70-Year-Old Mother Returns to US After 5 Months in Spain as Language Barrier Isolates Her
Updated
Updated · Business Insider · May 13
70-Year-Old Mother Returns to US After 5 Months in Spain as Language Barrier Isolates Her
1 articles · Updated · Business Insider · May 13
Five months after moving from Connecticut to join her daughter’s family near Madrid, the 70-year-old decided to return to the US after spending much of her time withdrawn and unhappy.
Spanish proved a bigger obstacle for her than expected: despite tutoring and daily practice before the move, she froze in conversations, struggled after a two-hour class, and failed to build a routine or community.
Her daughter had expected her to thrive because she had long been active, widely traveled, and eager to experience new cultures, making her retreat in Spain especially hard to accept.
Back in the US, she is staying with her brother in Massachusetts, hiking 3 miles a day, attending yoga, and practicing Spanish again—signs, her daughter says, that she feels like herself again.
As global migration shifts, what does one woman’s retreat from her Spanish dream reveal about the future of retirement?
Retiring abroad seems idyllic. Why does the dream so often collapse into loneliness, even with family support?