Hi from Medellin,
It takes unwavering grit to start over at any age.
After 3 miserable years in Buffalo, NY and being physically sick, I sold almost everything I owned and bought a one-way ticket to Medellín. The story that kept playing in my head like an annoying broken record was: “By the time I reach 90, I want to look back and say WOW, that was a life well lived. No regrets.” Is it possible? I don’t know. Ask me when I’m 90.
I was born in Barranquilla, Colombia, my family moved to New York City three months before I turned nine. Now at 50, I’m back in Colombia temporarily living in Medellín for the first time.
Recently decided it’s a pit stop through parts of South America, more on why later. My goal destination is Valencia, Spain, where I’m pursuing residency through Article 22 of the Spanish Civil Code. A pathway I found through research while looking for a faster route to Spanish nationality if I apply as a Colombian. As an American citizen, it would have taken me at least five years to be eligible to apply.
The Voyager Insider newsletter was an idea birthed just a couple of weeks ago. It’s not entirely original to write about my journey, but fuck it. I gave myself permission to do it anyway.
It’s my way to document all my future lived experiences that years ago felt like a “maybe one day” or when I have more financial stability. Well, one day is now. And if you are still sitting on your own “one day,” this is also for you.
Fair warning, this publication will sometimes include my slightly sarcastic view of the world and incorporate the NPA technique, non-personal awareness, I’ve been using with a facilitator.
Over the last year, it has helped ease my inner critic and given me more space to let things roll off my shoulders. Something unheard of 3 short years ago. Now, I don’t get as down or angry so quickly, so the non-personal part is kicking in a little.
I seem to go into more introspective moments than I probably should. Definitely call myself out on my own shit, notice patterns of behavior most people want to hide, including my own. Which leads to, you guessed it, an NPA session with my facilitator.
You may be wondering what separates me from everyone else doing this. A few tiny details.
Some life experience after five decades on this planet, a ton of regret, and an incessantly curious mind, borderline nutty. I overthink and overanalyze everything and try to hide it to play it cool.
I have more questions than answers and will leave it at that for now. Oh, I’m fluent in Spanish, but you might have guessed that part already. I have a Master’s degree in Human Resource Management, boring. Well, this part is not so different. Plenty of bilinguals with degrees are already doing this.
Here, I will go into the nitty gritty of daily life nuances in every place I land, the food I eat, health treatments, real costs, and everything I wish I had known before embarking on this unpredictable venture.
BTW I am not an entirely fearless soul, but guess what? I do NPA for that too. Bottom line is that at this point in my life I want to live a life that is not plagued by all the things that simply do not matter nor will I care about at 90.
Lara, I really like that you don’t frame this as a fearless reinvention story. ❤️
You’re very clear that fear, overthinking, regret, uncertainty, and self-doubt are still coming along for the ride. You’re just no longer letting them decide the itinerary.
The line that stayed with me was the question you’re asking your future self:
“By the time I reach 90, I want to look back and say WOW, that was a life well lived. No regrets.”
That’s such a useful way to strip away a lot of the noise. Not what looks safest right now? Or what will everyone understand? But will this matter when I’m looking back across the whole thing?
And I laughed at the part where you basically gave yourself permission to write about the journey anyway. 😂 Sometimes “fuck it, I’m doing it” is a surprisingly healthy creative strategy.
What makes this compelling to me is that you’re not just changing countries. You’re testing what happens when “maybe one day” finally becomes now.
I’m very curious to see where that takes you. 🌎✨
Love your spirit so much. Today is the day. And we are choosing our day to day experience consciously , the one that we will cherish when we are 90.