:10
yeah more specialized I think you get what I mean. So I would say you can move to Spain without
28:15
speaking Spanish depending on where you're going but for the most part like
28:20
I would say it's going to be more difficult for you and you're going to need to spend more money on services and
28:26
integration won't feel the same. But some people don't necessarily want to integrate. So, it depends on like what
28:34
type of experience the person's looking for, you know? Makes sense. And the next one, it's a
28:40
little bit tricky, but the cost of living in general, what it's surprisingly cheap, what it's surprisingly expensive, I don't know.
28:46
I love this question cuz this is actually this is I actually really like that you have this question because there's a lot of content about Spain,
28:53
Italy, Portugal saying, "Oh my god, it's so cheap and this and that." And I'm like, "Yeah, maybe for you." But if
28:59
you're coming from Denmark or Norway or Australia or or the US or Canada, yeah,
29:06
it's cheaper. But well, when I first got here in 2019, things were quite well
29:15
priced. Like with 1,00 maybe 300400 a month, you could live like pretty well.
29:22
Like I I'm not kidding. Like I would I took like one trip a month, whether it was abroad or somewhere in Spain. I was
29:28
able to pay my rent. I was able to pay for my food and maybe save like two 300 a month. Like I was able to live really
29:36
well in the beginning. Uh and granted you have to remember I was in Alcala
29:41
of course. Maybe if I had I had been in Madrid and also like less going out and you know
29:47
more homebody like I went out but not as much as I do in Madrid. Not even close.
29:53
Um, but I had a really good like, you know, off of 13,400 you could live
29:59
decently well as a single person. Again, no kids. I don't have kids. I still don't have kids. But over the years, I
30:06
feel like especially since 2024. Mhm. Everything is like tripled.
30:13
Okay. Like maybe maybe I'm exaggerating like but doubled at least like the rents. You
30:19
used to be able to get a room for 300 a month. Now it's hard to find anything.
30:25
Now it's Now it's hard to find anything for less than 500 600.
30:31
Uh the food has gone up considerably, especially like uh I I'm vegetarian
30:37
luckily, but the meat I my fiance complains about it. The meat has gone up a lot. Um lacto uh sorry
30:45
dairy dairy products dairy products and things have just gotten so expensive.
30:50
desserts like eggs like things have just I used to fill up a huge bag of food
30:57
like for 5355 and now that same bag of food would cost
31:02
maybe 80 85 so it's gotten really expensive the rents out of control like if you want
31:09
the whole apartment to rent to buy in Madrid you're looking at at least now for one bedroom at least
31:16
like 1,200 maybe outside of the center maybe you could find for like 900 to a,000, but
31:24
for what the salaries are here and for self-employed people like myself, how
31:29
high the taxes are, it's it's hard. I think this is a great
31:34
country if you are if you're making money from outside um you know high high
31:40
high salaries like very high like I would say like at least 60,000 50,000 um
31:46
cost of living um was it used to be quite affordable now I would say it's
31:51
not affordable at all um a lot of people are having a lot of difficulty
31:56
especially locals honest review yeah very very it's gotten
32:01
very expensive inflation is out of control. Yeah. And I feel like there's no end in
32:07
I feel like there's no end in sight. Yeah. Yeah. It's sad. But then I think we are
32:13
seeing this in a lot of places unfortunately. Yeah. The next one is kind of related to it, but finding a
32:18
home. I mean, you touched already a little bit um what what do you would say
32:24
to anyone who's trying to find an apartment right now? Oo. Well, they really ask for a lot.
