Why I’m Moving to Spain in My Mid-30s to Study Gastronomy

In just a few weeks, I’ll be boarding a one-way flight to Spain with two suitcases, a backpack, and a heart full of anticipation. This isn’t just a move abroad; it’s the start of an entirely new chapter in my life. After years of working, caregiving, and rebuilding, I decided it was time to follow the thread that has always pulled at me: food, culture, and connection. That’s what led me to San Sebastián and to the Master’s in Gastronomic Sciences at the Basque Culinary Center. This decision is about more than earning a degree. It’s about choosing to begin again, in my mid-30s, with intention, curiosity, and courage.

From IT to Intuition: How I Got Here

My professional roots are in litigation, IT and communications. Fields I worked hard in, fields that taught me discipline and problem-solving. But behind the spreadsheets, systems, and screen time, there was always another current moving beneath the surface. I’ve always been drawn to travel, food and culture. How recipes travel across generations, how shared meals turn strangers into friends, how people pass down important information, and how flavors hold memories of places we’ve never been.

Life, however, had a different trajectory for me for a while. In my 20s and early 30s, I carried heavy responsibilities: navigating complex family circumstances, managing a very heavy workload, and wrestling with depression that made it hard to see a future beyond survival. There were years when I couldn’t imagine even making it through, much less ever having the energy to start over in another country. But healing is a strange and beautiful process. Slowly, I began to understand that my curiosity, my values, and my love for food weren’t hobbies I was “fitting in around real life.” They were the compass I needed to follow.

Why Spain? Why San Sebastián?

When people hear I’m moving to Spain, their eyes light up and then they ask, “Why there?”

Spain is a country where food isn’t just eaten; it’s lived. And San Sebastián, in particular, is a city that has become synonymous with culinary excellence and cultural richness. Nestled in the Basque Country, it’s a place where pintxos bars line cobblestone streets, markets overflow with seasonal abundance, and traditions run deep alongside innovation.

The Basque Culinary Center is more than a school. It’s an ecosystem: part university, part think tank, part cultural hub. It brings together chefs, scientists, activists, and dreamers to study food as a force for connection and change. When I first learned about the program in Gastronomic Sciences, something clicked. Here was a place that didn’t see food as a side note, but as a central lens through which to understand the world.

Why Now?

It’s one thing to chase a dream at 22, fueled by youthful adrenaline. It’s another to choose it in your mid-30s, after life has tested you and reshaped you. I’m not leaving because everything here is easy. I’m leaving because I’ve worked hard to reach a place of clarity.

The truth is, there’s no perfect time to upend your life and move across an ocean. But for me, the timing feels aligned. My 20s taught me survival. My early 30s taught me resilience. Now, my mid-30s are teaching me courage. The courage to risk comfort for meaning.

What I Hope to Gain

Professionally, I hope this program will expand my understanding of gastronomy beyond the plate into culture, sustainability, justice, and innovation. I want to learn how food systems can be reshaped, how culinary traditions can be preserved, and how creativity can be harnessed in service of something bigger than just consumption.

Personally, I hope to grow roots in a new place while also allowing myself to stay in motion. I want to walk the markets in San Sebastián with fresh eyes, to stumble through Spanish and Basque and laugh at my mistakes, to taste flavors that change me, and to write stories that connect my journey to others who are navigating change in their own lives. And maybe even to meet my tribe, finally.

A Closing Reflection

The exact moment I knew I was going to do this came quietly: late at night, staring at an email from the Basque Culinary Center with my acceptance letter. I felt the familiar pull of fear: “What if I fail? What if I can’t manage?” but this time, I didn’t let fear decide. I chose motion.

What excites me most about Spain is the possibility. Every meal, every street, every class will be new. What scares me is the same thing. Every meal, every street, every class will be new. But that’s the paradox of growth: excitement and fear often live side by side.

As I pack my bags and prepare to leave Tallahassee, I know I’m carrying more than clothes and documents. I’m carrying a promise to myself: to live with greater intention, to learn deeply, and to trust that the motion I’m in now is exactly where I’m meant to be.

I’d love for you to follow along as I share this journey…the messy, the beautiful, and everything in between. This is just the beginning.

Have you ever felt pulled toward a new beginning, even when it scared you? What’s the boldest decision you’ve made for yourself?

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