A Cyclist's Move to Europe: The Onion Peeling Has No End

Death and double taxes?

Welcome to my new series, “A Cyclist’s Move to Europe.” I’m going to share my experience as it happens, so I’d call it less of a guide and more of a meandering tale of trying to find doors in a brick wall. I’m a rookie at this, so I imagine I’m already making many mistakes, which will be given full airtime here. Follow me as I navigate the legal, cultural, logistical, social, and sporting sides of the move.

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Sometimes in life, the more you dig, the more complex things get, and the less confident you become. Moving to Europe feels a bit like a microcosm of the Dunning-Kruger effect. On paper, it’s pretty simple: get a visa, find a place to live, and move there.

Unfortunately, few good things in life are that simple.

The more layers of the onion that I unpeel, the more I realize that the little things are what will get me, and that I really don’t know anything. Most of these are very trivial, very first-world issues, but they do add up.

Getting prescription medications in Spain

US doctors cannot refill prescriptions in Spanish pharmacies. This is pretty logical, but the implications can range from minor inconveniences in my case to life-or-death panics like in the case of a friend who is a Type 1 diabetic. I take Fluoxetine (Prozac), which is an anti-anxiety medication. I honestly had not thought one bit about getting refills in Spain until I had my annual appointment with my psychiatrist, when she mentioned this.

I have two options: get a doctor in Spain, which likely means I will have to be assessed again separately from my normal psychiatrist and start from scratch with essentially two sets of medical records, or stockpile the medication ahead of time. If the latter sounds a bit dodgy, keep in mind that this is not a controlled medication. It’s not even like Adderall. This came on the advice of my psychiatrist since she works with students who go to university abroad.

Even if I take the latter route, I should find a doctor in Spain anyway, in case I need it.

Double Taxes?

Taxes are complicated and, of course, something no one likes. Unfortunately, it looks like I might have to pay double taxes. I’m still trying to decipher the regulations, but because I will spend more than 183 days in Spain in a year, I will be a resident. Even though the company I work for is US-based and does not make any money within Spain, I will be subject to Spanish taxes. From my understanding, there are a variety of agreements between the US and Spain that mean that I won’t be liable for normal tax rates in either place. Hopefully, what this means is that I won’t end up paying extra tax, but right now, I’m still trying to figure this out. Regardless of the amount I have to pay, it will add a fair bit of complexity to tax filing each year. Even the basic mechanisms of how I pay Spanish taxes are a bit daunting. I’m sure I’ll figure it out, but let’s just say I now understand why corporations that have offices around the world and employees moving from one country to another have departments that handle these challenges.

The situation of my car

I have a storage unit where my regular belongings I don’t need will live while I’m in Europe. Luckily. I only own one piece of real furniture (a desk), so the rest is quite easy. However, I do have a car that can’t simply be abandoned. Temporarily, it can stay where I live now, but if my roommate finds another person to take my place, I’ll need a place for it to go in Colorado Springs. I’m sure I can find some fancy car storage unit, but honestly, my Subaru is not worthy of that expenditure (sorry, buddy). I’d prefer to find someone who has yard or driveway space for me to park it.

Car storage is only the first challenge. The question of car insurance is one I need to dive into. From my research, I can drop my car insurance while it’s sitting still, but I am also aware that this would make me 100% liable if it gets damaged or stolen while in storage. This is a decision I have to weigh up. Save a good chunk of change and risk losing a lot more, or spend a bit and get peace of mind (I feel like this is a throughline throughout life….)

Getting bike equipment while in Spain

I’m very lucky to have sponsors who support my racing. Most are US-based or have US distribution. In Spain, I’ll need to ensure that I can obtain what I need from my sponsors without overburdening them. Some do have European distribution or are even Europe-based, but I generally work with their US offices, and European stock is not always the same as US stock, so I need to plan ahead when it comes to bikes, fuel, tires, and more.

To top this off, the Spanish logistics system (postal service, FedEx, etc) is, to be honest, pretty universally regarded as unreliable. If you’ve heard about my Badlands FedEx adventure, you’ll understand. The last thing I want is for a very expensive bike to disappear into logistics oblivion.

Voting

If you’re a US citizen (or citizen of any country that is fortunate enough to have free and fair elections), you should want to exercise your right to vote regardless of your political views. In my opinion, it’s more of a duty than a right, since it’s something our family members and ancestors fought to gain and then protect.

I want to make sure I’m able to vote in Spain. Like the previous challenge with equipment, this will come down to planning and a fair bit of finger-crossing regarding the Spanish postal system.

The bank situation

I use Santander as a bank. It’s a Spanish bank, so I should be set, right? Well… not so fast. Transaction fees should be minimal when I use a Santander ATM, but it still may be advantageous to open a Spanish Santander account. Luckily, I use Wise for transfers internationally (to my coach, to reimburse my new roommate for rent, etc), and I rarely need to withdraw cash in general, but I may consider getting a Spanish account once I have the proper documentation. I will, however, still receive paychecks to my US account. This is yet another area I need to research more, and another case of weighing the costs and benefits.

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So there’s a brief list of random little and big roadblocks I need to figure out. If you’ve taken something from this, it’s probably that I don’t have the answers to how I will deal with each, and I don’t even have a complete list of questions I need to answer. I’ve learned one thing so far: ask friends for help. If they’ve been through it before, they can save you a lot of time and some major headaches.