First week in a new country: The best decision of your life. Everything feels exciting. The food, the sounds, the way the light hits the buildings. The freshness of a new page in your life. Week three: Crying in a supermarket because you can’t find the right kind of beans.
The more stressful things feel at home in the U.S., the more tempting life abroad can look on social media. It’s an influencer doing morning rooftop yoga in Mexico. It’s a retired couple ziplining through a rainforest canopy in Costa Rica. It’s a digital nomad sitting in a charming sidewalk
Living abroad – not just moving abroad, but living there – is an experience. And it’s a process. It’s like learning to walk again while also trying to hold down a job and make friends – you get there eventually, but it’s just awkward for a while. According to people
Been researching Mexico relocation options? A certain small lakeside town might keep coming up – and the reasons are legitimate. With its established foreign community, mild climate, and costs that work well for retirement or remote work budgets, Ajijic is a popular destination. That said, the description of Ajijic you
Americans love the idea of work-life balance. They write books about it, listen to podcasts about it, and then quietly open their laptops at 9 p.m. anyway. So when they start reading about life in the Netherlands – where the average workweek is 29 hours, part-time work is the norm, and people
You’ve done your research on the Netherlands. You know about the tulips and the windmills and the Rijksmuseum and the very reasonable cost of a beer. You know the country ranks near the top of basically every quality-of-life list ever published. You may have noticed that the Dutch are, on
One does not simply move to Uruguay. Which is to say, people don’t just up and move to Uruguay (or most places, really) — it’s not an impulsive decision. It involves lots of research and consideration and planning. And then you get there and you’re surprised at what you find,
When people talk about moving abroad, there’s lots of focus on the where. