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Transcript

The Spanish Reset | Immigrant Experiences and Cultural Explorers | Trading Routine for Quality of Life - A Returnee's Journey · Whereabouts Tales | Stories of Belonging and Immigrant Experiences

• 0:00
  Hello guys, and welcome back to today's episode of Whereabouts
• 0:04
  Stills. Today, I'm thrilled to introduce
• 0:07
  you to eBay and Manuel, a fantastic couple originally from
• 0:10
  Texas who made a true incredible decision.
• 0:13
  They moved to Spain. You might be thinking, why live
• 0:16
  the American dream? Well, that's exactly what we
• 0:20
  dive into. They had corporate jobs, a big
• 0:23
  house, a stable family, but they realized something crucial was
• 0:26
  missing purpose. Join us as Ibet and Manuel
• 0:30
  shared their candid story, from the intense 6 months plan to
• 0:33
  leave the US to navigating apartment hunts with language
• 0:37
  corps and the unexpected culture shock that come with life in
• 0:42
  Spain. It's a powerful conversation
• 0:44
  about challenging routines, redefining success, and finding
• 0:48
  what truly makes you happy. You'll hear about.
• 0:51
  They're do over in parenting and why they believe quality of life
• 0:55
  Trump's convenience any day. So buckle up because this
• 1:00
  episode is packed with lessons and laughter.
• 1:03
  Let's get into it. I'm Paul and this is where about
• 1:07
  states. Enjoy.
• 1:12
  Hello guys. Thank.
• 1:13
  You for accepting the invite to talk today.
• 1:17
  Absolutely. Thank you.
• 1:18
  It's a pleasure. Today we have a happy family
• 1:24
  from Spain that moved to Spain. We have Ibet and and Manuel.
• 1:30
  I have to ask you guys, what are you originally from?
• 1:36
  I am originally from Texas. I was born and raised in El Paso
• 1:42
  and moved to Dallas when I was about 15.
• 1:46
  OK, nice. And I was I was born in Mexico
• 1:51
  and moved to Texas when I was around 15.
• 1:53
  OK, so you moved, you moved both to both to Texas.
• 1:57
  Did you made did you went to school there or how, how was the
• 2:03
  how was the the how did you met? How did you end up meeting?
• 2:08
  Yeah. So actually I was born in, like
• 2:14
  I said, in El Paso to border town to Mexico.
• 2:18
  And I moved when I was 15 to Dallas, and that's pretty much
• 2:23
  where I spent the rest of my time before coming out here.
• 2:28
  And we actually met through work.
• 2:31
  OK, guys, was the was the idea always to move out of US?
• 2:37
  And I ask you a bit because Manuel you already had the had
• 2:40
  the trip. So I would, I would guess it's
• 2:42
  like for me the sky is the limit right?
• 2:44
  When you move once, there is no no stop, no stop anymore.
• 2:48
  Yeah, yeah. Well, I mean, it still makes it
• 2:49
  harder, you know, make a decision as an adult, as someone
• 2:53
  else making it for you. So again, when I moved to the
• 2:56
  USI was 15, so I couldn't control the move.
• 3:00
  And in this case, so it's more I use a different type of, you
• 3:06
  know, experience, you know, at the end of the day.
• 3:08
  But to answer your question, I think we always had that in the
• 3:13
  back of our mind. You know, it was something that
• 3:15
  we always spoke about when we became empty nesters because we
• 3:20
  have 4 kids. So it was.
• 3:23
  Yeah. So you have all.
• 3:27
  My. Respect.
• 3:28
  I don't recommend it by the way. Totally kidding, we are
• 3:34
  absolutely. We were kept busy.
• 3:37
  We still are to this day. So we have 4 kids and a
• 3:41
  grandbaby now actually. So we always spoke about, you
• 3:46
  know, when we were empty nesters living somewhere in Europe and
• 3:50
  it was never a topic of conversation with the kids.
• 3:54
  So this was always in our plans. So when you decided to move you,
• 4:02
  you are already, let's say over the, the, the small period of
• 4:06
  the kids, right of the kids. Yes.
• 4:09
  So we initiated the move what, three years ago and it was
• 4:17
  literally something like I said, we had spoken about it, but once
• 4:21
  we were empty nesters, life changed.
• 4:26
  We weren't happy anymore in our corporate world life,
• 4:34
  professional lives. So we need a change.
• 4:37
  We needed something drastic. We had already had two kids that
• 4:41
  were our two older kids were out of the house and actually our
• 4:46
  son plays football. So he got a huge opportunity
• 4:53
  with an Academy in London to come and pretty much shoot his
• 4:59
  shot and see if he could make it out here and GoPro, etcetera,
• 5:04
  etcetera, you know, just chase his dream.
• 5:07
  That sparked up the conversation of, hey, what's next, right?
• 5:14
  We're not happy where we're at. Our oldest is already off on her
• 5:18
  own. Our son is, you know, going
• 5:20
  halfway across the world. What does that mean for us?
• 5:23
  So at that point, it's like we were already planning to sell
• 5:28
  the house. So to downsize, see what's
• 5:32
  different. We had her two younger daughters
• 5:35
  that they were at that point where it was like, OK, if we're
• 5:37
  going to make a decision, we need to make it now because our
• 5:41
  middle child was going into middle school.
• 5:44
  So it's like if this, if we're going to do a drastic change
• 5:47
  like this is when when we do it. Right.
• 5:51
  So first of all, you bet. I have to say you're the only
• 5:54
  the first person that I know from the States that said
• 5:56
  football to our football, not to the American football.
• 5:59
  That's why I. Have to say.
• 6:03
  Let's respect That's me from him right here.
• 6:06
  I want to say, I want to say most part that's on model 100%
• 6:09
  because coming from Mexico, I think.
• 6:12
  Yeah, respect. You call it what it is.
• 6:15
  So I know I come from my son and him being huge football fans,
• 6:21
  it's like, no, that's that's. The proper term for it, for it
• 6:25
  and I'll. There is only one.
• 6:27
  There is only. One exactly.
• 6:29
  I'll respect that. But you, I, I want to come back
• 6:34
  to a bit, a bit of what you said, but because you said you
• 6:37
  had four kids, you already owned a house.
• 6:39
  So you said you want to sell the house.
• 6:40
  So for me, it sounds like the perfect American dream.
• 6:43
  I will put it this way. So you, you were working
• 6:45
  corporate jobs, you had a family that was stable, you had a
• 6:49
  family that all the kids that moved out of the house, What was
• 6:51
  missing? I think we we weren't happy.
• 6:56
  You know, we weren't happy in the sense of something was
• 7:01
  missing, where we didn't feel fulfilled.
• 7:04
  It was kind of like our life had fallen in this routine that we
• 7:12
  just were like, look back 10 years.
• 7:15
  And it's like, what have we done?
• 7:17
  Like, are we going to allow another 10 years to pass?
• 7:21
  And it's like, yeah, I mean, to each their own, right?
• 7:25
  The whole American dream of, you know, you buy the house, you,
• 7:29
  you know, have this big port, you know, corporate world job,
• 7:34
  you've escalated to the top of just, you know, the highest
• 7:39
  level ranking you can get in your jobs.
• 7:42
  And it's just like, no, like this can't be it, right?
• 7:47
  Like life cannot just be this. So we said, let's go find
• 7:53
  purpose. That that's a really nice
• 7:56
  argument. It's like, I think it's, it's
• 7:58
  really important for everyone to understand that.
• 8:01
  And I think that these are the huge lessons that we have to
• 8:04
  learn from all of this that it's not it's not only about money,
• 8:06
  it's not only about the big house, the big car that doesn't
• 8:09
  really make you happy. Like purpose is something which
• 8:11
  is, I think it's of course is exaggerated when we call it
• 8:15
  happiness, but it's kind of the happiness that we are searching
• 8:18
  for. So you have that good feeling,
• 8:19
  OK, there's something that is staying there after I'm I'm gone
• 8:22
  from here like, but I do get what you're saying.
• 8:27
  OK, so you said OK, We, we, we try to find purpose.
• 8:30
  Who who or what was the first trigger?
• 8:33
  What was the, you know, what was the first thing that you have
• 8:35
  done when you decided we will move?
• 8:37
  When we solidified the decision of the house, is is is gone,
• 8:43
  right? Like we're selling the house.
• 8:45
  I think at that point it's when we were like, OK, where would we
• 8:49
  live, right? The thought of.
• 8:54
  Of which is so funny now because obviously we have our our
• 8:59
  children who are were far away from them.
• 9:01
  But the thought of our son going into the real world right by
• 9:07
  himself, being halfway across the world really hit me hard to
• 9:14
  say. Like I, I don't think I could
• 9:16
  handle that. I don't, I don't think I can
• 9:17
  handle being that far away from him.
• 9:21
  I presented the idea to him to say, hey, would it just be
• 9:28
  totally crazy if we left the country?
• 9:36
  And honestly, I think that it was an I can, I think I can say
• 9:40
  for the both of us, I think we were just so worn out with just
• 9:46
  the routine that it was just like, you know what, at this
• 9:49
  point, what do we have to lose type of thing, right?
• 9:54
  You said London, You bet. Was it UK at first or you always
• 10:00
  knew it was going to be Spain? We didn't have a spot honestly,
• 10:05
  I just knew that the UK wasn't an option because.
• 10:10
  Of the weather, if not anything because of the weather, I was
• 10:16
  not, yeah, I was not going to be OK with the rainy season, the
• 10:23
  cold. We need the sun.
• 10:25
  We needed sun. I mean, we come from Texas,
• 10:28
  right? So it's like we couldn't either
• 10:31
  go too far left or too far right because it was like, you know,
• 10:35
  I, we just couldn't like just the weather.
• 10:38
  We love the UK. We.
• 10:40
  We've visited many times, but it's a spot where you go and
• 10:44
  visit and then OK, it's time to go back to to the.
• 10:48
  Sun, you know. I I live in general since 11
• 10:53
  years almost. Guys I fully get what you're
• 10:57
  saying. Sun Sun is not an option from
• 11:00
  November to March. Exactly.
• 11:04
  And there was like, Nope. We couldn't we couldn't go that
• 11:07
  long. So I think the possibilities
• 11:10
  were endless because to add to that is when we, I work
• 11:18
  remotely, you know, doing what I do.
• 11:21
  So I built this online business that it was like, hey, we have
• 11:28
  the ability to pretty much go anywhere we want, right?
• 11:32
  So the possibilities were endless.
• 11:34
  So it was literally a matter of go Google and search you know
• 11:41
  where. Is the safest place in the world
• 11:44
  to raise kids That was literally what I did, you know and.
• 11:50
  And then you got the Nordic, you got the Nordic countries,
• 11:52
  Norway, Finland. And then you said no, no, no,
• 11:54
  that's not an option. It's.
• 11:56
  Too cool. Well, it's like New Zealand,
• 12:00
  Australia, like that's a little way too far, you know?
• 12:04
  So it's like I kept going down the list and then this little
• 12:09
  Old Town of Valencia, Spain, appeared on the list and I was
• 12:14
  like, I've never heard of that. And he's like, I have because I
• 12:17
  have a football team, right? So I was like, oh, OK.
• 12:21
  Emmanuel, Emmanuel I fully get. I know the geography of Europe
• 12:24
  only because of football. So every time when I because of
• 12:28
  work, they talk about different cities, I know that's in church
• 12:31
  because they have football teams.
• 12:32
  So I only know the geography of Europe from the football teams
• 12:34
  fully get. That was exactly him.
• 12:39
  He was like, well, I know I have football, so I'm down like.
• 12:46
  The third largest city in Spain, you know, the safety there, the
• 12:49
  cost of living. So that was that was the big
• 12:51
  part. You know, once we decided to
• 12:53
  narrow down which what, what place we wanted to go and we
• 12:56
  just created a plan like a six month plan.
• 13:00
  We looked into the visas, the different type of visas there,
• 13:02
  did the offer, you know, when we applied and you know, we qualify
• 13:07
  for the one we're under, which was great.
• 13:11
  And it took about about six months from when we started
• 13:14
  talking, put it in paper, get all the other stuff that we
• 13:18
  needed, all the requirements to, to do the move.
• 13:23
  So the timing was was pretty, was pretty crazy.
• 13:26
  I mean, I hear all these people honestly, which is so crazy
• 13:30
  because we obviously have met so many people in this journey.
• 13:33
  And it's just like when I hear the well, I've been planning for
• 13:37
  this for two years or one year and this and then like when
• 13:41
  they. Asked us.
• 13:42
  I was like, oh, we did it within like 6 months and we were like
• 13:46
  let's do it. Did did language play the role
• 13:52
  there? Because Manuel, I guess you
• 13:53
  spoke the language. You bet you spoke the language
• 13:55
  as well. Yes, we're both fluent both in
• 13:59
  English and Spanish. OK.
• 14:01
  I think that that that plays a big role in this, in the in the
• 14:04
  choice that you have done right. Yes, 100%.
• 14:08
  That was primarily just a big decision into, I think it kind
• 14:16
  of checked all the right boxes. You know, when we went down the
• 14:19
  list as far as like, you know, weather, safety, the language,
• 14:25
  because we know we knew how much of a big transition this was
• 14:31
  going to be. So we were good trying to
• 14:33
  minimize the amount of things that we were already going to
• 14:37
  have to deal with and not trying to make it twice as hard for our
• 14:41
  girls as well. Makes sense, makes sense.
• 14:44
  Did you raise them billing well as well?
• 14:48
  No. And.
• 14:49
  That's the. One of your eyes.
• 14:53
  Yes, and that's one of the biggest things because we've
• 14:57
  talked about it, you know, it's like, yes, although Spanish has
• 15:02
  become one of the most popular, I think it's like the second
• 15:06
  most spoken language in a lot of countries.
• 15:10
  We didn't have the necessity for it, right?
• 15:13
  Like we had to because obviously I come from both of my parents
• 15:19
  were stillborn in Mexico. You know, he, he was born in
• 15:22
  Mexico. Our parents don't speak English.
• 15:25
  So I went to bilingual classes up until like the 3rd, 4th
• 15:30
  grade. So we kind of had to and we kind
• 15:34
  of got comfortable whenever with our children in the fact that
• 15:40
  it's like we spoke to them in Spanish, but they always
• 15:43
  responded to us in English. So we kind of always allowed
• 15:46
  that. It's like, well, heck, at least
• 15:48
  they understand what we're saying, right?
• 15:50
  Like when are we going to need it?
• 15:52
  And then Fast forward. Yes, they do.
• 15:59
  So, so anybody listening, teach your kids your second language
• 16:04
  take. Your time.
• 16:06
  Look, I have AI have a 80 year old son.
• 16:09
  He's going to be this year and we don't ask me why, but we
• 16:12
  speak English with him at home most of the time he's speaking
• 16:15
  German from school and we struggled to get Romanian back
• 16:19
  into his vocabulary because like you, we realized that we had the
• 16:23
  same hat. Now we nobody need it.
• 16:25
  We don't need it. And then we realized, of course,
• 16:28
  our parents still don't speak English or German, so they can
• 16:31
  understand, but still Romania would be much more comfortable.
• 16:34
  And I fully I cannot sign what you said.
• 16:38
  So what? Whomever is watching this just.
• 16:40
  100. Percent any extra language, if
• 16:43
  it's Hungarian, Czech, I don't care.
• 16:46
  Just teach it. You'll regret it one day for
• 16:48
  sure. 100 percent, 100% 'cause you just don't know when you'll
• 16:52
  need it. And the other thing, it's like
• 16:54
  knowing more than one language is better than just one,
• 16:57
  regardless of what it is. So you just don't know you know
• 17:00
  where your life is headed. Guys, what was the, what was the
• 17:04
  report between fear and excitement when you were in the
• 17:09
  process of moving to Spain? I think I'm an overthinker 100%,
• 17:18
  so that's I'll just call it what it is.
• 17:22
  And on the opposite, I'll say we'll figure out a long.
• 17:26
  Way. Don't worry about it.
• 17:28
  So that's how we balance each other out 'cause I'll just be,
• 17:31
  you know, I'll, I'll go through all the possible scenarios in my
• 17:36
  head of like what could be the worst case scenario.
• 17:41
  And then I have plan ABCD and then, you know, he's more like,
• 17:46
  hey, I'm still in plan A because, you know, we could wing
• 17:50
  it this way, that way. And so.
• 17:53
  But that's a pretty. Much we're divided what what I
• 17:58
  have to do what she had to do right before they move.
• 18:00
  OK, you're in charge of this, you're in charge of this, right?
• 18:03
  So however you get to it, you get to it and and it's still,
• 18:07
  you know, it was struggle. I mean, we, we, when we got rid
• 18:11
  of the house, we went from, you know, 4 bedroom, sorry, five
• 18:15
  bedroom, 4 bathroom house. They have to get rid of
• 18:18
  everything. Literally.
• 18:20
  To how much of this we really need to take with us, right.
• 18:24
  So the style that we needed to bring with us was still a hassle
• 18:28
  because it wasn't like a couple luggages.
• 18:30
  So even that, you know, the, to do the, the, all the thinking
• 18:35
  behind it. I mean, how do you move stuff
• 18:37
  from from from the US to Europe? You're not moving in your living
• 18:41
  room, you're not moving, you know, stuff like that.
• 18:43
  So what else can you take? So all of that is.
• 18:47
  I think a lot of the excitement was there given the fact that
• 18:51
  for us, we, our solo trips, given the fact that we have 4
• 18:55
  kids, we used to come to Europe a lot like that was our escape.
• 19:01
  Like my sister would take over the kids.
• 19:03
  And so we loved just Europe in general.
• 19:08
  So the excitement was always there.
• 19:11
  I think the fear for me, the primary fear was my children,
• 19:17
  you know, as far as like, are they gonna adapt?
• 19:19
  Are they gonna, you know, how is the, the, you know, integrating
• 19:25
  them to a new school, you know, bullying, you know, just just
• 19:29
  all the, the, the things you worry about, you know, obviously
• 19:33
  coming the things that are a worry in your home country.
• 19:37
  You think about all that and you know, how is it going to be?
• 19:41
  Is it really like that? You know, so because it's one
• 19:45
  thing what you read and you can do all the research in the
• 19:48
  world, but it's completely different when you're living it
• 19:53
  day-to-day. Yeah.
• 19:55
  Correct. Do you have the feeling that you
• 20:00
  I will try to reform the question.
• 20:02
  Sometimes I realize that. When I think about my son, I
• 20:05
  overthink everything. I think, oh, how will you reject
• 20:07
  this? Do you have the feeling after
• 20:09
  the move that you overthought everything for the kids like you
• 20:12
  made you were worrying much more that I was I would not say that
• 20:16
  needed, but much more that the impact that the move had on your
• 20:20
  kids. Yes, 100%.
• 20:23
  And honestly, I want to say that we were wrong about the kid that
• 20:28
  was going to have the hardest time rather than the other one.
• 20:31
  So it was actually the other way around.
• 20:34
  It was a complete, it was the complete opposite of what we
• 20:39
  thought. So that's what I say.
• 20:41
  It's like you can read all you want and you can do the research
• 20:44
  all you want and you can't 'cause we spoke to many families
• 20:47
  also before coming out here and every experience is different
• 20:52
  and until you live it, it's but it is.
• 20:57
  I mean, to answer your question, it's like what we overthought.
• 21:01
  No, I was worrying about the wrong things.
• 21:05
  Yeah, correct. I mean, just it was, it was hard
• 21:08
  enough just to put them into the school system here.
• 21:13
  I mean, they they'd have a school for almost a little bit
• 21:15
  over a month. So that's something that we
• 21:18
  didn't think about. I was thinking, OK, we moved
• 21:22
  there, will be in school next week, that that's not how it
• 21:25
  works. Here the process of yeah, the
• 21:27
  process is. Completely different, you know.
• 21:30
  So that was that was for me. That was a hard time.
• 21:33
  As soon as we got here. Yeah.
• 21:35
  That we never thought about. Talking about the process
• 21:38
  manual, you have done everything on your own.
• 21:41
  Bureaucracy, papers, visa application, everything.
• 21:43
  Everything. Yeah.
• 21:46
  Again, I mean we I have to do this.
• 21:51
  Yes. We, we met a couple, a couple
• 21:55
  parents from the school once the girls went into the school, that
• 22:00
  kind of local parents. And when we asked a couple
• 22:05
  questions, that was like, guide us where to go.
• 22:08
  But it's not like, Oh yeah, let me take you and then walk you
• 22:10
  in, hold your hand. That's up there is like, OK, you
• 22:13
  can go here. They'll give me an address or
• 22:15
  they'll give you a phone number or or and then we just have to
• 22:19
  navigate through it and, and a lot of headaches, but.
• 22:23
  A lot. And we're still learning.
• 22:25
  I mean, we're here 2 years and a little bit over 2 years and
• 22:28
  there's always something new. I mean, just the process.
• 22:34
  I think for us, we were. I'm too much of A control freak
• 22:39
  that like. That.
• 22:41
  Plays the huge. Part.
• 22:44
  I love, I love her mother just said.
• 22:46
  Yeah. Yeah, he just chimes in whenever
• 22:49
  he can get a job in, right? I obviously, I just love that.
• 22:55
  I think that it's just I'm too much of like I need to know
• 23:00
  because also it's like. I want to learn like I don't
• 23:03
  want to. Yeah, the easy button is paying
• 23:07
  somebody to do it for you, which I mean, if there's a language
• 23:11
  barrier, by all means, I get it 100%.
• 23:14
  The other part is, yes, they speak Spanish here, but it's not
• 23:20
  the same so. I have that question on my list
• 23:23
  I. Have no so side note.
• 23:27
  So it was like, so I totally get it.
• 23:30
  I totally get it. You know, there's people that
• 23:32
  have to that just can't get over that hurdle of I just don't
• 23:36
  understand what they're saying, right?
• 23:38
  And we're speaking the same language.
• 23:40
  So I get it. But for us it was more like,
• 23:44
  hey, like we're going to live here.
• 23:46
  Like we need to integrate, We need to become part of this
• 23:50
  process. Like we need to be in it.
• 23:53
  So we need to learn and that's a lot of the fact of, hey, we can
• 24:00
  do this roll with the punches. We're learning with it.
• 24:03
  And we're, you know, falling down and picking back up and,
• 24:07
  you know, next, next task. But something that I can say is
• 24:11
  like her patience kind of grew a little since being here.
• 24:15
  Weeks, Everything takes fine, right?
• 24:17
  Something that they're they're used to taking, I don't know, an
• 24:21
  hour or something that you can do online.
• 24:23
  It can take a week here or a month.
• 24:25
  Yeah, right. Something that so, so it's like
• 24:30
  just patient, be patient. It's like Adam Gonzalez said
• 24:34
  this It's painful, but it takes a.
• 24:36
  While exactly. It.
• 24:39
  Is 100%. And there's nothing that you can
• 24:42
  do. This the saying I heard from
• 24:46
  everyone whom I talk from Spain, that their most favorite phrase
• 24:50
  is no personada like. Don't.
• 24:52
  Worry no persona. Tranquilo and.
• 24:55
  Tranquilo like OK, thank you. So kind of you, but yeah.
• 25:01
  So you left everything. I mean, that's impressive.
• 25:04
  Like moving from a big house, moving into 5 suitcases most
• 25:09
  probably I think it's a it's a learning moment in which you
• 25:13
  realize that maybe the material things that you wish so much to
• 25:17
  have like don't know TV's or stuff, everything that you're in
• 25:19
  the house but not that important anymore.
