Like the fall-run Chinook Salmon which spend 3-4 years in the ocean before migrating to their spawning grounds in the fall, Rocky and I will be returning to the Pacific Northwest at the end of September. While we do not plan to spawn or die right away on our return, as the Chinook do, we are excited to settle into a place we still consider home. After several years wandering huge distances, most salmon return to their natal rivers. Rocky and I were not born in the Pacific Northwest but lived there for 23 years, longer than we’ve lived anywhere else. It is time to return home.
It feels like a natural extension of our adventures to return someplace where we feel we have the deepest roots. Our time in Spain has been meaningful, enriching and incredibly exciting but I am feeling a deep yearning to return to our PNW community. By the time we go back, we will have been in Spain almost 4 years which is what made me think we might have absorbed some characteristics of the Chinook! Somehow, the salmon know when it is time to return home.
Rocky imagined that we would live in Spain for the rest of our lives but, from the earliest days, I felt like it was a temporary stay. Initially I thought we’d wait until we had grandchildren to return to the U.S. but that has not happened yet and is not guaranteed. Instead, I feel the call to teach yoga in person again and not just on retreat. Although I have continued to teach yoga on Zoom to my private clients, I miss teaching weekly in-person classes. I miss my friends, fellow yoga teachers, and warm, fluffy towels right out of a dryer. Maybe I’ll continue to dry a few things on the clothesline as we do here, but not our towels which become stiff and scratchy.
Although Rocky did not want to consider returning at first, the thought of being able to shop at his beloved Costco, drive a car and eat Dungessness Crab has him starting to look forward to our move. The biggest difference for him will be that he can communicate on his own. Rocky took Spanish language classes for two years and still practices on the language app, Duolingo, but learning a new language has not been easy for him.
He has mastered ordering food and wine like a pro and even does all of the grocery shopping without too many challenges unless the cashier goes “off-script,” as he likes to say. What has been most difficult is not being able to go to the doctor, the bank, or any business office without his wife. You can imagine, as a grown-ass man, he does not want his wife having to accompany him to the doctor every time!
When we run into Spanish friends or neighbors while walking Wilma, Rocky nods and smiles and even manages to laugh at the right time because he studies people so well. Five minutes after we walk away from them though, and I ask him what they said, he makes up a hilarious story that he concocted out of the few words that he actually understood. He has a vivid imagination! While we always get a good laugh out of this, over time, it has led to his increased frustration.
Rocky is a guy who loves to have deep conversations and share his thoughts on a variety of topics. He has made some really close friends here who speak English but for the most part his daily audience is Wilma and I. Probably not very satisfying for someone used to engaging with lots of different people. He has said he is happy continuing to learn slowly but I am convinced he will love being independent again when we return to the U.S.
Our arrival in Spain happened just a couple of months after Rocky retired so he associates our life here with free time to cook, walk, read, enjoy friends and take siestas, which he rarely had time to do when he was working. I believe we will be able to build a similar life when we return to Tacoma, as well.
Some of the things we loved the most about Asturias are things that reminded us of the PNW: mountains, water, moderate temperatures and rain. The area where we live is called Green Spain just like Washington was known as the Emerald State. There is an abundance of great seafood, fabulous hiking trails and open-minded people like in Washington State. When we first arrived, Rocky used to say, “If only they didn’t speak Spanish, this place would be ideal!”
We have not landed on a neighborhood in Tacoma yet. Our walking lifestyle here has been wonderful for our health and we do not want to give it up entirely. Finding a neighborhood where we can walk to the grocery store, restaurants, cafes, a library and a yoga studio is a priority when we return. Rocky has already picked out a car he wants to buy that will get us to the mountains for hiking but we will try to avoid using it daily.
You may recall we got rid of everything before we moved, arriving in Gijon with just six suicases. We have been renting a fully furnished apartment ever since so we have not accumulated much more. Rocky has a few more shoes and a lot more wine glasses and I have some new boots and yoga stuff. It will not be as easy to start over in Tacoma since furnished places are rare and pricey but we are looking forward to the challenge. “Embrace the eclectic” will be our new motto as we comb through used furniture shops.
At the end of September, we will land in Tacoma and take a month to look for the right neighborhood and a place to rent. Our son, Devin, and his fiancee Kendra, are getting married in Texas in October so we will take some time out to go the the wedding/family reunion and then return to start figuring out our next steps.
