 Getting ready to hit the road again! One of the great things about being married to Rich is that even after forty years, the man constantly surprises me. A few days ago, he turned to me out of the blue and said, “I just read an interesting article about how to fold feta cheese.” My jaw dropped in astonishment. “How is that even a thing? Why would you want to? What’s the point?” He looked at me oddly. “Weren’t you complaining just this morning about how impossible it is to fold our fitted sheets?” Oh, fitted sheets. Now it all made sense. Yes, our fitted sheets have a tendency to look as if they’ve been dragged off the blades of a propeller and shoved into the closet by a blindfolded toddler. No matter what Rich had read, making them look any tidier seemed as improbable as folding crumbly white Greek cheese into origami swans. I’ve learned to live with it and suggested he do the same.  My sheets are among the countless domestic elements I am trying to corral into some kind of order at the moment, because at the end of this week we’re leaving for a six-month stay in America. (Do I have mixed feelings about that? Don’t get me started.) As I putter around the apartment, reshelving books and collecting stray paintbrushes and candle stubs, I’m thinking about all the fun I’ve had over the past six months, especially with the Amigos Project. As my regular readers know, I’ve spent a great deal of time over the fall and winter months interviewing expat friends to help me answer readers’ questions. People keep asking about the feasibility of escaping America if things get exponentially crazier. (And yes, never doubt that could happen. Probably will, in fact.)  I’ve done my best to reassure you all that moving abroad is quite feasible. (Here’s my starter checklist.) You’ll probably want to begin as a part-time expat (as these success stories demonstrate). If you’re retired or work online (see tips for remote working overseas), living in Europe can be a very affordable option, depending on your choice of location. As for feeling lonely, you’ll likely find it easier (as many of us have) to make friends in a sociable city like Seville than you ever did back home. Of course, there are downsides. Yesterday Rich and I got to talking about all the things we’ve learned to do without here in Spain. A car. A clothes dryer. A dishwasher. An automatic ice maker. Central heating. Amazon. While those things are obtainable in Seville, for us they’re so impractical we don’t bother. In winter I keep individual rooms toasty with space heaters and view my rapid dashes through the arctic zone (formerly known as the hallway) much as younger friends speak of their ice baths: useful for shocking the system into a state of heightened mental acuity but not a place you'd linger long.  Somehow I just can't warm to the idea of ice baths. While my apartment may lack a few modern conveniences, my Seville lifestyle is easier and more relaxed. My days unfold at a more civilized pace, giving me time to absorb some of this community’s age-old wisdom. For a start, nobody here is invisible. I am never just a number on a credit card or a pile of groceries on a conveyor belt. I make eye contact wherever I go and kiss more people in a week than I do during six months in the US. In fact, while in California I have to keep a tight rein on my impulse to cheek-kiss everyone I meet, because often it is misconstrued in disturbing ways. Here in Spain I have learned that the word nosotros — us — means everybody, not just those who are rich, lucky, white, and/or politically connected. Every Spaniard has access to education, health care, and an old age pension sufficient to keep them off the street. Amigos argue fiercely over government policies (and everything else) but agree that disagreements don’t make the other person a spawn of Satan.  Our Spanish neighbors love to gather, drink beer, argue fiercely, laugh, order another round, argue some more, laugh harder, and remain lifelong friends. Over the millennia, Sevillanos have weathered just about everything history can throw at a population: war, disease, invasion, dictators, tourists. During the pandemic, I could almost hear my neighbors thinking, “You call this pestilence? The Great Plague of 1647, when we lost a quarter of our population, now that was something!” These days it’s more like, “Oligarchs? We were invaded by Julius Caesar! Religious fanatics? We survived the Spanish Inquisition!” Even in its darkest hours, Seville is confident that the community will endure, and I am hopeful America will, too. As I toss out the ragged leftovers from my refrigerator and check the expiration dates to see if my canned goods will last into next autumn, my mind is already roaming ahead to California and our Apocalypse Chow Food Locker.  In the summer of 2020, Rich built our Apocalypse Chow Food Locker, which serves as an outdoor pantry and survival gear storage shed. Before leaving California last fall, I stuffed the locker with rice, beans, coffee, oatmeal, artichoke hearts, olive oil, and canned tuna. Unfortunately, the bargain brand of tuna I chose is being recalled because there is a slight but worrying chance that it could kill us. So I guess I have more discarding and restocking to do when I get back. Naturally, everyone is suggesting I pack my suitcase full of fresh eggs, which around here cost just 2.06€ ($2.25) a dozen. If only I could! At current US prices, they’d sell for enough to finance my tuna needs for the rest of the decade.  