Never Retire: The Real Currency Is Engagement, Not Comfort

Challenging yourself out of comfortable situations is the tonic for a strong second half of life.

Most people imagine life abroad as an easier life.

Cheaper beer and wine. Slower days. Sunny plazas. Fewer worries. And yes—there’s truth to that. Life here in Spain is calmer, more human, and less nervous system rattling than what I left behind in the U.S.

But here’s the twist: comfort isn’t the real currency. If all you’re chasing is comfort, you risk sliding into stagnation.

The real payoff—the thing that makes this life worth it—is engagement.

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Engagement Is What Keeps Me Alive at 50

Engagement means inviting the challenges. The stuff that pulls you out of autopilot and away from the status quo.

For me, it looks like this:

• Speaking Spanish daily at 50, even when I stumble.

• Navigating autónomo taxes in a brand new system (see my recent breakdown of what I actually pay).

• Walking and biking everywhere instead of locking myself in a car.

• Developing Never Retire and building Friki de Bici in a new country, from scratch.

None of this is “easy.” But that’s the point. The real reward isn’t the absence of difficulty—it’s that I wake up every day feeling challenged, energized, and alive.

Each decade of life carries a different theme:

• In your thirties, you rarely consider death.

• In your forties, you slowly start thinking about your own mortality.

• In your fifties, it’s about deciding whether to coast—or to stay fully engaged. To feel like time flies or that you’re making the most of it.

That’s where I am now. I want these decades to be long ones, hopefully pushing toward 100, but also filled with the kind of challenges that keep me alive, not drifting.

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Comfort Isn’t Bad—But It’s Not Enough

I’m not against comfort. It’s the byproduct of a solid floor—knowing rent is paid, groceries are in the fridge, and there’s a cushion in the bank.

But doubling down on comfort alone is a trap.

Comfort lulls you into passivity. It keeps you in the same routines, around the same people, making the same safe decisions. It’s the dream we were sold.

Engagement is the reality that keeps you sharp.

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Why Engagement Is the Real Currency

If you want a strong second act, you can’t rely only on safety and comfort. You have to throw yourself into something that requires attention and adaptation as well as physical and mental energy. That’s what makes the days feel full rather than empty.

Living here isn’t just about cheaper food and drink or sunny plazas. It’s about building a life that doesn’t allow me to sleepwalk through my fifties.

Every time I write Never Retire, film for Friki de Bici, or fumble through Spanish at the market or with the shop owner next door on the bench out front, I’m reminded: this is engagement.

This is the real currency.

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A Note on Support

That’s what I’m trying to build with Never Retire—not a glossy postcard version of life abroad, but an honest, ongoing record of what it means to live fully engaged.

If you’ve been reading, you know I share a lot—my life in Spain, money, daily rhythms, culture, frustrations, experiments, mistakes. I put time and energy into making this different from the usual surface-level “life abroad” content.

And here’s the truth: for this project to remain viable, I need your support—not just as readers, but as paid subscribers. Ongoing support is what keeps me writing, filming, and pushing this project forward.

If you’ve been reading for free and this work resonates, consider upgrading today. It’s not charity—it’s how you join me in building something that lasts. And in the weeks ahead, I’ll be sharing more on buying an apartment in Spain, how I structure my spending, and why engagement—not comfort—is the best way to make a second act sustainable.

🇪🇸 🇺🇸 Use the button below to support Never Retire. Founding membership is about €90/$100 for lifetime access. Paid subscriptions start at just a few euros or dollars a month.

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