10 mins read
In 2016, I packed up my life in Hungary and moved to Jávea with my family. No trial run. No insider guidance. Just a dream of sunshine, the sea, and a better life for my kids.
It worked out — beautifully, actually. My children now grow up bilingual, playing on the beach after school, living the kind of childhood I could only dream of back home. But honestly? The first year was chaos. Navigating the NIE process alone, choosing the wrong neighbourhood at first, overpaying for our first rental because we didn't know the market. I made every mistake in the book so you don't have to.
That experience planted a seed. And nine years later, it grew into something I'm genuinely proud of: Try Before Moving by KataBene Experience Weeks.
Every year, thousands of people dream about moving to the Mediterranean. They scroll through property listings at midnight, save Instagram posts of sunsets over the sea, and whisper to their partner: "What if we actually did it?"
Then reality hits. The questions pile up. Is Costa Blanca the right area? Will the kids adapt? Are the schools any good? What does a villa actually cost — not the listing price, but the real, all-in cost? Can I trust the estate agent? What about healthcare, taxes, residency?
Most people do one of two things: they either take the leap blind and hope for the best, or they let the fear win and never move at all. Both options felt wrong to me.
So I created a third option.
The concept is simple but powerful: live the Costa Blanca life for seven days before making one of the biggest decisions of your life.
This isn't a holiday. It's not a rushed house-hunting trip where you see fifteen properties in two days and make a panicked offer at the airport. It's something entirely different.
During a Before Experience Week, you stay in a luxury villa with a pool. You wake up to Mediterranean light. You play padel in the morning — the sport that's taken Spain by storm. You try stand-up paddleboarding on crystal-clear water. You have a yoga session overlooking the sea.
But here's where it gets serious.
You also visit five to ten carefully selected properties that match your actual criteria and budget. You sit down with a local lawyer for a legal and tax consultation. You visit international schools if you have children. You eat at the restaurants where locals eat — not the tourist traps. You meet expats who've already made the move and hear their unfiltered stories.
By the end of the week, you don't just want to live here. You know whether you should.
Our Experience Weeks are deliberately small — four to eight people maximum. This isn't mass tourism or a bus tour with forty strangers and a megaphone. It's a carefully curated group of like-minded people who are all at the same crossroads in life.
Something magical happens when you put a small group of dreamers together in a villa for a week. You share doubts over morning coffee. You compare notes after property viewings. You challenge each other's assumptions. Many of our guests have stayed friends long after the week ended — some even ended up as neighbours.
I'll tell you something that might surprise you coming from someone who also runs a real estate agency: I don't want you to buy a property unless it's genuinely right for you.
I've seen what happens when people make rushed decisions. I've watched expats sell up and move back within a year because they chose the wrong town, underestimated the summer heat, or didn't realise how quiet their village gets in winter. That's not a success story for anyone.
So during our Experience Weeks, I show you the real Costa Blanca. Not just the Instagram version — the Monday morning version. The school run. The supermarket. The healthcare centre. The rainy day in November (yes, it rains here too — about fifteen days a year). I'll tell you about the bureaucracy, the slower pace of Spanish administration, and the things that still frustrate me after nine years.
Because if you move here with open eyes, you'll love it. If you move here with rose-tinted glasses, you might not.
Each Experience Week includes your villa, airport transfers, daily breakfast, restaurant dinners, a traditional paella evening, all activities, property viewings, legal consultation, and local transport. Prices start from €1,190 depending on the programme.
But here's the part that makes people do a double-take: if you purchase a property through Molino Villas after your Experience Week, we refund the entire cost of the programme. Every euro. The week essentially becomes free — a thank-you for trusting us with one of the biggest purchases of your life.
Not everyone's journey is the same, so we've designed six distinct programmes:
Whatever your situation — whether you're a couple dreaming of early retirement, a family seeking adventure, or an investor looking for returns — there's a programme built for you.
Our Experience Weeks are based in Jávea, but we explore the entire northern Costa Blanca. Each town has its own character:
Jávea is where I chose to raise my family — international, diverse, with three distinct beaches and some of the best schools on the coast. Moraira offers quiet luxury and a stunning coastline with a charming marina. Calpe brings vibrant energy, excellent value, and the iconic Peñón de Ifach rising from the sea. Altea is the artistic soul of the coast, with its blue-domed church and winding old town streets. And Benissa Costa is the hidden gem — sought-after sea-view villas and modern builds tucked into pine-covered hillsides.
Part of the Experience Week is discovering which town feels like your town. Because they're all beautiful — but only one will feel like home.
I stood exactly where you are now. Dreaming, wondering, maybe a little scared. The difference is, you don't have to figure it out alone.
Our 2026 Experience Weeks run from February through November, with dates carefully spread throughout the year. Small groups fill up fast — most weeks have just four to eight spots.
If you've been thinking about Mediterranean life for months or years, give yourself seven days to find out if it's real. No pressure. No sales pitch. Just an honest week of discovery.
Because the best decisions aren't made from behind a screen. They're made with sand between your toes and the scent of orange blossom in the air.
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