Mostly Spain 2023 - Finale - Reflections (aka Great Navel Gazing Post)

We are home at last. The last part of our trip really wore us out as I will relate below. But we are back home in our routine of sleeping, daily time use, and eating. It is allowing a lot of the pain that developed over the last three and half weeks to dissipate. And as these travel adventures have been part and parcel of our life transformation related to aging, there is the big reflection at the end. This was particularly true for this trip.

Review of the Purpose of the Trip

This trip was initiated to continue our exploration and analysis concerning moving out of the United States or living a major part of life out of the United States. It was a logical continuation of trip last fall to Cefalú Sicily. That trip had established a clear set of parameters related to what we enjoyed and didn't enjoy. Further we chose a locale this time that was clearly an area that we wanted research as a possible destination.

The Area - The Spanish Costa Blanca Around Alicante and Did We Like It?

We stayed in two different areas in this region and visited many others. By pure chance, the town we stayed in during the first month, El Campello, was clearly our favorite for a number of reasons. It had all the things we liked about Cefalú without most of the negatives. It was a town where you could walk to just about everything you needed. We found ourselves using the car we rented only rarely. The touristy part was limited to the seacoast. As soon as you moved inland, you were in a real community. It was not as isolated as Cefalú or Sicily in general. There were a lot of expats but not so many that they changed the character of the town. Wife was able to find a community of expats through Facebook that she connected with immediately. After our first two weeks, we were interested enough that we started to have conversations with realtors and health insurance providers. 

It was here that we ran into a serious problem, the lack of available apartments for long-term rent in the areas we were interested. Spain, during the pandemic, passed a number of laws to protect renters. This had the effect of making it highly unattractive for property owners to rent. This is especially true in high tourist areas where a landlord can make as much in three months at short-term rent rates as they could make renting long-term. 

Other Challenges 

There are a number of other factors that seem to conspire to make a long stay very difficult. I am going to present these a fashion so you can see how one factor plays off another to create a great conundrum.

Get a long-term visa? - If you want really want to move and make this your home, you should really get a long-term stay visa. It is a sort of painful process but not impossible by any means. Then you can stay as long as you want and travel all over the Schengen area of Europe. 

Oh, then you have to deal with this - Taxes for one. You are now subject to Spanish taxes which are based on the total assets you own no matter where you own them. And insurance. You have to get Spanish health insurance. This isn't too expensive. But, if you want to keep your U.S. options open, you are now paying twice for insurance. Then there are things like getting a Spanish drivers license and other factors associated with establishing a long-term residency. If one were really intent on cutting ties with the U.S. and had a long time to live, it makes sense. But being in our mid-70's and dealing with declining physical capabilities, that seems like a big leap.

If you don't get a long-term visa then you deal with this - The Schengen area 90 day restriction. A non-Schengen area citizen is limited to a 90 day stay in the area after which they must be out of the area for 90 days. We considered this. We could be in Spain for half the year. If we could have rented our own place for a year at the going rates, we would have saved money even if we were only there for half the year. Except as noted above, there are practically no long-term rents available. There are people who will rent an apartment for the 10 months of non-vacation period at long-term rates. That would work. 

Except for Insurance and it 'not being home' - We have travel insurance that is good for 70 days. That leaves us uncovered for 20 days unless we buy Spanish insurance. Plus we would be dealing with a rental where we have no control over the mattresses or chairs. This might not seem like a big deal but it is. These are the two major factors that determine our older body's ability to live without pain. Generally speaking, it is exceedingly rare for rentals to have these as we would want them. 

As you can see it is not a simple equation. 

The Last Part of the Trip - Exposing Our Limits

It has been coming more and more apparent to us our diminishing physical capabilities. Both Wife and I have an assortment of nagging ailments dealing with our bodies. The last part of the trip which sort of evolved through a series of incremental decisions, as I've related before, truly brought these to our consciousness like being hit between the eyes with a metal pole. Over the last 3.5 weeks we had 4 air trips, 3 long driving trips, and 7 stay changes. Each of these required, the transporting of luggage. Think multiple suitcases, backpacks, camera bag in and out of cars, into and out of airports, into and out of various residences. This was a huge toll and a lot of wear and tear on our bodies Then there were the constant changing of sleeping arrangements and virtual lack of any place to sit and rest comfortably. By the end we were totally beat up and exhausted. 

So Where Does That Leave Us?

I'm not sure. I still have this desire to live outside the U.S. I just don't know how we can make all the other factors work. For the moment, we will have a mandatory hiatus as I have to apply for a new passport right after a trip to Ghana in August. Given the delay in getting new passports, I suspect it will be 2024 before we will do any international travel again. And despite all the moaning, groaning, gnashing of teeth, and sitting in ashes, rending sack cloth, Wife and I are planning a major trip to the Far East the Spring of 2024 to take advantage of going to China while #2 and family are still there. So there you go. For the moment, we just keep doing what we've been doing.