Barcelona Became A Layover—And Spain Became Home

The day an extraordinary city becomes ordinary is the day you realize you've built a life somewhere else.

This will likely go down as the craziest, most inaccurate comment I’ve ever received in this newsletter:

I'm still not sure I understand why Valencia vs Barcelona? I like Valencia as the "baby Barcelona", and it's a more reasonable cost of living, but I find it to be a bit sleepy.

The answer I gave when that comment was made in 2024 still stands today:

It’s only “Valencia vs Barcelona” because those are the two places we’re considering.

It doesn’t feel sleepy to me. It’s just different. It would be like calling San Francisco sleepy relative to New York City, something I’m sure many New Yorkers would inaccurately say. Two different places, each with their own vibrancy.

Definitely not pitting one against the other. I like them both. SF and NYC. Valencia and Barcelona.

That exchange gets right to the heart of so much we’ve been discussing lately.

So let’s try to pick it apart and generate some adaptable conclusions.