We don’t know where, what or how but those questions will all be answered in time. Until then, we are happily living the questions and savoring all of the possibilites. In Spain, we will continue working through our own Spanish bucket list as well as hosting retreats in Japan in April, Italy in May, walking part of the Camino in June and doing a retreat in Greece in September. Our moving date will arrive very quickly with so much travel on our schedule.
Returning to Tacoma will not mean the end of our trips as we plan to keep Global Yoga Trips going! All we are doing is moving my office back to Tacoma where it all started. Our proximity to Asia may allow us to develop more Asia-based retreats and we may continue developing our South America destinations. We already have a fully-booked retreat in Portugal in May 2025 so we will definitely be returning to Europe as well. Let us know if you have a destination in mind you’d like us to consider!
Living in Spain has given me not only the opportunity to improve my Spanish but has exposed us to new friends from all over the world. Last week, I celebrated Les Comadres, a 100-year-old Asturian tradition where women get together to have dinner, chat and support each other on the first Thursday before Antroxu, the week before Lent.
Our group of 15 consisted of women from 12 different countries: Belgium, Mexico, South Africa, Wales (UK), Turkey, Finland, the Ukraine, Russia, China, Australia, Spain, the U.S. . Our common languages were English and Spanish and most of us met in Spanish language, yoga or cooking classes. Five of the women are married to Spanish men and the rest are either single or married to other ex-pats. Although we were born in other countries we all live in Gijon and share many interests.
When we arrived in Spain, I had no idea we would meet so many people from other countries. Getting to know other ex-pats has inspired us to travel to countries we had not imagined visiting before meeting them. Even as I embrace my former community, I hope I can continue to grow my circle of international friends and to find ways to keep using my Spanish when we get to Tacoma.
People who have left the U.S. bring up gun violence, the homeless crisis and our messy U.S. political situation as reasons we should not return. Nowhere is perfect though, and after careful consideration, we are choosing to return and embrace life in a community that was incredibly good to us for over two decades. No doubt there will be obstacles to overcome but we are ready. Even the salmon return home in spite of having to swim upstream, face predators and human anglers.
One other important change that allows us to return this year is that I am turning 65 in November. Living in Spain allowed Rocky to retire early and for us to afford low-cost but top-notch health care. Now that we are both “of an age” it will be more affordable for us to return. Some call Americans who leave the country because they can’t afford private health insurance and are too young to qualify for Medicare, “medical refugees.” Never did I imagine looking forward to getting on Medicare!
Miriam Adeney, PhD. Washington State University, an anthropologist and author said, “You will never be completely at home again, because part of your heart will always be elsewhere. That is the price you pay for the richness of loving and knowing people in more than one place.”
May our journey back to Tacoma, WA this fall be easier than that of the Chinook swimming upstream! Whether we are reunited in the PNW or whether I am leaving you behind in Spain, know that you have a piece of my heart and I will always cherish the time we had together.
From the author:
Curious about our upcoming retreats? There is still time to join us in Puglia, Italy and on the Spanish Camino this spring! More info
Do you live in Gijon or nearby? We met so many friends by taking classes from Cristina Sanchez Blanco. She recently opened a new language school here called Versa. If you are new to the area and want to learn Spanish and meet new people, I highly recommend Versa!
Fantastico, Jeni!! I will be thinking of you when I have my Gentle Yoga weekly class, in about an hour, with Katie Bonnett.
Tell Rocky we have had wonderful fresh Dungeness crab 4 times in the past week. Height of the season!
.Allene and I are so excited for you getting back home, where you belong. Ciao, Eduardo
Ed- we loved the photo of you with the crab. Rocky is going to look at that photo every time he has doubts about moving back! See you in the fall. Love and hugs to Katie B, too.
Yayyy we are getting you back!!!
Put a trip to Tacoma on your list for this fall!
Jeni,
I have responded to your blog “in my head” for too long! And now I am delighted to hear you and Rocky are returning to the NW for the very selfish reason that I miss your yoga classes!
Candy stopped giving her classes in Tacoma once her house was built in Lacey and I still see her for Bookclub but miss the yoga.
I have time to write since I have been ill with pneumonia of all things for the past 3 weeks despite antibiotics and numerous trips to my Virginia Mason clinic.
