Why We Are Leaving the United States for Spain

For years, leaving the USA was something we talked about without ever really touching. It came up in conversations late at night or in quiet moments when life felt routine. It always sounded good in theory, starting over somewhere new, building a different kind of life, but it never felt urgent. It was something we told ourselves we would do one day, eventually, when the timing made more sense.

That idea of “one day” stayed with us for a long time.

We imagined it happening when the kids were older or when we retired. We treated it like a long-term plan instead of a real option. And like most things that get pushed into the future, it stayed there. Comfortable. Distant. Easy to talk about without having to act on it.

That changed after the 2024 election.

The conversations we were having stopped feeling hypothetical. The direction of the country didn’t just feel like something happening around us anymore. It started to feel personal. My husband and our children are Hispanic, and that reality shifted how we looked at everything. It wasn’t about reacting emotionally or making a rushed decision. It was about paying attention and being honest about what kind of environment we wanted our family to grow in.

At some point, we stopped asking “what if” and started asking “why are we waiting?”

Once we asked that question seriously, everything started to move quickly. By the summer of 2025, we were fully committed to leaving the USA. That’s when it stopped being an idea and became something we had to actually build.

And building it wasn’t simple.

This wasn’t a dreamy version of moving abroad. It wasn’t curated or aesthetic. It was practical. I work remotely as a writer, contracting for a company, so one of the first things we had to figure out was whether I could continue working from another country. That piece mattered because this decision wasn’t about escaping. It was about creating something sustainable for our family.

From there, everything else followed. Paperwork, legal steps, financial planning, timelines, and decisions that forced us to think about what our life would actually look like outside of the United States. Leaving the USA quickly became less about the idea of it and more about whether we could realistically make it work.

Then we brought the kids into the conversation.

That moment made everything feel real in a completely different way. Our son didn’t hesitate about leaving the USA. He was ready immediately, excited about the idea of something new without overthinking what he would be leaving behind. Our daughter had a different reaction. She needed time. She had questions about her friends, her routine, and what her life would look like somewhere unfamiliar. We didn’t try to rush her into agreement. We talked through it, gave her space to process it, and let her come to her own decision.

Eventually, she did. Now she is extremely excited about leaving the USA.

And when we were all on the same page, it changed everything.

In November of 2025, we went to Spain. Not as tourists, but as a family trying to figure out where we could actually live. We visited Valencia and Alicante, paying attention to more than just how things looked. We wanted to understand how it felt to be there, what daily life might look like, and whether we could see ourselves building something long-term.

Alicante stood out immediately.

There wasn’t much debate. It felt right in a way that’s hard to explain but easy to recognize when it happens. The pace, the energy, and the overall feel of the city aligned with what we had been searching for. We didn’t have to convince ourselves. We just knew.

That’s when we set the date. July 10.

Since then, everything has been moving forward at a pace that feels both exciting and overwhelming. Leaving the USA isn’t just a decision. It’s a process that touches every part of your life. We’ve been handling paperwork, preparing documents, remodeling our house so we can sell it, and going through everything we own to decide what comes with us and what we leave behind.

There’s a constant balance between letting go and holding on.

Some days feel exciting, like we are building something meaningful by leaving the USA. Other days feel heavy, like we are walking away from everything familiar all at once. Both of those feelings exist at the same time, and neither one cancels the other out.

Because the truth is, this isn’t easy.

We are leaving behind the systems we understand, the routines we’ve built, and the version of life we’ve always known. That kind of decision comes with uncertainty, and there’s no way around that. But staying simply because it’s comfortable stopped feeling like a good enough reason for us.

At its core, leaving the USA isn’t about running from something. It’s about choosing something else.

We want our kids to grow up with a broader perspective. We want them to experience another culture in a real way, to learn another language naturally, and to understand that life doesn’t have to be limited to one place. We want a different pace and a different kind of environment that feels more aligned with the life we are trying to build.

This hasn’t been the easiest decision we’ve ever made.

But the important ones usually aren’t.

We are still in the middle of it. Still preparing, still adjusting, still figuring things out as we go. And that’s exactly what this space is for. Not just to share the highlights, but to share the real parts of leaving the USA. The decisions, the challenges, and everything in between.

Because this isn’t just about moving to Spain and leaving the USA. This is about starting over, on purpose. We’re stepping into a new life, fully committed to it, as immigrants.

What Happens Next

Right now, we are still in the middle of the process.

We are preparing to leave the USA while also trying to stay present in the life we’re still living here. That in-between space is something no one really talks about, but it’s where we are.

Over the next few months, we’ll be sharing everything as it happens. The final stages of preparing, the move itself, and what it actually looks like once we arrive.

Not just the good parts, but all of it.