Episode Details

If you've ever fantasized about packing up your life, leaving the US, and actually doing the damn thing — this episode is your sign. I'm sitting down with Alicia Sanchez, founder of Felicita & Faustina studio shop, marketing expert with 20+ years in the game (American Express, ESPN, Klaviyo — the girl's got credentials), and now a full-time entrepreneur living her best life in Southern Spain with her wife and six-year-old daughter. She bought a house. In cash. For under $70K. And she wants you to know it's more doable than you think.

We get into the real — not the Instagram-filtered version. The financial planning, the digital nomad visa process, what attorneys actually cost (hint: not $10K), the tax reality, and why the thing that changed her life the most wasn't the house or the visa. It was watching her daughter have a childhood. This one's going to make you ask yourself: what's really keeping you?

WE GET INTO: 

00:38 — Intro: Alicia's back + why this episode exists

03:07 — Who was Alicia before all of this?

05:23 — What her Dominican grandmothers taught her about money

09:03 — Why she said "hell no" to corporate

10:35 — Build your business before you quit

11:13 — Why corporate stability is a lie

15:05 — Why Spain (she lived there before)

17:11 — The decision: February 2025

18:23 — The timeline: pods, visa, house

20:41 — Financial planning behind the move

22:06 — Buying a house in cash under $70K

24:50 — Digital nomad visa explained

27:07 — Biggest misconceptions about Spain

30:08 — What attorneys actually cost (not $10K)

33:07 — Bringing family on your visa

34:25 — Documentation you need to qualify

36:22 — The tax reality

40:50 — How their daughter's life transformed

42:33 — What's really keeping you?

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• Don't wait to quit before you start building — start now, quietly, while you're still employed
• Corporate "stability" is a mask. You can be laid off tomorrow. Build income outside your W-2
• The digital nomad visa: apply in Spain (not the US) and get 3 years instead of 1
• You do NOT need to spend $10K to get your visa. The government fee is set. Be an educated consumer
• As a Latino/a, after 2 years on the digital nomad visa, you can switch to permanent residency through your lineage
• For the digital nomad visa, max 20% of your income can come from Spain — the rest must come from outside the country
• Clean, consistent bookkeeping and invoices are your best friend when applying
• A 5-bedroom home in Southern Spain — bought in cash, under $70K. Eliminating a mortgage changes everything
• Spain does a quarterly tax system. Know this before you go
• The lifestyle shift is real. No active shooter drills. No metal detectors. Their daughter just went on a museum field trip
• You are one decision away from a completely different life

EPISODE RESOURCES:

• Episode 269: How To Be A Money Making Mama | Alicia Sanchez 
• Unlock your Puerto Rican Citizenship 
• Relocation & Immigration specialists in Andalucía – tell them YQD sent you!

CONNECT WITH ALICIA:

• Instagram
• YouTube  

TAKE THE NEXT STEP:

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