My next task is reviewing California’s latest emergency preparation warnings to see if I have to update anything else when I return to my San Anselmo home. Luckily the town managed to survive winter’s flood season without a major inundation. Now all I have to do is get ready for instant evacuation during an earthquake — with headlamps for night flight and digging through rubble — and check the current boundaries of the official wildfire zone, which creeps closer to us every year. In my spare time, I'm hoping to learn whether they ever caught the neighborhood pyromaniac I heard so much about last fall. All in all, I ‘m expecting a pretty exciting summer in California. Whatever happens, I will rely on my Amigos Project wisdom for guidance. I will remember that us means everyone, and that everyone matters. Even people I disagree with. As I go about my day, I will make eye contact whenever possible, although I will refrain from kissing anybody unless I actually know them. Being aware that disaster could strike at any moment, from any direction, I will keep my heart, mind, and home in a state of readiness. As for my fitted sheets, I will accept that, like my country, they are always going to be a disheveled mess, but they are mine and I love them. Just as they are.  IN SEVILLE THIS WEEK? COME HEAR ME SPEAK! I'm appearing at a free, English-language author event on Wednesday.  I'M TAKING A SHORT BREAK FROM POSTING I'll be in transit, then trying to absorb all the changes taking place in America. Could take a while. In April I'll be back with all new snarky commentary and helpful survival tips. THIS IS THE LAST AMIGOS PROJECT POST See the complete Amigos Project series here. THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO MADE MY NEW BOOK A SUCCESS!    If you haven't read My San Francisco yet, you can order it HERE. If you have read it, I invite you to leave a review HERE. DON'T MISS OUT! If you haven't already, take a moment to subscribe so I can let you know when I publish my weekly posts. Just send me an email and I'll take it from there. [email protected] SUBSCRIBED BUT NOT GETTING POSTS? Check your spam folder. Internet security is in a frenzy these days. If you still can't find it, please let me know. FOR FURTHER READING My bestselling travel memoirs & guides Cozy Places to Eat in Seville GOING SOMEWHERE? Enter any destination or topic, such as packing light or road food, in the search box below. If I've written about it, you'll find it.
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Pop quiz: What creature do you see below?  OK, now what other creature can you see? Originally printed in a German humor magazine in 1892, this sketch has become a litmus test of mental flexibility. By now you’ve probably noticed it can be viewed as either a rabbit or a duck. (If you’ve identified any other creature, such as a flesh-eating zombie, we need to talk.) A Swiss study showed that around Eastertime most people see a rabbit and in October they spot the duck first, reminding us that what we see is deeply influenced by context. And that’s one of the reasons so many of us choose to live in another country. We get to view the land of our birth from another perspective, in a wholly different context — which can be incredibly refreshing.  The Latest Authorized Nearly Legal Map of the United States | The New Yorker You probably won’t be surprised to hear that these days millions of Americans are talking about packing up and going overseas. Last fall — starting Wednesday, November 6, to be precise — the number of Americans Googling information about moving abroad surged by 1514%. Not all of those queries landed in my email inbox (¡Gracias a Díos!), but these days I am fielding lots of questions from my friends, relatives, readers, and random strangers, all of whom seem anxious for a change of scene. “I’m gonna do it — sell the house, pack a bag, and jump on a plane,” they say, usually after the second martini. “Who’s with me?” I rarely consider myself the voice of reason, but in these cases I do caution people to cool their jets a little, taking time to consider their exit strategy and find a congenial place to land. For me it was Spain, but for two of my fellow bloggers — Lynn McBride, author of Southern Fried French, and Lori Cronwell, author of Bringing Europe Home — the allure of France was irrésistible.  After 140 years in the USA, Lady Liberty packs up and heads home to France. Courtesy of Southern Fried French  Lori Cronwell. Photo courtesy of Bringing Europe Home I caught up with Lynn and Lori this week and asked each of them how they navigated their move to France. In both cases, their successful transitions started with 90-day tourist visas and living as part-time expats in rental apartments. Both women still own property in the US and consider real estate a key factor. Lori Cronwell, a travel writer and digital nomad in her sixties, found herself traveling back and forth to Brittany on a regular basis. She decided to rent out her 1800-square-foot home in Portland, Oregon, so she built a 700-square-foot accessory dwelling unit (ADU) on the property. She lives there while she’s in the US, and the rest of the time it’s an Airbnb managed by her renters. “To create this lifestyle of having a beautiful and comfortable homebase — in two countries — coupled with the freedom to travel, didn't require a ton of money," she said. "It did require a shift in my priorities, a drastic downsizing, and a few innovative ideas. Renting out the main house gave me the freedom to travel. Living in a smaller home is liberating. There’s less to maintain, less to clean, and more time for travel and fun.”  