Introduction - What Brought Me Back to Spain

It all started in Colombia, the first country I traveled to outside the US. I was 17, had just spent the last ten months learning a whole new culture, and felt like I had just been let in on the greatest secret ever: travel. My experience was such an amazing gift, and I couldn't believe it was over. I loved it and knew that since then, I would never stop traveling. 

Hi, my name is Lizzie. I’m 25 and I don’t have a solid life plan other than getting to know the world as much as I can before I die. After my first experience in high school, I was lucky enough to go abroad again in college, this time to Alicante, Spain in 2020. I was just as dazzled by Spain as I was with my first trip out of the US. I was already thinking about how a semester there wasn’t long enough when COVID-19 hit and I was sent home. 

After recovering from that blow to my college career's timeline, I managed to go abroad once more when COVID-19 cases went down. I went to Mexico this time. This beautiful experience also devastated me when it was time to come home. After graduating in 2022, I continued working for the county for their coordinated housing program, a job I had acquired during my senior year. I started nannying children in the community and studied for the LSAT. 

After a year of studying, I took the test, got into my preferred law school, and was enrolled for Fall 2024, but things changed. I moved to Texas with my partner of 4 years to support him while he went to grad school. There I continued working as a nanny as well as a substitute teacher. After a month or so, I was itching to do something new. I missed Spain and it was the perfect time to go back. I had no plans, all I knew was that I had to get that time back. 

CIEE was the organization that partnered with my college for my Spain program, so I decided to see if they had options for people who were no longer students and they did! I applied for the volunteer teach English abroad program and now here I am. I have been back in Spain, this time in the north, for almost a month. I’m loving life. I love my students. I love the travel opportunities. And I love the family I live with. 

Now that you know a little about me, I will post about things like solo travel in Europe as a black woman, finding a gym, living with a host family, teaching and private tutoring, and anything else that may come up during my time here! Hasta la próxima!