12 Things I’ve Learned from my Transformative Month in a Coliving House

My month in the co-living pop-up in the Basque Country has finally come to an end, and I’m now in Javea (a totally different area of Spain) for three weeks at a new co-living house.

I’ve left behind the beautiful Basque scenery, our neighbour, Senor Colin the Donkey (not his actual name), and our beloved Ardi Beltza/Black Sheep café that serves THE best cheesecake in all of Spain.

I’ve had such an amazing month, so I thought it would be good to create a list of 12 things I’ve learned during my time living in a Spanish villa with 20+ other people. 

So, here we go…

1.     You can learn more in a month by travelling somewhere new and living with people from all over the world than you can learn in a whole year staying in the same place.

2.     Day trips and drinking in bars is nice, but the real bonding comes when you just stay up late and talk (preferably with a bottle of wine in hand and some ‘90s music on in the background).

3.     You can always learn something from other people’s journeys, and they can always learn something from yours (even if you don’t think you have anything useful to share).

4.     FOMO is real, but you don’t have to take part in every activity and trip that comes up – having some time for yourself and going somewhere quiet to get your work done can be essential when living with so many people.

5.     Being surrounded by purpose-driven entrepreneurs, freelancers, and remote workers who have awesome, non-traditional lifestyles, is SO inspiring. Not to mention all the travelling tips and hacks I’m learning.

6.     Pintxo hopping is my new favourite thing. It’s like a pub crawl but with tasty tapas-style snacks. And a LOT of bread.

7.     The more you open up and talk about the deep stuff in life, the easier and more normal it becomes. My housemates now know a LOT about me – way more than I’d usually tell people I’ve just met.

8.     Being the only English person in a house of mostly Europeans, and trying to explain what happened with Brexit, is not an easy task.

9.     I am capable of WAY more than I give myself credit for, and while stepping outside your comfort zone is scary, it doesn’t stay scary for long. 

10.  The cheesecake in the Basque Country really is some of the best in the world (cheesecake sales in the village have plummeted since we’ve left).

11.  If you have issues with confidence or feeling awkward around new people, you just have to dive in head first and take part in as many ‘awkward’ experiences as possible. As part of a human connection exercise we did, we had to pair up and stare into each other’s eyes for eight whole minutes. And, believe me, once you’ve stared into a random French guy’s eyes for eight minutes, nothing really seems that awkward anymore.

12.  The word for candy floss in Afrikaans is spookasem, which means ‘ghost breath’ (it’s my new favourite word). I’ve also learned quite a few swear words in various languages.

I’ve learned a lot more than this, of course, but if I listed everything this pop-up has taught me, we’d be here forever.

This has been a truly transformative month for me, and I’ll be creating lots of new content around what I’ve learned for the Flip The Script Academy soon – so, if you’re not a member, consider signing up today!

That’s it for now – until next time, I’ll catch you on the flip side!

Jess xx

P.S. I encourage you to look back at some of the transformative experiences you’ve had in your life, and list all the things you’ve learned from them (they can be serious or funny, or a mix, like mine). Hopefully this will motivate you to have more transformative experiences in the future!