Portland home after a year abroad: DevOps family search

Spain to – A DevOps engineer’s family compares Spain, New Zealand, Japan and more—then settles in Portland as school and costs shape the decision.

A DevOps engineer’s year abroad began as a gap-year experiment and turned into a high-stakes search for the right place to raise two kids—moving from Texas to Spain, then through multiple schooling systems before finally finding stability in Portland.

Victor Trac. 45. grew up in South Carolina building and selling PCs and providing tech support before earning a degree in electrical engineering and mathematics.. After college. he followed his wife. Rebecca—whom he’d known since elementary school—when she took a teaching job in France.. The couple then spent three years in Germany. traveling around Europe on weekends. before returning to the United States in 2008 as Austin’s startup scene was beginning to accelerate.

For years, Austin worked.. But Trac said the city no longer felt like the close-knit place he first landed in. and with their children—then 9 and 12—he saw an opening for a broader “gap-year” adventure.. The family also knew Texas wasn’t where they wanted to stay long term. setting the stage for a sequence of moves designed not just to change geography. but to test daily life.

In 2023, the family moved to Vitoria-Gasteiz, the capital of Spain’s Basque Country.. They rented a furnished duplex in a walkable city bordered by mountains and chose Spain because their kids attended a dual-language elementary school and already spoke Spanish.. There was, however, a major complication: the school they selected taught primarily in Basque—a language unrelated to Spanish.. Trac said his children struggled at first. with his daughter speaking barely at the start. but within three months both adjusted.. Friendships formed, daily routines became less daunting, and he described the experience as exceeding expectations.

Work and life abroad blended in a way that felt deliberately slower.. Trac spent mornings trail running in the mountains, afternoons working remotely with U.S.. clients and his team, and evenings sharing dinner with his family.. That rhythm, he said, made day-to-day life in Spain feel more intentional than it had in Austin.

After the school year ended. they rented a camper van and road-tripped across southern Europe. then visited friends and family in Ireland.. By August 2024 they were back in the U.S.. but their Austin house was rented out and they weren’t ready to settle again.. Trac also said his wife wanted a home with four distinct seasons—something Texas had never truly delivered for their household.

From there, the family launched what Trac described as a “city shopping tour” across the East Coast.. They rented Airbnbs and tested potential home cities while Trac worked remotely and his wife homeschooled the kids.. The timing mattered: it was the middle of the U.S.. school year.. By December. Portland. Maine emerged as the clear winner. reflecting a shift from novelty travel to practical evaluation of everyday logistics—especially around schooling.

Still, Trac and his family needed a bridge that wouldn’t interrupt their kids’ education mid-year.. They decided to spend the first half of 2025 in New Zealand. where school-aged children can attend local schools for up to three months on visitor visas.. The plan put the kids in a school in Christchurch on the South Island for a semester. with the family using the time to keep routines consistent while they continued evaluating where they belonged.

That move included an unexpected travel hurdle at the Sydney airport.. Because their tickets were one-way, Air New Zealand required proof of onward travel.. Trac said he ended up buying expensive refundable exit tickets on his phone in order to check in—an episode that underscored how immigration and travel rules can quickly become part of a family’s real-world cost structure.

In New Zealand. the children completed their school term and the family followed up with another wide-ranging road trip exploring the country.. Trac also described personal time as active and outdoors-focused. including playing tennis and cycling a trail known as the Alps-to-Ocean route in three days—while carrying a laptop in his backpack to keep work going.

Before heading to Maine. they also spent three weeks in Japan. adding one more layer to their “where we belong” search by comparing how families and communities function across different settings.. Trac framed the adjustment process as less about dramatic breakdowns and more about learning what daily life looks like under different systems.

Back in the United States, one of the most immediate changes was transportation and the built environment.. In Spain and New Zealand, Trac said daily life felt walkable and connected.. In the U.S.. they found themselves driving almost everywhere again. a shift that affected routine and. by extension. time and cost.

Prices also became more visible.. In northern Spain. he said it was possible to buy an espresso and a fresh pincho at a neighborhood café for just a couple of euros.. Back in the U.S.. even a simple coffee-and-breakfast outing felt expensive—especially after factoring in tipping. which he said made ordinary moments add up quickly.

Some experiences abroad also shaped how he viewed trust in everyday transactions.. In New Zealand. he rented an expensive camera lens with nothing more than his name written on a piece of paper. without ID or a deposit.. Trac said that level of trust stayed with him as a long-term impression of how systems and assumptions can differ across countries.

When asked about the biggest challenge of living abroad, Trac said he did not see a single standout problem.. Spain could be bureaucratic, but he treated that friction as part of the adventure.. He also described his children as adapting remarkably well. with few complaints even as the family cycled through different routines and environments.

Staying connected with family and friends back home was described as manageable thanks to video calls and messaging. though time differences sometimes complicated planning.. Throughout the changes. the family’s core goal remained consistent: maintain education continuity and preserve family stability while testing which place actually fit.

For now, the search appears to have ended—at least for the next stage of their kids’ education.. Trac said they are settled in Portland with the children. now 14 and 10. and have become immersed in school and everyday life.. The plan is to stay at least until his daughter finishes high school. turning the gap-year experiment into a longer-term decision anchored in schooling. routines. and the day-to-day realities the family kept comparing.

Misryoum

DevOps remote work family travel schooling abroad cost of living Portland Maine Spain Basque Country New Zealand visas