Back on the loose!
At long last... an update.
When this blog was last heard from (in September 2021), we'd been living in Fort Wayne, Indiana for six months. I wrote a follow-up about six months later, but, after reading it, I decided it was too personal to be interesting to anyone else. I talked about the ups and downs of our life in the Midwest, but I got bogged down with some of my frustrations with our country. Spend any time with me or Tiffany and I'm sure you'll know what we're talking about.
So the blog went silent. For nearly two years...
But we're back.
With big news to report, it seems like the perfect time to stir up the blog again and see what happens.
As dedicated followers will surely remember, "Bronzans on the Loose" was started in 2018 when we sold our house in Sonoma County and spent the summer in Europe. The idea was that we could each pop in and give updates with our own unique perspectives from our adventures. While some of us did better than others, I ended up doing most of the writing. In hindsight I was probably a little unrealistic in thinking a ten and seven year old would spend time expressing their thoughts on international travel.
Still, I find myself going back to the blog from time to time and remembering some of the great times we had that summer. The blog was originally intended to be our private family journal, but we found others had an interest, so we shared it.
So, back to that news I mentioned...
For the longer version, read on.
Overall, our move to Fort Wayne has been a net positive. We have great friends and have carved out a nice life here in Northern Indiana. As happy as we are in our day-to-day life, we've had an ongoing itch that we've never been able to scratch.
Indiana was obviously a Plan B after the pandemic effectively stopped our plan to move to Spain in 2020. I have written about this at length in a previous post.
We'd pretty much resigned ourselves to the idea that our long haul overseas adventures would be pushed off until after the kids graduated from high school. We'd fill summers with trips to Europe like we did in 2022 when we spent two weeks in Croatia (with brief stops in London and Amsterdam).
This seemed like a fine plan. Probably would have been if I weren't such a restless person. Hard as I might try, I couldn't shake the idea of moving overseas and, as I realized was important to me, doing it as a family.
Last summer I started playing with the idea in my head. Could we do this? Could we pack up and go to Spain for a year? Could Olivia miss her sophomore year, could Luke miss his 7th grade year? We'd obviously be giving up a lot. Would it be worth it? Was I being selfish?
I'm not sure when I first broached the subject to Tiffany, but I've come to realize that when I come up with a crazy idea, as long as she doesn't laugh it off right away, I have a chance. I can do a lot when given a chance.
In our relationship, Tiffany is the one who favors stability and certainty. I'm the one who leans the opposite way. While knowing what we'll be doing in a week, a month, a year, is extremely important to her, the idea that I don't know what I'll be doing excites me the most. Of the challenges we have in our relationship (and, frankly, there aren't many), this is probably the root of most of them.
Like it was when we were making these types of plans in 2019, Tiffany was the hardest to convince. The kids are always up for adventure. They were on board.
Don't get me wrong, her concerns were 100% valid. We have a life here in Indiana. We own a house and cars. We have four pets*. We have jobs. We have kids. We have very busy lives.
Over the next couple of months, while we tried to wrap our heads around how we might be able to pull this off, I set about gathering documents to apply for a visa.
I've become fairly well practiced at requesting documents and filling out forms. Much of 2022 was spent preparing to apply for Croatian citizenship, a process that was completed with a December trip to the consulate in Chicago.
Based on the timing necessary to get settled in Spain in order to start school in September, we set a deadline of May to turn in our visa paperwork. A few email exchanges in February with the Spanish consulate, also in Chicago, resulted in an appointment date of May 12th.
It's important to keep in mind that this application isn't simply a declaration of our desire to live in Spain for a year. We had to line up private healthcare (paid upfront**) and secure a lease on a house, for starters. By February we were starting to make decisions that cost money. If this didn't work out, we'd be out a fair amount of money.
Fortunately, back in 2019 I was able to form relationships with other Americans who were either planning or already living in Spain. I've kept in contact with most of them and they proved incredibly helpful in the planning process.
Knowing time was of the essence, we worked with a relocation specialist who helped us find a house in our desired neighborhood (Albaicin). She was also able to help us register the kids for public school. Her help was immeasurable.
As the May 12th date approached, we had everything we needed except the kids' renewed passports. We first got them passports in 2018, prior to the original "Bronzans on the Loose" adventure. With them expiring this April, we knew we'd have to renew them and we weren't in a real hurry, until, that is, word came that passport renewals were in a serious backlog. What was a 5-week process could now take 12 weeks.
On our trip to the post office, we ordered the expedited service, but we knew we would still be cutting it close. The expedited service was also delayed.
It was around mid-April that I caught wind of a trick that I've happily shared with others. If you write your senator, they can help move the process along. I gave it a try and the intern who helped me was incredibly helpful. It was a mere two or three days from first contact that we had our passports. I can't say I'd ever vote for the guy, but this senator's office was incredibly helpful for that, I'm grateful.
With everything gathered, we headed to Chicago on the morning of the 12th and flew right through our "interview" appointment. In fact, the woman helping us at the consulate commended me on my organization. Coupled with the lady at Great Clips who inexplicably complimented me on my "great head of hair" the day before, it was a great week for me. For the record, I no longer have a "great head of hair". Amazing what you'll say when you work for tips.
We left our passports in Chicago and three weeks later, they were returned with visas affixed inside.
So that's where we are. Upon receiving confirmation that our visas were approved, we purchased plane tickets for the first leg of our trip. We'll leave Chicago on July 19th on our way to Belgium, where we will spend a few days before visiting Ireland for a few more. We will likely arrive at our new home in Granada in early August. Of course, as is always the case with us, the plans are subject to change.
There are obviously a ton of details that we'll share as we move closer to our departure date.
If you have an interest in our travel adventures, you can follow us on Instagram at @BronzansOnTheLoose. Livi is going to do more of the heavy lifting on both the blog and social media this time around.
*We are down two to pets. The guinea pigs are gone!
**And way, way cheaper than healthcare in the states.
😄👍🥰
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