Who we are

We are not your typical expats. We are a married couple in our mid-fifties who have never really done things the conventional way — and we wouldn't have it any other way.

We fell in love fast and hard in our forties — the kind of love that makes three weeks feel like enough time to know forever. We grew cannabis off the land in southern Oregon, traveled to Europe and felt something shift in us, and spent years quietly knowing that one day we would actually go.

When Kelly lost his dad and I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, the quiet knowing became something louder. Life felt shorter and more precious. The warm climate isn't just a lifestyle preference for us — it's genuinely better for my health.

So we made the decision. We sold nearly everything, moved in with Kelly's mom in Oregon to help her through her first year of living alone, and spent this time planning, preparing, and pointing ourselves toward a new life — first to Lake Chapala, Mexico, and then onward to Spain.

We are late bloomers in the best possible sense — late to find each other, late to settle down, and now choosing to bloom again in countries that feel like they were waitingfor us.

This is our story, told honestly and in real time. The whole messy, beautiful, terrifying truth of it.

— Lainie & Kelly