Countdown: 6 days!

I am leaving for Spain in 6 days, I can’t wait. I am doing all of the normal prep things - laundry, outfit planning, making sure I have the right electrical plug converters, etc. I have also been doing a private bachata lesson every week… one more to go this Wednesday and then I am off to the land of sangria, daily dancing and living the good life!

I have been driving myself crazy trying to figure out what type of work I can do to live in Spain part-time. 90 days is fine with no visa but beyond that, a visa is required. So my plan of staying next year for 6 months will require me to get a little creative. There is also the Schengen “shuffle”, which is where you can stay in any of the Schengen countries for up to 90 days within a rolling 180 day period visa free. In a perfect world, I would do 90 days in Spain, 90 days in USA, 90 days in Spain, 90 days in USA… you get the gist. This then begs the question, what can I do to afford this flexibility, as most US fully-remote companies still require employees to be based in the US due to tax and Social Security laws for the majority of the year. Talking with friends, the most time allowed out of the US seems to be one month + use of vacation time, which would ultimately but 2 months max. This isn't the level of freedom and flexibility I am looking for at this point in my life.

Which means I need to start something on my own where I call all of the shots and can do remotely. Time to brainstorm over sangria. Perhaps this is the perfect time in my life to make a shift, truly figure out what it is I want to do and be ok with starting on a completely new life direction.