The original idea, driving the move was to work remotely, observing CST time in Spain, meaning 16:00 to 23:00 (4pm to 11pm). That would leave the AM for riding and building the Grail House gravel bike, short-term-rental, touring business. The PM would be dedicated to working in my usual role. This model would provide the financial stability necessary to develop my entrepreneurial side venture, IE verifiable income with which to make a home purchase, the base for Grail House. No such thing as a US credit score in Spain. Makes sense. Work contracts are king.

Shortly before our move, tax laws became solidified. Rules took hold. Those rules didn’t care about purchased plane tickets, sold house-hold items, or difficult conversations with family. I would not be able to work remotely from Spain. Auspicious? Not really. But like all stories, your judgement of the outcome always depends on where in the story you’re looking. At this point, we had too much momentum to turn back. I could freelance right? I could make some things happen. Surely.

Sure enough, some things did happen! I wrote some articles for theDPM.com. I worked on New Business development for Skully Rebels. We worked on medical device paperwork, needed for Euro-Zone device integration. I created and sold a couple of t-shirts. Did a coffee collab and sold those. Started a weekly Grail House group ride to build a community. And during all this, rode 13,000km, building up trail knowledge and Instagram content. All good things! But, underneath, a termite was gnawing away at the foundation more quickly then could be repaired.

If you don’t have a work contract and you’re working, well then you must be an Autonomo (Freelancer). This means you must file your invoices with the tax authorities (Hacienda) monthly. How do you do this? Well, you pay a service about €80/month. This must be paid whether you have invoices to file or not. Also you have to pay into retirement. After your first year, the cost goes up from €80 to €300 minimum and of course the €80 for the service per month. Steep cost of entry into the freelance world.

Alongside this was the other inconvenience not having a work contract provided - rental hurdles. Logically, landlords would like verifiable income as well. The bundle with a dog and save notion was false. Mix in a dog and though there are dogs everywhere and well loved, rentals often only allowed small dogs, if any. So, we found ourselves in the un-enviable position of needing to pay 10 months up front, cash, which we did and found ourselves in a nice little apartment on the 8th floor, just north of Alicante, in a town called Playa San Juan. Lovely area. With the next 10 months paid up front, our bills were mainly food, wifi, Iberdrola (electricity), water. And bike stuff.

All of the above was the undercurrent, the back drop to an otherwise beautiful daily routine. Just when we were starting to make friends, starting to see potential, starting to know the neighborhoods, the trails… just when the vision was starting to come into focus, we realized the sand was running out of the bottom faster than it was filling up on top. We either fell victim to the “Sunk Cost Fallacy” throwing good money after bad, or? And this is where the vertigo inducing realization set in. We couldn’t stay in this model. Something had to change. With more and more jobs allowing remote work USA, one look at our passport options made it clear. We would need to move back. But where to? And now that we had friends, it would be so hard to say goodbye.

It was hard to know we were going to move and not telling people immediately. I’d deflect invites to trips scheduled for dates I knew I wouldn’t be able to attend. No need to dwell on it until it really came time right? Looking back on my Instagram videos (reels), I feel homesick. The two years were filled with incredible experiences and great memories, but in the last 6 months, I really started to feel a sense of home. The flywheel of language learning was moving. I no longer felt intimidated or even nervous to speak. I didn’t feel out of place. I had a friend group, I knew how I fit into the picture. The key? WhatsApp groups. That felt bittersweet after all this time wondering and now knowing it was ending too soon.

Next Time: How the west was won? I mean how the PNW won. The run up to the move back.

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In June of 2023 we moved from Minneapolis to Alicante, Spain. What a change! We were on a real-life easter egg hunt, finding new things, never before experienced visions around every corner, down every alley. I biked nearly every day. Erica, MeenBean and I were in an IRL video game, uncovering new ground daily, making the map bigger, meeting new people, learning new things. It’s difficult to imagine what happened exactly that caused tomorrow March 22nd to be: The Last Dance - my official going away gravel ride.

In less than two weeks, we’ll be unpacking our things in an AirBnB in Boise, Idaho. Did something go wrong? Did something fail to go right? Is it binary? Is it what it is? What we wanted and expected to happen didn’t happen within the available timeline. Other things happened that were also a lot of fun. But, changes needed to be made. It is what it is. To hear the stories behind the changes subscribe below. More to come in the following weeks.

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Family visited. We made friends. We experienced a lot of love and a lot of beauty.

Moments that have shaped my soul forever.

Each of the photos in the gallery represent a phase, hopes and dreams, new friendships, family or glimpses into the future. Watch for future 3BMET substacks for all the Tea. In the next 3MBET learn: “What is an Autonomo?”

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For Friends, Family, Future Friends and Future Family, the story doesn’t end here, but it just might become more interesting to you. Now that we’re here, making friends, building connections, weaving our own strands into the fabric tapestry of life, we’re preparing for Phase II.

Phase II - Huh?

If phase I was all about getting here, finding our way, navigating immigration and to-dos, phase II is about what’s next, IE: How can we share this with others, really? Sharing what’s been happening via the Substack, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube: 3MBET is one thing, the better thing would be for you to do it yourself, to create your own stories. That’s where we’re heading, building a path that makes it that much easier to come visit and experience for yourself Spanish:

• Culture / Food / Architecture / Everyday Life / Art / History

• Biking / Snorkeling / Hiking / Walking / Scuba / Sailing / Scooters

• City-life / Night-life

• Off the bike chill - Spanish people don’t chill on the bike.

The Big Dream

You may have guessed this, if you didn’t know already but in fact: It’s all about the bike. Well, not really, but a lot, especially in Fall / Winter / Spring. We’re working on a short term rental business that caters heavily to cyclists in the off-season. This is phase II. It’s a big one. This is shortly before mile 13 in marathon speak. The wall is in sight. I know about The Wall. The Wall is my friend. Getting over The Wall will take some time to scale. If you could send us more cowbell occasionally, or shout: Let’s Goooooo! I think it would help a lot and we promise you won’t regret it.

As we get closer and closer, I will begin sharing some updates of our findings. Maybe do some poll voting on the insta and stuff like that. We’ve drawn out the area map of locations and have begun perusing what’s available. All very promising! Nothing motivates more than forward progress. Step by step by step. Or pedal by pedal by pedal.

I hope you stay with us for the ride. It’s going to be a long one, but I think the views along the way will be worth it.

Thanks for reading. See you next time!

Cheers!

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Much of this adventure to date has been made easier to tackle because of the support and encouragement received from people we’ve known a long time and some we just met. The Friends, Family, Future Friends, and Future Family have buoyed us in times of doubt and for that I am immensely grateful!

Life here is taking shape! Just now, I called my Spanish homie Antonio, a fellow gravel rider (He only speaks Spanish), on WhatsApp, to talk about a 200km race coming up in May. Apparently I held my own on the last 2 rides sufficiently enough to be invited! To be invited means a lot. To be invited to ride with the homie’s homie (Miguel Cobo) and then to be invited to ride with the group I’ve not yet met, in a 200km race, is a high honor in my book, because it means you can hang and aren’t a literal drag. The horizon has a beacon on it, called The TRAKA ← Check it out here The TRAKA Girona May 2024 Stoke level off the charts! Let’s Gooooo!!!

On the road side, I’ve done a couple of rides with the Gran Alacant group now as well. Met some really good dudes on this side of that road coin too: Irish, Scottish, Dutch, Norwegian, British, Danish and Flemish. Even in English, there’s some lost in translation moments, lol. The nuances of language are top of mind daily. What you can and can’t understand even when using the SAME words is boggling the mind in the best ways.

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In some ways, I feel like the Universe has gifted me with the jackpot lottery win I have only ever dreamed of. I have a wonderful partner, with a beautiful independent, gentle and steady soul who cares for me, for us, and Meen’r. We laugh a lot and have the easiest, best most enjoyable times together, even when we’re just chilling, not speaking. Just sharing space together is enjoyable. After nearly 7 years, we’ve never fought. I think it’s because we’re also really REALLY good friends. Challenges melt more easily when we face them together. For that I feel incredibly blessed. If she’s the heart of MB-E-T, then I must be the muscle. LOL.

Our last legal paperwork hurdles are fast approaching being in the rearview mirror. Just a tiny bit more validation and proofing to do.

In the meantime, we are continuing inexorably forward towards the ultimate goal, one step at a time. If you’re wondering what goal this might be, we’ve recently formed an LLC to answer that question: 3MBET: We want to share the beauty and adventures able to be experienced here. Not everyone knows this is accessible. We want to share the snorkeling, the biking, the food, the hikes, walks, coffee with the FFFFFF = F^6 (Friends, Family, Future Friends, Future Family)

I’ve started a YouTube channel (3MBET) to start sharing what’s possible here. Once we’re really ready to launch, we’ll have a library of activities to share. As with everything, that puzzle is still being built, but it’s taking shape. Hang with us here as it comes together!

Perhaps one day soon, we can share all of this with YOU, when you come to visit!

In the meantime, your recon team is continuing on this discovery mission! Talk soon.

Cheers!

