I mean everyone. Whether it’s the cashier at your local supermarket, your coworkers, or the parents at your kids’ school—make sure people know that you’re on this Spanish learning and integration journey. And here’s the key: tell them why it’s important to you. Is it because your kids are growing up here? Is it because you want Spanish nationality? Purely out of respect to the place you now want to call home? Whatever your reason is, make sure people understand that you’re serious about this.

It doesn’t stop with face-to-face conversations. Use social media to announce your journey. Create a post explaining what you’re doing and why. This not only holds you accountable, but it also invites people into your journey. You’ll be surprised by how much support you’ll get when you put yourself out there.

This is your version of a CRM (Customer Relationship Management), but for your personal life. It’s a system to keep track of who’s in your Spanish team. In the first step, you told everyone about your journey, and now it’s time to pay attention to who shows support or interest. Make a list of those people.

You can keep it simple—use your phone contacts, Instagram followers, or even jot it down in a notes app. Just keep track of who’s been supportive and who you want to invest more time in. This list will help you stay organised and ensure that you’re consistently working on building those relationships.

This step is a game-changer. To really build your Spanish team, you should always have something to invite people to. Whether it’s grabbing a coffee after your gym session or going to a weekend market, invite people to join you.

The key here is that these invitations shouldn’t feel like extra work. You’re already going to the market or having that coffee—just extend the invitation to someone on your list. It’s low pressure for both of you, and over time, you’ll build deeper connections with the people that accept your invitations and join you. It’s not about creating big events; it’s about consistently reaching out and building your network naturally.​

So there you have it. Three steps to burst the expat bubble and build your Spanish team. Tell everyone about your journey, keep track of your relationships, and always have something to invite people to.

If this resonates with you, start today! Take these steps and watch as your world starts to open up in ways you didn’t think possible. Keep pushing yourself out of that comfort zone—it’s where the magic happens!