• 25:22
  But you took the ticket, you took the plane ticket, you're
• 25:24
  getting got in the plane. And please tell me about your
• 25:27
  landing experience arriving in. How was it to arrive in Spain?
• 25:32
  That was our first moment of you know what?
• 25:36
  Let's pack it all back up and let's go back.
• 25:40
  Let's let's let's start with I think it was about 10 luggages,
• 25:45
  if you, if you, if you can call it 10 luggages.
• 25:50
  We had a we bought, we bought a one way ticket, right?
• 25:53
  I mean the one way ticket there's not coming back.
• 25:57
  We had a layover in Miami on the way here and, and I think we
• 26:04
  were there like almost five hours because there was a so the
• 26:07
  plane there was a delay on the flight and, and that just like,
• 26:12
  you know, increase the the. Stress.
• 26:15
  Stress level, right? Are my bags gonna make it?
• 26:18
  Like, what time are we gonna get there?
• 26:20
  So all this, it prolongs the time by the time you have
• 26:24
  something set up, you know, from, you know, Airbnb or
• 26:27
  whatever, like, OK, I'm already 5 hours behind from from the
• 26:31
  time I was gonna arrive. So just to get in the plane here
• 26:35
  was a, you know, a headache. And then how am I going to get
• 26:40
  all these back to the Airbnb? I didn't think that through.
• 26:45
  Because you cannot fix the vitamin in a cab that.
• 26:47
  The taxers. Exactly.
• 26:50
  I just realized it that you said it, but I would never thought
• 26:54
  about it. Yeah.
• 26:56
  Well. And it's tough.
• 26:57
  You don't think about until you get there and you're like, what
• 27:00
  do? What do we do now?
• 27:01
  How are we going to get all this stuff there?
• 27:04
  I need to get 3 taxis like I don't know how this works.
• 27:08
  Are we going to send the kids in one and each one of the
• 27:10
  different ones? So I found a company in
• 27:13
  Barcelona because we landed in Barcelona first, that take all
• 27:18
  my bags from the airport and took them to the Airbnb whenever
• 27:21
  I needed it. At the time that you asked for,
• 27:24
  that's what they they take them. But then I didn't have a way to
• 27:27
  bring them to Valencia because I didn't think that through.
• 27:31
  I mean, he thought he had scored big time because he's like, hey,
• 27:34
  babe, like have it covered. Like, don't worry, the luggages
• 27:37
  are covered. And I was like, oh, OK, perfect,
• 27:40
  right? And I was like, awesome, so we
• 27:42
  get to Barcelona, we get to our Airbnb.
• 27:45
  I was like, oh, we're trucking along.
• 27:47
  We like conquered and faced our first obstacle, right?
• 27:51
  Like we're winning. So we're in Barcelona, we're
• 27:54
  there for a week and stuff. And so it's.
• 27:56
  We we stayed there for a week. We know had a little fun, made a
• 28:01
  little trip out of it with the girls, and then it's like we're
• 28:04
  ready to come to Valencia. And I said, hey, when do the
• 28:08
  luggages get to Valencia? And he's like, what?
• 28:14
  I was like, yeah, you know, we have to still make it to
• 28:20
  Valencia. And he's like, what in factor
• 28:22
  that in? I was like, oh, well that's
• 28:24
  great. And I said so.
• 28:26
  Well, I kind of did. I said we rent a car, right?
• 28:30
  We take those stuff with us. I'll leave the car over there.
• 28:32
  Again, thinking the the like the American way, right?
• 28:35
  It's not a big deal if you if you're in a car in LA and you
• 28:38
  drop it off in in New York, right, You can leave it there.
• 28:41
  Well, here they charge you a lot of money if you're going to
• 28:43
  leave it in a different city. I didn't know that right.
• 28:47
  So the biggest car that I got that both the company had, it
• 28:54
  was only enough for the luggages.
• 28:55
  They didn't fit in the car. We didn't fit in, so it was him
• 28:59
  and the luggages and it was like a van and he was the only one
• 29:03
  that fit with all the luggages. It was A7 passengers car.
• 29:06
  Yeah, I figured it wasn't good. Speaking from the American side
• 29:10
  with all the cars are huge. Are huge.
• 29:12
  Absolutely understandable. Absolutely.
• 29:15
  So he's like, you're not going to fit in the car.
• 29:18
  And I was like, OK, so obstacle #2 you know, or three, four.
• 29:25
  So the girls and I had to catch a train from Barcelona to
• 29:32
  Valencia. So while he drove himself and
• 29:36
  the luggages all the way here. To an Airbnb.
• 29:40
  Dropped them off when I picked him up by the train station.
• 29:42
  Yeah, yeah. I mean.
• 29:46
  So to say it was an experience, it's to say the least, it very
• 29:52
  much so was. How was the you say, you said
• 29:57
  you already said the Airbnb in Barcelona and also in Valencia
• 30:00
  at the beginning. How long was your Airbnb period
• 30:02
  and how did your apartment hunting hunting went and
• 30:06
  compared to the to the market that you know, you knew from US?
• 30:10
  How do you how did you find the one in Spain?
• 30:14
  I think that it luck. Again, it was, it's a whole
• 30:18
  different process, I think. And it's also having to do with
• 30:23
  the fact that again, we reiterate the fact that we
• 30:27
  handled a lot of this stuff by ourselves.
• 30:30
  So we've learned this process through and through because
• 30:35
  we've been like thrown into it. We didn't use a relocating
• 30:39
  service. We didn't use, you know, just
• 30:44
  someone partnered us up with, you know, a realtor that's like,
• 30:48
  no, we were like he was contacting all these people on
• 30:52
  Idialista on, you know, 20 people, like on WhatsApp, you
• 30:58
  know, because that's the other thing here.
• 31:00
  You do everything through WhatsApp, you know, and I kid
• 31:06
  you not, I think we saw like 20, like 20 apartments.
• 31:11
  I kid you not, we found the one that it's it.
• 31:15
  We were in an Airbnb for about a month and a half to give
• 31:19
  ourselves enough time to, you know, the visa process, finding
• 31:23
  an apartment for long term, blah blah, blah.
• 31:25
  We found it perfect. We had two weeks left at our
• 31:28
  Airbnb. Literally the week we were
• 31:32
  supposed to move in. The landlord decides he doesn't
• 31:36
  like our profile, whatever that means, and wouldn't give a
• 31:43
  reason, wouldn't give why. Which honestly I think it was
• 31:47
  because we didn't have income from here.
• 31:51
  IA 100% think that. Looking back now at the
• 31:55
  situation, I think that factored in a lot that it was.
• 31:59
  He didn't care. We could, you know, pay, you
• 32:02
  know, the, the deposit anything like that's another big thing
• 32:06
  here that it's like you cannot solve anything with just trying
• 32:10
  to pay for it. They don't care.
• 32:13
  You can try to pay your way through whatever you want.
• 32:17
  They don't care if just they didn't like our profile.
• 32:20
  Perfect. So now him and our 10 luggages
• 32:24
  had to figure out how to go from that Airbnb to another Airbnb
• 32:29
  while we looked for another apartment.
• 32:36
  So the logistic was the best. Oh gosh, it's it was horrible.
• 32:41
  I I wanted to move back every every other day.
• 32:45
  Believe the of the baggage behind.
• 32:49
  I have to tell you guys this, this thing with the profile, we
• 32:51
  had it as well in Germany and also without any explanation.
• 32:54
  That was one of the most disappointment moments.
• 32:57
  And I, I, I think you had the same because you, you are not
• 33:00
  given a reason. And of course you go in through
• 33:03
  the thought of most probably because I'm not from here.
• 33:05
  That's, that's what goes into your head.
• 33:07
  Like you cannot really control that because that's the only
• 33:10
  argument that you find. And we had.
• 33:12
  And I have to say I have the exact same example because we
• 33:14
  were, they said they want to have this price.
• 33:19
  They will not get more of they cannot buy your, your weight.
• 33:22
  And they said, OK, everybody's applying for it.
• 33:25
  We have 5 or 6 candidates and we will choose one.
• 33:27
  Yeah, based on which criteria on the profile.
• 33:30
  What does that mean? We cannot tell you.
• 33:33
  And at the end, you are so disappointed because you don't
• 33:35
  have a clear explanation. And you always go through this
• 33:38
  to the thought, if I would be in my hometown, would I, This would
• 33:42
  not have happened. And I think this is what a.
• 33:44
  100%. Killing your mood for.
• 33:47
  And then and then you get you get to you get to a point that
• 33:51
  after after the apartment hunting and some of these
• 33:55
  appointments, right, because you don't like the you don't like
• 33:58
  the ones you saw and etcetera. We got to a point that they were
• 34:02
  asking us to pay a year in advance for the apartment if you
• 34:08
  wanted it, right? And besides the two months
• 34:11
  deposit because the realtor fee, so you get to a point like,
• 34:15
  yeah, you know what? I pay for them.
• 34:17
  I need a place to stay, right? So you get to that point, like,
• 34:22
  OK, that's fine, I don't care. Like we'll do it.
• 34:25
  But then we're stuck here for a year, if anything.
• 34:27
  Well, not only that, but I'm just like, like, no, like I know
• 34:31
  that's not what everybody else is doing.
• 34:34
  So it's like, you know, that's where me being the.
• 34:39
  You know, like, no, I'm going to stand up for, you know, my
• 34:43
  rights even though I'm not from here.
• 34:44
  I don't care. You know, I'm like, what's fair
• 34:47
  is fair because I'm like, I know every other person isn't doing
• 34:50
  that. Like what's going on here.
• 34:53
  And it was part of. What he and I talked about, it's
• 34:56
  like, no, we are like, we're fighting the fight.
• 35:01
  Like that's fine. And it was so stressful because
• 35:04
  not being given a reason and being the overthinker.
• 35:09
  I was just like, no, like I just, I wanted to go knock in
• 35:13
  his door and be like, you got to give me a reason so I can sleep.
• 35:18
  Exactly. You need that closure.
• 35:19
  You need to understand why, Why what?
• 35:21
  Why am I different than the others?
• 35:23
  Right? Yeah, yeah.
• 35:25
  This is something that you only understand if you have done it
• 35:27
  outside outside of your home country model.
• 35:29
  Sorry. So before we leave that topic,
• 35:31
  you know, on the on the logistics part, after we moved
• 35:34
  to the second Airbnb, that one did have an elevator.
• 35:37
  So yeah, I mean, I mean, to say more, it's a one man team and
• 35:45
  we're talking about everything was heavy and it is either
• 35:48
  either you fit or you're the, the luggage, you know, luggage
• 35:51
  don't fit through, through, through, through the stairs.
• 35:56
  So you need to figure out a way how to go through the stairs,
• 35:59
  you know, with, with all this, all this baggage.
• 36:02
  So Needless to say, that showed us we better find an apartment
• 36:07
  with an elevator, you know, added to the list of must haves.
• 36:13
  There was, I'm sorry for laughing, but that was so funny.
• 36:17
  You realize you get there and you're OK now.
• 36:20
  And you saw, you see the small staircase stairways, which are
• 36:24
  extremely small in Spain, especially in the historical
• 36:26
  cities. And you think, wow, yes.
• 36:28
  How? Yeah.
• 36:30
  Yeah. Was the apartment hunting
• 36:35
  process the moment when you realize that you don't speak the
• 36:38
  same line, the same Spanish A. 100% I think that that was
• 36:44
  whenever. So it was 2 situations it was
• 36:49
  ordering food was our. First, our first situation in
• 36:55
  Barcelona, because you have to add that in Barcelona they have
• 36:58
  the Catalan right? So it's not.
• 37:01
  Correct. You know, it's not Spanish.
• 37:03
  They speak at the Latin. So that was our first encounter.
• 37:08
  So then we get to Valencia. You get to Valencia.
