• Shawna Lum moved to Barcelona from Los Angeles after several failed relationships.
• She said the dating scene differed in Spain because men were "more emotionally available."
• The 31-year-old has now been married to a European she met in Barcelona for three years.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Shawna Lum, 31, of Barcelona. She runs a company that offers advice to would-be expats. It has been edited for length and clarity.

I sustained neck and spine injuries when I was doing CrossFit a few years ago. They still cause me a lot of pain. My Spanish husband, Dan, 31, goes out of his way to try to ease the symptoms.

We'll be in a long line at a grocery store, and he'll gently massage my back because I've been standing for so long. He's always kissing me in front of people on the street. He's not afraid of PDA.

Most of the men I dated in the US before I moved from Los Angeles to Europe eight years ago were uptight about it. One brushed my hand away when I reached over to hold his hand in a restaurant. Another was clearly uncomfortable when I ruffled his hair.

In the US, the guys I met were uptight. If I wanted to bring up something emotional that happened in my life, they weren't available to talk about it. Three out of four of my serious boyfriends ended our relationship by text message.

The other dumped me while I was grieving the loss of a beloved aunt. He distanced himself because he was clearly not comfortable with consoling me. In 2016, I started to get depressed that I was never going to be in a relationship that worked out.

I'd spent part of the previous year in Spain as part of my college degree, and I felt happy and carefree. I decided to quit my traineeship as a manager for an oil and gas company and enroll in a master's program at a business school in Barcelona.

I got to know people at Meetup events

I mostly wanted a challenge and a change of scene. Still, my motivation was partly fueled by my search for romance. I thought it would be fun to meet some European guys.

Dating felt less forced in Spain. Instead of going to a flashy place for dinner, I enjoyed doing more adventurous things with people, like cycling or hiking all day.

Meanwhile, I turned to Meetup, a website that organizes trips and events. At events such as volleyball tournaments, yoga workshops, and ceramics projects, you mingle with like-minded people. It's a great way of making connections, whether friendly or romantic.

Another difference between dating in Spain and the US is that more of the guys I dated seemed ready for commitment. If I dated someone and it became an ongoing relationship, they'd call me their "girlfriend" because it was exclusive.

I met Dan, who was born and raised in Malaga, on the Costa del Sol, when I was riding my bike in 2017. I was impressed because he was fluent in Spanish, English, and Portuguese. We played ping pong, went dancing, and meditated together. He was open and talked about his emotions in a way I'd never heard from my ex-boyfriends.

We moved in together, and I got a "partnership visa" in 2018. I employed a lawyer, but it was relatively easy to obtain once I proved cohabitation. I switched from teaching English to freelance work in digital marketing, mostly building websites for American clients.

People from different generations spend time together

Dan, a DJ and music producer, and I got married in October 2021. Sadly, my father was diagnosed with a terminal illness during COVID. Dan supported us throughout. He prioritizes family and community — a common theme in Spain. The different generations mix well. One of the nicest things is seeing kids, young people, and older folks strolling together along La Rambla or gathering in the plazas in Barcelona.

My relocation experience inspired me to set up my company, MoveOverSeasNow, focusing on Europe and South America. I coach Americans on everything from obtaining citizenship by descent to navigating health systems and financial planning for their move.

I deal with many couples but plenty of singles, too. Many of them are inspired by tales of finding romance. While I can't guarantee they'll meet the partner of their dreams in their adopted country, I tell them they'll have fun looking.

Do you have an interesting story to share with Business Insider about moving to a different country? Please send details to this reporter at [email protected].

• In "The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: The Final Chapter," Natalia moves away from her adoptive parents.
• The DePaul family, who were interested in adopting Natalia when she was a child, took her in.
• Natalia now lives with the DePaul family in New York.

In "The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: The Final Chapter," Natalia Grace Mans leaves her adoptive parents to live with a new family — the DePauls.

