This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Victor Trac, 45, a DevOps engineer and entrepreneur. His words have been edited for length and clarity.
Growing up in South Carolina, I was always into computers. In high school, I built and sold PCs to my friends and their parents and provided tech support before earning a degree in electrical engineering and math.
After college, my then-girlfriend Rebecca — now my wife, who I’ve known since elementary school — took a teaching job in France, and I followed. We later spent three years living in Germany, traveling around Europe on weekends.
By 2008, we’d returned to the US and moved to Austin as its startup scene was taking off.
Fast-forward 15 years, and Austin was no longer the intimate city we first landed in. Our kids were 9 and 12, and we saw it as the perfect time for a gap-year adventure.
We also knew Texas wasn’t where we wanted to stay long term.
The family abroad
Because our kids attended a dual-language elementary school and already spoke Spanish, we decided to spend a year in Spain.
In 2023, we moved to Vitoria-Gasteiz, the capital of Spain’s Basque Country, and rented a furnished duplex in a walkable city framed by mountains. There was one twist: The school taught primarily in Basque, a language completely unrelated to Spanish.
My kids struggled at first — especially my daughter, who barely spoke when we arrived — but within three months, they’d both adjusted. Friendships formed, the language became easier, and the experience exceeded anything we’d hoped for.
I spent mornings trail running in the mountains, afternoons working remotely with US clients and my team, and evenings having dinner with my family. Life felt slower and more intentional than it had in Austin.
After the school year ended, we rented a camper van and road-tripped across southern Europe before visiting friends and family in Ireland.
By August 2024, we were back in the US, but our Austin house was rented out, and we weren’t ready to settle down again. My wife also wanted to live somewhere with four distinct seasons, something we’d never really had in Texas.
We embarked on a “city shopping tour”
We spent months traveling the East Coast, renting Airbnbs and testing cities as potential homes while my wife homeschooled the kids and I worked remotely. By December, Portland, Maine, had emerged as the clear winner.
The timing was tricky because it was the middle of the US school year, so we decided to spend the first half of 2025 in New Zealand, where school-aged children can attend local schools for up to three months on visitor visas.
We enrolled the kids in a school in Christchurch on the South Island and headed off. At the Sydney airport, though, we hit a snag: Because we only had one-way tickets, Air New Zealand required proof of onward travel. I ended up buying expensive refundable exit tickets on my phone before we could check in.
The kids completed a school term and we did another big road trip exploring New Zealand. I spent my days playing tennis, and at one point, I even cycled the Alps-to-Ocean trail in three days, with a laptop in my backpack.
Before heading to Maine, we also spent three weeks in Japan.
Readjusting to life in the US came with its own surprises
In Spain and New Zealand, daily life felt more walkable and connected. Back in the US, we suddenly found ourselves driving almost everywhere again.
The cost of everyday life also shocked us. In northern Spain, I could grab an espresso and a fresh pincho at a neighborhood café for a couple of euros. Back in the US, even a simple coffee-and-breakfast run felt expensive, especially once tipping was added.
Some experiences abroad also changed how I viewed everyday interactions. In New Zealand, I rented an expensive camera lens with nothing more than my name written on a piece of paper — no ID or deposit required. That level of trust left a lasting impression on me.
People ask about the biggest challenge of living abroad
I honestly don’t think there was one that stood out.
Spain could be bureaucratic, but we treated it as part of the adventure. Our kids also adapted remarkably well and rarely complained about the constant changes.
Staying connected with family and friends back home was easy thanks to video calls and messaging, though the time differences sometimes made planning tricky.
For now, we’re settled in Portland with the kids — they’re 14 and 10 — and fully immersed in school and daily life. We plan to stay at least until my daughter finishes high school.
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