• 37:11
  Not only do they speak Castellano here, but they also
• 37:14
  speak Valenciano. So it was double whammy there.
• 37:19
  Whenever we're like, you know, just the streets, like the
• 37:23
  street signs. And then we realize that getting
• 37:26
  in a taxi, whenever we would say like where we where we needed to
• 37:30
  go and he would. Say it completely different than
• 37:33
  what we were saying. So I was like, sure, that one,
• 37:38
  you know that place. You know, so and then do going
• 37:44
  through apartments, you know, what do they call the
• 37:46
  refrigerator? Well, they call it a Nevada, we
• 37:49
  call it a refrigerator. You know, so it's just like
• 37:52
  just. Little things like that where it
• 37:54
  was like we would ask for stuff and then.
• 37:58
  Thankfully, honestly, we met with the realtor where he was
• 38:01
  like a blessing in disguise. He was super sweet, super nice,
• 38:06
  very welcoming, very helpful. He, he literally was like, no,
• 38:14
  we call this this like we call. And I was like, OK, so by our
• 38:19
  20th apartment tour, we were on it.
• 38:21
  We knew what was what. You'd mentioned food, and
• 38:31
  because you mentioned food, I have to ask you did you?
• 38:38
  Were you Did you? I don't know how to.
• 38:40
  I'm so excited. I Were you able to find really
• 38:44
  spicy food in Spain? Nope.
• 38:48
  Easy answer. Nope.
• 38:52
  We we still have it. We're still in the hunt.
• 38:57
  I, I have to say, I've discussed with everyone and everyone's
• 39:01
  saying like when you order in German spicy food, you have to
• 39:04
  say it's not German spicy. You have to say I really want it
• 39:08
  spicy, spicy, not German spicy. And I always.
• 39:15
  But how do you find the food in Spain?
• 39:17
  Honestly, I think for us, and I'm going to be very careful
• 39:21
  with how I say this because I think it's just everybody has
• 39:25
  obviously their own, you know, taste buds.
• 39:28
  But I think for us specifically, it's very, very difficult
• 39:32
  because we come from a country, you know, Mexico that has 1, you
• 39:40
  know, you know, best, you know, food in the Forbes, I don't know
• 39:45
  how many years in a row, you know, for just it, it, it has
• 39:50
  all these, you know, five star restaurants, so many Michelin
• 39:55
  star restaurants. I mean, it's just, and it could
• 39:57
  be the simplest meal, right? So I think for us specifically,
• 40:01
  flavor, we already use so many spices a side of just how spicy
• 40:08
  the food can become, but just in general, remove the spice from
• 40:11
  it. Like, as far as like sauce?
• 40:15
  Hot sauce, right? Just the spices in general that
• 40:18
  we use, there's just so much flavor to our food.
• 40:22
  There's just so much mixture in there.
• 40:24
  So when we came here, yes, have we found local Spanish
• 40:30
  restaurants that we absolutely love?
• 40:32
  100 percent, 100%, it's different, but we do, we have
• 40:37
  our spots. Now that we have found that,
• 40:39
  it's like, OK, this is what we need, this is how we order it.
• 40:44
  But for us specifically, the food has been one of the hardest
• 40:47
  things to adapt to. I have had I don't know how many
• 40:54
  numbers, guests from from the United States.
• 40:57
  And every time, every time when I ask what's the food that you
• 41:02
  miss from US, everyone is giving me the same answer.
• 41:06
  Mexican food. Yeah.
• 41:08
  And that's it's I also made the joke last time when I spoke
• 41:13
  with, I think it was with Milo. He was, I think he was original
• 41:16
  from Seattle. And I said, I think your
• 41:19
  president will hardly dislike that, and he will hate you
• 41:23
  really bad if you say that the only thing that you miss from US
• 41:26
  is Mexican food. Yeah.
• 41:31
  But this is something that I have to say.
• 41:34
  Everyone, everyone that was that I talked to and then moved out
• 41:38
  of here said exactly the same thing.
• 41:39
  That's why I completely understand you.
• 41:41
  And if I dare, but I always compare the Mexican food with
• 41:45
  the Indian food on the flavor side.
• 41:47
  So I think yes, the, the amount of flavor that you have in the
• 41:50
  food, the amount of spiciness that you have in the food, they
• 41:53
  go, it's of course different, complete different cultures and
• 41:56
  so on. But the, the flavoredness is
• 41:58
  there. And I think it's also something
• 42:00
  really hard to find of a good quality in Europe.
• 42:03
  And of course, you know, the original, we don't know the
• 42:05
  original. We still like everything that we
• 42:07
  find here, but you know, the original that I think that makes
• 42:09
  it even harder. 100% that's exactly what it is.
• 42:13
  And then most, most of the products that you find over here
• 42:15
  or overseas, they're they're expensive.
• 42:18
  Yeah, you know, they're, they're pricey.
• 42:20
  I mean, you cannot go and buy them every day like you would
• 42:24
  like, you know. So it's like a little, what do
• 42:27
  you say that we'll go to a spot that we really like that is
• 42:32
  pricey. We don't go all the time, right?
• 42:33
  We go once a month, maybe twice a month.
• 42:36
  Correct. Makes sense.
• 42:38
  Even though I wish I could go every week.
• 42:40
  But it's just they're not realistic because you know that,
• 42:44
  but you also understand you and you understand why it's so
• 42:48
  expensive with all the export and you know, just how expensive
• 42:52
  it is to be able to make it to get here.
• 42:54
  I get it, you know, But I mean, when we want to have a little,
• 42:58
  you know, pick me up meal, that's when we get to say, you
• 43:02
  know what, let's let's go and give ourselves a luxury to do
• 43:08
  that. Correct.
• 43:10
  I mean only the fact that that if you think about it, avocado,
• 43:13
  for example, you you, you have a hole that is filled in with
• 43:16
  avocado coming only from one area of this planet.
• 43:19
  Isn't it crazy when you think about it like I'm pretty sure
• 43:22
  that if we talk, I have AI have a war colleague, she's from
• 43:25
  Colombia and she's always seeing Paul the avocado that you have
• 43:28
  here. I eat it.
• 43:29
  I have no other choice but. Yeah, yeah, something as simple
• 43:34
  as that, that you're just like and then when you find it.
• 43:38
  Excuse me? It's just, it's so expensive.
• 43:40
  So you're just like, good Lord, it's like you have gold in your
• 43:43
  hands. So it's like little slices out
• 43:46
  of peace, you know? Exactly, guys, did you, you
• 43:53
  moved, you moved in your saddle, you, you had your kids in
• 43:57
  school. Did you ever had the feeling
• 43:59
  that you somehow have lost your identity, your status that you
• 44:03
  have had in the in the States? I don't think so.
• 44:10
  I think that it was just a matter of I hate to sound cliche
• 44:18
  because it wasn't necessarily the driving factor of because
• 44:22
  like I said, of of us moving was primarily, you know, just our
• 44:26
  life was shifting. Our life was changing at that
• 44:29
  given moment, moment in time, but safety was huge.
• 44:34
  Safety was huge and in you know, the kids in school piece part of
• 44:41
  it. I just think that it was like,
• 44:43
  you know, we just needed change over all we needed.
• 44:51
  We had gotten lost in in the routine and we needed purpose
• 44:57
  overall. And I think that our girls, it
• 45:01
  kind of, it was so crazy because it kind of happened collateral
• 45:04
  because our girl that was going into middle school, she had this
• 45:10
  big huge blowout with her circle of friends that it was kind of,
• 45:14
  we became like the oddballs type of thing that it was just like,
• 45:19
  you know, like it was like, OK, what's next?
• 45:23
  Not necessarily losing identity, but it was just like our purpose
• 45:26
  was missing. That, that that's so interesting
• 45:32
  because you, you had everything that the American dream was,
• 45:35
  was, was marketing. I, I don't, I don't want, I
• 45:39
  don't know how to say it in a different way, but it's
• 45:42
  interesting. When was the moment that you
• 45:46
  realized this isn't a trip anymore?
• 45:51
  This is where we are and this is where we live.
• 45:54
  I, you know what? It's so hard because I think
• 45:58
  we've so because we've spoken to so many families and we all
• 46:04
  struggle with that, with the fact that it's like you get here
• 46:09
  and it's so hard to shift from a tourist mentality to hey, slow
• 46:17
  down. Like this is our home.
• 46:20
  And honestly, 100% for me because of what I do for a
• 46:24
  living. I'm a money person.
• 46:26
  I'm in the finance industry. When it hit our pocketbook and
• 46:31
  said, hey, like we need to slow it down.
• 46:34
  Like we're having too many tapas, we're having way too many
• 46:38
  trips to the museum. We're traveling too much.
• 46:41
  You know, we're trying to see all of Europe within like a six
• 46:45
  month span. Like we need to slow it down,
• 46:48
  like we live here. Like this is our life.
• 46:53
  But also when we went back to Texas the first time and then we
• 46:59
  came back it, it felt like to us, it felt a little bit like
• 47:03
  home, right? OK, we're going back to to where
• 47:05
  we live. So we came to visit and now
• 47:08
  we're going. Back like listening to our girls
• 47:11
  whenever and we had gone for a month like listening to the
• 47:14
  girls say like I'm ready to go home was like we're.
• 47:19
  Leaving home. To go home, yeah.
• 47:22
  That's what. You started being in the car
• 47:27
  driving all the time, you know. Like that was just like, that
• 47:32
  was the moment, like for me, like listening to our girls say.
• 47:37
  I'm ready. I'm.
• 47:37
  Ready to go home. I was like.
• 47:42
  What do you miss the most from yours except food?
• 47:48
  Mexican. We checked.
• 47:49
  We checked Mexican food and we said that's it.
• 47:52
  Honestly, I think for me, the 2 main factors are family, our
• 47:59
  children and our family, our community, our community.
• 48:02
  And we miss it so, so much. It's been one of the hardest
• 48:06
  things. And secondly, I think the
• 48:09
  convenience that the US offers, I miss that so much that it
• 48:15
  could be two in the morning and you need medication, you need,
• 48:21
  you want to go out and have breakfast at 2:00 in the
• 48:24
  morning, we can go do that. Like I miss the convenience of
• 48:30
  having everything at your fingertips.
• 48:35
  That's that's so interesting that you're saying.
• 48:37
  I was so I was so shocked first time when I was in the US when I
• 48:40
  realized that Walmart, Walmart is 24/7 open.
• 48:43
  Yeah, mostly, not all of them, but most of them.
• 48:46
  It's just crazy to think from the European perspective.
• 48:49
  Yes. And the fact that you can buy.
• 48:52
  So my biggest shock, I have to say my biggest shock is still
• 48:56
  that you are able to buy medicines from Walmart.
• 48:59
  Yeah, you can buy the painkillers in a box of 1000.
• 49:04
  Yeah, every time when I when I go to US, I bring the the fever.
• 49:08
  Exactly. Because yeah, I couldn't find
• 49:11
  something similar. But I get what you're saying.
• 49:16
  And do you think it's because I think it's a, it's a far fetched
• 49:22
  question, but do you think it worth it to if you balance it
• 49:26
  and say, OK, we have the safety in Europe for the kids and so
• 49:29
  on, but we're lacking the convenience.
• 49:30
  Do you think it's a fair exchange to make?
• 49:35
  I think for me, the way that I've been able to to, there are
• 49:42
  two big things why I can live without the convenience of.
• 49:47
  It. Is we've learned what a quality
• 49:51
  of life is first and foremost. And second of all, we've been
• 49:57
  given time back with our children.
• 50:02
  We raised our two older kids completely different than the
• 50:05
  way we're raising our two. It's kind of like we're having a
• 50:08
  do over almost honestly. Like it's completely different
• 50:12
  how we're raising. We raised our two older children
• 50:15
  to the way that we're raising our girls as far as safety, as
• 50:20
  far as being involved, and we were very involved parents with
• 50:24
  our two older children as well. But this has opened our eyes to
• 50:29
  a whole different level that I can do without going to Walmart
• 50:34
  24/7. Yeah, that's, that's, that's a
• 50:39
  really good point. Yeah, that's a.