The bureaucracy tunnel is coming to an end! In an age of PDFs, email, docusign, adobe sign, why are we still placing value on foil, emboss-ery and wax sealed stamping? It’s a futile question. A rhetorical question. It is what it is and as such, we dove in when things felt like the picture on the left. With help, we’ve found our path through and only have one major paperwork hurdle left. W00T! And that’s where we’ll leave the story for now. See picture on the right.

Since nothing ever stands still or happens in a vacuum, what else has life brought about concurrently? So much!

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Logistics and to-dos, and bureaucracies, yep. All necessary, but they are hardly the point. The point is to build a new life. Take the ideas percolating wherever ideas live and make them real! At this point in our lives, we are in a position that allows us the most freedom we’ve ever had to take the strands of life we love, the strands we need, and the strands we want and weave them into a new picture that hopefully brings happiness, opportunity, a sense of adventure and a feeling of stability and belonging. What does that look like? How does that even work? It’s a funny balance because, even as you leave things behind, the expectations of how things are “supposed to be” is a difficult but valuable guest, depending on when they choose to make themselves known. There are many examples:

Base Level - 24/7 Ongoing realtime “Cultural Evaluator” feature:

How I used to do it vs How it’s done here - Does this end? I forgot the name of Costco today, so maybe?

• What this coffee is 1 Euro and this croissant .80c?! Awesome!

• What do you mean this document is expired? It’s a marriage license.

• Communicating with your landlord, Movistar or your Vet is great over WhatsApp. The translation feature is super helpful!

Life Level - 24/7/365 Ongoing realtime what is our life? Which berries are we in this smoothie? Are we circulating frozen around the top of the blender generated whirlpool, or are we becoming part of the whole, adding flavor?

The parts we bring are our ways into the smoothie. We love talking to people and walking everywhere. Routines are starting to take shape, places we shop, have coffee, walk Meen, go snorkeling, go biking, get ice cream. Pizza Sundays! Drawing? Videos? Work? Friends? Community? Each of these I imagine are like stones we’re casting out into the water, creating ripples that expand out until they happen upon other ripples that either cancel out or amplify. I keep looking for visuals to help understand what’s happening, so I know what to expect. The transplant image seems most appropriate. You lose some leaves. Perhaps growth is halted, but you know a bigger pot is necessary. Also, the idea of a plant transplanting itself makes me laugh for some reason.

The photos above share little snapshots in time of life here to date. Looking back over the last 2 months living here, I think sensing some newly found freedom, I did everything like it would be taken away again at any moment. Everything was done using the measurement of “ton”. I biked… a ton. MBE&T walked… a ton. I snorkeled… a ton. Explored with Meen’r… a ton. I worked on learning video editing… a ton. I worked on learning Spanish… a ton. I also looked for work… a ton. Wrote… a ton. Still trying to make sense of all of it, hence this effort to weave it all together. Making friends, understanding the layout of the city, like which of these would be Hennepin? Is this our version of Washington Ave? Makes it seem like it’s more than a daydream.

I’m going to try and share in an organized way, but this is life, it’s “organic”, spontaneous, outside of control, random, chaotic, beautiful, exciting, lovely, exuberant, unpredictable, inspiring. Here we go.

There are basically 4 vectors that create opportunities for us to become part of the smoothie and to stop swirling around the top of the whirlpool. Every day taking care of the following brings us closer to the smoothie’s blender. Too far? lol

• Food / Drink:

  • Daily Shopping - See the regulars / cashiers / running into those who like similar things / Chaotic Unpredictable Encounters

  • Coffee - See regulars / cashiers /

  • Special Occasions / Restaurants / Chaotic Unpredictable Encounters

• MeenBean - She is the queen of encouraging chaotic unpredictable encounters. LOL

  • Every walk brings with it the potential of running into something unexpected. We go out many times a day.

• Biking

  • Bike Groups - Gran Alacant

  • Bike Shops - Trek Alicante

  • Bike Rides - Google Maps or Wahoo?

  • Bike Events - La Vuelta! Congrats Kuss!

• Friendships - Potential friends are everywhere, but you know it’s like 100% that it will come from biking.

  • Met a Gravel Rider - Exchanged numbers because for some reason, it’s rare here, though it’s incredibly awesome. People think it’s too hard, but have no problem riding 100s of Kms up mountains. LOL Perception is everything.

  • Bike shop - Made a friend here, talking bikes, repairs, gear, events, routes, future plans. Dogs. The usual, except in Spanish. See? It translates. Might be a universal truth.

Ultimately it all can be taken away. Without work to refill the hourglass from the top, at some point the hourglass will only have sand on one side, the wrong side. Here again, more fuel is added to my mystification fire, as none of the work opportunities that have come my way, were actually searched out by me. I didn’t apply, sweat bullets, wring hands, hope and pray and ultimately receive. This has been the way with my life, so I’m not surprised as much as I am very grateful. Thanks for looking out Universe. Love you. Thank you!

I’m currently writing for theDPM.com. Write about what you know, right? Well, 11+ years in PM-ing leads to this being my first article. It’s about Resource Management. Who knew? You can check it out here:

• Agency Resource Management: Real Talk on How the Sausage Gets Made

And in more of: Do what you know news, I joined some friends at Skully Rebels doing ad agency stuff. If you haven’t yet seen the announcement, you can check out this Mpls Egotist Post. Super Psyched to make it happen with my buds Darren and Jordan. Come on, it had to happen. Had to. Let’s go!

So, we continue to securely build towards our future vision, 1 step at a time. For those who are a little more visual, you can see what it’s like here in Alicante, Spain on our YouTube Channel: 3MBET

The Channel is just getting started, but you’ll see some bits of the adventures we’re having to date.

There are:

• Bike videos, showing local routes, scenes from La Vuelta’s Stage 8

• Australian Snorkel Dog - Meen’r learning about snorkeling

• Moving out of our AirBnB

• Saying Goodbye to Chirag

• Misc Shorts

I have to say that seeing the pros ride up a climb so steep it made me zig-zag with speed that’s respectable on flat has been the stand out mind blowing experience for me to date. That and the absolutely incredible fan feelings around cheering on those riders. I was losing my mind, but so was everyone else and that let me know I’m home.

Yesterday I met with a group and rode a large loop together. Amazingly strong riders. Tomorrow, I WhatsApp check-in with a future friend and will meet up for a gravel ride Wednesday.

Slowly but surely I see the disparate strands starting to form a picture. It’s 8-bit with lots of pieces missing still, but it’s happening. We ordered internet from Movistar, in Spanish. That felt great. That will help. Also did 2 virtual drawing clubs. See a fellow member’s pic below.

Finally, you know, it’s always iffy going to a new barber. BlackStar’s Stephin, did it right. So, that puzzle piece fits, rounding out that portion of the picture.

September is here. Kids are in school. The heat is no longer on boil. More like simmer. It rained here and the marble was slick as ice back in Minnie. Nostalgic reminder. lol.

If you made it this far! Big hug and much love. Hope to see you soon!

Cheers from MeenBean / Erica / Thako !!! = 3MBET

Legally our immigration to Spain is nearly complete. The last item is to get a fresh marriage certificate, because our original apostilled document is older than 90 days now and has spoiled, due to lack of refrigeration, or maybe we didn’t brine it properly? Vinegar? Not sure, but we need a fresh one mailed to us to be apostilled for an all-new 90 day window. At 48, I’m learning documents without expiration dates, can nevertheless exceed their best-by date. So much money in legal fees could be saved, if only more people knew marriage certificates were only good for 90 days. Jokes aside. No biggie. Just a few more steps.

In some instances, when people say, it’s my journey, I snort milk out of my nose; especially considering I’m saying it about myself, regarding the logistics of proving residence. Ghost pepper infused, curdled milk, with mini chunks of paperclips sounds over the top, but let me make my case.

- TLDR alert. Make popcorn or coffee -

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Friday the 1st of September rolled up, like most POST Super Blue Moon Fridays, documents in hand, dressed up, gelled hair, button down, casual Adidas, because it’s Friday, not trying too hard. Antonio our ANYWR rep, met us, ready to support with any and all translation needs. After entering the Ayuntamiento (Town Hall) we pulled SAIC0019 and walked confidently towards the waiting room seats. We were called up shortly after sitting down. Cool! The Town Hall bureaucrat motioned for Erica and I to remain in the waiting area and Antonio would have to navigate the conversation solo. Odd. OK, handed off docs, moved back to seating area, chastened. This felt less than auspicious.

- Antonio Returns #1 -

Our hero’s downcast countenance and shaking head: no! conveys confirmation of our fears. The rental property, found easily during our first attempt can no longer be located in the system. HUH??? We have received mail here. What does that mean it can’t be found? Is this some kind of Diagon Alley address only wizarding visitors can find? We call our rental agent Paco. I suggest we just walk over, it’s right around the corner. Off we go.

