Would You Relocate For Love? A European Love Story

Sometimes we fall in love when we are least expecting it and even in the strangest of places! As a generation that loves to travel, we are constantly meeting interesting people from all over the world. When we are away from home traveling to new and exciting places, we can find ourselves in our happiest and most relaxed state, which makes it easier than ever to meet new people. The people that we meet on our travels may become a best friend for life, a mere acquaintance or even a holiday romance. Sometimes these holiday romances fizzle out after 1 or 2 weeks but for other travelers, these holiday romances can lead to much more, persuading us to relocate for love.

To encourage you to take the leap and relocate for love, we interviewed Bruna Fleury, a 21-year-old Brazillian model, and Miss Brazil contest winner, who relocated to the beautiful Barcelona at the age of 20 to live with her French boyfriend, Hugo.

Introduce yourself:

I'm Bruna, I’m 21 years old, I’m from Brazil and I have lived in Barcelona for the past 2 years now. I’m currently working for Gucci but during any free time, I work as a model for TV commercials.

When did you meet your partner?

I first came to Barcelona in 2017. My initial plan was to stay for 3 months - no more, no less.

During one of my first nights in Barcelona, I went to meet some other Brazilians through a meetup that I saw in a Facebook group. The Brazilian girls that I planned to meet up with were already going out with some of their French friends. This is where I met Hugo, my boyfriend. During this night, we exchanged a few 'basic' words but unfortunately, I couldn't speak any Spanish or English. As you can imagine, this was a huge disadvantage, especially considering Hugo was working as a translator who could speak a variety of languages, just not Portuguese - yet!

Two months passed and I definitely thought about Hugo a lot, I felt as though we had that initial connection and it was hard to explain my feelings, especially to someone I barely spoke with.

Fortunately, we bumped into each other during a night out in the city and this time I could speak English! We spoke all night and to my delight, he invited me to lunch the day after.

How long did you know each other before you had to leave Barcelona?

I felt that it was such a shame that I met Hugo at the end of my trip, but with only one month left, we spent every single day together, which is still to this day the best month of my life. Unfortunately, my trip came to an end, quicker than I wanted and I had to go back to Brazil.

What happened when you moved back to Brazil?

For the next 4 months, we continued to speak to each other, texting, calling and of course, face-timing. Although we were thousands of miles apart, I had some hope that we would meet again, wherever in the world it may be.

To my surprise, Hugo called me to inform me that he would come and visit me in Brazil. As anyone would be, I was over the moon!

He came to my city, Itu and we spent just 1 week together. During this time, he met my family and we traveled as much as we could within a week. As the trip came to an end, we knew that the feelings we had for each other were worth it and we decided that I would move to Barcelona to live with Hugo. Of course, at first, we did not know how hard or easy this would be but we just wanted to at least try!

What happened next?

To make it happen, I had to save up some money. We discovered that there were possible ways for me to gain a visa in Barcelona but of course, it would cost money. I was already planning to enter the Miss contest of my City, Itu and of course, the thought of moving across the world motivated me further. The following January, I entered the Miss contest and fortunately, I won! I was delighted to win this contest as I am proud of where I come from and most importantly, I knew that I was at least a plane ticket closer to my relocation.

Were there any particularly hard times during your move?

Of course, it was hard at the beginning because I wasn’t entirely sure what would happen and yes, some people thought I was brave and some people thought I was crazy but I knew that relocating for love was the best decision for Hugo and I. I just hoped that my relationship would be as good as I pictured it. During my move my emotions were extremely mixed, I wanted to move to be with Hugo, but I felt sad about leaving my family in Brazil. All I knew is that I wanted to relocate for love and that the people around me would understand.

What advice would you give to anyone who is planning to “relocate for love”?

My advice for someone that is planning to move for love is... It's important to prepare yourself for the hard times, it will be hard at the beginning and yes, you will miss your family but if you know what you are relocating for and it's worth it, you won't regret it.

I feel that when you are going through such an important process such as relocating for love, you experience so many ups and downs and if it is worth it, your relationship will become stronger. I am extremely grateful for Hugo, during my relocation, he was extremely supportive, helpful and calmed me down whenever I felt lost.

Do you feel settled now with your partner in Barcelona?

As I mentioned, it's been 2 years since I decided to relocate for love and I am yet to experience any feelings of regret. I am thankful for the opportunity that I was given to relocate here and live a happy life with the person I fell in love with. I encourage any of you who are considering relocating for love, to go for it.

We hope you feel motivated and encouraged by Bruna's inspiring relocation story. If you are considering moving abroad for love, our best advice is to follow your instincts and do what is best for you! If you are looking to relocate to Europe, check out the opportunities available for you on our job board.

Explore by tag

Travel Advice

Living abroad

Related offers

See all jobs