• 50:41
  Really good, the convenience. You can always, you know, make
• 50:44
  up with it, like she said with something else, right?
• 50:47
  You, you plan for it. You always have fever Mets in
• 50:51
  the cabinet here or something like that.
• 50:55
  Like for me, it's family and friends, you know, the ones that
• 50:58
  you left behind. But when you go back and and,
• 51:03
  and you talk about your life in Europe compared to the life in
• 51:07
  the USI mean, they wish they could do what we're doing over
• 51:11
  here, you know, time wise and safety wise that they, it's kind
• 51:21
  of like, like don't take it for granted, right?
• 51:23
  But it's like, yeah, guys, do what you're doing now as as much
• 51:27
  as you can, because it's more you never know, right?
• 51:31
  So we're enjoying it. We're every every day we're
• 51:35
  trying. You know, still it's hard not be
• 51:39
  able to see the grandkids, you know, your son and help him out
• 51:43
  with, you know, car issues or etcetera, you know, not being
• 51:46
  there. But I mean, most of them
• 51:50
  understand and they can come and visit if they need to and see,
• 51:56
  see it first hand. You know what it's like, like
• 51:58
  our close, our close friends come, have come before and and
• 52:03
  they love it. You know, they just cannot
• 52:05
  afford to make the move because you know, all, all it takes.
• 52:10
  So. But I think it's a good point,
• 52:14
  Manuel, because I think at the end, they should see it as an
• 52:17
  opportunity to have the other side of the medal to see what is
• 52:20
  what is it to be in a different place.
• 52:22
  And I think that's a, that's a benefit that not everyone living
• 52:25
  in the US has, because if you don't have some someone that you
• 52:27
  know, in Europe, I think also it's expensive.
• 52:30
  Second of all, you get really hard to, it's hard to get
• 52:32
  holiday in the US and so on. And I think from that
• 52:34
  perspective, I think it's a benefit for everyone.
• 52:37
  Of course, the pain of losing the connection with the family.
• 52:41
  I feel you. This is something that you only
• 52:43
  feel when you are doing this like everyone.
• 52:47
  Everyone can tell you whatever they want to say.
• 52:49
  I cannot stand, you know, But nobody really gets it until you
• 52:52
  you realize that you are in a new place that would.
• 52:54
  Nobody knows you when you don't walk down the street and you say
• 52:56
  hello to everyone because you knew everyone, because you were
• 52:59
  always like stuff like this. And I think this is something
• 53:02
  that yeah, but this is something that that we are aware of and we
• 53:07
  were aware of also the beginning of the movement of the movement.
• 53:12
  I'm sorry, I spoke to Mars today.
• 53:16
  I saw that you are doing this final stuff and I didn't want to
• 53:19
  approach the people because I want to also I want to
• 53:21
  understand for your trip. But because my understanding and
• 53:24
  please, really, I would like you to correct me.
• 53:27
  I thought that you started this process only after you move, but
• 53:31
  you you were doing this before already.
• 53:34
  What I do for a living? Yeah, yes, yes, OK.
• 53:39
  So I kind of always I had, like I said, I was in the big, you
• 53:46
  know, corporate world. I had the big job.
• 53:48
  I had the big position. But I've always been who I am
• 53:53
  just as much as I'm an overthinker.
• 53:55
  I'm an overachiever. There's always more, you know,
• 53:58
  the and also the American way instilled in you, right That
• 54:02
  it's like in fact, hustle and grind 24/7.
• 54:06
  If you're not hustling, you're not making money.
• 54:08
  If you're not this, you're not prepared for plan.
• 54:10
  ABCD, right? So I always, even after having
• 54:15
  my 9:00 to 5:00 so to speak, I always had you know, side
• 54:20
  hustles, you know, as they call her.
• 54:22
  So my side hustle became my full time self-employed opportunity.
• 54:31
  So it's something that, and you know, life has a funny way of
• 54:37
  just kind of guiding you where you're expected to go, even
• 54:41
  though you don't fully understand it when you're there.
• 54:45
  But now looking back, it all makes sense.
• 54:49
  Like why that started, why certain situations in my career
• 54:53
  happened the way that it happened.
• 54:55
  And I never let this go. And it was always from just
• 54:59
  starting of helping a friend who open their business, helping
• 55:03
  them because obviously that's what I do, that's my business,
• 55:06
  that's what I can do. It was extra money on the side.
• 55:09
  And then from that friend came, you know, their friend and then
• 55:13
  their friend. And so it just became this big,
• 55:17
  huge business opportunity to work remotely and it turned into
• 55:24
  this. They gave us the ability to be
• 55:26
  able to make this move and not be tied down to a specific spot.
• 55:34
  I mean, that's that's really nice.
• 55:36
  As I said, I've I've also, as I told you before, I do, I did
• 55:40
  scroll a lot in your Instagram account, but I maybe I didn't
• 55:42
  want that down, down enough. By the way, I will link your
• 55:46
  Instagram account as well in the show notes caption.
• 55:48
  Yes, anyone that wants to find you.
• 55:52
  But what I for me, it's so it's always hard to form the
• 55:57
  sentences because I want to say a lot of things.
• 56:00
  Yeah, I think we are all, we are all three of us come from a
• 56:04
  normal family background. So none of us was raised rich.
• 56:07
  We were coming from working families and so on.
• 56:10
  So what I know from my family and I don't know how I was in,
• 56:13
  in the culture from, from US, but there was never the this,
• 56:18
  this, this budget planning, this financial planning, family
• 56:21
  planning was never in discussion.
• 56:22
  And I want to ask you, do you have this from the family or
• 56:25
  how? Because this is a skill that
• 56:27
  that you, that you, you learn. Yeah, so funny story.
• 56:33
  I being an accountant, I've always been financial advisor
• 56:39
  accountant. I've always men managed
• 56:42
  everybody else's money and I was horrible at managing our money.
• 56:47
  Horrible, horrible. So true story.
• 56:53
  Yes. So much I like, so much I.
• 56:57
  Like his facial expressions? So Fast forward to after two
• 57:10
  kids, No2 kids and then pregnant.
• 57:15
  We were 97 K in the hole terribly 97K in the hole and
• 57:23
  both of us making six figures great amount of money like it it
• 57:29
  money was never the issue, right?
• 57:31
  It was a behavior issue. I got to a point to where I was
• 57:37
  like I can no longer live like this.
• 57:39
  I have to because we come from a culture that you're not taught
• 57:44
  that right. Like especially in the Mexican
• 57:46
  community, it's you you hide. Your money underneath you know
• 57:51
  your mattress like you don't believe in banks, right, you
• 57:57
  can't trust the banks, right, So they don't want to steal you.
• 58:00
  The bank is going to steal your money, yes, so.
• 58:05
  It was always what did. What I did know was paying for
• 58:10
  cash for stuff, right? My mom and our family was always
• 58:15
  the saver and she always extended that dollar as far
• 58:20
  stretched as she could because I come from a large family.
• 58:23
  My mother has never worked a day in her life.
• 58:26
  We were seven children. My father was the working, yes,
• 58:31
  if you thought I was bad, My mom had seven kids and I always and
• 58:38
  she was always very, very smart with her finances, right?
• 58:42
  Obviously for her to be able to have stayed home all her life to
• 58:47
  this day, you know, obviously we're all grown now, but I was
• 58:53
  at the point where I said all of our family, we had made terrible
• 58:57
  decisions because the American dream, right?
• 59:01
  If if you're not into debt, you can't, if you don't go into
• 59:04
  debt, you can't obtain anything. If you don't do this, you can't
• 59:09
  do anything, right? Like you have to have the best
• 59:11
  of this, you have to have the best of that, etcetera,
• 59:13
  etcetera, right. And as a famous saying goes,
• 59:17
  keeping up with the Joneses, right?
• 59:19
  So it was a lot of that. And I got to a point to where I
• 59:25
  met this huge financial advisor. He's very popular in the States.
• 59:30
  And I said, you know what, we got to do this like I'm done.
• 59:36
  I can no longer live like this. So we're.
• 59:40
  We're brainwashing the right way.
• 59:42
  We were brainwashed in the right way.
• 59:44
  Yes, we're. Financially brainwashed.
• 59:48
  And at that point, I think we've got the program.
• 59:51
  We started the program. I, it was almost like I was
• 59:56
  listening to myself speak through someone else to me, what
• 1:00:00
  I was teaching other people. I finally had somebody saying it
• 1:00:04
  to me, right? And that was the breaking point.
• 1:00:09
  Honestly, that was the point where I was like, I'm.
• 1:00:12
  Breaking cycles. I'm changing the direction of my
• 1:00:16
  family, of my kids. And just like when I told him
• 1:00:22
  we're moving to Europe, when I told him we're standing, we're
• 1:00:26
  starting this financial program, he said, OK, just tell me what I
• 1:00:30
  have to do. Do it.
• 1:00:34
  I have to ask you, what are you talking about, Dave Ramsey?
• 1:00:36
  Yes. So I I heard the I'm watching
• 1:00:41
  some of his videos. I find his way of speaking
• 1:00:45
  impressive just because he's saying, I think it's exactly
• 1:00:50
  what you said. Everyone that is calling there,
• 1:00:52
  they know already what they have to do, but they have to hear it
• 1:00:55
  from someone else because it's the, the, the level of, of
• 1:00:59
  hardness. When someone is telling you, you
• 1:01:01
  are not affording that car, No, go and sell it tomorrow.
• 1:01:04
  No, you cannot afford it. I think this is something when
• 1:01:07
  someone is telling you that you realize, I thought about that,
• 1:01:10
  but you know, I want it because, you know, status and so on.
• 1:01:14
  What I love. There was a, and I, I'm, I'm
• 1:01:16
  sorry that I'm going into a bit in this rabbit hole.
• 1:01:19
  I hope you forgive me, But there was a saying from him.
• 1:01:21
  There was a story from him when someone was calling him, calling
• 1:01:24
  him and saying, I, I think I'm not doing enough because I see
• 1:01:27
  all these guys on Instagram. They have bigger cars and they
• 1:01:30
  are also in the 30s and they make a lot of money.
• 1:01:32
  And then they've said the story, you know, we had in the past
• 1:01:35
  keeping up with the drones, but the Jones were living in our
• 1:01:38
  neighborhood. We knew them.
• 1:01:40
  We knew that they had money, but we also knew that they had a
• 1:01:43
  fight every once in a while, that maybe Mr. Jones was kicking
• 1:01:46
  Mrs. Jones every once in a while.
• 1:01:48
  So we also knew their problems as well.
• 1:01:50
  But seeing the Instagram post, seeing everything that the
• 1:01:53
  people are posting online, we don't know that they have a
• 1:01:55
  problem. And that was such a big
• 1:01:58
  realization for you because at the end that's so important.
• 1:02:02
  We said, okay, we tried to keep up with them.
• 1:02:05
  Maybe we don't want that money because we want don't want to
• 1:02:07
  have that fights. But when you don't see the
• 1:02:09
  fights, you only see the good things you think.
• 1:02:11
  Oh, for sure. For sure, because people aren't
• 1:02:14
  going to post just the same thing.
• 1:02:16
  It's you know, whenever you open a business, you start a
• 1:02:19
  business. Whenever moving abroad, I see it
• 1:02:22
  online all the time. Everybody always likes to flash
• 1:02:26
  the great, the pretty, the beautiful, the, the, the reward,
• 1:02:31
  right? But nobody speaks enough about
• 1:02:34
  the ugly truth behind that photo, behind that Instagram
• 1:02:39
  post, you know? Yeah, all the daily struggles,
• 1:02:42
  all the logistics that you don't work through, you know the.