32:32
whether you're buying, renting, they really ask for a lot, you know, like
32:40
it's gonna sound really discouraging, but like if you're coming from another country and you're newly arrived, like
32:46
you might have to rent out a room instead of a whole place for yourself because even if you have the money to do
32:54
it, like they want to see that you have employment records in Spain. They want
32:59
to see that you've worked at least maybe a year or six months like in the country
33:05
and that you've been paying taxes in the country. They often ask for that. Sometimes like if you if like for
33:11
whatever reason they don't want to rent to you but you could still afford it. Like you could get a guarantor. They
33:18
call it an avalista like maybe uh your parents or someone who you know a friend who makes more
33:24
money than you or a relative. Yeah. But it's tough because if they're,
33:29
for example, my fiance and I, when we rented our first apartment together, we had his dad do that for us. Okay.
33:36
And I wanted my parents to do it, but they don't make income in Spain, so they wouldn't let them.
33:42
Even though like they definitely I think met the requirements, but Spanish salary.
33:48
Yeah. So like I think it's like, you know, you have to be very very flexible and adaptable. Like yes, you come to a
33:54
country, maybe you really want your own place right away, but you might have to settle for renting a room initially for
34:01
maybe the first six months to a year. Um, I mean, I did it, you know, for for for two years, actually. Um, and
34:11
I guess, yeah, like, you know, look in if you're if you're on a budget, look in
34:16
areas outside of the center. Madrid, for example, the good thing about Madrid is that it's a very big city. So, there are
34:22
lots of options in terms of neighborhoods and the more the the more central areas
34:28
are the ones that are more competitive when it comes to finding housing. So, I've actually never lived in the city center before that reason because I
34:35
prefer to like get more space for my money. I want I don't want to feel like I'm in a shoe box.
34:42
So, makes sense. when you tend to go outside of the city center like further from the city center you could get better things
34:49
for your for the value like better more space maybe more amenities but yeah it's
34:54
not easy and they ask for a lot they tend to ask for references from landlords from previous landlords you
35:01
know nominas which are like payubs from from several months before uh the
35:06
guarantor thing like I said yeah they ask for a lot so just brace yourself for
35:12
that Yeah. Yeah. It's difficult. I know about it also. I mean, from my years in
35:17
Barcelona, it was one. It's I don't really like the term, but living like a local at the end, you never are local in
35:23
my opinion. But for someone who wants to blend in and really like adapt, uh I
35:29
don't know what would you recommend to them or what would be the mistakes that you would tell them to avoid? Well,
35:34
first of all, I guess you the language the first like is the first thing like I
35:39
don't know like if you're speaking English very loudly with a group of other English speakers, the locals might
35:47
be like a little bit I don't know like turned off by that. Mhm.
35:53
Like, so I think it's important to try and befriend locals, but not to like
36:02
only want to befriend them because they're a local. Like it's important to connect with people like on a genuine
36:09
level, right? So maybe, you know, like finding
36:14
workshops, like meetups that are hosted in Spanish or like language exchanges
36:22
could be a good way to meet locals. Like I I go to this community art class
36:27
that this really nice young woman hosts here in Madrid in La Latina and it's
36:34
like for she always put makes it clear like it's for English and Spanish speakers. So there's tends to be more
36:41
English speakers, but there are sometimes Spanish speakers that come. So it's like looking for things that aren't
36:47
exclusively geared towards expats, you know, because some I think I think
36:53
the issue with some of these like expat groups and events is that like sometimes they exclusively gear all of their
37:00
events and things like that towards expats. And like I think it could be a way they could try and use it as an
37:07
opportunity to bridge the gap and I feel like not enough people are doing that
37:12
if that does that make sense what I'm saying. Yeah, absolutely. I completely agree. I've seen that.
