Sarah Kristine Wood moved to Barcelona, Spain, in February 2022 to live her dream.
“I had a strong feeling I needed to be in Barcelona,” said Ms. Wood, 27, who had studied there in college. She grew up in Brighton, Mich., and left her high-pressured job on the trading floor at Goldman Sachs in New York behind. “I had a conviction I would have a Spanish husband.”
That March, she matched with Gustavo Adolfo González Leal, 32, who was born in Caracas, Venezuela, on the Bumble dating app, and “pre-warned” him that she was both a vegan and gave up alcohol a year earlier.
He was unfazed. “Those two things were not a problem,” Mr. González said. “That requires a lot of commitment, not to fall into social pressure.”
But, storm clouds quickly gathered once he let slip that he lived in Madrid. (He had added Barcelona in the app’s vacation mode for a potential trip.)
“I’m not interested in long-distance,” Ms. Wood said.
She graduated with high distinction with a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Michigan, and works remotely as the chief operating officer of Truth Arts, a start-up technology entertainment company based in Miami, and as a freelance lifestyles writer.
Mr. González asked her to meet him for coffee (he doesn’t even drink coffee) while he visited a friend in Barcelona that weekend, firming-up the trip with her in mind.
