Barcelona - Pride and Happiness

When we left New York City on June 30th, 2024, it is fair to say that our time in the Big Apple ended with a big party and with a lot of pride. And somehow it would be pride and happiness that would define the end of our first year in Barcelona.

But let me start with the beginning. I used to live in London and New York for more than two decades, and both cities had an immense impact on my life. I had left Germany after my Bachelor studies at the beginning of the new century and quickly realized that someone won’t achieve anything in London if you don’t believe in yourself, in your dreams, and in hard work.

While it seems to be a new trend nowadays not to attend university and to drop out of school before the Abitur, I put a strong focus on education in my career. When the big investment banks were not hiring after the dot-com crisis, I would take jobs in sales and marketing to secure a career development loan from Barclays Bank to study for my MBA. I strongly believed that Morgan Stanley would offer me a job in institutional securities after unpaid internships in New York, and exactly this is what happened right after my last final exams.

New York was the next adventure. People cannot just move to New York; they need working visas or at least to start with student visas. And that’s what I also would be doing. I signed up for a master's course, sent out hundreds of applications, and was eventually found by KPMG, who would not just offer me a job in consulting and risk management but also working papers. But New York also enabled me to take my personal life to the next level and start a family. And I, of course, worked hard and enjoyed the parties, which happened to be New York City Pride with hundreds of colleagues from Deutsche Bank and thousands of spectators cheering at us while we were walking and dancing proudly down 5th Avenue on our last day in the city.

But as soon as we left New York City at the end of that day, we just about realized that there is a difference between simply existing and living a dream. To be honest, maybe my former university town, Hannover in Germany, wasn’t the best place to look for new dreams. While people will agree that Germany can offer many benefits, especially for people with children, the lack of sunshine and inspiration was dragging me down, and I felt that whatever had made me shine as a person was vanishing with time. And further losses, including a position, which I hadn’t wanted in the first place, and a pregnancy, which I had been hoping for a long time, marked the lows of a very depressing time. I eventually wondered, if my own time would come to an end.

Let me tell you all, nobody should ask himself the question if our life is coming to an end. I strongly believe that we should tell ourselves whenever we hit rock bottom that it is time to live again…

My two children and I arrived in Barcelona at the end of August 2025. Barcelona has always been a dream of mine. I got to know the city well from the party scene some twenty years ago. But I also had heard from many, many people how much they enjoy Barcelona, and although I was not looking forward to experiencing the city being overrun by countless tourists every year, I strongly felt that the city on the Costa Brava could be the place where we all could be happy and live again.

I have to say that after I failed to secure the job, which I had always wanted, and found myself in a situation in which I had to accept a significantly lower-paid position from one of my former employers, I didn’t feel that we got off to a good start. But I remembered that when I moved to London and New York, things were far from perfect as well. 

I am not sure if it was due to the good weather and daily sunshine, the friendly people, the weekly trips to our favorite beach in Sitges, or the monthly parties. I managed to find the extra hope and inspiration to believe in myself again.

Apart from the income situation, Barcelona quickly had a very positive impact on us. Barcelona is a city that can carry someone easily. Whenever I walked through the beautiful street Counsel del Cent with that astonishing architecture, many trees, and people sitting outside the cafes, I was thrilled to be there. The children and I grew closer as a family, and it warmed my heart to see my kids getting on the school bus every day and really being there for each other.

Barcelona also helped me to get over the whole middle age thing and decide that even if we are older and have kids, we shouldn’t be afraid of new challenges, which is why I had decided to continue with my doctoral studies and lectures in Germany. Every day I see fit people running the hills up and down in Barcelona, and the positive energy was something that really helped me to pick up the pieces in my life and start all over again.

I also learned once again that we can only work hard and believe in ourselves. When people tell us that higher salaries are not possible in Barcelona and career opportunities are limited, then it is time to take a look at yourself and question what you have achieved and how much money you should actually get paid for your work. There will always be people trying to take advantage of someone’s situation, and I had quickly decided that the victim role wasn’t for me.

I was fortunate enough that the fantastic company eventually offered me the position, which I had wanted in the previous. Those were some of the happiest days in my life when I received that job offer, resigned from my job, and eventually put on my black pants, dark shoes, and blue office shirt again. I knew that the return to business casual would also stand for a return to my former career with many challenges and opportunities.

I believe that when someone works close to the beach, it would be a fatal mistake to take things for granted. Those are hard times, and most of us will have to prove ourselves constantly in tough working environments.

But when Barcelona Pride happened, I found myself going to one of the street parties with my son. We listened to the music and saw many people dancing with pride and happiness.

And for a moment I smiled and realized that there is nothing wrong with pride and happiness.