- Rental Office Visit #1 -

Much rapid Spanish is spoken. I surmise Paco’s frustration with the Kafka-esque situation. Sounds of frustration. Body language loud and clear, eye-rolling, head-shaking, voice-inflections in a staccato way.. Yep. Right there with you Paco BUUUUUUUUT - Look, the street address is 17. The property is registered under 15 at the time of purchase. Uhhhm. OK. I see the confusion. Things aren’t lining up logically. Ok - new contracts with the amended address mention are printed and signed by all. Finally. We should be good. Right?

- Ayuntamiento Visit #2 (Same Day - just later)

We send ACHILLLLLLLLLLES (Antonio) armed to the teeth with certified and verified originals and copies up the stairs to the battle field:

*It doesn’t go as hoped*

Somehow our valiant bureaucrat finds the soft tendon of the heel, namely the property number matching the registered actual address of 15 only has 1 owner instead of the 4 indicated on the property contract with the address of 17. This whirlwind of blows can only be parried by someone even more powerful than our hero Antonio. We call Paco again.

- The Battle of Paco and the Ayuntamiento - Round 1

Paco arrives, with what I assume are a full compliment of bureaucratic “swords, knives, shields, and spears” | A leather satchel, closed to view, so I’m speculating as to its contents. Paco passes us, giving us a fist-bump and a knowing nod, walking briskly by. Our real hero has arrived!

- Paco leaves, passing us quietly with a small nod. No sign of Antonio. Apparently the wall of Troy are made of sterner stuff. Given Antonio is still up there, with the bureaucrat, means all isn’t lost. Or is it?

- Antonio comes to the waiting hall below. Head cast down. More paperwork is needed. Stronger paperwork. Less easily attained paperwork. Paperwork only Paco can wield.

- Paco returns! We wait. Sounds of battle, clashing of pens against paper? Battle cries? Voices die down.

- Paco, Antonio and the Bureaucrat descend from the field of battle down towards us in the waiting room. Papers in hand. There’s a pen. Motions to sign. Smiles. Compliments and gratitudes are exchanged. Papers with stamps are collected, versioned out for him and her. Is it over? Is this it? Can we now vote, get state sponsored vaccines? Discounted Spanish classes? Count towards city budget numbers?

IT IS DONE

Thank You Achilles (Antonio)

*No blood was shed. Events represent actual scenes of dramatic recreation only.

Victorious, we hug Antonio, give our sincere thanks to both him and the ANYWR group and say farewell. Now we just have to prove Erica and I are married legally as accepted by the United States of America, with fresh, unspoiled, recently supplied and apostilled documents.

In the meantime, we are continuing to explore, finding out how our lives fit into the cultural tapestry of our new hometown. Some friendships are forming. Some paths have regular overlaps. MeenBean is learning where all the dirt is for the “Business” and where the best scrounging is to be had, outside restaurants. I don’t love this, but she’s a quick one.

On Wednesday my first article for theDPM.com is set to be published. There’s a podcast in the works, four more articles in the chute and a few other creative irons in the fire. I’ve also semi-quietly “launched” a YouTube Channel featuring Cycling / Snorkel-Hounding and other events relating to our adventure to date: 3MBET would love to hear what you think!

If you’ve made it this far Big Hug! Thanks for following along with our adventure. It’s always more fun to share. And as always, if you’re ever in the area, or are curious about coming to visit, HIT ME UP! I’m happy to help!

Until next time!

Cheers!

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*News from the Vuelta España Stage 8 coming in the next newsletter!*

First of all, congratulations to Spain’s Women’s Football (Soccer) Team! World Champs! España, Campeona del Mundo! It was a great game and a well-deserved victory. #19 murdered the ball in the final match and #18 buried it in the semi-final to get them there. We were screaming and celebrating alongside the team.

I thought this was a nice touch from Google. :)

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Last we “talked” we had a looming town hall registration: Padron meeting. What’s so funny about all of these immigration logistics, is that when you google these things or watch YouTube videos, it all sounds straightforward. Nearly every day, I thank our lucky stars we opted to get help from ANYWR. For example, who knew you’d need the photo IDs for ALL the co-owners of our apartment? We didn’t know this? Our Anywr rep also didn’t know. She helped us secure the ID of our main point of contact, with whom we signed the lease, which we also brought to the townhall. But I’m rushing ahead.

The day of our Padron registration, Erica and I, or I should say, I put some effort into my appearance. No hat, button down shirt. Selected the cleanest shoe option. No sandals. Less Beach-Slouch, less Gravelero and more whatever it is that conveys, “We solemnly swear we’re up to no only good.”

Erica is always looking good, so putting in this effort to try and reach some kinda parity. lol. MeenBean? She’s not Ayuntamiento ready.

Thanks to ANYWR we met Antonio, our translator and rep, at the Ayuntamiento 15mins prior to our appointment, which Jessica (ANYWR) had secured for us. A week before, she sent us a bulleted list of all the document copies we would need to have printed and ready:

• Passports / NIE Card

• Signed by all parties apartment leasing contract

• Apartment owner’s ID

• Receipt of first month’s rent paid

With all of this neatly printed and in a clear vinyl sleeve, we met Antonio and entered. Took a number and started to sit down. I notice the body language of everyone. What did that smile mean? Why did she hand him the number like that and then wave him over towards the seats in that manner? Was that condescending or helpful? Why did she only interact with Antonio? Should I have put myself forward more? Is it cool to let Antonio take the lead? (Because I don’t speak the language fluently, I watch and try to interpret, IE assign heavily caveated meaning to everything. Trying to get the picture.) The call to approach desk 13 arrived quickly and shocked me out of my looping thought spiral. Full of optimism, docs in hand, we approached. There was only one chair. Mr. 13 conveyed only one of us could sit. Erica had to wait by the other chairs, nearby. I presume because she had no NIE / TIE or otherwise Spanish legal docs. Mr. 13 looked over everything VERY carefully. Furrowed brows furrowed into furrowed furrows. Small barely audible mutters interspersed the clackety click clack of assertive typing. I did my best to appear ready to answer any questions relating to residence, address, length of stay, number of occupants; these however all went to Antonio. I could retell the story in body language like, head tilted back, eyes up and to the left, hands spread, left hand holding papers, right hand pointing to computer screen, sounds in the range of sorry but this isn’t going to work. Antonio, a big man, makes himself slightly smaller, rounded back, makes eye contact repeatedly but not long, looks at me and back at Mr 13, arm gestures from elbows only, which are stuck to waist. Sounds of, yes, we understand, but this was not known before arriving and was not indicated previously.

Long story longer - Mr 13 found the error in our paper work. We were missing the IDs of 3 other co-owners of the apartment, who had also failed to sign the lease. Therefore, we would need to make another appointment, secure the needed details and come back another day.

Again, so glad we have Jessica from ANYWR to help us, which she immediately did. She checked in with us and Antonio. Learned of the outcome and began securing the additional details and documents. Next appointment 9/1/23. Wish us luck.

The other item we could have used more luck with was WIFI installation. Scheduling the appointment for the install, again, was handled by Jessica. Thank you! Discussing where the Movistar techs could park? Where the cable could be routed? How to get through to the access point 4 stories up and whether or not drilling through the wall, causing the inevitable loss of security deposit was acceptable, was “managed” by yours truly. We opted for a stay of execution, with a side of WorkCafe should a consultation require higher speed internet than we currently enjoy.

In other news, the biking has been exceptionally inspiring. With the bigger picture always in mind, I’ve been working on ways to share what that’s like, by learning how to make bike videos. For those who have witnessed and supported these early efforts, thanks! Though it’s uncomfortable, it’s also a lot of fun. For the bikers who are curious about how this is taking shape, you can check out my YouTube Channel. Also, it’s not just for bikers, but it is all about biking.

There are many irons in the fire, including an LLC application. Once this corner stone is in place, we can start to bring everything together under one roof with naming and branding and and and. So much to learn. Nothing is boring. It’s exciting to think about how it will develop. Order out of disorder? That rings true more than ever. Thanks for being part of this unfolding adventure.

Walking around with coffee, wearing hats.

Thanks for being here. I look forward to these Sundays more and more with each passing week. In a way, I get to not only relive good times, I also am made aware of the immense gratitude I feel daily, for the new NEW-ness of everything. This was made even more poignant, when I got to share some of this with my youngest son Cedar, my brother, sister-in-law Katie, nephews Lex and Jaell and also Mom. To be able to show and share, exclaim and explain and invite opinions and thoughts, LIVE and in person on location was a true blessing. Of course my hope is that having seen and felt and tasted what the world here has to offer, the takeaway will be something like, “Oh! This is why! We get it and we will definitely be back!” It’s all theoretical and sort of understandable from a distance. When you experience it yourself, then it becomes real and it’s easier to do again. Speaking of doing again, the goodbyes were tough, but more on that later. Below are some photos of the shared shenanigans. For this week, we put all logistical move chores on hold, to be be present in the moment, to take it all in, to be with the family and make more memory ties that will stand the stretch of time and distance across the Atlantic.

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Hanging with the family is a lot like seeing the city with vacation eyes again. Which was super fun. Between tapas, walks through the city, bobbing like corks in the ocean, a delicious Katie cooked meal (if you know, you know) and evening beverages, there were a few other noteworthy moments.

