When I finished ground school the next thing was moving to Spain to start flying. The idea of this was so exciting, especially after 8 months of the hell that was ground school. However the actual principle of getting things sorted to move to Spain was more complicated and confusing. Initally I was told being in Spain was for only 6 months, however when I was applying for my visa I needed to make sure I got a 1 year student visa. As it transpires, it is now a minimum of a year in Spain with some people being here longer than that. Anyway, once I had got over the thought of being in Spain for a year I had to figure out how to pack in two suitcases for a year. That was hard enough considering the weight limit for each bag was 23kg
The visa process was confusing and I had problems with some paperwork so it might I was delayed by a month coming out here. Trying to get a Spanish visa is so complicated and expensive. The school do refund you for the cost but initally you have to pay. It took me about two months from starting the process to getting the visa and on top of that all the documents need to be translated into Spanish through a legal translation service, so its not like you can just google translate it! A long process that I got so frustrated with because it was harder than it needed to be. The next issue I had was with my car, I had been planning on driving down here which would have taken a few days and about £600 one way. Having a car here would be very beneifical since we are in the middle of nowhere, but I was worried about breaking down during the drive and the hassle and stress that would have been. Plus the logistics of car insurance, breakdown cover and spanish laws around foreign cars, I am glad I didn't drive my car down here now only because it would have cost so much and then of course petrol whilst I'm here driving most days, I also would have had to change car insurance since the company I am with in the UK wouldn't cover me for longer than 90 days in the EU. Quite honestly I couldn't be bothered with the hassle of all of this, just to have a car here, and I am lucky to know a few people with cars which makes it easier to go out. Its worth mentioning that Leading Edge do provide transport from the accomodation to the airport and they also organise supermarket trips as well as day trips, so even if you don't know anyone with a car you are not completely stuck, you are just on someone else's schedule for any trips or days out.
What are some things that surprised me moving here?
Where we are based in south Spain there is no food delivery service to our accomodation resort, public transport is basically nonexistant, you would have to go to the nearest town to get a bus but its getting to that town that is the issue. The general remoteness of where the accomodation is shocked me when I moved here.
The prices of food and drink here are cheaper than in the UK. For a comparison I'm used to paying £10 for an average bottle of wine, whereas I can pay £5 for a really nice bottle of wine in Spain, equally a cocktail in the UK would be £12, in Spain its about £8 in a restaurant. The food and drink culture here is really nice, people are out late and the atmosphere is lovely. It goes without saying that Spanish do food really well and I have definitely enjoyed my share of tapas the last few months.
The fair weather base
This phrase has been thrown around so much and I thought that Spain would be a fair weather base, compared to the UK the weather here is a lot more stable, however the weather cancellations are plentiful. Sometimes you will look outside and it will be another hot day, then you go to the airport for a flight and everyone is being cancelled because its too windy, or the weather further North is just cloud, or its raining (very occasionally but still..), or my new favourite reason flights can get cancelled is because its too hot. So basically there will always be a reason for why flights are being cancelled, regardless of where you choose to do your flight training. A more specific Leading Edge reason flights get cancelled is because of maintenance issues and planes not working but then not getting fixed for a while. This is a work in progress, as we have been told they are improving on this front, however it is still something to bare in mind.
What I have been doing to stay busy here
I have averaged about 3 flights per month, it doesn't take much maths to work out that I have A LOT of down time here, hence this website. Some other things I have been doing to keep busy include: -cooking/baking, -reading, -playing keyboard, -learning Spanish, and I started running which means I have entered a new level of boredom.
The hardest thing for me during this period has 100% been having so much free time. Going from ground school and never having a day off to the other extreme has been difficult, I anyway don't like sitting around 'wasting my day' so coming here and being so isolated meant I had to come up with things to do or ways to kill time. I've become ok with the idea of doing nothing in a day and just lounging around, because truthfully there is nothing to do here so its hard to find a reason to leave my apartment. Off the back of this point I have found it really important to still keep a routine of sorts, so even if I don't get out of bed for a while at least waking up around the same time everyday has been good, sticking to a dinner time is another example of this. I really like a routine, even if that looks like getting into bed at the same time. Having some sort of structure in my day where I have no plan has been a lifesaver, mainly because when I am scheduled for a flight it means I will at least sleep well the night before as a minimum.
Another thing I am making a conscious effort with is spending time with friends, such as going for a coffee or a long walk and chatting about whatever, mainly losing track of time which is nice to do out here. I purchased a keyboard from Facebook marketplace so I have been playing a few pieces on my keyboard which makes me feel a bit creative, I have been learning to enjoy playing again so this is a nice way to do it. I'll try and go for a run a couple times a week in the morning because it gets so hot by midday. I don't really enjoy running but its nice to just go out and listen to my music at the least. I'm using my time to form better friendships that are more meaningful, as well as learning Spanish on Duolingo (my streak is 122 days which I'm very proud of:)), and also getting more adventurous with my cooking which has been fun.