37:17
Yeah. Like and also like with local businesses like there's a lot of
37:23
businesses owned by expats and they tend to be more like guess gentrified
37:29
like they tend to be very expensive and some of them have great things like there's
37:34
this there's this cafe I think the owners are from Taiwan and they make
37:39
amazing matcha but all the workers like they mostly only speak English. Like
37:44
actually like one time I went in there speaking Spanish and the guy was like can you please speak English and I was
37:50
like okay like sure like I mean easier for me but like it's kind of awkward cuz
37:56
it's like well I mean you're in their like you're in Spain though like it's like I think it makes more sense if
38:02
the client says like can you speak English? I'm sorry I don't speak Spanish. And then they speak in English
38:08
but whatever. I don't care. It's fine. you know, if a local goes there and has
38:13
that kind of interaction, I don't think it's going to leave a very it's it might leave a bad impression. So, I think it's important to try and go to businesses
38:20
that are like owned locally and and we're like, you know what I mean? Like
38:25
that aren't just owned by expats. And I think the mistake that a lot of expats make is they frequent businesses that
38:32
are only owned by like expats or whatever. And like, you know, that
38:37
doesn't really give you the true experience. And I think it's good to to go to both, you know, not just one type
38:43
of business. Yeah. Balance bit. Absolutely. Yeah. Nice.
38:50
Uh, next one. I mean, you've been talking a little bit about work life. How is the job market? How is the work
38:56
culture in Spain compared to to US? Um, like well, starting off with the job market. I think it's quite challenging.
39:03
Spain is a country that has very high unemployment and I think more than unemployment very high underemployment.
39:10
So meaning like you know if this person studied to be a psychologist but they're
39:15
working in something that's not that like for example like you're working you you studied to be a psychologist but
39:22
you're working I don't know in perfumeia like uh drun or something not to knock those jobs but it's not what you
39:28
studied for you know. Yeah. Um, but the I'd say the job market's challenging, but like it
39:35
depends on what kind of job you're looking for. Like I think I I think
39:41
people who are in like STEM fields tend to have a better like better luck
39:46
finding work. There are certain sectors that could be attractive to a lot of people
39:52
like tourism. I feel like people tend to find jobs in that sector. English teaching and tourism though are very
39:59
oversaturated so they're underpaid. But I'd say it's pretty challenging. I
40:04
actually was reading an article. I don't remember the source. I think it was Euro News where they said that Madrid was
40:10
like the hardest the most challenging city to find work in Europe. Madrid and Barcelona. Oh yeah. Yeah. And
40:17
I think the issue that I see in Barcelona a bit more than Madrid is that there's a lot of startups which you
40:24
would think is good, but like some of them crash and burn. Yes. And I've had friends a lot of in
40:31
Barcelona experiencing a lot of like job instability because of that huge startup culture.
40:39
But like I have had friends that have had success in the job market here, but like they're kind of like far and few in
40:45
between. Okay. I think the people I know who are doing the best are like either have remote
40:51
jobs from another country or they like are in STEM or they have a very very
40:58
advanced like teaching degree and they're able to teach in like international schools.
41:03
I see. But what was the other question? Was that it? Yeah. I think you covered it for sure.
41:10
Or the word culture culture like different from the US. I I
41:16
think but I've only really in Spain I've only really worked in schools and I don't know I mean the first school I
41:22
worked at like there was a lot of flexibility with how I could teach and run my like lessons and then the second
41:28
school was much more rigid like I just had to be the textbook and it was very like by the book and I couldn't really
41:35
go like deviate from that. Mhm. And I think just from what I see, not
41:41
the most efficient work culture here. Like a lot of like I like to call it,
41:46
maybe you could censor me, like I like to call it like work. Like they just arbitrary tasks and things that you
41:54
could do that you don't need to do or that could be done more efficiently or like you know like making you come into
42:01
the office like more than you should have to like. Yeah. I feel like there's
42:06
more of a hierarchy here and like the boss is like, "Well, I'm your boss and you should be thankful that you got this
42:13
job." Like a lot of that attitude, a lot of that I I mean, I haven't experienced that personally, but I've seen a lot of
42:19
that with friends of mine and people who've worked in different like firms here. So,
42:25
yeah. No. No. Unfortunately. The next one is uh getting around actually. Best
42:30
way to move around Madrid in this case. I mean I definitely walking like it's a
42:37
very walkable city. It is true that some area like some areas are very crowded and it's a bit of a pain to walk there
42:44
but you know the sidewalks like are very I think compared to a lot of other cities they're quite wellkept and in
42:50
good condition and the city's pretty safe for considering how big of a city it is. I feel safe there for the most
42:56
part. I would say walking, but then obviously it's a big city, so sometimes it's too
43:02
far to walk from one place to another. Um, I would say the metro is pretty
43:08
good. It's cheap. Very cheap. The city buses are fine, but there could be more
43:14
traffic. Just Renfair. I hate Renfair. Like the you and the Yeah. I If you could avoid
43:23
Ren. Ref is like more of like the commuter train. If you could avoid that, I would avoid it. But sometimes you have
43:29
to take it. But I don't like it. It's just it's kind of sketchy. Like it's
43:36
it's never on it's rarely on time. It has a lot of delays and problems.