• 1:02:46
  Yeah, I mean there's. Just so much behind it that it's
• 1:02:50
  just like, you know, when we decided to go the Dave Ramsey
• 1:02:54
  route, we lost all our friends because we started saying no.
• 1:03:00
  We started saying. Something I haven't thought
• 1:03:02
  about it yet. Yeah, you really, truly realize
• 1:03:06
  who's in your corner because the minute we started saying no, we
• 1:03:11
  were no longer invited. And I said, well, I'm going to
• 1:03:15
  say more no than yes because yeah, we're on a budget, we're
• 1:03:19
  saving. We're on on a path of on a
• 1:03:22
  purpose of there's a reason why we're doing what we're doing.
• 1:03:26
  We literally kept one set of friends that they're our friends
• 1:03:30
  till this day. They're the ones that have come
• 1:03:32
  to visit us from Texas. And it was crazy because
• 1:03:37
  everybody was just kind of like, oh, well, you guys, you know,
• 1:03:41
  have all these, you know, big corporate jobs and you guys have
• 1:03:45
  the, you know, these big high paying positions.
• 1:03:48
  And you have the big house and you have this and you have that.
• 1:03:51
  And it's like, yeah, Because I say no.
• 1:03:55
  That's why I have it, you know, And I'm like, so.
• 1:04:01
  I just think that it's not spoken about enough about the
• 1:04:04
  fact that it's like, you know, every reward has its process and
• 1:04:10
  I think that so many people focus on the reward versus the
• 1:04:16
  how to get there. Yeah, I think one of the most
• 1:04:22
  important things for everyone to understand is not the objective,
• 1:04:27
  is the. It should be important the way
• 1:04:29
  should be important. The objective should be the way.
• 1:04:31
  Because as long as you are able to enjoy the path, yes.
• 1:04:35
  If you are enjoying more than only the objective, because the
• 1:04:38
  objective is, it's a few. Seconds, the tiny you.
• 1:04:40
  Got there exactly, but. And then you're on to the next,
• 1:04:44
  you're on to the next, you know? Exactly.
• 1:04:48
  And it's then I one of the one of the best books I've read was
• 1:04:54
  written by Mary Trump, which is one of the nephew of Donald
• 1:04:58
  Trump. And it's called too much and
• 1:05:00
  never enough. And it's describing somehow him,
• 1:05:05
  but also it's making you realizing that whenever you want
• 1:05:08
  more and more and more it, there is a moment when it's never.
• 1:05:12
  Enough. Never enough.
• 1:05:13
  Never, never, ever. We see it now happening.
• 1:05:16
  Don't go into the politics path, but we see it happening.
• 1:05:19
  Yeah, it's exactly the same thing.
• 1:05:21
  Yes, 100%. It's, you know, and we got so
• 1:05:25
  much like into it that I even became a financial coach for
• 1:05:31
  Dave Ramsey for a period of time because I was just in the path
• 1:05:37
  of more than anything from for our culture, you know, because
• 1:05:42
  like I said, we didn't believe in banks, we didn't believe in
• 1:05:45
  all of this stuff. So I was in in a path of I'm
• 1:05:51
  going to change, you know, the trajectory of, you know, the
• 1:05:55
  Hispanics and our beliefs. I'm going to break these cycles.
• 1:05:58
  I'm going to, you know, be the one that, you know, Hispanics
• 1:06:03
  are going to be owning banks and opening businesses and this and
• 1:06:07
  that. And again, that also led to the
• 1:06:11
  path of what I'm doing now. If it was ever a feeling of I
• 1:06:20
  will call it imposter syndrome, doing all this like not going at
• 1:06:25
  work anymore, like having this, making this money from home.
• 1:06:28
  Did you ever have the feeling what?
• 1:06:31
  That's not the job. That's how wide.
• 1:06:33
  How can I make money out of this?
• 1:06:36
  Honestly, I do, yes, because how is that realistic?
• 1:06:41
  Because you're always taught you have to have the big office, you
• 1:06:46
  have to have the big desk, you have to have, you know, the name
• 1:06:50
  on the door and stuff, you know? So even to this day, I even tell
• 1:06:55
  him now I'm even getting goosebumps because I even tell
• 1:06:58
  him to this day, like the fact of being able to do what I'm
• 1:07:03
  doing and it's such an important job.
• 1:07:06
  I'm managing people's money, you know, businesses financials like
• 1:07:13
  to be trusted to do that remotely from just not only just
• 1:07:17
  remotely from, but from anywhere in the world.
• 1:07:20
  Truly, how is this possible? Like, how is this a reality?
• 1:07:26
  Like, you know how, why am I being picked then this big
• 1:07:32
  financial advisory company? You know, it it, it's mind
• 1:07:38
  blowing. You do feel to some extent like
• 1:07:41
  an imposter because it's just like you second guess everything
• 1:07:45
  that you do. You know, you're trying to
• 1:07:48
  compete with these big wigs, you know, as they call them, and you
• 1:07:55
  almost feel like it's not real. I have to say the, I think what,
• 1:08:02
  what you are bringing it is the life experience.
• 1:08:05
  And I think the life experience is not coming in these big
• 1:08:07
  companies because usually the big companies are hiring
• 1:08:11
  everyone from the outside, outside putting them on a two
• 1:08:14
  months training. Now you are the financial expert
• 1:08:17
  because we tell you, you are the financial expert and that's it.
• 1:08:21
  And I think most of them, they are young.
• 1:08:23
  I'm not saying anything about them.
• 1:08:24
  But on, on such a position, you need the life experience.
• 1:08:27
  You need to know to to. You need to have failed with
• 1:08:31
  money. Before you can.
• 1:08:33
  Be successful. And I think this is something
• 1:08:36
  that you bring in and I think that's, that's a really, that's
• 1:08:40
  a really big piece of experience that you put in there to help
• 1:08:44
  someone because nothing, nothing says experience more than own
• 1:08:49
  experience, own suffering. 100% I mean, we lived it like through
• 1:08:54
  and through so. We knew what it was to wait for
• 1:08:58
  the paycheck before we even had it, you know, So we already
• 1:09:03
  spent the paycheck before it was in our hands, you know, so.
• 1:09:07
  Guys, there is a, there is a saying in Romania which I love.
• 1:09:10
  You know in Romania I usually have one or two payments per
• 1:09:14
  month. So that's all mostly one now in
• 1:09:17
  the password too. And that is the saying or saying
• 1:09:19
  that you know you are rich. No.
• 1:09:22
  You know when you are poor, when there are days left at the end
• 1:09:26
  of your money. I've heard it.
• 1:09:30
  Yes, yes. Yes.
• 1:09:32
  So we are all coming from there. We are going from there and we
• 1:09:36
  know how it was. I know how it was.
• 1:09:38
  Exactly. Exactly.
• 1:09:40
  It's like we know when there's just way too many days left and
• 1:09:45
  the money's not there. Yeah.
• 1:09:47
  Exactly guys, how how does your definition of success success
• 1:09:54
  changed into an in Spain? That's, that's a good question.
• 1:10:02
  I think for me personally, I'll let him answer his, But for me,
• 1:10:08
  I think I was so focused on prior to moving here, I was so
• 1:10:18
  focused on. I managed my success based on
• 1:10:24
  what I was driving, what I had accomplished, based on degrees,
• 1:10:30
  based on the amount of money in our bank, the figures, you know,
• 1:10:39
  of what my salary entailed. Everything was all factored as
• 1:10:44
  far as the American dream, what that American Dream was supposed
• 1:10:48
  to look like. The family perfect family
• 1:10:52
  picture of you know, the the great kids in in a great school
• 1:11:00
  and you know being a one sports players, you know in in athlete,
• 1:11:08
  you know athletics for our children.
• 1:11:11
  I think that shifting that here has become my success now to me
• 1:11:17
  means the luxury of being able to work in whatever field it is
• 1:11:24
  work from home and be a present parent here and even miles away
• 1:11:30
  from my children. I speak to my children everyday
• 1:11:34
  even back home. I FaceTime with my granddaughter
• 1:11:38
  and when we to me, whenever we flew back to the States and my
• 1:11:44
  granddaughter recognized me just from video conferences to me
• 1:11:51
  that was, I mean, it was just mind blowing.
• 1:11:54
  It mattered in the sense of you don't know how much you miss out
• 1:11:59
  on until you, you know, the other side of the coin.
• 1:12:03
  We didn't know this other side, this other way of living existed
• 1:12:08
  before we got here. So being able to have gained
• 1:12:12
  time back with our daughters. I mean I, I will freaking clean
• 1:12:21
  tables if I have to if that means me being present with my
• 1:12:26
  children. Yeah, I think I can.
• 1:12:30
  I can agree to that too. I'll get you a little from the
• 1:12:32
  financial state standpoint to, to having the quality of time,
• 1:12:38
  me being a more devoted husband here then and I walk, I walk my
• 1:12:46
  girls to school every day. Every day.
• 1:12:49
  Every day I walk them to school and I pick them up
• 1:12:54
  extracurriculum activities. I get to be in those on the
• 1:12:58
  weekends and and and with her having our our own time in the
• 1:13:03
  mornings, like that's very important.
• 1:13:05
  That something that we never have just to just to find that
• 1:13:09
  time. A date night had to be planned
• 1:13:13
  with, obviously, you know, months ahead of time, right?
• 1:13:17
  So again, the success for me is being here this long already
• 1:13:23
  going through all the hardships that we did at first with I want
• 1:13:27
  to go back, I want to go back. I want to go back to OK, we'll
• 1:13:32
  this our life now and and well, how much of we have we
• 1:13:37
  accomplish these last two years after the struggles.
• 1:13:44
  I say we're winning, honestly. Absolutely, but that that was so
• 1:13:48
  nice what Manuel just said that the fact that the success is
• 1:13:51
  just being here for the last two years, just staying here, even
• 1:13:54
  though it was hard, even though we had problems, we had issues.
• 1:13:58
  And you bet I have to say this time, this thing with the time,
• 1:14:01
  I I still say that I'm extremely happy when I know my son's
• 1:14:05
  favorite cartoon or his favorite song this week or his, because
• 1:14:09
  these are changing every time like you know, and as long as I
• 1:14:12
  can keep up with his, I know them.
• 1:14:16
  I'm extremely happy. 100 percent, 100%.
• 1:14:22
  Guys, I've I enjoyed the hell out of this conversation.
• 1:14:25
  I had so much fun. I before we wrap it up, we are
• 1:14:28
  all there done. I hope you still have some
• 1:14:29
  minutes because I have some some rapid fire questions that I
• 1:14:32
  usually try to tailor on the on the guest.
• 1:14:34
  It will not take long, I promise you.
• 1:14:36
  No, absolutely. We're we're enjoying this.
• 1:14:39
  So we love to tell our messy, crazy lies.
• 1:14:44
  Thank you. I I enjoy talking to you.
• 1:14:46
  I enjoy knowing the stories and getting to share the stories
• 1:14:49
  because I think everyone has to learn from this and everyone has
• 1:14:52
  to learn that there is there is another way.
• 1:14:54
  There is a there is a way that can give you time.
• 1:14:57
  There is a way that can give you the the benefit of, of, of
• 1:15:01
  getting to know your kids. Like you said, you get, you got
• 1:15:04
  to do over right. So yeah, this is something that
• 1:15:07
  I think you're not the only one going through this.
• 1:15:08
  And I think this is it's so important if at least one person
• 1:15:12
  is learning from something from this episode, I'm extremely
• 1:15:14
  happy. I for me, it was a plan to just
• 1:15:16
  to talk to you. I, it was such an enjoyable
• 1:15:19
  conversation. Guys, what is Spain doing better
• 1:15:27
  than US? And don't say healthcare.