In the second episode of the documentary series, which premiered on Investigation Discovery and Max on Monday, Nicole DePaul, 49, and her daughter Mackenzie, 19, travel to Nashville to pick Natalia up from church without her parents' knowledge. They then bring her to live with them in upstate New York where Nicole lives with her husband Vince DePaul, 51.

The DePauls are a family of little people, and Nicole and Natalia both have the same form of dwarfism, producer Shannon Evangelista told The Hollywood Reporter. They also have a connection dating back to Natalia's childhood, when the family considered adopting her.

Here's everything you need to know about the DePauls, and where Natalia lives now.

The DePaul family tried to adopt Natalia as a child

The DePauls were one of three families interested in adopting Natalia Grace in 2009. As part of that process, they met with Natalia at a museum and had her over to their home several times.

Natalia and Mackenzie got along well as children and bonded when Natalia visited for holidays. After Christmas, however, the adoption fell through and they weren't able to see each other again.

"Things just got really messy with the attorneys. It had nothing to do with Natalia. It was heartbreaking," Nicole said in "Natalia Speaks," the second installment of the series that aired in 2024.

Nicole says in a confessional in episode one of "The Final Chapter" that she still thought about the adoption not going through. She even kept a picture of Natalia and her daughter as kids, as well as Natalia's Christmas stocking.

"There's a lot of guilt because, well, maybe there was something we could have fought harder when we tried to adopt Natalia," she says in episode one of "The Final Chapter."

As the two previous seasons of "The Curious Case of Natalia Grace" recounted, after the DePauls' adoption attempt fell through, Natalia ultimately wound up being adopted by Kristine and Michael Barnett, the Indiana couple who later claimed she was really an adult posing as a child, legally re-aged her, and then left her on her own in an apartment when they moved away to Canada. Natalia went to live with Cynthia and Antwon Mans, another Indiana couple who had fostered and adopted multiple children, while the Barnetts were charged with neglect in relation to her abandonment (Michael was eventually acquitted, and the case against Kristine was dropped).

Nicole DePaul helped Natalia leave the Mans family

In "The Final Chapter," Natalia Grace's boyfriend Neil contacts Nicole on Natalia's behalf, asking her to help Natalia leave the Mans family, who had formally adopted her in 2023 after she'd lived with them for a decade. Though Nicole's husband, Vince, was hesitant about bringing Natalia into their home, Nicole agreed to help Natalia.

In episode two of "The Final Chapter," Nicole and Mackenzie pick Natalia up from her church without the Mans family's knowledge and bring her to live with them in upstate New York. Despite leaving her parents, Natalia's attachment to them led to some friction between herself and Nicole.

In the show, Nicole and Mackenzie also speak about the effect that Natalia being in their home had on the family. Nicole said in a confessional that she saw her daughter "a lot less" than she previously had, and Mackenzie said that Natalia's presence made the "environment kind of stressful."

Now, Shannon Evangelista, one of the docuseries' producers, says that the DePauls are Natalia's "No. 1 advocates." Nicole told People that she has no plans to adopt Natalia, who is now legally an adult, and though their relationship hasn't always been smooth, she trusts her.

"Did she probably do weird things in the past? Yeah," Nicole told People. "[But] when you take in a child, you take that child as your own. You don't just get rid of them when they don't fit into your puzzle."

Natalia says in "The Final Chapter" that while she regretted the manner in which she left her parents, she appreciated that living with the DePauls allowed her to "explore."

"Learning everything that I have about how to live with my dwarfism — it's been a great experience," she told People. "I love it. I mean, of course, I still miss my siblings and everything. But I love it. I feel free."

Nicole and Vince DePaul did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

"The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: The Final Chapter" will finish airing on Investigation Discovery and Max on January 7.

• Tech entrepreneur Mike Johns got stuck in a wayward Waymo while headed to the airport last month.
• The malfunctioning autonomous car drove in loops around a parking lot for several minutes.
• A Waymo spokesperson told BI the problem has since been addressed by a software update.