On one of the days, we took a fairy out to Isla Tabarca. Most of the route is parallel to the coast, so the waves hit the left side of the boat, then the right, then the left again and so on. You’re not heading into the waves. Flashbacks to the recent awful flight made this more white-knuckling then it should have been. Arriving about 45 mins later, we realized it was definitely worth the heavy swaying. This place is a snorkeling paradise. Even MeenBean got in there, though I don’t think she thought it was as fun as we did. After a good bit of snorkel exploration, we walked the island, shared a meal and headed back several hours later. On the way back, the waves rocked us to sleep and made MeenBean throw up. She still keeps trying to drink the water.

Continuing on the water theme, Cedar and I spent hours in the sea, bobbing around, looking at the illuminated castle, catching up, talking, dreaming, planning. Spending time with my youngest in the sea and in the sea side cafes was good for the soul. We just talked and existed together, nowhere else to be. One night we went body surfing at midnight. Erica made sure we were safe, keeping a watchful eye over us and our stuff. Though we didn’t see as many stars as we’d hoped for, the waves were bigger than usual and that was fun.

We talked a lot about future plans and also a lot about when he could come visit again. Now that it’s been done once, it’ll be easier to do again and he can show Shalom. It’ll be great to have the whole crew: Ocean / Shalom / Cedar all together here some day soon. BTW - there’s an airport in Alicante, so EZ-PZ.

The last night was fun, but hard. We had dinner together, walked the beachside shops, had ice-cream, didn’t talk too much about leaving. In the morning, Kanye, Mom and fam met us, we exchanged hugs and stuff that didn’t need bringing and off they blazed back up to Barcelona and back to the US, leaving great memories and you know sadness, because of the happiness and love.

After everyone went back to their respective day-to-day realities, there was only one thing for me to do and that was plan and then go for a bike ride.

As July ended and August began, our time at the Airbnb came to an end. It was a lovely place, but now it was time to fully move into our new place. We’d been steadily hauling, by foot, things from the Airbnb on the hill, down towards the apartment by the water, down to our new place, with all new views, new places to visit, new ways of doing things. After leaving the keys and packing our stuff out, phase I closed and phase II started.

The three of us are getting settled in our new place. We’re learning the rhythm of the city and we’re learning how to fit into our new lives.

If you’ve followed this long, cheers to you!

When we were 60 plus days from the move, I began practicing and thinking about how to create an MBET YouTube channel. Here’s some super awkward MBET INTRO out-takes from those early efforts. Oh boooy. Well, “enjoy” I’ll get it together eventually.

Thanks for coming along for the ride. Much love.

MeenBean / Erica / Thako

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A quick refresher:

The NIE (Numero de Identidad de Extranjero) is a tax identification number in Spain that is assigned to every foreign resident. It is equivalent to the DNI (Documento nacional de identidad) that Spaniards have and is used by every Spanish public institution to identify any foreign person living in the country. The NIE can be used to conduct any legal procedure in Spain, such as:

• Opening a bank account - √

• Getting a residence permit - Future √ - scheduled for August 10th.

• Starting a company - On the todo list

• Buying a house or car - On the todo list

Pre-Drive check list - MeenBean - meet Lorena (Rover Lady)

- The following occurred only in Spanish, using iTranslate and brute force willpower -

Me: Hello! Thank you for agreeing to watch MeenBean. Please come the evening before to meet MB, as we have to leave at 8:30AM.

Lorena: No problem. See you then!

Also Lorena: Something important came up. I’m a little messy right now between work, a casting, another Rover and could we meet early in the morning instead?

Me: Sure, but it will have to be at 8AM.

Lorena: No problem. See you at 8

-Crisis averted. All documents printed (*Sent all my most personal information to a person selling school supplies: Passport Info, Bank Balance, Health Insurance Policy for a year… Erica: Ask him to delete the files afterwards. I asked him. I have to trust he did so, after all, he said he would). With documents in hand, passports were packed, exact change secured via ATM and a small purchase, and a fitful sleepless night later, we awoke at 6 and prepared to leave, meaning we would walk down to our apartment from the AirBnB to meet Lorena at 8. Coffee and Chocolate Croissant passed the time to 7:15.

-WhatsApp MSG: Lorena - I’ll call you once I’m there. Me: Cool! See you soon. Also me thinking: Great, she’s on top of it.

7:30 - Lorena: Where are you? I’m out front. Me: Uhm, it’s not 8:00. We are not home yet and are walking. We’ll be there at 8 as planned. Lorena: If you’re not here at 8, I’m leaving. I have other things to do and other clients. I’m waiting here: (Sends Pin) Me: Sends Pin of live location walking towards apartment. Clearly will be there by 8. We arrive at 7:50. Much awkwardness ensues in explanation of keys, timing, feeding. She basically runs out of our apartment. Not a confidence inspiring interaction. I make a note to resign myself to potentially cleaning up a bathroom accident.

Picking up the car and driving to Madrid was straightforward, easy and without any incidents. Spanish freeways are relaxed. Not much speeding at all. People are accommodating and respect a blinker almost as much as they respect people stepping into a crosswalk, which is nearly 100%. Crosswalks are holy ground here. Cars stop cold, stop dead, if you step onto a crosswalk. It is incredible.

So, driving was no problem. We just arrived 2 hours early. After walking a bit and finding a cafe with misters, Erica and I chatted about funny stuff, flirted some, laughed, had coffee and then went to the government building where we would request the NIE.

Jessica, our ANYWR representative, who helped us secure the appointment and put together the necessary paperwork was beyond on time. She was 30 minutes early! Great for us. We got in, were immediately called up to review docs, and after a momentary tense situation in which I was asked where I lived, we began talking more casually in Spanish and things rolled on smoothly. The more Spanish I talked, or attempted to speak, the friendlier he became and ultimately I received my NIE. Hoooray! Big hugs to all! My NIE card was photographed by Jessica (Is this normal? Proof of job well done?) and then after chatting in happy celebratory fashion, we said our goodbyes. 20 minutes had passed. 4+ hours of driving. 20 minute meeting. 4+ hours driving home. All is well that ends well. Or is it?

Lorena: How will you pay me?

Me: Uhm, I already paid through Rover. I’m not going to pay twice.

Lorena: We already talked about this. I don’t know how to use the app. Pay me in cash (next part is unclear) or BUZUM. I’ve already moved a _ucking ton and haven’t been paid for $hit. I’ll just cancel the appointment.

Me: ($hit, she has our keys) We will pay you in cash. That ok?

Lorena: Yes, cash on the table. Or BUZUM, I prefer BUZUM, then I don’t have to move again. I’ve already been moving all day.

Me: (I don’t have BUZUM and though it’s likely easy to get, I don’t want to connect my bank to another thing…) AND (She has my keys.) What is your preference for meeting? We will bring the cash there.

Lorena: I’m at work. Here’s my boyfriend’s contact info. Work it out with him. I will cancel your Rover appointment.

Me: (She has my keys) - Sounds good. (Finally dawning on me - Oh, she will cancel so I don’t get double charged, not because she wants to burn down my home.)

Lorena: (Sends photos of MB on walk and eating)

Me: (Comedy of errors - misunderstandings escalate fast! Relief it worked out.)

Upon our return, we drove to meet the boyfriend who was very nice. He recognized us and we gave him 10 Euros.

All in all, despite the weird misunderstandings, it was a successful trip!

With that out of the way, it’s time to introduce Alicante to the Family! It’s official. We’re an item. Thanks Kanye and Katie for hosting Cedar for a week and thanks Katie for making today’s awesome and delicious seafood brunch! Cheers!

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Classic :)

The Dude (Big Lebowski - The one and only):

• Go have fun!

• Celebrate!

• Much has been accomplished, treat yourself!

Miranda (Sex and The City Miranda - not - And Just Like That Miranda)

• You have no jobs!

• You have no permanent place to live!

• Are you blowing it?

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The Dude and Miranda both found plenty to be happy about. After unpacking and getting settled, we explored our neighborhoods AND did chores. We figured out where to get groceries within walking distance. Coffee. Pastries. Cava. Jamon. Bread and stuff. We walked a ton! Miles and miles. Initial impressions were hard to really define. One thing that stood out clearly was the heat. It’s hot here. Some streets have no people on one side of the street, but a river of people on the other side. You guessed it. The shady side. People walk and conduct all manner of life’s activities where the shadows are. July and August are HOT! What winter does for Minnesota, Summer does for Alicante. Back to Miranda’s list or maybe it’s Leslie’s List (Better alliteration - Parks and Rec).

After a couple of days getting settled, walking neighborhoods, we completed the final signing of bank docs. To my friends building websites and you only translate the headlines and a few other NAV words, uhm that’s not a great experience. For example, when selecting how to view the page, I chose: ENGLISH (I know. But banking with key codes, 2-FAC, passwords, passcodes, PINs, Auth Keys - that’s next level. Would love for the English to carry through and not suddenly disappear) The home page became English. W00t! Go technology! But then quickly as we got into the nitty gritty of doc signing, verifications, acceptance of terms and conditions, the English was gone. Luckily I’m good at test taking, so in context of what came before and what should follow (ChatGPT Ai style) I was able to complete. Big Check Mark. We have a bank that works for paying things like: light, water, rent. Lots of work happens by means of IBAN payments here. New to me. Cool.

