Answering Your Top Questions! Since we made the leap from California to Spain, one of the most common things people ask is: How did you do it? From visas to finances to how our daughter adjusted, these are the questions we get the most—and today, I’m answering them all.   Are We Residents? Are We Interested in Citizenship? Yes, we are legal residents of Spain, but not citizens. We moved here under the Golden Visa, which grants residency in exchange for a real estate investment of at least €500,000. Since we were already planning to buy a home here, this visa was the best fit for us. It offers more…

One of the most common questions we get from fellow Americans is, How did you do it? How did we uproot our entire lives, leave everything behind, and move across the world to Spain? It wasn’t completely a spontaneous leap—it was a carefully orchestrated plan and executed with relentless determination. Back in early 2020, we had planned a trip to Marbella during spring break. We had spent countless hours researching Spain, searching for the perfect location that met our needs. We were ready for a change—a fresh start outside the U.S. But then, the world shut down. By mid-March, we were canceling our trip, closing the doors to our business…

In August 2021, my family and I—my husband, Steven, and our now 15, almost 16-year-old daughter—packed up our lives in sunny Southern California and moved across the globe to Marbella, Spain without ever having stepped foot in the country. It was a place we had researched and envisioned for retirement, but I hadn’t expected to call it home so soon. And yet, somehow, it was exactly where I was meant to be. Now, after 3 ½ years of living here, I find myself reflecting on this journey on my birthday—or at least, sort of my birthday, given my leap year birth. Stepping into this new year, I do so with…