43:42
Yes. But everything else the inanos like the green buses that take you to like like
43:48
places outside of the city are fine. Like they're usually decent. But the only thing I would say like avoid renfe
43:55
ride share apps too are like not too expensive in Madrid and there there are
44:01
so many like there's bolt there's free now there's cabify there's Uber like
44:07
there's it's easy to get around easier than Barcelona much better than
44:12
Barcelona in that regard I will defend Madrid in that regard it is easier to get around and cheaper than Barcelona
44:19
yeah cheaper for No, I I don't think cheaper. It's cheaper to live in. I think the the
44:26
housing, the food is more or less the same. But the transportation transportation I meant. Yeah. Yeah. The transportation is much
44:33
cheaper and much better in my opinion. What about healthcare? I use the public one
44:39
and I haven't people talk really badly about it, but I haven't had issues with
44:45
it. Okay. Do you know I'm a so I I pay those taxes as an aonom and I want to get what I'm
44:51
paying for. Don't I haven't had the need to go to a private like to pay for a private
44:58
insurance. Even the private insurance like when I compare to the US it's quite affordable.
45:04
Probably I think like now maybe 70 a month or something like that. 50 60 70.
45:09
And it's I've had private insurance before with like my old jobs and it was very good.
45:15
I'm very satisfied with the healthcare here. Both the public and the private. I've actually found that the public is
45:21
better. The only thing is like dental. It doesn't really cover dental. So like when I go to the dentist, I have to pay
45:26
out of pocket and it's a lot of money. Mhm. I think dental is quite expensive
45:32
everywhere. Yes, it is. Which is messed up because like you know you could get like brain issues and
45:38
heart problems from teeth problems. So, it's kind of messed up that it's not really like I still
45:46
don't understand if it's included in the public, but I've every time I've tried to figure that out, it seems too
45:51
complicated. And unless it's an emergency normally, I think it's if it's still like when I was
45:57
living in there, it's only covering emergency stuff normally. Yeah. So, I use the public one and
46:03
really like I haven't had many issues. I think it depends on which district you live in. Some are more overwhelmed than
46:11
others. So, it really depends, but I've had a good experience with it. So,
46:16
yes. Well, one of the last ones, I have three more. Bureaucracy, paperwork, visas, permits, etc., etc.
46:25
So, like I said, I'm lucky. I I have the Italian passport. I didn't really need to get a visa or or that stuff. Mhm.