That still leaves the matter of: Light, Water, Rent. Jessica Coronado, (Info below :) helped us an absolute ton. She helped us get the bank account opened and once that was complete, began sending us apartment listings per our preferences. We quickly received itineraries in our inboxes for apartments to go see. I was amazed. I thought it would be harder, given we had no work contracts and a furry beast that mainly understood English, but didn’t speak it. No Spanish for MB yet, I’m afraid.

Given that I know what I like, when I see it, that I was potentially starting work that coming Monday and didn’t want to send E alone to look at apartments, and that Paco (rhymes with?) was good with no work contracts and a fur beast, we ended up taking the first apartment. We looked at #2, but it wasn’t available until after our AirBnB move out date. A clear no go. #3 was far up the hill in a, what I felt to be, shabby kind of situation. It looked kinda dismal. But we found a great place, a block from the water, in the heart of Alicante! Major hurdle accomplished. Next up? Obtaining an NIE (Tax Number) in Madrid. In the meantime, something for The Dude! Biking, Swimming, Celebrating!

There’s still so much to cover, but I will leave those topics for next time. Next week, my family is coming to visit!!! My son Cedar, my Brother and FAM, and Mom! Really looking forward to that! Thanks so much for following along. I truly hope to see you here some day soon as well. Much love!

TEAM MBET

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• Morning Sun

No Oil Light. Should we drive back to the airport? Why didn’t any roadside service come? The car sounds good. GoogleFi seems to be working. Let’s go. I found the freeways to be free of road rage and quite polite. Only one thing was missing: Giant gas stations built directly next to the freeway, so you can get gas and keep cruising. It looks like here, if you need gas, you have to leave the freeway and go into town. I suppose that’s one way to bring the Euros in.

An hour and a half later, we found ourselves navigating the off ramps and city streets of ALICANTE! MeenBean would be a few hours later, 2PM and we wouldn’t be able to check in to our AirBnB until 3. So, we found a place to park in the area of our AirBnb and decided to walk around. There was still so much to figure out, but in the meantime, are we of sound mind enough to understand anything about where we were? Not really. Still in problem solving mode, which netted us an early check-in with Elena! Turns out she was in the neighborhood and could give us keys and the run down of house rules, which she did in Spain Spanish, which is not like Colombian Spanish in terms of speed in which it is delivered to thine ears. Context, nodding, pointing and saying enough to somehow convey I speak WAY more than I really do, got us through. Elena is awesome, she likes dogs, art and is generally kind. She has a cool place which she opened up for us to live for a month, so she’s good in my book. Now, to reunite with MeenBean.

• Call received - MeenBean to be delivered by 4, or as they say here 16:00! W00T!

It was great to be reunited with the Little Business: MeenBean! She was happy! I was happy! Erica was happy! Thanks Air Animal! We appreciate all the care shown and of course delivering her back to us safe and sound. None the worse for wear.

With MB back with ET, the first major set of hurdles has been successfully cleared. We got all of our things into the apartment and the little van dropped downtown. Now comes the business of learning a new pattern of life and figuring out how we fit into it. Next order of business, finding a permanent place to live. Spoiler Alert! We sign contracts tomorrow! So much has happened, I think we actually need a part 3. Check back tomorrow for:

• Apartment search

• Thoughts on vacation versus living | Fitting In?

• Building a business

• Staying connected

Well, it’s finally happened. WE’RE HERE!!!! After over 1,100 days of counting down, we have arrived. I know I like to start these with, “A lot has happened since we talked last…” but this time, it’s really true. No, like really REALLY true. It’s actually so true, I’m going to divvy this week’s MBET into two parts: Arrival! and Week 1! If you’ve been casually following via FB or Insta, you’ve perhaps caught a few bits, but let’s tie a bow around part 1 here. Ready? Let’s go.

The absolute worst part of starting any new adventure is the good byes. The evening before our departure from Minneapolis, we had dinner with the kiddos at Freehouse and then hung for a bit on their rooftop and talked. The next day, we loaded the car. Cedar and Shalom came with pastries and helped. Good kids. Once the car was loaded up, we hugged a few more times until ultimately we had to drive away. That hurt and still does now.

An hour later we arrived in Eau Claire to spend some time with the Dernbach family. Jill and Patrick (Erica’s sister and her BF) came up from Arizona to visit. I thought that was a really nice gesture. Good times for sure. MeenBean wiggled her way into everyone’s hearts. It helps that she can read a room and adapt accordingly. She’s a smarty. Erica and I walked around Eau Claire and she showed me some sights around town, places she remembered from childhood. Back at the casa, I have to say the best times were in the Breeze-Way and the outdoor porch. Loads of good conversation. I learned a new word for shit-show: Hog Wrestle (Hawg Wrassle) I wonder what that is in Spanish?

On the morning of the 2nd, more difficult goodbyes as we got in the Pacifica, freshly reloaded up at 5AM. Thanks Patrick / Jill for helping lug. I suppose difficult goodbyes are a testament to the love. I hope the love draws everyone here, so we can share hugs again and show you around. That goes for all BFFFFFFs (BF^6)

Some time around 11AM we arrived at the Air Cargo terminal at O’Hare.

Another difficult parting looming here. It was storming. The warehouse seemed noisy, intimidating. I tried to imagine what this must be like for MB. Luckily, she used the bathroom before we had to crate her up. Turns out her crate was too small. Oi! They were super nice however and provided us with a larger one. Everyone was on top of all the details, inspiring confidence and also super dog friendly and knowledgeable. Though it was hard to pack her up and leave, I knew Meen was in good hands. Another tough but luckily this one temporary good bye.

On to Lisbon and then Spain.

10 hours at O’Hare were easier once we were able to check our bags. I think we got lucky, having checked in and paid for baggage online. My main checked bag was certainly heavier than the allowed amount. No mention by the agent. My bike box was heavier than allowed, but again, I think the agent just wanted to keep things moving, so with the warning that: Next time you won’t be able to do this, you’ll only get 23KG. He let us pass, basically foregoing any serious inquiry into baggage weight. Although he did have an issue with Erica’s carry-on. Too large. She had to check it. (She forgot laptop was inside. Big Yikes. I think in the scramble to get everything through, we forgot about that. Again, he didn’t make us pay for the extra checked bag. THANK YOU mysterious benefactor TAP Agent!)

We were on. All of the most challenging obstacles having to do with leaving had been overcome. Now to cross the Atlantic.

99% of crossing the Atlantic was as you’d expect. In fact, all the way to Lisbon was uneventful, in terms of the miracle of flight. We took off, cruised at unfathomable altitudes like it’s nothing, ate food. Watched movies. Slept. Landed in Portugal. No biggie. Super Awesome! Navigated tight tram doors and elevators with our entire lives on carts, and then 3 hours later, on to Valencia. This is when the problems started.

1.5 hours, no problem. Then on the descent, approaching the landing, we somehow don’t land. We descend, white-knuckling, bouncing, shaking both sideways and up and down, clouds passing by in a rush, can’t see anything. Pounding rain. Feels like we’re falling out of the sky. Gotta trust the pilot… Kids are crying, grandmother next to me turns her face heaven-wards? Clenches her eyelids closed, bows her head. Hands clasped in prayer? I’m digging my nails into Erica’s leg, she’s digging her nails into my gigantic bicep. (I’m a cyclist, we all know I’m joking. T-rex at best.) Where are we going? Why are we heading back out to sea? Why are we turning this way? Are we heading back toward land? Why are we heading back out to sea again? Will that cargo ship scoop us up, out of the water when we crash? Is that land close enough to swim to? Why isn’t the captain saying anything? Why are we going back up above the clouds?

- Captain’s Announcement: (Finally!) - Weather is bad. Rerouting to Alicante.

More bouncing. More incredible shaking. More engine noise. Land approaching. Landing. Where are we? Alicante? Wait, that’s the City of Arts and Sciences! We’re in Valencia! Holy shit! We hit the ground safely. We made it! Crisis averted. Kids can now be successfully comforted by parents. The relief was immense.

Check back tomorrow, same time, for what’s happened since landing!

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Welcome back! It’s been a big, BIG couple of weeks. Let’s dive in. Friday, I approved some timesheets, did my own timesheets, chatted with some co-workers and then closed my laptop and descended on Monte Carlo (Minneapolis Fam know this spot) with said co-workers. There I met some other friends, who were brave enough to venture downtown, to confront massive traffic and minimum parking, due to an unseasonably rich crop of shimmering Swifties, swarming the neighborhood. Big thanks to all who made it out. Meant a lot to me.

