Transcription
We try to be mindful of not being part of the problem and and be responsible about the way we handle things. We want to, you know, won't speak Spanish. We want to that it just those those little things carry a lot of weight. Adapting to that and learning that and and and being a part of this culture is the whole point of it. It's not just cuz it's different latitude or or or longitude. It's you're here to change your life and that's fun to do. And anything that I can do that's I find out they do something different here, let's adopt that. Let's do that thing.
>> Welcome to Valencia. This is not only one of the best places to live in Spain, but one of the highest rated cities in the world when it comes to quality of life. So, we're going to go meet up with one of my relocation clients, Bob, who moved here a few months ago with his partner Daphne, and see what they like about it. He's going to show us around some of his favorite spots around the city. Let's go.
>> Hi, I'm Bob Smith. Uh my wife Daphne and I moved from Atlanta, Georgia to Valencia, Spain 3 months ago, and we're ecstatic about it. I'm uh I'm Bob Smith. Uh uh my wife Daphne and I are from Atlanta. At least that was the last place we were uh for for several years. Um we're both retired now. Uh we were in the telecommunications industry before. We've been retired for uh I've been retired for about three years now. Generally speaking, a European adventure and by that I mean more than a vacation has been on our minds for many many years. in the last couple of years got more serious about it and then uh maybe about that time maybe a a year and a half ago I started doing a lot of research on the really cities all over the world to see what would be um suitable for us and um you know both the cost of living the the climate uh health care all of the things that we ended up encountering um with you when we signed up with you.
So, uh, we went there and and it was it was, uh, really nice to get the kind of affirmation that we were asking the right questions. And then you asked some more questions about generally speaking, is is expatting right for you? And that was one of the things that kind of cinched it for me that you you weren't shoving people out of the country. you were trying to make sure that these people understood what they were getting into and that their motivations it's, you know, everybody goes on vacation and and wants to move to the place that they went to. It's it's it's not the same.
Um, we narrowed it down to Europe, relooked at the spreadsheet, got more data, uh, narrowed it down to Spain for a lot of reasons. The climate, uh, the relative location to other countries that we would like to visit. that I've got a brother that lives in Berlin and and also the convenience of going back to see family in the States. If we had gone to the Far East, it would have been really cool, really inexpensive, really hot, and really far away. So, that was a that was kind of a deal breaker for us.
So we landed in Spain, came last January for a visit um and went up in the the Basque region and to San Sebastian and and some other cities up there. So we um took a visit um after a little bit of time in Madrid, we took a visit to Valencia and just loved it. The climate was great. The people are really neat. There's plenty of variety of stuff. It's big enough that we can go to plays. In fact, there's a we'll we'll pass it on the way out of here. There's a playhouse, Lamachina. It's two doors down from us that's Spanish speaking and it's really neat and it's it's it's kind of young and vibrant and I think it's it's um they've got a a theater school there, too. So, I think it's a lot of the a lot of the students putting on their own stuff and and that's really cool.
But, um concerts, stuff like that. You're not going to see the the huge acts come to Valencia. Um you kind of have to go to Madrid or Barcelona, but there's plenty of opportunity for culture here as well as all of the little stuff, the little cafes. You can go to the beach, which is kind of a being near the coast is kind of an important thing for us, even if we're not there all the time. Keeps the climate nice, keeps keeps it breezy in the in the summer, so it's not quite as hot. and um and worked through with with your help with the the help of some of your partners. Um worked through getting the visa proc getting the visa through with our eyes wide open knowing what to expect. That was really nice to have that not just go in blind and and stumble your way through with Google searches and and um and having somebody to ask a specific question. if I've heard that this is true, is this, you know, and then you've got a community of people that can either disabuse you of that or or affirm that. It's really it's really been nice.
Daphne, your partner is currently back in the US right now. So, I guess I have a two-part question is, you know, how did your both of your families react when you told them, "Hey, we're moving to Spain." And then how have you been able to balance that now that you have moved to Spain, still getting to spend that quality time with them?