Mike Johns was on his way to the airport last month when he decided to try something he'd only done once before: take a Waymo.

However, as soon as the autonomous vehicle picked him up, Johns told Business Insider he knew something was amiss.

"When I got in, the car went in a circle," Johns said. "At first, it was no big deal —  I figured it was gonna turn or do something — but, by circle number two, that's when I'm feeling like it's a prank."

The Waymo Johns ordered on December 9 to take him to the Scottsdale, Arizona airport back home to Los Angeles then looped around the parking lot again and again.

Johns, an AI consultant and the founder and CEO of the brand strategy agency Digital Mind State recorded the incident and his call with customer service on his phone. He posted about the experience on LinkedIn, writing: "My Waymo experience sucked."

"By lap number four, I knew this ain't a prank — and because the circle was going around this little island, I felt the nausea, the dizziness, start to happen," Johns told Business Insider. "That's the part that I really didn't like. And at that point, you know, I started to think 'What the hell's going on?'"

A Waymo spokesperson told Business Insider the incident delayed Johns' trip by a little over five minutes and that the looping issue was addressed by a regularly scheduled software update. It's unclear when the update was issued.

The spokesperson, however, declined to answer questions about how often such malfunctions are reported or about Waymo's procedure for identifying and fixing problems before they impact passengers.

Johns ultimately made it safely to the airport and to his flight on time after the Waymo got back on track. He did not have to pay for the trip.

A history of wayward Waymos

It's not the first time a Waymo has maneuvered itself in unexpected — and unwanted — ways. Passengers have regularly reported incidents since Waymo, a subsidiary of Alphabet, launched its driverless taxi service to the public in 2020.

In 2021, a self-driving Waymo went rogue and blocked traffic in Arizona in an incident a YouTuber documented from the backseat, BI previously reported.

In 2023, a traffic jam made up of a dozen Waymo vehicles caused gridlock in Phoenix. A software glitch was to blame, The Arizona Mirror reported.

And last September, a stalled Waymo blocked Vice President Kamala Harris' motorcade, per The San Francisco Standard.

The behavior of Waymo's driverless cars has also made headlines for baffling first responders at emergency scenes, blocking public transit, and refusing to pull over for police.

"In that moment, it feels almost like a hijack. That was the longest seven minutes — especially when you're not expecting it," Johns said. "It's a really crazy feeling because it's already when you're in an autonomous vehicle. It's this ghost in the machine scenario."

A lack of liability

While troubling, Johns has not indicated any plans to pursue legal action. Even if he did, Los Angeles personal attorney Jordan Peagler told BI that it's unlikely Johns has any legal recourse over the incident.

"He likely signed an arbitration agreement as part of the user terms of service so he won't be able to sue," Peagler said.

The Waymo terms of service include limitations of liability and an indemnification clause that protects the company "from and against any loss, liability, claim, demand, damages, expenses or costs" arising from users' experience with the service.

Moreover, Waymo does not "represent or warrant that our Services or servers are free of viruses or other harmful components. You assume the entire risk as to the quality and performance of the Services," the terms state.

Technically, Johns could have a personal injury claim if he missed his flight and had to incur additional expenses or for physical suffering if he became nauseous, Peagler said. However, "it would be so trivial that no attorney would pursue it."

Peagler added that self-driving rideshare vehicles are such a new and developing field that there is no set standard for personal injury yet. Moreover, he said that a malfunction would have to substantially impair the vehicle's operation to rise to the level of negligence.

Johns said by publicizing his experience, he isn't looking to stop Waymos from accepting passengers, but he does want the company to be more transparent about these types of malfunctions and the technology's limitations.

The Waymo terms of service do not, at the time of publication, warn of potential vehicle malfunctions or any risks of using the driverless technology.

"It's a new world that we've never known before and autonomous vehicles are ushering in a new economy," Johns said. "And I'm super all for it, but the big thing that we have to be aware of is the fact that we're all a part of the experiment — and we're paying to be a part of the experiment."