Aerial view of the village of Miravet at the Ebro river in Tarragona at sunset. Catalonia, Spain
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Beth had been living outside of New York City when she and her husband began divorce proceedings, just before pandemic lockdowns swept across the world.
During those peak pandemic years, she was trying to figure out what her next steps were going to be. “At the beginning of the pandemic I was looking where to relocate within the United States. As it went on, I decided to broaden my horizons. I started thinking I should take a chance and move overseas,” Beth tells me.
“It was something I always wanted to do, but until then, never got the chance to make it happen.”
The time came when Beth got her youngest child settled into university. Then, single and an empty nester, she traveled to Spain on a three-month visa. “I wanted to test myself. Make sure it was something I wanted to commit to long-term.”
“I loved it.”
A Second Chance At An Overseas Life
At this point, Beth has lived in Spain for four years. “After spending all this time living here, I can say I’m still in love with the choice I made to move here,” Beth says.
“Things that are definitely different from what I expected. There’re things that are both better and worse. I think you have to come with an open mind and be up for a challenge. You’ll have the most success moving overseas if you can adapt to the culture instead of expecting that the culture will adapt to you.”
This is some of the best advice I can give anyone thinking about this idea of moving overseas. You need to keep this perspective the whole time. Some days will be harder than others… and for some people it can be the hardest part of the whole experience.
To that, Beth says, “It can be the hardest part, but also one of the most exciting parts. When I moved, it was at a time in my life where everything was changing. A lot of my identity was being a mom. Then my children all moved out, and I started thinking about what my next path would be.”
“Being in a different environment, within a different culture, it’s never boring. It’s always an adventure. I challenge myself every day. If you can look at these differences not as obstacles but as adventures and opportunities… it’s actually really fun.”
A big part of Beth’s moving-overseas decision was rooted in going all in on a new adventure. But she also found that the more practical aspects of living overseas were highly beneficial.
Practicalities Of Living In Spain
When Beth was looking to move, she was selling a nice house in New Jersey and had a divorce settlement, but it was not enough to live off in the United States. To stay, she would’ve had to start a career at a challenging age. “And I was prepared and confident that I could do it. But instead of taking on that adventure, I chose the one that took me to Europe.”
This adventure came with the advantage of a more affordable cost of living. In Spain, Beth doesn’t need a car (or car insurance) and she got to buy a large property just a 10-minute walk from the sea.
One of the biggest reasons Beth relocated here was the significantly lower cost of health insurance. Of the health care in her new home, Beth comments, “First of all, the care here is beyond excellent. As part of my visa requirements, I needed to get and keep private health insurance for all the five years I could acquire the temporary residency.”
“Tarragona has plenty of big clinics where you can get checked for several specialties, and they are super professional and efficient. I’ve been really happy with it.”
Beth continues, “The cost was unbelievable to me. One of the biggest hurdles in my life in the U.S. was dealing with health care costs. I almost burst into tears when I got my quote for my plan here.”
Four years ago, Beth’s plan started at 1,100 euros per year with no copays and no deductibles. She currently pays about 1,500 euros a year. It covers everything, including dental and vision. “I was looking at paying much more than that per month in the States,” Beth shares.
As a perk of living in the Catalonia region of Spain, foreigners who are under temporary residency are eligible for public health care, which Beth also has. She has experienced both, and she considers them both excellent.
Regarding residency, Beth moved to Spain with a Non-Lucrative Visa, which is also known as their retirement visa. With this visa she’s not allowed to work in Spain, as it’s mostly for retirees, but could be for anyone who meets the income requirements.
In the four years she has lived in Spain, she’s already renewed this visa twice and next year will be eligible for permanent residency.
Now that permanent residency is in her future, she’ll have the opportunity to do a number of things that could be income-generating. But because she doesn’t spend as much in Spain, she’s financially stable. “I’m in a position where it’s going to be my choice, instead of a necessity,” Beth remarks.
Choosing Tarragona
The streets of Tarragona, Spain
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One of Beth’s favorite cities is Barcelona. But when it came time to move to Spain, she was advised to not move there.
“Barcelona is a big, international city. If I went there for my three-month trial, by the end of it, I would still feel like a tourist. It would be difficult to immerse myself and feel what it would be like living there full time. My Spanish friends suggested two cities within an hour of Barcelona, Girona and Tarragona. It came down to the language. In Girona there’s much more Catalan spoken. I didn’t want to be in the position of learning not only Spanish but Catalan,” Beth shares.
“I didn’t know how amazing Tarragona was before moving here. I fell in love with it instantly. I pretty quickly knew this was where I wanted to be.”
I always try to make this point when speaking to people who want to move abroad.
There’re two aspects to making a move anywhere. One is all the practicalities of a place, how they all fit and make sense for you. For example, you are eligible for residency, it’s within your budget, they have the health care that you need, it’s in the part of the world where you want to be, the climate is what you’re looking for, etc.
But then you need to show up in the place and find out if you actually like it there. This is aspect number two.
On paper, maybe it was your perfect fit. It looks like where you should be. And then you get there and realize that you don’t actually like it.
It could also go the other way. Maybe on paper it doesn’t check all the boxes, but you show up and fall in love with it.
For Beth, Tarragona not only checked all the boxes, but it also ended up being her dream home. “It’s close to major airports, I wanted to be close to the coast and mountains, it has a high-speed train station… all of this worked pretty well for me.”
With a population of a little over 200,000, Tarragona has an interesting history. It used to be the Roman capital of the Iberian Peninsula, and the capital of the entire Roman empire for three years while Emperor Augustus lived there. Due to this, it has many UNESCO World Heritage Sites and spectacular Roman ruins that live spread throughout the city, just a part of everyday life.
In Tarragona you’ll find a large expat community. Beth discovered that making friends abroad was not difficult because other expats are friendly, welcoming, and looking to make connections. If she had relocated to another area within the United States, she wouldn’t have had such an easy path to new relationships.
Beth now has friends from all over the world, many of them locals. “The sense of community is so strong in this country. Every four to six weeks there is some kind of event or celebration, and it feels so easy to get involved in the local community as someone who didn’t grew up here.”
“Tarragona is a beautiful, inclusive, and active place… I’ve never regretted my choice to move here.”