• 1:15:29
  I heard it. Well, I have my days with that
• 1:15:36
  one so that is not on my list. I think honestly, having a
• 1:15:43
  balanced life of quality of life, I think that is #1 top in
• 1:15:52
  the list. Honestly, I think having having
• 1:15:57
  that balance between, yes, we need work, obviously we need
• 1:16:02
  money to survive, to live to whatever less is more and the
• 1:16:09
  fact that you can walk around the street.
• 1:16:13
  This was one of the biggest things to me.
• 1:16:15
  You can walk in the street. You couldn't tell the difference
• 1:16:20
  between someone who's loaded rich versus someone who's just,
• 1:16:27
  you know, normal average 9 to 5 employee and we're all in the
• 1:16:34
  same bus, we're all using public transportation, we're all eating
• 1:16:39
  at the same tapa bar. We're all, you know, having a
• 1:16:43
  cocktail at the local, you know, coffee shop.
• 1:16:48
  I mean, it's just to me that the integration between I don't say
• 1:16:53
  that it doesn't exist because it does.
• 1:16:56
  There's always right the difference in in social
• 1:17:02
  economics, right that always exists, but.
• 1:17:06
  Is it more obvious than in the? Is in the US more obvious 100%.
• 1:17:10
  100% OK, yeah, I mean, just by being able to go to a restaurant
• 1:17:15
  that you can't simply afford, you know, and it and part Part 1
• 1:17:21
  of that's one example. The other part is that people,
• 1:17:26
  just because they know that that's where the average
• 1:17:32
  American will go eat, they won't go.
• 1:17:34
  Even if it's good quality food, they won't go because if they
• 1:17:39
  feel they're above. That.
• 1:17:41
  So just being here and being able to be just intermingled
• 1:17:48
  with all social class just levels.
• 1:17:54
  It's to me, it's it's mind blowing.
• 1:17:57
  Like I said, you can be sitting next to, you know, someone.
• 1:18:05
  Who has is very well off at the bus.
• 1:18:09
  And the it's nothing. It's nothing.
• 1:18:12
  It doesn't matter. You're being treated as a human
• 1:18:15
  being. This is how it should be OK.
• 1:18:17
  This is how it should be. To me, something that's Spain
• 1:18:20
  does better than the US is public transportation, 100%.
• 1:18:26
  And I think they really care well for their, the young people
• 1:18:36
  in a way that they, there's a lot of help.
• 1:18:38
  Of course, the certain ages, right.
• 1:18:42
  Our kids don't pay for for bus or metro because they're under
• 1:18:47
  14. A school is very is schools is
• 1:18:52
  very affordable in Europe compared to the US.
• 1:18:56
  So education is out there. Education.
• 1:18:58
  The the, the, the, the level of education here.
• 1:19:04
  I'm talking for my girls right now.
• 1:19:06
  The on on the school there are the grades doesn't compared to
• 1:19:09
  the US on the same grade levels from from that age group, right.
• 1:19:14
  So I think that's that's the biggest that I can see that is
• 1:19:20
  this. That stands out.
• 1:19:22
  Like a shock, right? It's like, OK, well, what do you
• 1:19:25
  mean I don't need to pay for for the for the boss thing?
• 1:19:27
  Or what do you mean I don't need to pay for besides the
• 1:19:31
  healthcare part, right. I mean, that's that's a huge
• 1:19:33
  one. But the level of education and
• 1:19:36
  how much they focus on that for whether to to have a career or,
• 1:19:41
  or, and how family oriented Spain is, you know, so that's
• 1:19:47
  huge something those those like to me, those are it the big.
• 1:19:53
  Do you feel a similarity there with the family oriented, with
• 1:19:57
  the Mexican culture? Yes, 100% yeah, it's a very
• 1:20:01
  because personally with our culture, obviously that's.
• 1:20:06
  That's the norm, but let's be honest, I mean, how many, you
• 1:20:13
  know, like I said, we I'm first generation, you know, American
• 1:20:19
  from my family tree. So my kids, it's like that's
• 1:20:23
  done. Like he's still part, he's still
• 1:20:27
  from Mexico, obviously. So our kids kind of have half
• 1:20:30
  and half, but you lose that because you get integrated into
• 1:20:35
  the American culture as expected, obviously.
• 1:20:38
  So then you start losing that. You know, as more generations
• 1:20:42
  come, you try to salvage that as much as you possibly can.
• 1:20:47
  But what happens the so and so works this day.
• 1:20:50
  So and so works that way, and so this and now together the whole
• 1:20:53
  family, it's either in. Thanksgiving or Christmas?
• 1:20:57
  Whereas one of the biggest things here that we see, it's
• 1:21:01
  every Sunday, every Sunday is Faya day at your Pueblo with
• 1:21:08
  your family. Everyone eating out is tourists
• 1:21:12
  or other locals that from foreigners, from other
• 1:21:16
  countries. But the local Spanish, local
• 1:21:20
  people are in their pueblos, are in their homes with their
• 1:21:24
  families, and that's their day. I, I have to say this is
• 1:21:30
  something which I, I see it from the outside as well, but I think
• 1:21:34
  family is a huge thing and I think this is how it should be
• 1:21:37
  because somehow you have to keep connection to your family and
• 1:21:40
  you cannot keep if, like you said, if this is working on
• 1:21:43
  Thursday and Wednesday and the other one is working on Saturday
• 1:21:45
  and Sunday, and then maybe we can meet on Friday afternoon,
• 1:21:48
  but only for one hour because then I have to pick the kids and
• 1:21:51
  then you have to pick the kids and it will never match.
• 1:21:54
  It will never match. Yeah.
• 1:21:57
  What was the biggest culture shock to this day since
• 1:22:01
  arriving? In Spain, for I'm going to say
• 1:22:08
  it for me, I cannot. I cannot.
• 1:22:12
  I think there's no. No, I'm curious.
• 1:22:16
  No, I'm curious. I'm trying to say what's the
• 1:22:20
  best way to say. I don't think there's this.
• 1:22:23
  There's enough proper etiquette. I'll say manners, yeah.
• 1:22:26
  Yeah. Really.
• 1:22:29
  Yeah, I'll give you an example. I we can be walking, you know,
• 1:22:37
  people here walk fast, so you got to keep up with it.
• 1:22:40
  I don't know. Where somebody just stops right
• 1:22:44
  in front of you and decides to have a full on conversation
• 1:22:48
  about what they just saw in the window.
• 1:22:52
  So I'm just like, OK, I, you know, you just stopped the whole
• 1:22:57
  traffic. So now everybody either has to
• 1:23:00
  go to their right or to their left, you know, so they don't
• 1:23:04
  disturb these people that just stopped in the like right in
• 1:23:09
  front of you. That's example, number one
• 1:23:12
  example #2 no perspective, personal space, none.
• 1:23:19
  You can be at the cash register and the next person is like
• 1:23:23
  this, like waiting for you to be done.
• 1:23:25
  And I'm just like, OK, just give me a second and I'll be out of
• 1:23:31
  your way like. You want to pay for me?
• 1:23:34
  I mean, if you want to pay for me.
• 1:23:35
  If you feel like giving today, I I'll take it.
• 1:23:39
  I will receive it. Yes, yes, I think I, I think
• 1:23:46
  it's just little things because again, I think that you can the
• 1:23:54
  US can be whatever the US can be.
• 1:23:56
  But I think one of the biggest things it's customer service and
• 1:24:02
  it's extended long ways. I think it's the country that
• 1:24:06
  exceeds when it comes to customer service and that just
• 1:24:09
  goes beyond that just in general and everything.
• 1:24:14
  I think that oh, excuse me or oh, holding the door and thank
• 1:24:18
  you. And just, you know, just manners
• 1:24:20
  overall in general, because you're always taught customer
• 1:24:24
  service. Customer service is huge.
• 1:24:26
  It doesn't matter the industry that you that you're in.
• 1:24:29
  So and then for us also the other thing is our culture, you
• 1:24:33
  know, Hispanic cultures, we are very welcoming.
• 1:24:37
  We're very all about, hey, good morning.
• 1:24:40
  How are you? How was your day?
• 1:24:41
  It's always a big happy go lucky big event.
• 1:24:46
  And then you come here and you're like, literally like,
• 1:24:50
  hey. Good morning.
• 1:24:51
  What do you want? Like, Oh, OK, like that's and
• 1:24:56
  you can't take it personal because that's just how it's
• 1:24:59
  like cutthroat to the point, what do you need next guest?
• 1:25:03
  Move on. Right.
• 1:25:05
  So I think for me, that was the biggest one.
• 1:25:08
  Whenever we walked into a coffee shop and it was like, hey, good
• 1:25:12
  morning, like how are you? And she flat out said, what do
• 1:25:16
  you want? I was like, well I don't.
• 1:25:22
  I don't know if I want it anymore honestly.
• 1:25:24
  Like I'm even scared to ask you. I was thinking about the coffee
• 1:25:27
  but now I'm not anymore. Yeah.
• 1:25:33
  Yeah, monitors put it the same. Yeah, I'll say manners and this.
• 1:25:40
  I'm still not used to this. We don't take a siesta.
• 1:25:43
  We're not used to that. This is big.
• 1:25:45
  That Siesta basic you know everything's close in between
• 1:25:50
  when you need something. What's happened to us?
• 1:25:54
  The give them the example of we had something happen in the
• 1:25:57
  house. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 1:26:00
  We had a plumbing issue in the in the apartment and the plumber
• 1:26:04
  was here breaking the wall and they came and shut us down
• 1:26:08
  because I was just at time and they supposed to shut the water
• 1:26:12
  off until a certain time when siesta was over and then go
• 1:26:16
  ahead and bang again. So even though it was an
• 1:26:19
  emergency, he said shut the water and the blur needs to stop
• 1:26:25
  for at least an hour and. 1/2 She said close the water, stop
• 1:26:30
  the banking until after siesta. So.
• 1:26:35
  And I said, ma'am, what do you expect me to do without water
• 1:26:38
  for an hour and a half? And, and also like would like
• 1:26:42
  for us on Sundays, right? Like, obviously we don't have
• 1:26:45
  family here, so we want to be out and everything's closed like
• 1:26:49
  a lot of the places. So it's like, well, what do we
• 1:26:52
  do? Like that we can walk.
• 1:26:54
  We can really go anywhere. We'll come back at 5:30 so we
• 1:26:57
  can. That's when everything opens
• 1:26:59
  back up. So that's, that's, that's most,
• 1:27:01
  most of it for me. Yeah, I think the siesta is a
• 1:27:05
  big one. I think the siesta, of course,
• 1:27:07
  comes from different reasons. Some people are saying it's
• 1:27:10
  because of the heat, some people are saying it's because of the.
• 1:27:14
  The goal of. The time that.
• 1:27:16
  The heat or the cold? Find excuses.
• 1:27:19
  Exactly no in most of the cases it says because of the time
• 1:27:22
  spent with the family and having lunch with the family which I
• 1:27:24
  don't think it's always the case of most point.
• 1:27:26
  In the countryside yes but I don't think in the cities about
• 1:27:28
  this. But honestly I find it got a
• 1:27:31
  small power up with mid days. Oh for sure, I.
• 1:27:34
  Have that. I mean, it's something to get
• 1:27:37
  used to very quickly, but if I'm going to be without water
• 1:27:41
  because you're taking your siesta, like, come on now.
• 1:27:45
  If you don't get exceptions, that's that's crazy.
• 1:27:48
  I think you can go without a siesta one day.
• 1:27:50
  It's fine, you'll survive. I can I so you can go without
• 1:27:55
  the siesta so that I have water? Exactly.
• 1:28:00
  It's a fair exchange. Guys.
• 1:28:01
  What's the one Spanish word that you cannot translate in English?
• 1:28:08
  One Spanish word that you cannot translate in English.
• 1:28:16
  We got a thing on that one. That you cannot.
• 1:28:24
  Well, because if it was a literal translation like
• 1:28:27
  Austria. There was an austere animals.
