Every expat we meet here in Valencia, Spain, tells us the same thing: You made the right choice.

“We love it here,” they say. The weather, the people, the plethora of things to do, the slower pace of life. Some loved it from the moment they got here. Others said they didn’t think they’d stay as long, but here they are two years, five years, ten years later.

Michael has already fallen in love. It didn’t take him long at all. And me? I’m “in like.” I like it here.

• I like that no one seems to be in a rush.
• I like that lunches and dinners last for hours.
• I like that no one cares how long you sit at your table.
• I like that I can walk to everything I need in less than ten minutes.
• I like that there are bike paths all over the place.
• I like that, for the princely sum of $50 for the year, I have access to hundreds of bikes parked all over the city.
• I like that, for $22/month, I can get 20 gigs of internet on my phone, plus 300 minutes of national and international calls.
• I like that a glass of wine is only a few dollars. If that.
• I like that vegetables actually taste like something.
• I like that I can buy only 1/4 of a watermelon instead of a whole one.
• I like that, in the space of five weeks, I’ve met people from Egypt, Venezuela, Uruguay, France, French Polynesia, England, the Netherlands.

Do I love it here? Not yet. But I like it here. Any maybe that’s even better.