Books

The long versions

Each book goes further than a page on this site can: the paperwork in order, budgets line by line, and the parts of moving abroad nobody films. Kindle and paperback on Amazon.

Cover of Moving to Spain: The Honest Guide by Alex Carter

Moving to Spain: The Honest Guide

Costs, Visas, and What Nobody Tells You

The Non-Lucrative Visa file document by document, three real 2026 budgets for Valencia, Málaga and Madrid, the wealth-tax map, healthcare after sixty, and what to do if Spain doesn't work out.

Cover of How to Retire Abroad on $2,000 a Month by Alex Carter

How to Retire Abroad on $2,000 a Month

What It Really Costs in 14 Countries

What life costs in named cities across 14 countries, health insurance priced at your actual age, and the costs no published budget includes, with a one-page worksheet to build your own number.

Cover of Why They Came Back by Alex Carter

Why They Came Back

What Breaks a Move Abroad, Month by Month

The part of the story relocation writing skips: what actually breaks a move abroad, when it tends to happen, and what the people who stayed did differently.

Cover of The Restart by Alex Carter

The Restart

How Americans Rebuild Their Lives Abroad After 40

Starting over in another country after 40: rebuilding a routine, a circle and a sense of purpose, and why most people wait too long to begin.

Which book to start with

If you're set on Spain, start with Moving to Spain: The Honest Guide. It walks through the Non-Lucrative Visa file document by document, prices three real budgets for Valencia, Málaga and Madrid, and covers healthcare after sixty and the tax rules that catch Americans.

If you haven't picked a country, start with How to Retire Abroad on $2,000 a Month. It compares what life costs in named cities across 14 countries, with health insurance priced at your actual age and a one-page worksheet to build your own number.

If you're already planning the move, Why They Came Back is about what breaks a move abroad and when, and The Restart is about rebuilding a routine, a circle and a sense of purpose after 40.

The books and this site

The site answers one question per page, with the sources linked. The books put those answers in order, from the decision to the first year after landing. Free checklists and spreadsheets from the books are on the PDFs page, and the country guides are under Countries. All books are in Kindle and paperback on Amazon.