Still need to walk the dog though!
I have decided to move to Vashon since that is where I most feel delighted and at peace. My neighborhood in Auburn is getting too crowded and noisy to feel that way although I have tried for “inner peace” while in my yard gardening with tons of traffic zooming by.
Considering moving out of my home of 35 years has brought many emotions which I didn’t quite expect. Every plant in my garden (well not so much the weeds but still I admire their hardiness) is my friend and attached to a memory just like the home I have created. My girls don’t have the same attachment since they have been independent for so long.
Cedar, my pup that I adopted 1 1/2 years ago spend a fair bit of time at Flaming Geyser State park and have witnessed the salmon spawning and dying there. Such an amazing feat! Sparks something viseral inside watching the end of their journey. I wish you well leaving Spain, how wonderful you were able to live there for the years you did! And you can always go back!
Julia, my eldest daughter recently journeyed to Guatamala and really enjoyed it there. Perhaps this would be a good place for a Global Yoga retreat?
My very best wishes for your son’s wedding and finding a wonderful place in Tacoma!
Joellen- so great to hear from you but sorry you are ill. Downsizing and letting go of every thing you’ve tended like your garden is a difficult process that we remember all too well. Once you’ve relocated though there is so much freedom in starting over. I do hope our paths will cross again soon. We would love to visit you on Vashon, too. I have many fond memories of visiting Kathryn Payne and her yoga studio, Island Yoga Center there. Look her up when you relocate! With any luck she is still teaching.
Thank you for the tip about Island Yoga and your friend Kathryn Payne; I will definitely look into this studio!
And you will always be welcome to visit me and Cedar on Vashon!
Good news! Will be happy to see you again. My friends rented a furnished apartment at The Stadium apts last summer . Across from the Thriftway! And now the trolley goes more places.
Welcome Home
I’ve been watching the Link Rail and love the Stadium neighborhood. It is definitley one of the places we are considering.
And you can see movies at the Grand Cinema!!
Wow Jeni! So wonderful that you are able to embrace the experience in Spain and now use it to focus your future. Tell Rocky that his chosen lifestyle change has undoubtedly eased the path into retirement. It can be a tough couple of years to adjust to retirement but the choices you all made turned it into an adventure instead of an adjustment.
I had always figured we’d cross paths in Spain someday but I guess planes go west from here as well so I’ll let you know when the PNW is back on our sights!
Congrats!!
Patti- there is still time to meet us in Spain!
Jeni and Rocky,
I’ve so enjoyed your travels and stories from Spain. A beautiful country for certain. I love how you embrace new experiences. Wishing you happy journeys before your return home. I know you’re eyes are set on Tacoma, but Kits county has some wonderful walkable communities. Check out Pouksbo
Thank you Adele! We know Poulsbo and it does have so much to offer including a certain bakery I remember fondly! I’m rather attached to my Tacoma community but will keep it in mind, for sure.
Os deseo lo mejor siempre! Que recuerdos más divinos tendréis al regresar a los EEUU de los últimos cuatro años! Abrazos
¡Tienes razón, Patrick! Ojalá también regresemos a España todos los años.
Can’t wait to have you home!!!!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️
Woo hoo! Thank you Katie!
To say I’m happy you are returning is an understatement!
You’ve had a wonderful adventure and those adventures will continue no matter where you live.
Can’t wait!
Thank you Allene! Loved the photo of Ed with the crab that you sent. Motivation!
What a perfect analogy! And this line made me laugh out loud: “While we do not plan to spawn or die right away on our return, as the Chinook do” Haha! I’m relieved that you are not dying OR spawning new babies next year!
Can’t wait to have you both near again!
I’m relieved as well! That would make me think twice about returning. Now I’ve got to get busy memorizing the Webster English dictionary so I can play Scrabble with you again.
We are looking forward to your return home.
Thank you Melissa!
Welcome home!
Wait, we haven’t met yet!! We have both read about your adventures and you continue to inspire us. We admire your adventurous spirit. Nos vemos, espero!
This is great news! I’ve loved following your journey. You are living an extraordinary life. Come home. We miss you. Flights leave from Seatac every minute. And Fircrest is pretty lovely. X0
Well- you two certainly are having an interesting life- so proud to know you both and happy for you and the boys!!!