Welcome Abroad! The journey begins here.

The one where you learn what this is all about.

On y va!

Hello stranger,

It’s great to have you here, whichever way you’ve found your way to this space in the borderless territory of online worlds.

I launched Abroad during the summer of 2023, although I actually started writing here towards the end of that year. I’m still rather clueless about the whole thing.

About myself

I’m Cristina and I’ve always loved writing, music, reading, and books. I’m also in a committed relationship with cinema too. I guess this is what people call nowadays ethical non-monogamy.

Although I work promoting London to international creative tech ecosystem and championing the city to international audiences, I’ve always dreamed of being a writer one day. I elaborate more on my personal writing journey in the About page.

I’m originally from Spain, more precisely from a small town in La Mancha, the region of Don Quixote. Rumour has it Cervantes started writing his famous masterpiece in the place where I’ve grown up. A fact ferociously disputed by other towns in the region, which unable to verify the story, amicably agreed to make peace with each other and leave the door open to the possibility that any of them could have been the place where Cervantes might have written El Quijote.

I've lived in London for longer than I’d ever imagined (came for 3 months, still here 15 years later) after having previously spent a few years in the US and Italy.

Abroad takes its name after a piece I wrote exploring the journey across languages and countries that has taken me where I am today. It was shortlisted for the Evening Standard Stories Competition last year, where the main theme was “Belonging”. For the time being I’m keeping it for me but it may see the light here one day.

Why subscribe and what to expect from this space?

Many people start their newsletters with a clear definition of what the reader will find if they decide to stick around.

So here’s a definition that I hope may help.

Abroad

/əˈbrɔːd/

Adverb

1. in or to a foreign country or countries.

2. in different directions; over a wide area.

My plan here is to create a home for those wandering thoughts, ideas and reflections that cross my mind at racing speed but didn’t until now had a fixed place to go. Same as me for many years.

I find there is a special kind of beauty in the ability to craft a story from ordinary details and I would define my writing as creative non-fiction, weaving in observations about every day life and the mundane with the necessary fiction tools to make a narrative compelling. Or so I hope.

Things to expect from my writing in Abroad

• Reflections on being an introvert in an extroverts’ world.

  People struggle to believe it but I really am. That’s probably why you won’t get to see my face often here, but I’ve changed my profile picture for an illustration with a woman. That’s something. After years of beating myself up for not being like everyone else, I’ve finally learned to embrace who I am and it’s been quite liberating.

• Humour, irony, sarcasm

  At least I hope it comes across that way and not just as standoffish awkwardness. I can always argue English is not my native language if a joke goes terribly wrong or a text fails to deliver its intended comic effect. However you should know from the start that I’m the kind of person who laughs at her own jokes and usually has more fun inside my head than with people, which means I don’t have much feedback to rely on other than my own. Let’s see how that plays out here.

• My love for books (and reading)

  I often say I like reading but lately I’ve come to the realisation that I may actually love books more than reading but both have played an important part in my life. My dream would be to own a house big enough to have proper library where I could spend days on end just observing my shelves. And doing a bit of reading.

• Tech talk. Yes, that includes AI but also how technology is changing our lives

  It won’t be the dominat content, but it’ll make an appearance every now and then. If you are interested in these topics, I write another newsletter where I talk about technology and creative industries

• Cultural differences, identity, belonging

  I come from a tiny place of 7,000 people where I never felt I belonged. Since a young age I felt a strong curiosity for other cultures and places, no doubt inspired by the books I read at the time and the stories they told as everyone in my family is from the same place and no one had ever lived abroad before I did. I have now spend 20 years abroad and lived in Spain, Italy, and the US before calling London home. And with my sister living in France for over a decade I’ve been fortunate to visit the country quite a few times.

• The latest movie/actor/director I’m obsessed with

  For 13 years I ignored cinemas existed in London. Now I go almost every week and watch a ridiculous amount of films. My newfound love for cinema has been a great way to open my mind to the different ways a story can be told and I’m particularly interested in the creative process of directors and actors to bring a story or character to life. I find visually storytelling a fascinating complement for writers.

• A love for languages and linguistic observations. I speak Spanish, Italian, English and French (au moins j’essaie) - All invariably with an accent, not always the one you’d expect.

• A (tough) love for London and the highs and lows of living here

  Like young Willy Wonka I believe that “in this city, anyone can be successful if they've talent and work hard, or so they say. But they didn't mention it would be so stressful just to make a dozen silver sovereigns last more than a day.”

Beside stand alone pieces on the above -which are organised by categories in the home page - you can expect two regular sections:

• A Week in the Life - an overview of every day life in London, bringing all the different topics of Abroad together as I reflect on life as a foreigner in a global city from both a personal and professional point of view.

• The Culture Fix - a round-up of the books, music, films, articles, and more that I’ve been enjoying lately. I love sharing these tidbits and I’ve discovered so many new favourite artists/music/films/books/places/authors thanks to what other people genuinely love and share.

How much is a subscription?

For the time being Abroad is fully accessible for free.

Each of us comes to Substack for different reasons and at different stages in our writing journey and that’s the beauty of this space.

Personally, I’m in the ‘let me have fun with this without adding further pressure’ stage so I’d like to offer people the chance to get to know me without any further obligations on either side.

In dating terms we are in the talking stage. With luck it’ll turn into a date and before we know it we’ll be defining our relationship. But don’t worry, I don’t expect we become exclusive. I’ll always encourage you to read other people.

However, if you enjoy my ramblings, please subscribe to Abroad. The journey is always less exciting when one travels alone.

The sooner this community grows and expands, the sooner I can put an end to this pathetic farce about art for art’s sake, dating analogies, not caring about money and reveal my true capitalistic colours.

And that’s about it.

I’d love to hear about you now.

You can introduce yourself here if you are so inclined. I’m an introvert, I won’t be the one pushing you to talk about yourself.

Thanks for stopping by and hope you enjoy reading Abroad. If you think someone else may also like the sound of this, please don’t hesitate to share the love with them.

Living abroad is not compulsory.

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A few posts to begin with

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Abroad is an independent publication about identity and belonging, living in between cultures and languages, the love of books, music, films, creativity, life in London, and being human in the age of artificial intelligence.