Our story began with an unexpected turning point
We are a couple living on a small island in Galicia, Spain. The idea of creating this study abroad advisory project came from an unexpected turning point in our lives: the company where my husband worked suddenly shut down and left unpaid wages behind. In the middle of that uncertainty, we found the motivation to build something of our own. Thanks to my previous international study experience, we decided to use that moment as the starting point to create SoulTripAdventure and grow it locally here in Spain.
We did not come from the study abroad industry, but we understood students’ real needs
In fact, I had never worked inside a study abroad agency. However, after more than ten years in banking and customer-facing roles, as well as experience as an English course advisor, I became very sensitive to the difference between what people ask for and what they actually need.
I also worked as a Chinese teacher in a language center, where I often saw international students struggle with grammar, confidence and frustration. That expression of feeling stuck looked very familiar to me, because we had gone through the same emotions while learning Spanish ourselves. That is one of the reasons why we believe students need more than information: they need clarity, empathy and real support.
Because we went through frustration ourselves, we understand what students feel
When I look back at my own language learning journey, both in Australia and later in Spain, I remember many moments of frustration. I still remember being twenty-seven years old in an English language school in Australia, surrounded by classmates whose level seemed much higher than mine. During one level interview, I simply could not hold back my emotions and burst into tears.
Looking back now, I understand exactly where those tears came from. They were not only about failure, but about caring deeply and wanting to become a better version of myself. That experience stayed with me, and later became one of the foundations of how we support students today.
What truly pushed me to create this company was my own visa experience
If I go back to 2020, I arrived in Spain with a student visa. At that time, the pandemic had changed international travel completely, and entering the country was much more complicated than usual. Studying in Spain was still possible, but only through the right academic and visa route.
Some people may wonder why, if Juan is Spanish, we did not simply contact the school directly ourselves. The answer is simple: at that time, I believed that a professional advisor would naturally understand the visa process better than I did, so I trusted a long-established consultancy in Taiwan to handle the process.
Later, I realised that their experience was mostly focused on English-speaking destinations, not on Spanish-speaking countries. That gap in knowledge made me understand how vulnerable students can feel when they place their trust in a service that does not fully understand the system they are dealing with.
Even after receiving the school acceptance, the visa process was still difficult
Even after paying the tuition and receiving my school acceptance, the visa process was far from smooth. I had chosen a recognised language school in Santiago de Compostela, but my application was rejected because of differences in how the administrative office interpreted the jurisdiction for the submission.
During that stressful period, Juan personally called the immigration office in Spain several times, gathered the correct information and relayed it back to the Spanish office in Taipei. Thankfully, the staff there were willing to help, and after resubmitting the documents, the visa was finally approved.
To be fair, we cannot expect any agency to solve every single administrative issue for a student. But if the advisor at that time had shown even a small amount of timely care and follow-up, my memory of that experience would probably be very different. That is exactly why we chose to build SoulTripAdventure in another way.
These experiences became the foundation of SoulTripAdventure
These personal experiences became the real foundation of our company. As our work grows and as we continue to respect the rules and limits set by each school, doing everything perfectly in every detail is not always easy, but it is still the direction we aim for every day.
What we want is to turn everything we have lived through into something valuable for the students who work with us: real empathy, practical guidance and honest communication.
We also believe in being transparent. Our company is legally based in Spain, and every commission we receive from partner schools is taxed according to Spanish law, including 21% VAT where applicable. Even with those operating costs, we do not want quality to be the part that gets reduced.
We respect different expectations, but we stay loyal to our original values
We always try to focus on students’ needs, but at the same time, we respect that every person has a different idea of what support should look like. Some students prefer a purely transactional service and do not expect extra interaction during their time abroad, and we fully respect that too.
People come from different backgrounds, and naturally they also have different expectations about how a study abroad advisor should communicate. We do not believe everyone needs the same kind of support, but we do believe that when a student truly needs help, they should feel that someone is there to guide them with honesty and care.
We are not chasing excessive profit, only meaningful student experiences
Today, SoulTripAdventure is still run by just the two of us, Juan and me. We are not trying to build this project around excessive profit. What matters most to us is that every student who works with us can leave with a meaningful and positive memory of studying in Spain.
More importantly, when you face a problem while studying abroad, we want you to feel that someone is willing to step in at the right moment and help you solve it together. That has been our guiding principle from the very beginning, and it is still what defines SoulTripAdventure today.
If you are also thinking about planning your own study experience in Spain
Whether you are comparing Spanish language schools, trying to understand the student visa process, or simply want to clarify which kind of study experience in Spain fits you best, you can tell us what you are looking for. We will help you organise your ideas step by step and find a clearer direction.