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Now, sitting on our “couch” which is really just a blanket on the floor, with a pillow behind my back and in front of the wall, I’m reminiscing about the most recent moments, which rocked my world. Last Sunday’s Fathers’ Day felt like a miracle. It all just came together perfectly, effortlessly and was so much fun and also deep. When I was younger than my kids are now, the most fun I could have, involved the Schwimmbad and Sauna with Pops. Cold Pools, Steam Saunas, Dry Saunas, Hot Tubs and such. Somehow this has continued into the next generation. Cedar and I spent the early part of the day doing the same and talking about this move. Not an easy subject. Somehow I think we got to an understanding that while this moment was hard and sad, it was also exciting and adventurous and that we’d figure out a way to stay close and make it work. We said a lot and we also said very little. It was good to sit with my youngest son.

After the spa, we visited Shalom and shared some special lunch whipped up by my hilarious middle child and daughter. Thanks Shalom! We capped the day with Guardians of the Galaxy 3. Because that’s the type of humor we like. Couched among all the ridiculousness, there’s a rich tapestry of experience that seemed especially poignant at this time. Thanks for an absolutely great day kids. Thanks Osh for the note, meant a lot to me.

While on this wave of gratitude, I have to express thanks to YAMAMOTO for an astoundingly heartfelt send-off. Thank you so much to all the folks recollecting stories and to all who contributed to the Memory Lane book. I did not see this coming. Some emotions sloshed over, while reading this. I will keep this book close. Thanks for the love, memories and camaraderie. Also, thank you to to the alumni, who made it out. You know who you are and I appreciate you for making the trip. Below are some photos from the scenes described above. One pic is not like the others, but when I say my daughter is hilarious…

My bike finally made it back from California. Phew. I packed a ton of stuff in that box. On the topic of making it back, Karel Schaap, a friend from the Netherlands and dad to my long time bestie Zachamon, made it to the final, FINAL, no this time really FINAL FINAL in person Drawing Club. That was an especially sweet surprise. He sent me off with a carved Sea Turtle gift. Man, that hit me. Thank you Karel. Peter, Sascha, Lukas, thanks so much for making it out as well. Mike the OG, Monster Madness Bauman (see wood muscle monster image below) thanks for helping me move my couch, while my back was out, thanks for the relentless inspiration, and excellent topics of conversation. You have a calmness and ease about you that is worthy of emulation, as are your drawing skills.

Matt, thanks for housing some boxes. Thanks for sharing your world with me. Get on the GrailHouse Leaderboard brother! Then we’ll just need Vaske to knock you off the top spot and dreams will have come true. Much love brother.

A couple of folks have mentioned, I jump from heartfelt moments to logistics. I chalk that up to 7 Million 8Hundo, 47Thou, 3hundo, 67 Project Management emails sent last year. On that note, MeenBean got the all-clear to fly on Friday. On Saturday, during FINAL Drawing Club, I noticed Bob’s Java has a poster from the town in which I went to elementary school: Aschaffenburg. After decades of going to Bob’s, how am I only really noticing this now, on my last day there? Tomorrow, Monday, we set up our Spanish bank accounts with a Santander rep, and hot on those heels, hand over the title to the Versa to a FB person from Fargo. Tuesday, we pack the rental car and drive towards Chicago, with a pitstop in Eau Claire. Our entire world of physical belongings in tow:

• 4 LG Suitcases

• 2 Carry-Ons plus slings / purses

• Bike Box - filled with my entire gravel bike and bike-packing world

• Dog Crate plus MeenBean, the MB part of MBET.

Out of this, plus what’s in our brains and with friendships here and yet to be made, a new universe of experience is about to be built. We hope you stay on for this ride and maybe even come out for a ride with me! In the meantime, we’re making our way down the beach and into the waves. Wish us luck. Cheers! :)

Welcome back! Come in, let me show you around. (See grid of pictures below.) Over here, we have a box of special items representing good memories from a different era. Books. Clay hand-prints. Drawings. Teacher thank you notes. Father’s Day / Birthday Cards. And the old pictures, representing a sea of emotions anyone else couldn’t fathom. There’s a doll we got my daughter Shalom, after a bad dental experience, art supplies from a time when we regularly did art together, on weekends. Erica has an old glass with her name etched in it. A boxed up toy china set, Hummel-esque old man figurines, a metal baby cup.

It’s hard to know how best to respect the memories represented by these items while living in the Inter Tidal Zone. What’s the Inter Tidal Zone? Well, it’s not the open ocean and it’s not the land. Sometimes it’s under water. Sometimes it’s bathed in sunlight and feels the wind. That’s where we live now, in between, but we’re wading in. If you tally up MBET’s feet, we have 4 feet on land and 4 feet in the water. Soon we’ll be swimming. But until then, we are steadily giving away, selling, storing and packing up items. We have a few boxes left, a coffee table, couch, chair, minimal dishes, a bed. That takes care of the physical items. Well, once we sell the Versa.

Other to-dos have now moved from need to do them, to doing them now! Monday, we have our Apostille appointment. This certifies certain documents, confirming their point of origin. For example our Marriage Certificate. Monday morning we seek to get the proper documentation certifying for the Spanish authorities that our Marriage Certificate did indeed originate here in the USA. Likely we will need to take this also to Germany, to have our Marriage registered there. Once we have a German certificate, we’ll have to have that translated to Spanish by a regionally appointed translator. Then this document can be used to prove Erica is legally married to an EU Citizen, to secure her ability to work in Spain. The logistics and timing needed to make this all tie out is a puzzle worthy of my years of project management. I see you Universe. I see what you did there. Boot Camp for the long game. :)

In similar news, it is necessary to have a permanent residence to open a bank account and a bank account is needed to secure an apartment. We’d like both a bank account and an apartment, but currently have only a dream and the help of ANYWR Relocation Specialists. With their help, we’ve secured a bank that will accept as sufficient: a passport, previous bank statements, and previous job contract. The account will be on hold for 3 to 4 days and will cost €20.00 a month. Not a fan of this, but once we have the bank account, we can get the Spanish version of SS# called NIE and then switch to something more reasonable. If you’re curious about the bank, it’s called Santander.

If you’re still tide-pooling with us, you’ll see GoogleFi in one of the other nooks. To keep our US numbers, currently on our resumes, and in family group texts, this seemed like the best option. Their unlimited plus plan has International Coverage. You have to initiate the service and begin use here. Glad I read the terms and conditions. There are definitely cheaper work arounds, but wanting things to work as smoothly and dependably as possible, it’s the route we chose. Let us know if you know of something better! We’ll be completing that transition this coming week.

And the vice-last (2nd to last?) bit casting off its shell of need-to-do-down-the-line, to must-do-this-week, is the purchase of healthcare for a year. Our policy is being reviewed, again by ANYWR. Don’t want to arrive, have the authorities review, only to find we didn’t get sufficient coverage. Once we are all nodding yep, we’ll wrap that this week as well.

The worried MeenBean pic is for our pet re-locators (AirAnimal). Final sign-off confirming her crate is large enough. Her ticket to ride will be in hand end of this week too. It’s a big week ahead, littered with milestones.

Speaking of milestones, this is my last full week of work, at Yamamoto. Nearly 7 years. Wow. Unreal. Come visit!

Cedar wrapped up his last week of school, two Fridays ago. His graduation ceremony was Saturday. Cedar’s older brother Ocean, paid a surprise visit! Miraculously showing up and greeting Cedar after he made his perp walk across the stage. It was a great moment. We continued the celebration at Gyu-Kaku with some Japanese BBQ Saturday eve and Sunday with Burgers, Dogs and super Jenga. Cedar cooked up a storm for friends and family. (He had help. Thanks Shalom! I see you.) He’s that kind of guy. She’s that kind of sister. So proud of them.

When I was just younger than Cedar is now, I came to the United States and started 12th grade in 1992. The poignancy of returning to Europe after my youngest finished high-school, is a soul searching fractal pattern to ponder. Returning to the land that started my dream of being a Marine Biologist, decades later, feels karmic. Are the sea turtles some kind of bridge back to that dream? Regardless, I remember that time of life vividly, approaching the move to the US. The enormity of 1991’s decision and this new decision intermittently play Crowded House’s “Don’t Dream It’s Over” in my chest and in my throat.

All I can say is that the memories we will make together can’t come soon enough. Ocean! Come visit! Shalom! Come visit! Cedar, see you there mid July! One more MBET to come from the US. Much love to everyone. See you in two weeks.

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For some reason the notion of “LAST” is starting to really hit home. While walking my usual weekend loop, past Cedar Lake and onward around Brownie, I was thinking, “Is this my last Memorial Day weekend loop, around these lakes?” If it is, what will replace this? What comes after last? FIRST! This may be obvious, but for some reason, the idea that after last comes first, felt like an oh duh, type of secret revelation. These days, I sometimes suddenly catch myself laughing. Laughing about all the firsts to come. There were a few firsts here, since the last MBET post.

Cedar, my youngest, with a couple of friends (Ke’Nija and Paolo) had their first Farmer’s Market, selling a skincare line developed by owner / inventor Ke’Nija. Very exciting seeing them bring their ideas to life. (I bought some product and love it.) Also, Cedar completed his first shoot for Target, by way of Titan Model MGMT. Making moves! Last days of high school unspooling, giving way to first days of summer vacation and later, first day of college.

