Never Retire: Spain Feels Like Home. The U.S. Doesn’t Anymore.

A two-week trip to San Francisco reminded me what I left behind—and what I’ve found in Valencia.

Here’s the receipt from our first meal back on Spanish soil.

In Barcelona, at a little bar across from Sants Station. We had time to pass and mouths to feed. And we were able to eat and drink for a reasonable price.

We just spent two weeks in San Francisco. And while we ate and drank out as cautiously as possible—short of skipping it altogether—the numbers are still hard to believe.

So in this post, I’ll summarize what we spent in restaurants, cafes, and bars across the city over two weeks.

But first—

Two pieces of Never Retire newsletter business.

As I battle jet lag, I’m writing this at 4:30 in the morning in Spain. We’re back home until Monday morning when we head to Paris for the week, then Amsterdam for the weekend. We transit through Barcelona again Monday night, then we’re home for good starting a week from Tuesday. So—on June 10—we officially start the second half of the first year of our life in Spain.

And—absolutely—Spain feels like home. We consider Spain home.

On that note, after today’s post, I am—

• Taking about 12-13 days off. I can’t remember the last time I spent a day without opening my computer to do at least a little work. It’s no big deal, because I truly love my work, especially the writing I do for myself. However, we all need to take true time off—with little more than checking email or jotting down brainstorms on what to write next. So—you won’t hear from me until mid-June.

  
  In the meantime, I hope you’ll use one of the options below to upgrade to a paid subscription or lifetime membership.

A recent featured post brought in hundreds of new subscribers. As a welcome, you can get 25% off your first year of the Never Retire newsletter.

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• Because—when we get back in mid-June—the Never Retire newsletter will focus even more sharply on what it means to stay engaged, active, and fulfilled long-term in Spain. My wife turns 46 on June 6. I turn 50 on July 18. This is the foundation for how we plan to live well for the duration—physically, mentally, emotionally.

If you’ve been reading, you know the heart of Never Retire is already focused on what it feels like to build a full, vibrant second half of life in Spain—how to stay physically and mentally engaged, how to live well, and how this place provides the best possible setting to do it.

That’s not changing. If anything, today’s post helps reinforce the point.

Never Retire: Go Where the Day-to-Day Keeps You Engaged

That’s the Never Retire newsletter focus for the rest of 2025—alongside a ton of fresh content I’m compiling for my Friki de Bici project, which I’m prepping to hit a fast and fresh pace once we return.

So—upgrade today so you don’t miss a post in 2025—or any of the next 50 years. There’s so much noise out there lately about moving to Spain. It’s borderline, if not flat pathetic.

I’m not selling a dream—I’m documenting a shift. If you’re thinking seriously about how you want to spend the second half of your life, subscribe to Never Retire.

Anyhow—

That’s the restaurant, bar, and cafe spending from San Francisco.

We had morning cafe and a snack at the least expensive cafe on the block. I think we only ate a sit-down meal one time—at a reasonably priced Chinese place called May Lee Chinese Restaurant. We went with only fast casual Greek at the very good Soulva and Mexican at taquerias.

Oh—the two other sit-down meals we had were disappointing. I mention one in this Medium article. And the other prompted 3 a.m. heartburn for me and capped the return of digestive problems for me and my wife—things we’ve experienced about 95% less since moving to Spain. Within just a few days back in the U.S., the food hit us in a way it never does in Europe.

For example—

• That’s the cost of two coffees, an average plain croissant, and a small container of oatmeal at this place.

• For our triumphant return to Oli Bar in Valencia on Thursday morning, we spent something like 16€ for two full Spanish breakfasts (drink, olives, sandwich, coffee) and a tostada with jam.

I could go on all day—actually, I already have—about not only the cost of going out for food and drink in the United States, but how the increasing lack of diversity in the bars and restaurants and on the streets in places like San Francisco continues to suck out what’s left of the soul of America—

The high-volume activities that keep public space vibrant and café and bar terraces alive at all hours of the day and night and help contribute to a city’s vibe and quality of life.

When you let them get so expensive that you only see a homogenized group of people participating, you have San Francisco.

When you keep them accessible, you see families with kids, adolescents, young adults, middle-aged people, and the elderly sharing the same public space, and you have Valencia. You have Spain.

These experiences are not occasional extravagant indulgences you have to stress over financially after tapping your card; they’re integrated into the rhythm of life. The affordability encourages social interaction and a vibrant street life, essential components of how and where I want to spend the time during the second half of my life.

So yeah—the second act of my life.

Just two weeks back in the US made it clear—my country of birth feels foreign. There’s a tension and sense of general unease that simply doesn’t exist in Valencia.

I can’t imagine not living the life that Spain affords as it becomes the new land of opportunity for all types of people, including those of us who aim to Never Retire—not merely from work, but from life. From the stuff that still makes it exciting to wake up every morning.