Finally, Plan your Dream Life Abroad with
Guidance from the Clever Expat!

Could this be you? A true story:

I was recently in a Spanish consulate office in the United States to pick up my visa. I wasn’t alone. There was another couple there and a single lady, all of retirement age when I arrived. They were having a conversation about their experiences and plans after getting their visas.

The couple said that they had spent $15,000 to have their goods shipped to their Spanish destination. They planned to buy a home when they arrived. The other lady said that she had moved to Miami to be closer to the consulate. She said she planned to perhaps buy a home, but she was going to hire a full-time driver in Spain. She wasn’t sure what her final shipping costs would be, but she also expected between $15,000 and $20,000 to transport her items to her new home. 

None of them spoke Spanish. All of them had made significant life changes to become expat retirees.

When the visa official arrived to complete the visa process, the couple received their visas and passports and left. Then the remaining lady started a conversation with the visa official. “I brought my paperwork that the consulate requested.” (She had a large bundle of papers, along with a box of additional documents.) The official stated bluntly, “You need to mail those documents in. That’s what the directions said in our communication. I can’t take your documents.”

The woman was shocked. “But I have the documents right here. I can’t give them to you?” “No, you have to mail them in,” stated the official. “But I moved to Miami specifically to take care of tasks like this in person!” She was clearly surprised that the official was not going to budge. “The directions in the letter we sent to you were clear,” said the official. “Mail the documents in.”

The woman, defeated and clearly unhappy, left the office.

Learn how to avoid this type of stress… keep reading!

A little about my story

When I first moved to Spain from 2013-2015, I was in a completely different place in my life. (Here’s a link to my story.) When I returned to Spain in 2021, the world had changed, and so had Spain. The experience took me by surprise. I thought I knew what to expect, but I was wrong. 

Navigating healthcare, paperwork, and financial matters was almost impossible without help.

I mean, I had already done this once. I foolishly thought that my previous experience was sufficient. I knew people already, I had experienced many of the processes before, spoke some Spanish, and I knew the area pretty well. Over and over again, I learned that I was less prepared than I thought. I needed a lot of help to complete all of the steps to set up a life in Spain, from telephones to internet to healthcare.

However, with perseverance, patience, and a whole lot of language learning, I have been able to overcome many of the challenges and learned what other expats have faced. There are some common factors in every expat’s story as they look for retirement abroad.

• Finances. Crafting a new spending and financial plan for another country takes time and experience.
• Healthcare. Staying healthy in body and mind is important as you get older. Navigating a new health system requires different expectations and some new skills.
• Paperwork. From passports to bank statements to healthcare letters, the paperwork requirements seem endless!
• Arriving smarter. Building a new community and connecting with locals is a difficult challenge, but not impossible.

Looking back on my first year living in Spain, I learned so much. Not every “lesson” was pleasant, and there were many hard decisions as I became more successful as an expat. I’ve also been able to help others learn about being an expat through personal conversations, my travel blog, and connections through friends.

The CleverExpat.com website began with a meetup group in mind, but has grown to so much more. If you’re looking for reliable sources of information to make the transition to living as an expat, you’ve come to the right place!

Discover the Clever Expat’s Course Selection

• Are you overwhelmed by the thought of preparing your home for an expat lifestyle?
• Do you feel like you have too much “stuff” and don’t know where to begin?
• Does the thought of shipping your things overseas make you uncomfortable?

Then this workshop is for you!

Together, we can overcome these fears and move into your expat lifestyle with less stress and more money in your pocket!

What Others are Saying

People have already learned through the Clever Expat meetups and online resources. After attending, participants feel much more confident in their knowledge and pursuit of the dreams to live abroad.

Most frequently, participants indicate that they were able to save money and focus their efforts to make retiring abroad a success!

Don’t wait! Look at what past learners have to say after connecting with the Clever Expat!

• Thank you very much, you have shared excellent ideas & I’m impressed you have actually DONE IT and made your expat life a reality!
• One of the key ingredients for this group is Dr. Wells’ enthusiasm and willingness to entertain conversation.
• I like the introspective questions that are part of the discussions. I like that relevant information and stories!
• Hearing from other people, getting tips, the always excellent moderating skills of Dr. Wells.
• The Visa information was extremely useful and easy to put into practice for my own expat journey. 
• I really appreciated the discussion of the research necessary before making any decisions. Key lesson: Don’t wing it.
• Yes! This was fantastic. Just what I was looking for.
• Dr. Wells, I feel so very lucky to have met you. You have helped me so much in this journey and I can’t thank you enough. Doing my best to pay it forward!

100% Satisfaction Guarantee for 30 Days following the course

Choosing an expat lifestyle can be a difficult decision. We’ve designed this course to make those decisions simpler, and you more successful as you pursue your dreams.

However, we also know that not every course is for every person, and you may not find the value that you expected.

That’s why we are offering a no-questions-asked refund policy. If you are not satisfied with the materials, the presentations, or the overall experience, contact Clever Expat for a 100% refund for up to 30 days following the last course session. It’s that simple.