Lori's Airbnb serves as her pied-à-terre when she's in Portland, Oregon. Photo courtesy of Bringing Europe Home Two months ago, Lori decided to become a full-time resident of France. “Living in another country part-time or full-time means taking a big leap out of your comfort zone,” she says. “You may have to learn a new language and a whole new bureaucratic system. But that’s part of the grand adventure: experiencing a new culture, stepping up to new challenges and meeting new people. All of which will keep your mind sharp and your spirit young. And you won’t be alone. You’ll make new friends; you’ll find your support group; and you’ll be living your dream.” For more, read Lori’s posts: The Perks of Being a Part-Time Expat The Pitfalls of Being a Part-Time Expat  It's easy to fall in love with France, as magazine editor Lynn McBride, now 75, discovered over many vacations there with her husband, Ron. When they wrapped up their careers 22 years ago, they realized they were ready to leave Charleston, South Carolina. “We decided to have a retirement adventure. We sold everything we owned — our house, our car — and went to France. We just serendipitously found this apartment in a chateau.”  When Nicole and Pierre began renovations, the Château de Balleure in southern Burgundy didn't even have a bathroom. Owners Nicole and Pierre Balvay had spent 30 years renovating the crumbling 14th century Château de Balleure, which had been in Pierre’s family since the end of the French Revolution. Lynn and Ron lived there while rehabilitating a nearby farmhouse, where they lived for 13 years before moving to an apartment in the town of Beaune. The cost of living is generally cheaper in France, Lynn says, especially when it comes to real estate. “If you are set on living in central Paris or on the Côte d’Azur, or in one of the uber-trendy perched Provençal villages popularized by Peter Mayle, then be prepared to spend big. But once you get out of these areas, real estate is quite reasonable and can be amazingly cheap, especially if you are interested in living in the countryside or in a village.”  Lynn (left) and her husband, Ron, enjoy le déjeuner with friends in the French countryside. Lynn learned to cook the rich stews the region is famous for, such as Beef Bourguignonne and Coq au Vin. She continues to study French (“A lifelong occupation,” she admits ruefully) and to write about her expat lifestyle. In her most recent post she introduced me to my new favorite word: epoustouflant, which means flabbergasting. For more, see Lynn’s post: Moving to France: A Cheaper Retirement Option? And her book: How to Learn a New Language with a Used Brain  Lynn likes to gather a few friends and hold French pastry tastings. I'm angling for an invitation to the next one! Photo: Southern Fried French For most people, expat life sensibly starts with 90-day tourist visas. Longer stays usually require getting a residency visa (bonjour paperwork!). In Spain and elsewhere, staying more than 183 days a year or buying property can define you as a tax resident; see how this affected my amigos in my post Five Things We’ve Learned About Living Abroad. Like the duck-rabbit illusion, my life has two different faces: the six months I spend in Spain and the six months I spend in California. And while I mostly write about the joys of my Seville life, there are plenty of downsides, too. Don’t get me started on Spanish bureaucracy or the appalling lack of decent chocolate chip cookies. And there are days when just trying to discuss a modest purchase at a hardware store tests my vocabulary and nerves to the limit. But living abroad isn’t all residency visas and replacement door handles. It’s about those wonderful mornings when we open our eyes and realize we are actually living in a place we once barely had the courage to dream about. That's when we feel the rapture of living in a world that is so vast, so precious, so exhilarating — so, as the French would say, epoustouflant — that it takes our breath away. Knowing that we are invited to take our place in that larger world is worth every bit of expense and fuss it took to get there. And then some.  Rich walks on a beach in Corsica, thinking profound thoughts about where to go for dinner. THE AMIGOS PROJECT This post is part of my ongoing exploration of how to enrich our lives while living or traveling abroad, finding new ways of avoiding the isolation that's become a global epidemic. See all my Amigos Project posts here. THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO MADE MY NEW BOOK A SUCCESS! If you haven't read it yet, you can find it on Amazon worldwide. If you have read it, I invite you to leave a review HERE.  DON'T MISS OUT! If you haven't already, take a moment to subscribe so I can let you know when I publish my weekly posts. Just send me an email and I'll take it from there. [email protected] SUBSCRIBED BUT NOT GETTING POSTS? Check your spam folder. Internet security is in a frenzy these days. If you still can't find it, please let me know. FOR FURTHER READING My bestselling travel memoirs & guides Cozy Places to Eat in Seville GOING SOMEWHERE? Enter any destination or topic, such as packing light or road food, in the search box below. If I've written about it, you'll find it. |
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I'm an American travel writer dividing my time between Seville, Spain, and California. I travel the world seeking eccentric people, quirky places, and outrageously delicious food so I can have the fun of writing about them here.
I am just wrapping up The Amigos Project, an exploration of expat life and how it helps fight the epidemic of isolation. Don't miss out! SIGN UP HERE to be notified when I publish new posts. Planning a trip?
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