Shalom - (Middle Child) and Cedar got an apartment together. Another big first! Visited the spot today, downtown. Tomorrow we move much of their stuff in, including plenty of items from my place. Some nice synchronicity, of life phases overlapping. Moving truck rental happening tomorrow. Let’s go!

Personal Firsts? I sold my first turtle poster from my MBET Store! And a couple of journals! I also have T-shirts! Unrelated to art, bought healthcare for a year. We used Sanitas Blua. (A year’s worth required for emigrating.) Not exactly a first, but contextually it’s kinda a first: Re-uploaded docs to Basecamp for the relocation specialists ANYWR to help us secure necessary registration and Visa docs. And finally, the last bit is to finalize Air Animal arrangements for MB (MeenBean ← Meen because she’s not Mean :)

Below are a few photos, you know: picsoritdidnthappen

Though not technically an actual last, today was my official send-off Drawing Club. We’ll continue meeting up on the weekends as able until July, but today was the official last. I wonder how this will evolve into a first? Drawing Club in Spain? I’m into it, of course.

Many lasts are worth remembering and are tinged with nostalgia. Lots of good stories will come from them later, balanced and reframed by the firsts to come. The biggest will be securing our first apartment before our AirBnB for the month runs out! July will be apartment hunting. We’ll have so many firsts to share soon.

In April, during our last scouting trip to Alicante, this surreal street (San Francisco) with Alice in Wonderland style mushrooms bopped us over the head. A yellow brick road of mushrooms and restaurants! I know you’ll want to come see them too and have some tapas together with us. Until then, you can cover ground in these socks. When you glimpse them, I hope they will bring a smile to your face, knowing there are some firsts in store for you.

Calle de las Setas - Socks!

Only 1 MBET left to write from Loring Park, MN, USA.

In case we don’t find a flat, I’ve been practicing in the woods. (JK :)

Talk more in 2 weeks. If you TLDR’d ← Too Long Did Read - Much Love!

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Two more weeks have gone by and truth be told, lots can get lost in the business of planning and action. There’s always lots to do, with plenty of things to worry about. Are we getting rid of enough things? Are we forgetting anything? Anything else we should be doing? That’s one side. The other side, which can get overshadowed in this busy-ness, is the excitement of a new life! Every so often, between researching phone plans, healthcare options, LLC rules and regs, Freelance work opps, and closing out subscriptions, I get a jolt of energy, realizing a Wednesday in Spain won’t mean, 4 days left until we leave! There will be more Wednesdays! More mornings to wake up, walk to the coffee shop, order in Spanish, then sit and enjoy and consider the day. Who will we meet? So much to explore, so many options! New bike paths, new running paths, new walking paths, the OCEAN!!! The mountains! Each activity, an opportunity to make new friends. I wonder if there’s an Utepils-esque group of cyclists there? I wonder what MeenBean will make of the OCEAN!!! We’ll be exploring it all together. This is what all of the logistical planning is for.

(Below is a planes trains and automobiles, also 1 hotel, view of the coming journey.)

Regarding planning, we did unlock our phones this week and have landed on GoogleFi as our current forerunner for maintaining our US phone numbers. Since we’re planning on working remotely, we’ll need to keep our US numbers. Maybe someone would text an international WhatsApp? Maybe. We’ll get another line for Spanish life. Additionally, we submitted our request for a healthcare plan for the year. Always fun balancing whether $8 a month is a worthwhile fee for repatriating our dead bodies, in case of such an event. Anyway, that should be wrapping this week. We also rented both a hotel (dog friendly) and a car in Valencia, so we have a place to stay before we drive south to Alicante. Today’s back-up plan discussion, due to car size differences: worst case, I take my bike out of the box and we leave MeenBean’s crate behind. Also, let’s pack some come-along straps in case we have to strap items to the roof. Who knows? When you rent a car, it says this model or something similar. How similar? Another exhortation to get rid of more. Thinking of doing all this pre-internet, pre-apps feels exponentially more difficult and time consuming. Would we do it? Hmmm.

All this counting down time could imply life passing by, untrue! The days are becoming more precious, as I start seeing each as non-repeatable. Less groundhog, more sunlight soap bubble. Cedar’s 19th birthday was a truly lovely occasion. Breakfast at Buttered Tin and dinner at Sooki and Mimi. Such good times. Also Prom! I mentioned this last time, but I can’t overstate how cool it will be to share this new cycle of life with Cedar, after his graduation, and with my brother, nephews, sister-in-law and mom. (Of course MB and E will be there.) Until then I’m soaking up the spring beauty here.

The trees are incredible right now and I thoroughly enjoy walking the parks and witnessing the color riots with MeenBean. I continue to be amazed every year.

On the other end of the nature spectrum, the family group chat is blowing up with Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. That has also been fun.

Last Sunday, I went on my first Utepils ride of the season, thanks to Brandon, letting me borrow a sick Salsa. (My bike is at Canyon HQ) Doing those weekend group rides, has become an absolute favorite activity and I will miss the hell out of it. Speaking of MAMIL's (middle-aged man in lycra) - I also had a great time catching up with the homies: Ben and Matt at Sweeney’s (no photo evidence of that.)

Unrelated to MAMILs - I realized recently our drawing club has been going on for the better part of 10 years. Where has the time gone? Will we continue? It’s always been good catching up, chatting, having coffee, and drawing. A few people over the years have asked whether I sold any of my drawings. I’ve never really considered it a goal. More of a mental sanity exercise. But, now I’ve set up a Printify shop for those occasions when I do get a request: MBET - Turtle Love and more

While we’re on the topic of turtles, I saw a Red Eared Slider, or Painted turtle, making its way from one side of Loring, through a shallow channel, to the other side of Loring. Seemed like it was going on an adventure. Well, I salute this little guy. If you’re embarking on an adventure of your own, let us know! Shout-out to Bryce (https://choosingouradventure.com/) walking the Camino de Santiago with his mom. So cool! You can follow along on instagram choosingouradventure

Last but not least, a shout out to all these amazing Moms out there making exactly ALL OF LIFE POSSIBLE!

Happy Mothers’ Day Mom! Love you!

Next time we catch up again, it will be Memorial Day! Talk soon and cheers!

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It’s been two more weeks, since we last checked in here. What’s been happening? Time hasn’t stood still at all.

At 63 days until departure date, the new horizon is in sight. It’s a weird tween’r stage we’re in. Logistically, still lots to do to close out this chapter. But we’re not the only ones at the threshold of a new life stage. My youngest son Cedar is turning 19 this month, graduating, preparing to go to college in the fall, AND looking for an apartment to share with middle child and older sister Shalom. To say there are a lot of things going on is like saying L.A. has a lot of traffic. Right Osh? (Oldest child)

Speaking of L.A., weekend of the 14th, I visited with Ocean and Robyn in L.A. It was wonderful for me to see a little of the life they’re building out there in CA. One specific highlight was driving through the Canyons in his Tesla model 3 super-speed or dual motor or neck-snapper or whatever it’s called. Example: See light turn yellow. Formulate thought and begin speaking: “Wait, we’ll never make i….. oh. Already through.” Never experienced any acceleration like that before in my life. We had a great time! So good to catch up. Can’t wait to show them Spain from our new perspective. Thanks for hosting Osh and Robyn, those sous vide steaks were phenomenal. When you come visit, it’ll be my turn to cook!

Back in reality. The apartment is starting to look like we haven’t unpacked our boxes from the move in yet. Tween’r life. Last weekend, all the plants went to Krista’s house: Kid’s mom. Bookshelf and books are gone. A few boxes of keepsakes are packed.

In other exciting news, youngest Duder Cedar, my brother Kanye and family, as well as Mom will be visiting in July! It’ll be tough to not have Shalom, Osh and Robyn there. We’ll have to have another all family visit once MBET (MeenBean, Erica, Thako) are all settled and have our spot. Until then, it’ll be surreal to go snorkeling again with my bro, this time with our own families in tow. I’m really looking forward to that! Warm nights, hearing the ocean waves, walking, stopping for tapas, stopping for gelato. Simple pleasures. Until then, there’s some things to take care of.

Below, a blast from the past. Early days in Spain. Kanye and yours truly.

To Dos at this time:

• Rent car to drive to Chicago

• Buy dog crate fro MB’s flight

• Cedar’s birthday party - w00t!

• Cedar’s graduation party - w00t! w00t!

• Close out cell-phones - assign account to Shalom

• Set up LLC? Delaware?

• Buy healthcare for a year

• Final payment for MeenBean to fly over

• Book a hotel in Valencia

• Book car rental for Valencia to Alicante

• Get rid of stuff x 1000

• Sell Car

• What’s the best way to move bank accounts to Spain? Keep some here? Keep some there? Hmmm?

• Film and start YouTube channel. Oh boy…

This playlist is giving me life most nights when I’m drawing, writing, or business planning.

John Wick 4 - In reclining seats? LOL!

Tesla Neck Snapper Super Speed Dual Motor - vinyl wrapped

Thanks for hanging with us. Talk again in two weeks! Cheers!

Hello Again Friends, Family, Future-Friends, and Future-Family.

