Summary

The author is planning to move to Spain in 2025 primarily to embrace a car-free lifestyle and reduce living costs, valuing the urban culture that encourages walking, biking, and using public transit.

Abstract

The author discusses the decision to move to Spain, specifically highlighting the appeal of Spanish cities like Barcelona and Valencia for their culture and the potential for a significantly lower cost of living. Despite having a manageable cost of living in Los Angeles, the author seeks to reduce expenses further while also adopting a more community-oriented and health-conscious lifestyle that doesn't revolve around car dependency. The preference for a built environment that promotes walking, biking, and efficient public transportation is a driving force behind the move. The author emphasizes the importance of one's surroundings in daily life, noting the impact on physical and mental health, as well as a sense of community. The article also mentions the author's newsletter, "Never Retire: Living The Semi-Retired Life," where more of their writing on personal finance and the move to Spain can be found.

Opinions

The author believes that a low cost of living can be achieved in many places worldwide, but Spain offers a unique combination of affordability and urban culture.
A car-free lifestyle is highly valued by the author, who sees it as more than just a way to save money but as a means to enhance daily life and community engagement.
The author suggests that the convenience of a car-centric lifestyle in Los Angeles is not worth the trade-off in terms of increased living costs and reduced community interaction.
The author criticizes the public transportation system in Los Angeles for its inefficiency and limited reach compared to the systems in Spanish cities.
There is an underlying opinion that many people might prefer a lifestyle less dependent on cars if they were exposed to more walkable and bike-friendly urban environments.
The author implies that the move to Spain is part of a broader strategy to minimize living expenses in preparation for old age.

The #1 Reason Why I’m Moving To Spain In 2025

It’s all about the culture of cities

We talk a lot about the importance of having a low cost of living, especially on housing. Particularly if you know you’ll Never Retire. But the reality is most of us can find a lower cost of living than we have now in tens, if not hundreds of places around the world other than the places where we currently reside. In fact, my partner and I have a low enough cost of living where we could more than make it work here in the heart of Los Angeles forever.

However, we still intend to move to Spain. For two primary reasons.

One, because we can take our cost of living down by another 40%-50%, if not more by moving. But, here again, we could accomplish this in a place other than urban Spain.

If you’ve been reading for a while, you know why we want this.

We settled on Spain — and considered Italy — for another, ultimately more important reason.

Here’s how my Saturday morning often looks in LA —

I drop my girlfriend off at work then stop at two grocery stores. Whole Foods then Trader Joe’s.

To accomplish these tasks I have to drive.

Granted, it’s not a lot of driving. Just 5.2 miles and 24 minutes total, roundtrip without traffic. Part of me has no problem with it. A smaller part of me actually enjoys it. I love Los Angeles, in part because it isn’t a traditional city like New York or San Francisco. Makes it more interesting.

However, a third part of me — which is considerably bigger than those other two parts — longs to once again live a car-free lifestyle. Not a car-free lifestyle in a built environment I have to adapt to in order to be car-free. Rather, in a built environment that not only encourages and facilitates, but pretty much necessitates walking, biking and taking public transit.

We could have this in Los Angeles. Thing is, in LA, you have to position yourself perfectly to be car-free. From there, you limit yourself when you don’t have a car because our public transportation system either doesn’t take you places where you want to go or takes you there using a route that’s so absurd you’d never even consider it. Too much time. Too many transfers. Super inefficient and unpleasant.

Setting that part aside, if we wanted to position ourselves in a section of a neighborhood where we could accomplish all local tasks without a car we would — at least — double our rent payment. The cost savings from being car-free would barely offset the increase in our housing expenditure.

Not setting that part aside, we would isolate ourselves and most definitely spend too much money on Ubers and renting cars.

If we picked up shop and moved to New York, San Francisco, Boston or some other traditional city where it’s easier to be car-free, we would — at least — double and maybe even have to triple or quadruple our rent.

Not happening, given that the goal is to reduce our cost of living to next to nil as we approach relative old age.

In Spain, particularly Barcelona and Valencia, Saturday morning probably will be completely different. However, if it was the same as Saturday morning in LA, I’d likely walk with my girlfriend to her work, kiss her on the street and proceed to a way superior supermarket or outdoor market (or both) to do the grocery shopping. Then, I’d walk home.

For many people, this distinction seems like splitting hairs.

Maybe it’s the urban studies major in me, but I see the difference as enormous.

On the surface, yes, it’s basic. How you get yourself around in the day to day. But this is anything but surface level stuff. It’s one of the most important elements of your life. Because it’s about more than mere transportation (though that part is critical), it’s about the setting — the surroundings and all they entail — you immerse yourself in. It impacts everything from your physical and mental health to sense of community.

You can tell a lot about a culture by how they get around.

This isn’t to say car culture is wrong. It’s just ultimately not for me. And I do believe that a lot of people would realize it’s not for them either if they thought twice about it.

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This article is adapted from my Never Retire: Living The Semi-Retired Life newsletter, where you can find most of my writing on personal finance and the forthcoming move to Spain. Medium readers can receive 50% off of their first year’s subscription to my newsletter.