The Tour de France And Spain Is Over. Set The Clock For 10 Months, Please.
Thanks to no internet connection (not to mention no on-screen entertainment(!)) on yesterday’s 13-hour flight from Barcelona to LAX, my posting schedule got thrown off.
And, this morning, after returning to Los Angeles around 6 p.m. and sleeping a solid seven hours between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m. this morning, I’m feeling full of energy. Maybe a precursor to jet lag? Or maybe this is one flavor of jet lag? I don’t know, but I do know that this hyper feeling means take a day off.
Terrace view from our last day in Barcelona on Thursday
So, expect the final three reports from our Tour de France and Spain—from Bordeaux And Toulouse, followed by final thoughts from Barcelona and another pretty incredible cost of living comparison—in a couple to a few days.
Then, expect a full rundown of what to expect for the rest of 2024, including:
An outline of the process we’ll undertake starting this month through the end of the year and into 2025 to apply for our visa to move to and settle in Spain in January.
How we’ll continue to tie it all to our umbrella themes of Never Retiring and Living The Semi-Retired Life.
My rationale around lowering the cost of a subscription to this newsletter back to the original prices of $5/month, $50/year, $100/lifetime. Preview: I made a mistake on several fronts.
For today, it makes sense to link out to all of our February Tour de France and Spain posts in the likely event that more than a few of you missed an installment or two.
Barcelona’s Gracia neighborhood, which might be my favorite barrio in the world. I explain why in the forthcoming bonus Barcelona post.
Thirteen hours is a long trip. My longest single flight was JFK to Jo’burg in late 96. 16 hours, two crews.
Down the coast of Africa the plane flew low and close to land. Our crew said local air traffic control was not reliable and the pilots were flying on sight!
On the way back we had to refuel in the Cap Verde islands. A tiny spec in mid Atlantic.
What amazes me about European cities is how those buildings were built literally centuries ago and they are still so sturdy and beautiful. North American buildings have NEVER been built like that. Planned obsolescence is a concept I have always hated, but it doesn't seem to have caught on to any extent in Europe. Britain is getting sucked into it a bit, but still not as much as North American cities have. And yes, I'm looking at YOU, Toronto, the capital of my province and Canada's largest city. Just another of the reasons I'd like to live somewhere in Europe before I shuffle off this mortal coil.