The count-down is now at 75 Days. I should have posted this when it was 76 days, but I purposefully left my laptop behind, to visit my oldest son Ocean, in LA. I wanted to see him before moving.

People sometimes ask, “Why Spain?” The short answer is: It’s Spain. The medium answer is: It’s Spain and the cost of living is much less. The TLDR? That’s below.

Childhood memories can’t really be navigated like a GPS file from the soul. A lot of it is an amalgamation of experiences, spanning years, decades for some, like myself. Whatever happened those summer months years ago, when we used to leave Obernburg and drive a couple days south to Spain, it made an indelible mark on my soul. Things you won’t hear, ever again: (VW minivan driving in stop and go traffic, with side-door open) “KIDS! Wrestle AWAY from the open door!” One I hope will be said lots, for generations to come: “This beach looks great, should we camp here?” I’m sure as a kid, this epic roadtrip must’ve felt like forever, but now? I honestly don’t remember it taking long at all. I remember measuring “ARE WE THERE YET?” by whether German, French, or Spanish was spoken at gas stations. The route per Google Maps below.

It must have been the first time we visited Spain, when my brother (Kanye) and I shouted upon arrival: “Dad! Where’s the ocean?”

Dad: “It’s that way kids!”

We ran down the dirt road, goggles flopping, until we saw the massive water and immediately charged into the waves. It was like being dunked into a washing machine, with so many bubbles everywhere, it looked replete with foam. Where is up? The slant of the sand suggests the beach is that way. LOL! Nothing like learning from first-hand experience. What was wildly hilarious for us kids and more than a little soothing for our little egos, was watching Dad run in and promptly get washing-machined as well. Incredibly good times. So much adventure, so much light-hearted hanging out with family, laughing, making friends. Shout-out Waggenfort (sp?) Family: Jan, Will, Ingrid, Mark.

On a calmer day, I walked the beach with my flippers and goggles, looking for little tide-pools, nooks and crannies I could snorkel in, trying to find the ocean’s equivalent of salamanders, tadpoles, snails, frogs, dragonfly larvae, mosquito larvae, whatever happens to live in or around ocean water. It was all new. While snorkeling, I touched some anemones, that sucked onto my fingers. It took me a few approaches, running out of breath before mustering the courage. Wasn’t sure if they’d sting. Something jelly-fishy about them. At the time, it seemed as though the anemone was also being brave, saying hi, you know holding on with little suckers. As the week went on, I got to know our little area. I saw mainly sea urchins, a variety of crabs, sharp things on rocks: Limpets. Fish of varying colors. Kanye found an octopus one year. Big Highlight! Felt like we were flying around our little underwater paradise. I resolved this is what I would do with my ENTIRE LIFE.

Much has happened since then. When I became a parent at age 20, I named my first child Ocean. It was a prayer to all of those good and miraculous times. At 20, you can use all the help and inspiration you can get. The ocean seemed like it had all the appropriate ideas:

• Can’t find your fortune staying stuck in the harbor

• Cast your net wide

• Navigate using what you know, to discover what you don’t

• There’s more to see than what’s above the surface

• More than one way to go about doing things, but if you want to succeed, you have to do them right

Alicante was one of the cities we visited as a family, during those childhood summers. For 35 or so years, it has been relegated to a spot on the mental shelf next to: Call of the Wild, The Hobbit, Moby Dick, RedWall, SPLASH, ET, Karate Kid. A fairy tale place that was great, fun to remember. Then one day Erica said, “We should consider retiring in Spain.” Those words brought everything flooding back, pulling up the Lilliputian ropes waking a giant under the spell of the sands of time.

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Below are some photos from our scouting trip to Alicante last year: April 2022. Lot’s still to do to get there this July. It’s getting more real by the day. Cheers!

Blast-off date (to Spain) is now 91 days away. Everything in the apartment is on borrowed time. Well, almost everything. Would I pack this? Would I ship this? Would I box it up and store it in a friend’s attic? 3 chances. One of the first to go, was my car. RIP SUV. Then? Knick-knacks, paddy-whacks, miscellaneous books and bones? Nothing drives home the reality of a move more than weighing whether something will or won’t make the cut. And it does indeed sometimes feel like a cut. I choose to think of it more like pruning. Making way for the newness. In the past two weeks, lots of pruning has taken place. Como se dice prune? Necesito podar mi apartamento? I don’t think it works that way, but you get it right?

Young VaskeDidIt helped with the most recent round. You could say it happened ehem, out of the blue.

So many good memories on this bike: My first Almanzo. A couple of Slick50s. River Bottom Runs. Zig Zags around town, out to MTKA, out to Carver, out to Ohio, Ramsey, Mounds Park, miscellaneous post corn harvest / pre-corn planting gravel. 700, or who knows how many River-Road-Rides to Sea Salt with Cedar. It’s been a solid steed and I couldn’t be more happy for this next phase of it raging under Ben’s chain-snapping, soul-crushing, thigh-searing watts. Farewell All-City SpaceHorse, thanks for the miles of smiles.

Speaking of miles…

Waiting to walk the Green Mile:

• Green Plants - Small 2x / Medium 4x / Large 2x

• Graphic Novels - Amulet Series / Flight Series 1 -4 / Illustration Survey

• Hardback compendium of Sherlock Holmes stories

• Winter Gear - YakTrax / Sorels size 11 Men’s Glacier Snow

• Kettlebells - 30 lbs / 15lbs

• Tall Alexa - Howdy Jeff!

Need: Dog Kennel size Large rated for air-travel - have one you want to sell?

Logisticals:

• w/o June 26th - Everything gone / Essentials Packed / Vacate Apt. / Rent Car - Drive to Eau Claire.

• Hang with in-laws - w00t w00t

• Drive on to Chicago - Say bye to MeenBean for the next many hours :(

• Fly to Valencia - Say Hola!!! to MeenBean and welcome to never before smelled smells

• TBD - rent ABNB or Drive to Alicante - HMMMmm gotta decide soon.

• Check into AirBnB

• Return car

• Cheers with a Cava! Is this happening?

• Sleep

• Wake up. Pinch selves. It’s happening!

Thanks so much for following! Things are getting serious. Talk again in two weeks.

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It’s been a busy couple of weeks, since the last post. Crossed over two more PoNR (Points of No Return :) events. Per Matt P - “Text me when you’ve bought the tickets and we’ll pour one out for you.” That text has been sent. Matt, did you pour one out? Flight is July 2nd. Leaving out of Chicago, arriving in Valencia, July 3rd.

Below are some overhead Google Earth shots of our near future, short-term-home, in Alicante, Spain. 15min walk to downtown and the beach. Downtown for all the legal stuff. Beach for washing away red-tape.

Big Box checked off with this. You’d think what’s the big deal? Book a spot, book a flight, get rid of stuff and go. And that’s likely fine, but between juggling MeenBean’s flight, finding an AirBnB that takes dogs, the logistics of flying out of Chicago, arriving in Valencia and then driving / train-ing (?) to Alicante, there were a few turns and twists worth some additional consideration. Also, July is HIGH SEASON in Alicante, so the prices we’d seen previously, last April, were in storage with the Semana Santa floats. Remember these beauts? Regardless, the business was handled and we’re all set on travel logistics, mostly.

With travel and stay arranged, there’s still the matter of getting rid of stuff. Can we actually travel light enough to not need to rent a sprinter van in Valencia to drive to Alicante? My guess is no. Do they have Sprinter Vans to rent? Cars in Europe are notoriously little. Could we navigate taking the train with all our stuff and a dog? Hmmmm? Like Common said, “It’s the questions….”

When sharing about Spain, by far the most popular question is: What are you going to do? The answer is still percolating, still needs to settle. We don’t know exactly what it will be, but we do know it will be something or maybe even a few somethings. The long term vision is crystal clear. More to come on that note later. Incredibly excited about this and can’t wait to share here in the coming months. Hang with me here. It will be worth it. :) Until then, we’ve got more to dos.

USA Next Steps:

• Acquiring a size L travel crate for Meen, verify with Air Pet, pay remaining cost of Meen’s travel.

• Meen Muzzle Training

• Figure out bike shipping. Ship to Airbnb? Yikes! To Airport? Get travel case and bring as luggage?

• Book AirBnB in Valencia? or Drive / Train straight away to Alicante upon evening arrival?

• Getting rid of 98% of our things and by when? And when to get rid of the last 1%?

• Unlock Phones / Get Google VM? - How to keep our US numbers?

• Freelance LLC?

• Secure Health Insurance for a year

• Update Credit Card addresses

• Tell the state department we’re moving?

• Sell Car

Spain Next Steps:

• Register at Police Station / Townhall - upon arrival

• Get NIE numbers

• Get Bank Accounts

• Rent an apartment / Get Fast Wifi / No dryer? No problem.

• Initiate legalization of marriage paperwork (E’s - Visa)

• A la Rumsfeld:

  • Known Knowns

  • Known Unknowns

  • Unknown Uknowns

  • Unknown Knowns?

Thanks for reading. Things are just ramping up. More to come. We hope you’ll stay in touch here!

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