46:35
But I could I definitely could speak about the experiences of like my friends
46:40
and it's a nightmare. Like I think the bad thing about Europe, like the EU with this stuff is that like you have to
46:47
renew more frequently. In the US, I don't know. I mean now, God knows with this guy, but but like at least in the
46:55
US, it seems like you get a visa and a lot of the times it'll last like 10 years or cuz they don't want the US
47:02
likes more efficiency. So like they don't want to have like people on
47:07
the clock just like renewing paperwork from a year ago. But in the EU, it's
47:12
like some in some cases like you have to really keep renewing your things. And sometimes, you know, they have to mail
47:18
you, it's called the the tie card, the identos,
47:24
I think that's what it stands for. And I have friends that, you know, they'll be waiting months for that stupid card. And
47:31
it's bad because if the police stop them and they don't have it or if they want to travel outside of Spain, it's a
47:37
problem. And um I haven't really had friends like complain about the prices of like visas and paperwork. I think
47:44
it's not as bad as some other countries, but um
47:50
it's Yeah. And like sometimes I've had friends that they, you know, want to
47:55
renew their status and then they get rejected and it makes no sense that they get rejected and
48:00
then they have to go pay for a lawyer. So, it can be really tough for some people. Luckily, I haven't really had to
48:07
deal with that. But yeah, not the most efficient system. I have dealt with bureaucracy, you know, with the the
48:14
empadronto like registering my address, getting my nie and it was some of the
48:20
things were more straightforward than others. I definitely think it's better than the Italian bureaucracy
48:26
probably. Yes, I think anything is better than that. I don't know. In my experience, it hasn't been like that bad,
48:34
but like again, you know, everyone's experience is different and and Madrid,
48:39
you know, I think a lot of money by the federal government is like invested into Madrid, but when you're in maybe a
48:46
pueblo, like a town and like hyen or something, maybe then it's I don't know, but then Madrid gets more immigrants, so
48:52
it might be overwhelmed. Uh I I don't know. bureaucracy is pretty bad here,
48:58
but I don't think it's like the way it is in Italy or even France, I've heard, is crazy.
49:05
Yeah. But, you know, my my fiance, for example, like he's been trying to he became a citizen and he has to switch
49:12
from n to for his driver's license and he cannot get an appointment and it's
49:17
been over a year. So, it could be really bad here, too. It could be very bad and
49:22
everything is with an appointment and yeah there's no getting around that
49:28
usually. Usually unless you get someone really really nice. Okay. The last two the first one it's
49:34
basically best and worst of living in Spain. What's the best thing and the worst thing? I'd say the best thing there's I guess
49:41
there's a tie between I really love the variety like the geographic
49:46
like variety. Like I really love how like you know you could have places like
49:51
desertish places like mountains, green, lush, but you also have like the
49:58
coast and you also have like you know Andalucia has that beautiful like Islamic like architecture. Like I love
50:06
the variety from one place to another and I love how you could go from one
50:11
type of vibe to another in just a couple hours. I love how there's high-speed trains across the country. You know, the
50:19
US doesn't have that, you know. I really I really like that that within
50:26
the same country, there's so much variety and there's so much to see and like, you know, the history is so
50:31
interesting. I also really like the night life here in Madrid. It is like top tier. I love the night life here.
50:40
There's always something to do on a weekend and there's something for everyone, you know. If you like if you like regon, if you like rock music, if
50:48
you like indie, if you like whatever type of music scene you like, there is something here for you, you know?
50:56
Yep. So, I think I see people on TikTok saying like there's only electronic
51:02
music, but like no, you just have to research. There is a there's a lot of options. So, those are my favorite
51:08
things about Madrid. But I know you said one thing, but I guess that was kind of like three. Oh, good.
51:13
And then my least favorite thing. Um, I said a little bit like certain things
51:19
about the mentality. Mhm. The like not trusting people thing like
51:25
that's hard for me. I still haven't accepted that. I see. I would say just that really, you
51:32
know, I think that overall like people here, you know, they've been very
51:37
they've been very welcoming when it comes when it comes down to it, you know, they've been very welcoming and
51:43
I've met some great people. Nice. Last one that I have for this section, watching out the time a little
51:48
bit also, it's the top tip that you would give to someone who is planning to move to Madrid nowadays.
51:55
The top tip I guess I would say visit before you come here. Visit before you come here because
52:03
if you're looking for that like very charming Spanish life, it's not really
52:09
what you're going to get in Madrid. Okay. Cuz I think a lot of people have this
52:14
idea of like a place as just a whole country like we you were saying before.
