Before moving from the U.S. to Spain, I followed a very typical path in the United States. Study something practical in school, get your degree, find a stable 9-5 job, get married. But after my husband and I moved abroad to Spain, my worldview expanded significantly. I learned there isn’t just one correct way to live your life.
For me, Spain was the catalyst that opened my mind to a new way of life. I met people who had non-traditional pursuits and even built successful career paths that I didn’t even know existed.
If you’re thinking about making a move abroad, understanding the cultural attitudes you’re walking into matters more than you might think. So let’s talk about it!
The American Default Mode
It’s no secret that most Americans live to work, instead of the other way around.
In practice, that looks like clocking in early, working late, squeezing in a gym session, figuring out dinner, and crashing into bed. Even the “healthiest” version of this is the 5-9 before the 9-5 trend, where people wake up before dawn just to carve out a few hours of personal time before handing their entire day to an employer.
The typical American schedule leaves almost no room for community, rest, or creativity. And we’re taught that’s fine, because if you work hard enough, you’ll become a doctor, lawyer, or land a desk job with the salary and benefits you need to have a decent life. We glorify those paths because, in the U.S., you often need them.
What I Noticed Immediately After Moving from the U.S. to Spain
When I moved to Spain in 2024 and started meeting people, I became fascinated by what they did for a living and, more importantly, what they did outside of it.
One friend is an aspiring actor who performs in plays and short films. My best friend left a stable job to open her own bar. Another runs a marketing freelance business and just launched workshops for women-owned small businesses. Every single person I met seemed to have a creative pursuit, a passion project, or a dream they were actively working toward.
Those careers aren’t necessarily that unique. But what strikes me is the consistency. Everyone had something beyond their job that they were dedicated to, whether it was a business idea, a volunteer project, or an artistic pursuit.
One fun fact that stopped me in my tracks when thinking about this topic: in Spanish, when you ask someone what they do for a living, the phrase is “a qué te dedicas?” It doesn’t translate to “what do you do?” or “where do you work?” It translates to “what do you dedicate yourself to?”
In my opinion, that single phrase reframes everything. Work in Spain isn’t the thing you are. It’s one of the many things you do.
When you live inside that framing every day, it changes how you think about your own life and what you dedicate your time to.
(Worth noting: I didn’t know what most of my Spanish friends did for a living until months into our friendships. In Spain, that’s not a question you lead with.)
Why Work Culture Feels So Different in the U.S. vs. Spain
Spain is a socialist country with access to public healthcare and social services that support quality of life in ways the U.S. doesn’t. People don’t need a corporate 9-5 to keep their health insurance in Spain. That single difference removes an enormous amount of pressure and stress from the equation.
Salaries in Spain are also significantly lower than in most developed Western countries, which means there’s no illusion of getting rich quick with the next big idea. And oddly, I think that’s actually freeing. If you’re not chasing a high paying job that unlocks your healthcare and retirement, you might as well chase the thing that actually lights you up.
All of these factors result in a work culture that is genuinely more relaxed, even in corporate environments. People work hard, but not to the point of sacrificing their personal wellbeing. At the end of the day, they need time for their hobbies, their community, their families. Spaniards sometimes get a reputation of laziness, but I actually think this is just a clear difference in priorities compared to the U.S.
How Moving from the U.S. to Spain Changed My Outlook
After moving from the U.S. to Spain, I slowly noticed myself change in ways I never expected. I was always a rule follower, stayed on the straight and narrow, and did things by the book. But moving to Spain made me tap into my creativity. Becoming friends with dreamers who have big aspirations outside of a typical career path only amplified this side of me.
Part of it is the city itself. Living in Madrid is like living inside a history museum. Every day I find myself genuinely in awe of the beautiful city I ended up in, and it inspires me daily.
But the bigger shift came from community. When you surround yourself with people who dream big, push boundaries, and aren’t afraid to take unconventional paths, something in you starts to loosen. I started tapping into a creative side I had kept pretty quiet for most of my adult life, including this blog.
Spain also has structural protections that make this possible at scale. There are laws in place that protect employees from unpaid overtime. People aren’t grinding themselves into the ground to keep a job they resent. When you’re not burnt out, you actually have the capacity to pursue the things that matter to you outside of work.
Europe Imagines, The U.S. Executes
I want to be honest about something, because this post isn’t meant to be a love letter to Spain and a takedown of American work culture.
There’s a real tension here that I think about often. In Spain, there’s a significant tax burden on autónomos, which is the classification for freelancers and entrepreneurs. What that means in practice is that plenty of people have incredible creative ideas and passion projects, but no straightforward or worthwhile path to turning them into a full-time business.
The U.S., for all its dysfunction around work-life balance, actually has the infrastructure and cultural momentum to support people who want to build something. If you have an idea and the drive, generally speaking, the systems exist to help you execute it.
My honest take is that people in Spain have the capacity and inspiration to dream in a way that Americans usually don’t. But people in the U.S. have the systems to build. Neither country has fully figured out how to offer both.
In Spain, You’re More Than Your Job
If there’s one thing I want you to take away from this, it’s that there isn’t one correct way to live your life. The U.S. taught me one way, and Spain opened my eyes to another.
You’re allowed to slow down. You’re allowed to have a creative pursuit that has nothing to do with your income. You’re allowed to dedicate yourself to more than one thing. And spoiler alert: unless you’re saving lives, nothing is really that important.
If you’re planning a move abroad, I would love to help you! I recently launched the waitlist for my scouting trip services, and by joining, you gain access to early-bird pricing. These scouting trips help you experience the culture, the pace, and the day-to-day reality before making any big decisions. Check out the waitlist page for more info!
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