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.

Before we get started—a Black Friday deal. Officially the day after Thanksgiving in the United States, Black Friday has been happening all month in Spain, if you go by signs in store windows.

For the next few days, all How It Works (and Why It Doesn’t) subscriptions are 50% off.

And if you pay in euros—which helps me build the euro-denominated life I’m writing about—you get 30 days free. After your initial subscription processes, I’ll tack on a month. So a monthly plan gets a month free and a 12-month subscription becomes a 13-month subscription.

No gimmicks, no countdown clock. Just a way to say thank you and to bring more of you into the work I’m building here in Spain. To get the deal, follow this link or the button below.

Now, onto today’s story — and it’s a big one.

It’s a look inside a system that works for my day-to-day life and one that never quite measured up.

If you like the cost comparisons and such, they’re in there. If you’re thinking of leaving the U.S. or are simply disenchanted with the way the place you live is structured, today’s How It Works (and Why It Doesn’t) story will work for you. But this goes deeper. It’s not a “Europe is cheaper” piece. It’s a systems piece—a look at the structure beneath everyday life.

And it dispels the myth that there’s a honeymoon period to moving abroad or—really—any big change you make in life.

If you know what you want, know what you’re doing, and know why you’re doing it, honeymoon periods don’t exist. At least not in the traditional, you’re-gonna-crash sense.

The honeymoon period is what happens when the system isn’t working and you’re clinging to novelty to compensate.

When the system works—really works—the feeling isn’t novelty.

It’s being able to live instead of constantly navigating around your environment.

That’s today’s piece.

A couple days last week in Valencia, Spain — where I now live. And one drawn from the same routines I followed in Los Angeles.

Same errands. Same work. Same to-do list. Same needs and wants.

Two identical days. Two completely different outcomes. Because the system underneath each one either supports you—or grinds you down.

The rest of this post is for paid subscribers.

If this work resonates with you—if you care about how cities and systems shape the way we live, work, and age—becoming a paid subscriber isn’t just support. It’s participation. It lets me continue building this project from Valencia with independence, depth, and zero ads.

Get the Black Friday 50% discount (and the optional 30 days free when you pay in euros) by using this link.

If you’re already a paying subscriber and would like to throw in additional support for this project and my work, use this Stripe link.

Thanks for helping me build a life—and a body of work—in a system that works.

Thursday: A special How It Works—on how Spanish vs. English lyrics create meaning, and why living in a new language makes old music hit like you’re hearing it for the first time. It’s an extended cut of a Medium article published this week.