I moved from New Jersey to Barcelona. Some parts of the process were surprisingly easy, but I made a few mistakes.

For most people, the biggest hurdle of moving abroad is finding work. Luckily, as a full-time freelancer and content creator, I can pay my bills as long as I have a laptop and a smartphone.

Since I knew I wouldn't be getting a visa through an employer, I had to look into my other options. They came down to digital-nomad, student, or teaching visas, and it took me some time to weigh out the pros and cons of each one.

I had enrolled in a Spanish-language program in Barcelona, so applying for a student visa ended up being the best choice for me.

If you're considering moving abroad, my biggest piece of boring logistical advice is to invest in an immigration lawyer.

Unfortunately, I have mixed feelings about the lawyer I hired. Miscommunications between us led me to waste time and money on unnecessary documentation, including a state background check in New Jersey.

The document cost $45, and I paid nearly $240 to get it translated and certified before discovering I didn't need it.

My lawyer eventually cleared up that the FBI criminal background check was the only one that mattered, and they helped me complete that process.

But this significantly slowed things down, which meant that my student visa wasn't finalized by the time of my move. Luckily, I've been able to pull the final pieces together from Spain.

My student visa only lasts a year, so I'll have to reapply if I want to stay longer.

But next time, I'll ask my Spanish-language program if there is an immigration lawyer they use or recommend. One of my classmates is using our school's lawyer, and he seems to be having a significantly easier time than me dealing with his visa paperwork.

Once I had a plan for my visa, I shifted my attention to lodging, which I thought was the next most important step.

I used a rental app called BADI to look through listings for open rooms in apartments in Barcelona.

It was much easier to move in with a roommate. But now that I'm settling into my life in Spain, I plan to search for my own place on Idealista, a popular apartment-finding website in the area.

Luckily, I feel comfortable with the roommate I ended up with, and I can rent on a month-to-month basis until I'm ready for my next step.

As a single, child-free woman who's already fairly nomadic and minimalistic, I recognize that I had fewer logistics to deal with. But moving abroad still had a lot of moving parts.

Nevertheless, I'm overjoyed to be living in Barcelona. Unlike my experiences traveling on tourist visas, I have plenty of time to enjoy everything Spain has to offer.

It might seem like a hassle to endure all this red tape for one year of stability, but for me, it's been more than worth it so far.