Saira George grew up in Yorkshire and then lived in London for almost 20 years before relocating to Valencia, Spain with her family in 2023. She is proudly British Indian, with her origins hailing from Kerala, India.
Saira works in global health, an industry that focuses on improving access to innovative pharmaceutical products – although of late is also pursuing her passion for helping others to think through how they can find remote work that suits their life aspirations.
Here, Saira shares her experience of moving to Valencia, with the support of Encantada Bespoke Relocation & Expat Services.
Moving to Valencia
It was a cold London day in January 2023 when we agreed that moving to Spain would be a good idea. That we should ‘actually’ do it. My husband and I were both scared – we had tried this before in 2017 and … it didn’t go well. But things were different in 2023. We had our daughter (3 years old), and we were outgrowing our home in London – so the question resurfaced; should we move to the outskirts of London, back up to the North of England (where I grew up) or finally move to Spain? We knew any big move would be best done before school started properly for our child, so we made the decision and then the intense search began! Full disclosure that my husband was born and brought up in Galicia, so we were not starting from zero in terms of experience, paperwork or language.
Finding the right jobs to be able to move to Spain was the biggest issue to solve and it was not easy. I could write an entire book about this topic alone, and I enjoy exploring topics like remote working, digital nomads, Beckham law etc on my Instagram account. Choosing which city to live in was also difficult – in the end we chose Valencia because we wanted to be outdoors more with good weather year-round, whilst also moving to a city with a slower pace. In hindsight, this decision was a bit arbitrary as we had only been to the city a couple of times before – I am still not sure how we took that leap of faith. Many loved ones questioned our thinking, asking whether it really was the right thing to do, but somehow ‘now or never’ was enough of a reason for us.
We spent January to September arranging as much as we could regarding jobs, housing, schooling and paperwork and in October 2023, we caught a flight to our new home, Valencia. It had taken a lot of hustling, a lot of luck and much support from family & friends to get us to our new – warm but unfamiliar – home city. And of course, the true journey really started when we landed. We got the keys to our new home (rented with the help of wonderful Encantada) the day after we landed and started new jobs and school within a couple of weeks.
So…what have I learned?
Almost exactly a year later, I can safely say that the move has been worth the struggle. We are finally feeling settled and although things are not perfect – are they ever? – in general, life in Valencia has met every hope we held. There are a few things I wish I knew before the move and sharing might help someone else, so here goes. Of course, this comes with the caveat that this is my experience and may not be true for everyone.
Picking a school is complicated
Private, concertado, public – this is something to think about well in advance. There are a lot of tradeoff decisions to make, and it can feel overwhelming. We made this decision whilst we were still living in London, after speaking to a few schools virtually and visiting two in person – ultimately, we were lucky that our daughter settled in well after a couple of months.
People are much better at work / life balance in Spain
This is something I admire a lot about Spanish people! Coming from London, I was used to people commuting for many hours a day (even post-pandemic), not taking proper breaks at work and generally trying to squeeze too much juice out of every minute. Life in London – to me – felt harried and rushed, especially after having a kid!
Here in Valencia, shops and street activity significantly slow down in the afternoon (2-5pm) – traditionally called ‘siesta’ time, but honestly people are not so much sleeping, rather taking the appropriate time to eat lunch and rest before returning to work. Shops and services re-open from 5-9pm, so the days feel longer in a good way and in my view, makes family life a lot easier.
Life in Valencia is much more child-friendly
Kids are out with their parents all the time in Spain. In the UK, I felt constrained in the evenings as kids are not welcome everywhere after 8pm, whereas here we go out as a family in the evening all the time. In addition, we can walk everywhere; the city is flat (great for kids scooters and prams!), relatively compact and the Turia park is a beautiful green space that runs the length of the city and is always reachable.
People generally speak less English here than Madrid and Barcelona
Of course, this makes sense – we are in Spain! The responsibility was (rightly) on me to improve my Spanish – but this obviously made everyday tasks just that little bit harder and pushed me over the edge a few times in the first few months. Luckily, I already spoke good Spanish before moving, although I continue to have many humbling moments!
Convenience is not king
At the risk of sounding smug, I was used to everything being Google-able, deliverable and searchable via my phone or laptop. Valencia is not really set up like this. Probably for the better as everyone is much more disconnected from phones and more plugged into the real world, away from screens – something we wanted for our child. However, this does mean that I need to pick up the phone (rather than email) to make a booking more often than I’d like and that I need to know the city by foot / sight (rather than using Google). This has taken time to adjust to.
Customer service means something else
In many ways, customer service is better here…much more personable with specific knowledge, depending on the shop or restaurant. But then there are days where it takes more effort than seems reasonable to get attention from a waiter and there are times that staff working on Sundays let you know they’re not happy about it. Customer service here is not about smiles and niceties – often, it is just about getting the job done as quickly as possible.
A small one to end on – you need to say hello when you walk into a shop or when in a lift with others – otherwise it’s considered rude! After living in London for almost 20 years this was… an adjustment! I love this one as it gives a sense of community in day to day life.
I continue to learn and enjoy all the cultural differences and daily challenges that come our way having moved – if you are moving to Valencia, want to talk it through or indeed just visiting, do please connect via Instagram or by email.
Saira is happy to talk to those exploring how they can meaningfully make a shift towards remote work. Her partner Gerardo also offers Spanish lessons in Valencia, having taught in London for many years. For more information, contact him by Whatsapp or email:
Learn more about Encantada and how they can help with all aspects of a move to Valencia, and watch our recent interview with founder Stephanie Kirtley Alacreu.
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