>> Everything was pretty positive, even though, you know, they would say, you know, we don't want you to go, right? I mean, and what was they were kicking me out the door. Daph's um Daph's family reacted similarly. They were pro they probably had more misgivings, although she's got several members of the family that have the sim have a similar similar um mindset that they just want adventure, they want new things, they want so they they're they're loving and they can't wait to come and visit us and stuff like that. Um her girls both have um littles. Um and the relationship our relationship um with with them is a very important one. She's she's back there visiting with them right now. They turns out they grow really quickly. I'm not getting to see them. I'm bumpa and and I'm not getting to play with them. that while I felt like it was the right thing to stay around it here for the holidays, it there is a a real pain there. And that's a that's probably the most difficult, you know, the helping the girls with with the babies. She'd go up there and when particular things were going on with with uh with her girls that she was able to be there for a week and and play with the kids and take care of the kids or, you know, two weeks or whatever. So, that's that's been more difficult. It's going to be interesting to see what the the back and forth time is for her and and when I frankly when I go back I don't I don't know what's going to drive that except for my heart. It we'll just see when I feel like it's it's time we're taking classes. I don't want to miss any classes and you know that kind of stuff. I'm getting more and more enscconced in the things that I don't want to miss here by leaving. It's going to be interesting to watch. Um, all of the things that I'm looking forward to seeing the the fire festivals and stuff like that in in in March, I'm told, are just positively insane. So, I'm getting more and more things that I don't want to miss here. You know, people that I want to see and and stuff like that. So, we'll see when I get back to the US. Uh if somebody compels me to go, getting to more of like the nuts and bolts as far as the I guess the logical technical side of of living abroad was cost a factor in moving abroad. Um, a lot of people come to me saying, you know, I'm getting close to retirement and my money is just not going to go very far to providing the life that I had envisioned for myself in retirement and looking for other options. So, was that something that also factored in?
>> Absolutely. Absolutely. Um, at least it figured in in in where we would go. um we knew we wanted to go and and for the most part with relatively few exceptions, we can live more cheaply overseas than we can um in the US. Um and it certainly drove the the places that we looked at. Like I said, my spreadsheet, my elaborate spreadsheet had cost of living on on everything. And that then those those certainly helped the idea and we've said this a number of times. We've got our, you know, our 401ks and our, you know, our retirement funds at home, but my goal is to be able to to live on my social security here, and it's very doable. Um, that doesn't mean you you don't dip into to that retirement fund to take trips or whatever, but by and large, I really want that to be the case. I would love for that to be the case because of some of the reasons you mentioned. You don't know. You don't know what's going to happen. You know that there's a lot of resentment towards boomers that are still working because even though they've got a fair amount of money. Um and there's a not an unfair, you know, mentality that that they need to move along and and make room for the younger people that need those jobs. Um but they don't necessarily realize how scary it is to not know what's going to happen particularly with you know u medicine. You're you're one injury, one disease, one you know event away from just losing all your money only in one country.
Um so that's that's part of it. It's being in a in a in a place with with socialized medicine where you know that no matter what happens, you're going to be get taken care of. You know, you come over, you get private insurance by by law, at least initially. And and my understanding is even though I haven't had any experience with um the doctors yet, is that there's, you know, that does pay off a little bit, but it's not terribly expensive and you get good care. You know, spain's healthcare is among the best in the world. So, I'm I'm certainly not afraid of that and I'm not afraid of losing all my money because because I get sick.
>> which is really cool.
>> What is approximately you and Daphne's cost of living here and also rent for this two-bedroom fully furnished apartment? We're in a a very an area very close to the center of of Valencia. Not in SUad Vea, but but close enough yet far enough to be away from the major touristy areas. Um, and we've we're paying €1,500 a month uh for the rent. And then like our phones are like €40 a month for the two of them. The internet's like €20 a month. Um the we're still figuring out how much the the utilities are, but they're, you know, equally inexpensive and if you eat at home or even really if you eat in restaurants, it's it's it's shockingly affordable. Um it's it's it's really nice. Now, I I'll acknowledge that I don't I'm not a big five-star restaurant guy. I don't go to the the most expensive places. Um, but we go to night we go to, you know, nice restaurants and and it's it you get out and you've you've paid at a nice place €60 for the two of you and, you know, glass, you know, there's a couple glasses of wine in there and a a poster and and and it's the kind of experience that in the US you'd be in for a couple hundred probably. And it's it's it's really nice.
