Originally Posted by onlineamiga

Hello everybody.

You will no doubt remember me as I was glued to this forum during my build up and when i first arrived in the Costa Del Sol.

I flew into Malaga airport a little over 2 months ago with nothing but a suitcase packed, a car hired and a hotel booked for a week.
Now im living an hour away in Estepona in a lovely 2 bedroomed apartment overlooking the port, working in a secured job in the line of work I want and looking at buying a car. Im making more friends all the time and really getting to know the area well. Above all. Everything is going GREAT!!

There has been the ups and downs, the biggest down being that as you may recall my g/f and her baby were due to follow me. They should be about here by now, but sadly things went wrong there, and now they're not coming. However im not letting that dampen my spirits. The coast is full of great girls, great places to go and I still love it here as much as ever.

I really appreciate being here. To be able to go down to the beach on my lunch hour and look out to the sea, seeing people sunbathing and people being happy is such a great thing. Maybe its still a novelty, i dont know. But to drive to work in a morning without being stuck in hurrendous traffic jams, and looking over to the sea from the coast road is just amazing. I look out of my window and think "ooh i can see Africa today!" meaning there is good visibility. Theres times where im just driving down the road, or just sat in a bar and i suddenly feel a surge of energy and think "WOW I LOVE IT HERE!!"

It feels like a dream, like ill wake up at some point and be back in England. But im here, got a job, got an NIE, got social security and have been paid by an employer.
I actually like this coast more than I thought I would. By being able to explore it, ive been up the mountains and seen some of the most amazing views. Ive been up and down from Puerto De Quesa to Malaga and the differences in the places are just great. Ive been to Gibraltar, I even took a trip to Morroco. Theres so much to do and see. The people are great, youve got so many different types of people from all over the world.


Its not been easy though, there has been the problems. Ive stood and queued for hours to get an NIE number to be told by some numpty I had the wrong form when I didnt. But with all the experiences ive had, theres lessons to be learned (like dont go to Fuengirola police station for an NIE they havnt got a clue!)

I do feel like ive been very lucky by landing a job I wanted 8 days after landing. Been at the company for a few weeks now and all settled in quite nicely. The working hours are a bit poo but for now it'll do! Its a good job in the same line of work ive been used to.

Ive still got a long way to go. I need to buy a car, i need to learn more spanish, i need to get resedencia at some point, need to register with doctors etc. But im getting there, and im settling in well. Most of all i need more friends, and eventually to find love again after such a let down last month.

The only time ive missed being in the UK is recently. And thats because my home town of Sheffield has been suffering some hurrendous floods. Ive been watching the videos on BBC website and seeing pictures of roads i used to drive down every day completely submerged in water. Thankfully everyone i know is up the hills so they are OK. But it sounds absolutely remarkable whats going. Part of me feels like i should be there to see for myself.

So advice to anyone whos thinking of moving to spain.. GO FOR IT! ITS AMAZING!!! IVE NEVER BEEN SO HAPPY!
Its not easy, it takes a hell of a lot of effort, but the rewards to me are worth it.

A big thanks to this forum for providing much needed support and to help me prepare for such a task. And will no doubt continue to do so.