Spain sounds like paradise on Earth, but it can still be jarring to move there from a different country. Suddenly, you look at life through a completely different lens. What was once familiar is now very different, whether you’re going to the grocery shop, eating dinner, interacting with strangers, or simply walking down the street.
Travel and culture content creator Katie Boggs, recently moved to Spain from the United States. In a series of popular videos on TikTok and Instagram , she shared her biggest culture shock moments, and we wanted to share her best insights about Spanish life with you.
Bored Panda reached out to Katie, and she was kind enough to tell us all about what inspired her to move to Spain, what she loves the most about life there, and what can motivate everyone to start traveling themselves. You’ll find our full exclusive interview with her below!
More info: Instagram | Linktree | TikTok
Many people fall in love with Spain and wonder what it would be like to live there
Katie Boggs recently moved to Spain from the United States. She created a series of videos where she shared her top culture shock moments
She opened up about some more cultural differences in a follow-up video
“My name is Katie, I just moved to Spain from the United States two weeks ago, and I’m coming at you with culture shocks. The biggest culture shock for me has definitely been adjusting to the eating schedule here. In the United States, I am used to eating dinner at around 5 or 5:30 right after work, and here, right after work, you eat lunch, and then you don’t eat dinner until 9 or 10 pm, which is crazy to me.”
“The next thing I noticed is that it’s completely normalized to leave your dog alone in public just tied to a pole or something while you’re shopping, and no one will bother it. That’s really crazy to me. And last but not least, the emphasis on social interaction here is incredible. You go to a coffee shop here or a cafeteria, and people are actually sitting there and talking to each other, and they’re not on their laptops, and they’re enjoying their meal. That would never happen in the United States. You go to Starbucks and everyone’s on their phones and laptops. It’s crazy.”
In another clip, Katie broke down just how affordable life in Spain can be
“I’m going to break down all of my costs a month to show you how absolutely ridiculously livable it is. Rent: 325€, utilities: 30€, food for one month: 150€ (and I kind of spent a lot on food compared to my friends, so that’s saying something), phone bill + Wi-Fi: 27€, gym: 30€ a month, one singular bus ride is 40 cents. I also get breakfast out every single day and it’s literally affordable to do that. I get a sandwich with tomato and tuna (don’t knock it until you try it, it’s really good). And then I get a café con leche, which is practically like a latte. Every morning, the total is 3.30€. 3.30€! You can’t even get a coffee, you can’t even get half of coffee for that in the United States.”
“I’m in Granada and a glass of wine is costing me 3€. And the thing about Granada is you get a tapa with it for free. So what my friends and I will do whatever we want to go out is we’ll get three glasses of wine and that comes with three tapas, which pretty much is dinner. You’re literally spending 9€ on three drinks and dinner. And the wine doesn’t make you hungover because it doesn’t have all these additives that the United States has. I also only work 14 hours a week, yeah. Now that’s not normal to Spain, it’s just with the program I’m with. I’m walking everywhere, it’s always sunny outside. Not to mention that everyone’s literally so friendly. The party life is so much better. Not to mention, they got siestas, come on.”
“The best way I would describe living in this country is that you feel like a human being. Everything shuts from 2 pm to 5 pm every single day so everyone can go home and relax, eat a meal, take a nap. Most things are shut on Sundays. So you always have that day off to just rest. There are fruterías on every single corner where I literally get all my fruits and vegetables for the whole week for like 6€, and they’re amazing quality. I cannot stress enough if you have the opportunity to come to Spain and just experience life here. Whether it’s just short-term or long-term, do it because it will change your life and your perspective.”
You can watch Katie’s full viral video about culture shocks right over here
@katieboggs_ Siesta= Key to happiness #fyp #foryou #spain #cultureshocks #usa #unitedstates #eeuu #espana ♬ original sound – Kacie Rose
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