52:20
So, I think if you can, if you could afford it, well, I think if you could afford to move here, you probably could afford to visit at this point.
52:27
Definitely visit beforehand. And another tip I would say is just like, you know, do your do your research. You know, do
52:34
your due diligence. And this doesn't only apply to living in Madrid. This applies to anywhere.
52:39
Do research on Reddit, on Numbio. Reddit. I like that it's very
52:45
unfiltered, you know. Don't trust and don't trust these influencers. Do not
52:50
trust them. Do not trust them. They hype places up. They get paid to lie, guys.
52:57
They get paid to lie. Go like look into, you know, real, you know, some of my
53:03
content talks about moving abroad. There's a lots of great creators who are really authentic and real about moving
53:08
abroad. They tell you the whole picture, not just the dream picture that you're
53:14
sold on Instagram and Tik Tok. So yeah. Yeah, makes sense. Cool. I mean, checking a
Guest Promotion
53:20
little bit on the watch, I would say I would go directly to give you a little bit of space or time to to talk about
53:27
what you're working on, the projects that you have on. And you touched about it a little bit uh on while we were
53:32
talking about your work life, let's say like this and transition maybe your project about your stellar truth, the
53:39
pro the podcast that you're starting but basically where can listeners find you and
53:45
contact you if they want to work with you also? Yeah. So um my business is it's called
53:52
your stellar truth. It is I I basically I offer astrology services and
53:58
astroctography services as well as um uh I also offer like a package that
54:03
combines astroctography with like relocation guidance and planning and so
54:10
I you know I do like one-on-one sessions I offer packages more like long-term
54:17
kind of astroctography like relocation coaching packages you know I'm primarily
54:23
like I'm on Substack. My Substack is primarily where I post I that's where I
54:29
host my new podcast that I just started with my friend and where I host the astrotography edit newsletter where I
54:37
talk about all things related to astroctography. I also write astrology
54:43
content is on there as well. I am on Instagram under the handle your stellar
54:48
truth. I'm on Tik Tok under the handle your stellar truth. And then I guess you could share the I'll send you the
54:54
Substack link to share in the bio because it's kind of like complicated. It's like I think it's like yeah I can't
55:01
even remember exactly what it is. And then on my I have a website as well ww.youstellertruuthastrology.com.
55:09
And so yeah I I'm primarily on I would say Instagram and Substack. I love
55:15
written content and podcasting. I don't love making realels so I don't have that
55:20
many of those but Mh. Yeah. If you like reading about this stuff, reading about moving abroad,
55:25
living abroad, astroctography, if you want to learn more about astrophotography, you know, I highly encourage you to check out my Substack,
55:32
my website, and to reach out to me. Perfect. Yeah. For everyone listening at
55:37
the end, like all the links, as always, will be in the description of the episode, so you can go to Isabelle's
55:44
social media, Substack, website, wherever you want to do the the code. I I added a discount code for
55:50
your listeners. It's applicable on my website only and it is uh 15% off of anything that
55:59
they buy, book, whatever. And it is Astro11
56:05
in in caps like in all capital letters. Astro11. Perfect. I mean,
56:11
yeah, you get even a code, a discount code. So, just go and check it out on the description. Isabelle, thank you a lot
Wrap-up & Final Thoughts
56:17
for sharing and for being with with me today at this episode and talking a little bit about your life, your
56:23
transition from New York to to Madrid, but also a bit about the mini lesson that you gave about astrology and cart
56:30
a carttography astrotography.
56:36
Yeah, very very interesting. Thanks. Thanks a lot for joining. So yeah, that's everything for today's episode of
56:42
Expert Experts. Don't forget to follow, subscribe, and leave a review on your
56:48
favorite podcast platform. Also, go and check everything from Isabelle. Until
56:53
next time, keep exploring, stay curious, and see you in the next episode of Expert Experts.
56:58
Thank you.
57:05
[Music]