• 1:28:32
  Yeah. Well, they, they use it here for
• 1:28:35
  so many things, but it's like for us in Austria now, we said
• 1:28:40
  it translating translation. Yeah.
• 1:28:43
  The headquarter. No, I don't know.
• 1:28:46
  That's what I'm saying. I don't know what that
• 1:28:47
  translates to. Exactly the right one.
• 1:28:51
  That's the right one. I don't think it's the.
• 1:28:53
  Translator. The body of Christ.
• 1:28:54
  No. Yeah.
• 1:28:56
  So. OK, so ostia here is like a bad
• 1:29:01
  word right here. Ostia in English.
• 1:29:05
  I don't know what it is, but. That's what he asked.
• 1:29:08
  That's that doesn't have a translation in.
• 1:29:10
  Spanish for us Ostia is the that they did the priest give you to
• 1:29:14
  eat for the Catholics. The body of Christ at church.
• 1:29:17
  Yeah, I know, I know. Yeah.
• 1:29:18
  So that's the body of Christ, right?
• 1:29:20
  So like for for me, when they're saying Ostia is like they're
• 1:29:23
  saying, you know the bad word. And I'm like.
• 1:29:26
  And I'm like what like? The like Ostia is.
• 1:29:28
  Are you blessing him or are you like trying to?
• 1:29:30
  Curse him out, that's what's happening.
• 1:29:32
  And that, that's where Spanish comes from, right?
• 1:29:34
  Like or or when they when they start cursing at each other,
• 1:29:38
  stuff like that. Like I think it's funny because
• 1:29:41
  it sounds really funny. It's not like the same words
• 1:29:45
  that we used to curse somebody out right.
• 1:29:47
  Ours actually sound mean, like theirs make me laugh.
• 1:29:51
  So it's. So I have the same feeling in
• 1:29:54
  general, yeah. They don't really know how to
• 1:29:57
  curse like. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 1:30:01
  So I could do it for a few minutes without repeating
• 1:30:03
  myself. Yeah, yeah.
• 1:30:05
  So I think for me, I think that's a good one.
• 1:30:07
  I think it's. There's not a literal
• 1:30:09
  translation to it. My ghost.
• 1:30:12
  Yeah, they. Crash, right?
• 1:30:14
  You know, so it's just. I'm sure there's there's plenty
• 1:30:17
  who's got a thing on. Yeah.
• 1:30:18
  Correct. Favorite football team?
• 1:30:23
  Favorite. From Spain.
• 1:30:26
  Let's say for from Spain. Madrid.
• 1:30:30
  Barcelona. A la Madrid.
• 1:30:33
  Barcelona. OK, but I gotta tell you why
• 1:30:39
  though. I mean, why is yours?
• 1:30:42
  I I was growing up seeing Ronaldinho play for Barcelona.
• 1:30:49
  With Henri, it was the the moment in which was the sticky
• 1:30:55
  tack thing from back then and it was a huge that was that's when
• 1:31:01
  Real started to buy players. And I I never liked this
• 1:31:05
  development or of real in the direction they went because they
• 1:31:08
  invested a huge amount of money only they bought sedan, they
• 1:31:12
  bought Beckham, they bought like they try to make it, solve it
• 1:31:15
  with money. Just bring.
• 1:31:16
  They bought their championships, yes.
• 1:31:19
  Exactly. This is life.
• 1:31:25
  Make sure you put this piece in, of course.
• 1:31:30
  Yes. No, no, I like it, No.
• 1:31:34
  Like to me, I love the sport, right?
• 1:31:36
  I mean, I love this, this I can remember like even though I
• 1:31:40
  didn't, I didn't really play it. I played mostly basketball when
• 1:31:43
  I was growing up. But like to me when I was
• 1:31:47
  growing up in Mexico, the only televised like Real Madrid game,
• 1:31:50
  the big. So that's that's, that's where
• 1:31:53
  you like. Understood.
• 1:31:56
  Honestly, I don't remember watching Barcelona games, to be
• 1:31:58
  completely honest with you when I was growing up.
• 1:32:01
  And then I have a childhood Mexican team that I love, which
• 1:32:05
  is called Pumas. Don't know if you're familiar.
• 1:32:09
  They have a big logo. So.
• 1:32:13
  So we had to go Sanchez that he went to Real Madrid and he
• 1:32:17
  wanted a lot of pacicious so So again, that's he came from my
• 1:32:20
  childhood team to the only team they show on TV, OK.
• 1:32:23
  I understand I. Understand you're forgiven so.
• 1:32:28
  You're forgiven. I had, We had.
• 1:32:30
  We had Haji from Romania. I don't know if you know him.
• 1:32:32
  Gorgi Haji. He was in Barsa and then in.
• 1:32:35
  Yeah, yeah, yeah. So it was before Figo before
• 1:32:39
  before Figo doing. This so there's there's a lot of
• 1:32:41
  players that they switch right, I mean, but I have to pay less
• 1:32:43
  money, which, you know, I get it.
• 1:32:46
  Whatever. This is this is, this is this is
• 1:32:51
  getting really bad now, yes. So you want to say we are, we
• 1:32:54
  are bankrupt. Yes, we are.
• 1:32:55
  We are winning, Yes, we are so. Are you still there?
• 1:33:00
  Morals and ethics, yes. Yes, exactly.
• 1:33:06
  I like I liked how this discussion developed at the end.
• 1:33:09
  I love it. She wants to go against me.
• 1:33:13
  You know how her life is right? She if I tell her to give me 5
• 1:33:18
  bucks at our place right now she has no idea what no.
• 1:33:20
  I don't, but you know what? But here's the thing.
• 1:33:23
  So football specifically in my world, so I know more about it
• 1:33:27
  than I ever intended to know in my whole life to be honest.
• 1:33:31
  But you have to understand there's football year round
• 1:33:37
  because if there's not a Mexican league, there's a European
• 1:33:41
  league, there's the there's something champions.
• 1:33:45
  League champions. Champions something.
• 1:33:48
  It's amazing. I have no idea what.
• 1:33:52
  There's always a cup for somebody, right?
• 1:33:57
  One Cup for you, 1 cup for you. Everyone can have a.
• 1:34:00
  Cup, right? We have two teams, you know,
• 1:34:03
  just like Madrid does. So that's the thing.
• 1:34:06
  It's like I've always. So no, I won't be able to tell
• 1:34:09
  you players. And it was funny because so
• 1:34:11
  you're. Not a fan.
• 1:34:12
  Our son, it became this deal because our son became a he's
• 1:34:17
  always been a Real Madrid fan. So my son comes comes into the
• 1:34:22
  picture, he's a Varsa fan and he actually knows way more about
• 1:34:28
  football than he does now. Like it's crazy.
• 1:34:31
  Because you don't work. And so.
• 1:34:36
  So it became this thing that it was like, oh, it was my son and
• 1:34:40
  I like against his team, right or whatever.
• 1:34:43
  So I always just piggy bagged off of my son.
• 1:34:46
  So that's why it became a rivalry.
• 1:34:49
  Yeah, yeah. Nice.
• 1:34:52
  I liked how this end up being I love it.
• 1:34:55
  I just love it. I I had I had to ask the
• 1:34:57
  question because I didn't plan to ask the football question.
• 1:35:00
  But when you told me at the beginning of football, I said,
• 1:35:01
  OK, I'm talking with the with the really person that know what
• 1:35:04
  you think. About yes.
• 1:35:10
  Last question guys, where is home?
• 1:35:15
  For me, home is where family is, doesn't matter what part of the
• 1:35:20
  world that is. I think home is wherever you
• 1:35:23
  make it. Is it more like a feeling that
• 1:35:29
  place? 100%.
• 1:35:33
  So, so right at this moment, home is here.
• 1:35:37
  You know we're here. I think that there's always.
• 1:35:39
  We're going to visit Texas. But it's not.
• 1:35:42
  I think that the best way that I can explain it is when we go
• 1:35:46
  visit Texas is there's never been a truer statement than
• 1:35:52
  whenever we say we're leaving home to go home.
• 1:35:57
  And it that's always going to follow us because it doesn't
• 1:36:01
  matter where we are in the world, wherever it takes us, you
• 1:36:06
  know, we don't intend to go back anytime soon.
• 1:36:12
  But wherever path, wherever life, our path takes us,
• 1:36:15
  wherever life takes us, I think that phrase is always going to
• 1:36:19
  stay true to us is we're leaving home to go home wherever home
• 1:36:23
  is. Yeah, yeah, that's correct.
• 1:36:26
  Which is amazing and crazy in the same time.
• 1:36:30
  But it is like this now, knowing everything that you know,
• 1:36:34
  knowing the experience that you have made, knowing the the whole
• 1:36:37
  luggages discussion from the beginning manual, would you do
• 1:36:41
  it again? Yes.
• 1:36:44
  Without a doubt, I would do it all over.
• 1:36:47
  Again, that was a straightforward yes.
• 1:36:51
  Guys, I cannot thank you enough. You are a you are an amazing
• 1:36:55
  couple. And there was the time that I
• 1:36:57
  enjoy so much the discussion. I enjoy so much the discussion.
• 1:37:00
  I had so much fun. I'm really happy that I get to
• 1:37:04
  know this, so many people doing this, this podcast because I, I
• 1:37:08
  think that my, my, my soul is getting bigger and bigger every
• 1:37:12
  time when I meet nice people like you are, you realize you're
• 1:37:14
  not alone doing the thing. You realize you, oh, someone
• 1:37:18
  else went through the same experience and you, you're not
• 1:37:20
  crazy thinking this. You're not crazy thinking about
• 1:37:22
  that everyone someone else did it and also getting to know
• 1:37:26
  people. It's it's such an amazing
• 1:37:27
  feeling getting to know nice people.
• 1:37:29
  Thank you so much for your time much.
• 1:37:30
  No thank you, thank you, appreciate your time.
• 1:37:33
  This has been fun. We get to look back and laugh
• 1:37:36
  about what once you know made us mad and almost causes our
• 1:37:41
  divorce. But but totally kidding but.
• 1:37:50
  Definitely been able to look back and share these experiences
• 1:37:55
  and let everybody know that e-mail with the raw, the ugly,
• 1:38:01
  the unpredictable, it's it's a beautiful journey.
• 1:38:04
  It's a beautiful experience. Take it for what it is and if
• 1:38:08
  fear is what's stopping you, grab that fear and take it along
• 1:38:13
  with you in the ride. It's so worth it.
• 1:38:18
  Thank you again. I will link your Instagram again
• 1:38:22
  in your in the show notes caption so that people can find
• 1:38:24
  you and every other links that you have.
• 1:38:26
  You are more than welcome to to send it to me and I will put
• 1:38:28
  them down in the description when I will post the episode.
• 1:38:31
  Absolutely. Thank.
• 1:38:32
  You so much will do. No thank you.
• 1:38:33
  Appreciate your time. Thank you.
• 1:38:35
  Thank you. Have a nice one.
• 1:38:36
  Bye, bye. See you.
• 1:38:38
  Every story we share here is a reminder that home isn't just a
• 1:38:41
  coordinator, remember. It's a feeling we're all trying
• 1:38:44
  to translate. Whether you're currently
• 1:38:47
  crossing a border or just streaming of 1, thank you for
• 1:38:51
  letting Wearabouts Tales be part of your journey today.
• 1:38:54
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• 1:38:57
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  leave us a review. Subscribe to us on YouTube to
• 1:39:03
  see the faces behind the stories, or find us on Apple
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• 1:39:08
  Your reviews are the hidden gems that help other travelers find
• 1:39:12
  the show, and they truly keep us moving.
• 1:39:16
  And don't forget, the most interesting path is really the
• 1:39:20
  straightest one. We'll be back in two weeks with
• 1:39:23
  a new tail from a new corner of the world.
• 1:39:26
  Until then, keep wondering. I'm Paul and this was
• 1:39:33
  whereabouts Tails. Thank you.