Back to Denmark

Things have been happening at work what will make us go back to Denmark.

Today I signed and sent the contract.

We still don't have a move date, but I assume it might be in March 2026.

Another international move is in the making.

Learning from Mistakes

After we moved to Spain in March 2024, my wife and I talked about what we would do differently if we ever moved back to Denmark.

So here's a list, in no particular order:

1. Learning Danish full on from day 1. While you can get by and live in Denmark for years without needing Danish, learning Danish is very helpful in many day-to-day situations.
2. Living in Copenhagen. This will be our 3rd move to Denmark. The first one was in 2013, and we lived in Copenhagen. We rode our bikes everywhere (we didn't own a car) and we felt connected with the city and everything that was happening. The second time we moved to Denmark was in 2018. We moved to the outskirts of Copenhagen, roughly a 20-minute train ride (in the S-train) to downtown Copenhagen. It was a good location, but it was a small suburb with absolutely nothing happening. In December 2020, we bought a house in Elsinore, and lived there until March 2024. While it was a good experience, and our kids love the place, we felt a bit disconnected from friends and despite it being just a 40-minute train ride to Copenhagen Central Station, it felt far. Elsinore while more populated than the sleepy Birkerød we had moved from, still felt "small-townish". This next move, I want us to move back into the big city, Copenhagen.
3. Having a calendar full of activities (this one is on me). In the last couple of years before leaving Denmark (2022-2024) I reduced my days to work, family weekday routines and time at home. I wasn't doing any exercise or playing any sports, I wasn't socially active, I was becoming a hermit. It was affecting my mental health. This time around, I'll make an effort to do things differently, and strive to have things to do in my own calendar and our family calendar.

Things I will miss from Spain

1. Family.
2. The sun - coming from sun-drenched tropical Venezuela makes you seeing and feeling the sun everyday something you take for granted. While Madrid doesn't have the greatest weather -in my opinion, it's way better than in Copenhagen.
3. The busyness: people are active until very late at night. Walking in the city center after 18:00 doesn't feel like walking into a zombies' movie set. Restaurants and bars are open, there are all sorts of people around, families, kids, young adults, elderly.
4. Good, affordable food. No need to add anything else to this.
5. Certain businesses, brands, and every day conveniences that don't exist in Denmark.