What to Do, What to Do

These photos were taken in Toledo's weekly flea market "El Martes" or "The Tuesday." 
I have seen so many (inexpensive) things in these Spanish lea markets that Americans would absolutely love. 
Could I make a living off of selling these treasures to folks back home?  That remains to be seen!

Ever since we’ve talked seriously about moving to Spain, I’ve had to think a lot about what I would do to make a living there.  One thing I don’t want to do is to move to Spain and (I see my Spanish friends and family chuckling here) …be poor. (My Spanish friends and family are saying, “You’ll be living in Spain – of course you’ll be poor!)  I don’t have to make tons of money either, but I certainly want to make enough to be able to do the things we like to do, such as travel and consume good food!

What to do for a living in Spain is perhaps one of the most daunting questions for me. For the past 15 years, I’ve worked as a “grant writer” for various non-profit or charitable entities in northern Nevada.  Grant writing is a branch of fundraising, in which you are the author of anything from simple letters to formal proposals for the purpose of raising money for charitable purposes. In this job, I’ve mainly worked for social service agencies, the arts and currently, education.  In Spain, I’m not sure there is even a profession such as “grant writing” and even if there was, not being able to speak or write the language with the fluency of a native pretty much disqualifies me.  Some of my freelance clients here have said that I could still write their grant applications even if I lived there via the internet/email, which is pretty much how I work with them now anyway.  That would be great, but I wouldn’t make enough to live on either.

Should my new career include exploring Spanish flea markets?

So with a move to Spain, I would have to figure out this “career” thing all over again.  After graduating with my master’s degree and discovering that being a professor probably wasn’t in the cards for me, finding a profession doing, well, anything, was pretty difficult.  I had no idea what to do.  And then, like many people, I just stumbled into a career – grant writing - while working at an agency that provided services for people with HIV/AIDS.  In grant writing, I found a profession in which I could use my writing and research skills and make a positive difference. The rest is history.  Fifteen years later, I’m still doing it…and really kinda burnt out on it, if truth be told.

So for better or for worse, when we move to Spain that will be pretty much it for my grant writing career.  I’ll need to find something new.  Again, not speaking the language well – at least at first – will render me unemployable in a regular job there for a while.  That and the fact that there are few jobs to be had there anyway are obvious barriers. So what I am thinking is that I will need to “create” a few small jobs to make a living.  Some of the things I’ve considered are teaching English part-time (although I really don’t like to teach – maybe teaching in Spain would be different?), starting an internet import/export business with the cool stuff I find at Spanish flea markets (Shopping? In Spain?  For a living?  Whoo-hoo!), selling stock photography (I’d need a better camera – not to mention better photography skills - for that!) in addition to grant writing for clients back in Nevada.

"El Martes" yummies!

But reality aside…it’s always fun to dream about what COULD be.  What we’d really like to happen is that we find a awesome little bed and breakfast to buy and renovate either at the beach or in the mountains or maybe even close to Toledo.  I would continue to blog about Spain, and naturally the blog would garner enough attention to be made into a book and then I’d be offered my own travel show focusing on Spain, much like Anthony Bourdain’s “No Reservations” although by nature I’m not quite as “bad ass” as he is.  Nor do I drink like him.  The show would spin off into speaking engagements, which of course would pay very well.  In fact, I’d only have to do this for a few years…and then retire back to our bed and breakfast, which by then would just be converted to our personal residence, where friends and family could stay for free! 

So what do you think?  Should I go the safe route and teach?  Should I become a professional shopper?  A stock photographer?  Or should I become rich and famous as the modern day James Michner?

I know what I want to do!