That said, we try to, you know, we budget our we our our our meals. We try to eat at home as frequently as we can. We hit the markets um probably every other day. There's one that's real convenient to the school that we go to, the Spanish school that we go to that we'll stop on the way back and they know us there. The lady at the produce stand is really nice. She helps us with our Spanish. The the the lady that sells eggs is is wonderful. Um the the pescadaria is is fantastic. They'll help me with my my fish choices if I tell them what I'm, you know, kind of what I'm looking for and how I want to prepare it or they'll help me decide how to prepare it. And it's it's it's so different. You can have you can still have a super I was going to say super maccato supermarket experience here, but it's it's way more convenient to bop into the the the little markets and just and pick stuff up and and and uh actually expose, you know, be exposed to to locals that you can talk to. It's and you don't go in and buy a week's worth of groceries. You go in and buy what'll do we need in the next day or so. I'm not, you know, we don't have a car. We're not driving anywhere. I'm not loading up loading up a vehicle and bringing all that stuff. And also, there's little markets everywhere. You can you can there's easily a dozen opportunities for me to pick up in on the 10-minute walk home from school. Um, a dozen opportunities to pick up whatever it is I need. fruits and vegetables. The little the little uh little bitty shops that have just just have fruits and vegetables or or stop. There's a there's a super marcato uh right across the street for for some other things that we can't get, you know, that we're getting sundries like cereal and stuff like that. Um but it's it's a little walk. It's just that, you know, you're you're steps away all the time from whatever it is you need. So, I don't worry about, you know, not having the stuff at home. If I need eggs, I'll go over and get eggs and it takes a minute to do.
I don't know what success necessarily looks like to say that once I said I'm going to do something, I did it. But, but I like to be able to say that I did the thing I'm I said I was going to do. Um, there are people around me who will keep me honest and not not let me cut my nose off despite my face. Um, but I I suspect what'll happen is if I get tired of being here, um, we'll go to different places in Spain. We'll go to different countries. You know, that the that it's it's not going to be going back to the US, I don't think. I mean, that's of course that's a possibility, but I've I've taken some pretty serious steps as far as my relationship with uh Medicare and stuff like that that if I go back, there's there's some hurdles to get back into that system. But if you want to keep from paying, you know, whatever amount it is, a couple hundred a month, just to have that available as a just in case, that's money better spent somewhere else right now. So, we'll see what happens then.
But >> um I I I think we're here. And that's believe me that's a question that all my friends asked is okay are you leaving leaving or are you going to be back? And I said my intention is that I'm gone. Uh when my brother 20 I don't know 5 years ago moved to Berlin. Um he had he went over for a visit or he went over with his bandmates and they were going to do some gigs. And I thought, remember saying at the time, my fondest hope is that he loves it there and he stays there. Not that I don't love my brother, but I I wanted him to find the thing. And that's what happened. And he he he teaches English over uh in Berlin now um to to uh German students and and he loves it there. And he's been there ever since. So that's that's awesome. And that's kind of what I what I anticipate happening here.
>> Yeah. I don't think there's any such thing as failure in doing this. I think it's just life changes. Like if you, you know, grow up in the Midwest and you want to go to New York to follow a dream, like a career dream, and then after 5 years you're like, I'm going to go to LA, you know, there's no such thing as failure. And so I feel that the same way about living abroad. And but I do also recognize that every time I've gone back to the US for a significant period of time, I feel like there's a piece of me that's still >> like, hey, when are you coming back to your life that is in Europe really? And so that's where I feel the most at home even though I love my I love the weather in Florida. I love my family in the US. So, it's just about finding that balance of being able to spend quality time with people, but you know, still follow your dreams and like your your life paths.
Do you have any words of wisdom to your to your former self from a couple years ago or even to people that are still, you know, back in their respective home countries, maybe the US or Canada, who are thinking about doing something like this, but it seems out of reach.
I I think what I would say to to a lot of folks is is that you need to shake that that US mentality of everything now. Um and kind of relax a little bit. Um and and and that's not a a a shot at at a type A personality that that is driven and wants all those things to happen on time, but just be aware when you come over. It's not this country is not going to change for you or or um at least not not very quickly and and that's a good thing. Um one of the things that you know retirement certainly helps that um the workplace would be very different that you know I re I fully understand that but it's it's really nice to just settle into the rhythm here and and not worry so much about that. One of the one of the things that people are I think when they leave are trying to get away from is that kind of rat race mentality, the the um the assembly line mentality that that that we we've got. And that what's funny is to see how people react here when when when you're like that. If you find yourself slipping into old ways, they're just like, why? That's insane. when you talk about say tipping or something like that where they'll just go really why would you you you look you think in terms of percentages that's a that's that's again things are changing a little bit but but that's just not something that enters enters the mindset of of the average Spaniard that's that's in the service industry. they get they get paid well and and if you throw a couple of euro at them whether it's for a book or for a big meal that's okay that's that's two bucks that that was nice um so just be prepared for that you know you'll be frustrated by bureaucracy I I promise you you you would be in the US too and I certainly was in the US um there are going to be those things that don't happen in in the time frame that you want them to u be prepared for that and and kind of accept it and and take things in in the rhythm that they're they're made available here. It It is. I promise you it's good for your heart.