Moving to Andorra

Hi Jess,

Please note that i have created a new thread with your post on the Andorra forum for more visibility and for a better communication with the other members.

Thanks

Priscilla 

Hi Jess!

I hope you are able to make the move to Andorra with your growing family. I'd be happy to answer any questions you have either through here or messages. I moved here with my husband when I was 5 months pregnant and have had no problems transitioning smoothly. The biggest thing I can recommend is MEET PEOPLE! It is very easy to feel isolated if you don't know where to look. I went about it where I just threw myself in completely and started meeting people right away, as there is a thriving English-speaking community and even an English expat-mums group here full of really friendly women you can speak to! So yes, there are many people here like you, you are not alone and it's an absolute pleasure living here!

I'd say start with international-club-andorra.com/, the International Club of Andorra's website, and have a good look around. There's links to signing up for a newsletter one chap sends around 3x a month with for-sale ads from other English-speaking expats and other general things going on.

Andorra is very family and child-friendly. You'll find a lot of baby stores, family-related goings on (though they may be in Catalan and/or Spanish/French but don't let that scare you - learning any of these languages is a fun challenge and there's English-speaking activities too set up by expats), parks, activities for children, etc. There's even a charity shop in La Massana (open 3 days a week: international-club-andorra.com/local-inc/charity-shop/ ) where I've gotten loads of second-hand kids' stuff, so you're not stuck paying high-street prices if you don't fancy it.

There are indeed several school options. The women I have met from the mum's group all send their children to different schools based on their preferences; there is an Andorran school (different ones in each parish), an international school in L'Aldosa, and French and Spanish schools. You're spoiled for choice, so don't worry!

There are also several people here in Andorra who run businesses helping English-speaking people integrate themselves into living in Andorra (helping with government paperwork and residency stuff and just general knowledge of how to get settled in). One I can recommend, where I'll link straight to her school information page, is Living in Andorra: livinginandorra.com/family_relocation_children.html It's run by a woman named Jane and she's awesome. I've met with her several times, she's been living here for over 20 years and knows her stuff!

For now just have a good dig around - don't be afraid to google things in Catalan and use google translate. That helped me SO MUCH when reading about government websites in Andorra, like about residency or the finer details of where places are or how certain things work. Try going for "Google.ad" so you get links directly to Andorran websites. Google translate certainly isn't perfect, but it helped me get rough translations of web pages and helped me get an idea of how things worked around here.

I can also recommend the Welcome to Andorra website for more general information: welcometoandorra.net/index1.htm

I hope this gets you started and makes the whole idea of moving here less scary. Andorra is awesome and I love it here.

Also if there's anything you want me to elaborate on or something I didn't make clear, just let me know - I also work from home and try to scroll through these forums every few days (though not the last few weeks as I've been travelling!  )

Hi Jenna,
Thanks so much for your message!
When did you move to Andorra?
How old is your little one now?
Did you start out renting or buy straight away?
My partner has been in contact with Jane, and yes she does seem to know her stuff!
Are you fluent in Catalan now? …Did you teach yourself?
Are your plans to stay in Andorra indefinitely?
Where do you go travelling mainly? Do you go to Barcelona much? We love Barcelona, and are planning on going there for the 4th time this May!
What work do you and your husband do?
Don’t feel you have to answer all of my questions, I’m just being nosy really!! 

How are you getting on Jess?

Forget Andorra, go Brazil!!