Never Retire: The Challenge Of Living Abroad
A discussion on the stress of challenging yourself as you age
In May, we’re headed back to the United States—to San Francisco—for two weeks for my daughter’s college graduation. It will be my first time back in America since moving to Spain in January.
I’m not looking forward to it. In fact, if it wasn't for this hugely important event in our family—of which I am super proud—I would not have decided to make the trip so soon. I would have only done what we’re doing on the back end—flying our daughters to Spain and then making the side trips we have planned with them to Paris and Amsterdam.
Truth be told, I know I am going to miss being in Valencia. Plus, leaving in mid-May will break up so much of the momentum we have built integrating into our neighborhood. Personally and with the various work/creative projects my wife and I have going. Other than our daughters, the United States has zero allure for me to make a return trip. Too many different places in the world are worthy of our (and your) travels.
Valencia also requires our time and presence to maximize the experience and the life it is helping us build. Which leads to the key part of today’s Never Retire newsletter story.
We didn't make this move to skate through the second act of our lives together. While some aspects of life are and will be less stressful here in Spain, others are applying and will apply more stress to the system than would have been applied had we stayed in Los Angeles. This is precisely part of what we were looking for when we decided to move.
As I will explain in a second, it can sometimes be challenging. But that’s the whole point—
Finding a place that inspires you to get up everyday and rise to the challenge because it suits your day-to-day lifestyle and sociopolitical values.
Then, challenging your body and mind in that ideal setting to keep it vibrant and engaged for the next 50 years.
We’re getting exactly what we expected on both counts. We guessed right that Valencia would be the place for us. And we have challenges that will keep us busy for the foreseeable future.
Of course, one of the aforementioned projects is the forthcoming launch of Friki de Bici (Bike Geek). I want to have the logo and associated design elements finalized and some merch created so that Never Retire newsletter subscribers can preview it in the next few days.
Your support to get Friki de Bici off the ground means a lot. It’s a super important component of my work and hopefully—soon—my livelihood as a freelancer writer and creator.
Friki de Bici—as a passion, but also a work project—addresses a couple of challenges/concerns with living life in a new country: