Valenica #5

A new week has begun in Valencia! I got back on Sunday after being away for two weeks. Honestly, it’s such a nice way to start my time in Spain. No work straight away, but first having some time to relax, settle in and explore everything here. Before coming here, I thought having six weeks off would feel like quite a long time, but time is flying by once again. In total, I have two months off before starting work here again. First, two weeks in the Netherlands, followed by six weeks in Spain. To be honest, those first two weeks in the Netherlands didn’t really feel like a holiday. There was mainly a lot to organise and tidy up, and of course, I wanted to spend some time doing fun things with all the lovely people around me before leaving.

Still, it all feels a little strange sometimes. This is already my fifth week in Spain, but since I hadn’t been in Valencia for two weeks, coming back from Mallorca felt a little like having to settle in all over again. I guess that’s not so surprising, as I had only spent two weeks here before leaving, and of course, everything is different.

I think the thing I’m finding hardest to get used to is not having a place of my own. My bedroom is my own little space, of course, but I share the rest of the apartment with three other girls. They’re all really lovely, but sharing a place does mean you have to take other people into consideration. Especially when you’re not used to that anymore and have been living independently in the Netherlands for over three years. On the bright side, it makes you appreciate what you have back home even more, as well as everything that’s waiting for you there.

It has also made me appreciate the people I have around me in the Netherlands even more. How nice is it to normally be able to pop over and see each other so easily? That’s a little more difficult now. Luckily, we have social media, WhatsApp and FaceTime, which make it really easy to keep up with each other’s lives, even when you’re far apart.

Finding a place to live in Valencia wasn’t exactly a walk in the park. I thought it would be quite easy to arrange, but it turned out to be a little more difficult than expected. The website most people use to find accommodation here is Idealista, where both private landlords and estate agents can list properties for sale or rent. I started looking for a nice room or an apartment. It soon became clear that rental prices in Valencia are fairly similar to those in the Netherlands, which meant that renting an entire apartment on my own would be pretty expensive. So, the search for a room continued!

There’s a lot of accommodation available, but you do need to look carefully if you want to find something nice in a good location. I sent out loads of messages, but unfortunately, most places were either rented out very quickly or only available immediately. Landlords weren’t willing to wait until September, when I was due to arrive. I thought that if most places were only available straight away, I might have a better chance of finding something if I started looking a little later, closer to my departure date. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case, because all the international students arrive in September, and of course, many of them had already arranged their accommodation well in advance.

Eventually, after hours and hours of searching and sending messages, I finally managed to find a room that would be available from September. And honestly, I thought I’d found a real gem! Since I wasn’t in Spain yet, the viewing took place online via FaceTime. The main things you check in that situation are whether the place actually looks like the photos on Idealista and whether the landlord seems trustworthy. Because be careful: there are plenty of scammers on Idealista. I actually came across one myself, so always trust your gut feeling.

So, the main takeaway is this: start looking for accommodation well in advance! But I’ve also learned to be patient and trust that, in the end, the right thing will come along.

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