How It Works (and Why It Doesn’t)
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How It Works: The Night Valencia Closed the Streets
In the United States, it would've been a car show turned crime scene
Dec 10
•
Rocco Pendola
10
6
1
How It Works: Stop Telling People to Move Abroad (It Won't Fix Their Problems)
Why geography can’t solve identity, and why the "move abroad" industry is selling delusion.
Dec 9
•
Rocco Pendola
20
9
1
How It Works: The Comfort Addiction—Why Americans Struggle in Societies That Don’t Center Them
Discomfort isn’t a warning sign or reason to retreat. It’s the entire point.
Dec 7
•
Rocco Pendola
11
2
5
How It Works: Why Mid-Range Restaurants Have Become the Worst Deal in Town
The cheap places cook with soul. The expensive places cook with intention. The middle has nothing left.
Dec 6
•
Rocco Pendola
16
11
2
How It Works: The Peanut Butter Problem—And Why So Many Americans Fail in Spain
You don’t see how deeply American life programs your habits and expectations—until you move somewhere that isn’t built on them.
Dec 4
•
Rocco Pendola
11
5
5
How It Works: You Don’t Realize How Much Your Society Shapes Your Anxiety—Until You Leave It
Leaving the U.S. didn’t erase my anxiety — it helped me understand it better.
Dec 2
•
Rocco Pendola
9
2
1
November 2025
My Favorite Routine—the Supermarket—Might Be the One I Let Go
Spain has supermarkets everywhere, but it also has a local food system that might make them optional.
Nov 30
•
Rocco Pendola
10
3
1
What Music Sounds Like When You Change Languages
How It Works (and Why It Doesn’t)—Thanksgiving Special
Nov 26
•
Rocco Pendola
6
4
2
How Systems Shape Your Day—And Why Mine Works So Well in Spain
A closer look at why routines thrive or collapse—and why “honeymoon periods” are just failed systems in disguise.
Nov 24
•
Rocco Pendola
8
1
How a 104°F Room Solved My Midlife Exercise Crisis
Bikram Yoga: The System That Still Works
Nov 19
•
Rocco Pendola
11
6
3
The Connected City (and the One That Forgot How)
Two walks—one through Valencia’s living fabric, one across San Francisco’s dead spaces.
Nov 12
•
Rocco Pendola
12
2
3
Never Retire Did Its Job—Here’s What Comes Next
Why this next chapter had to happen—and what I’ll be building from here.
Nov 10
•
Rocco Pendola
21
12
4
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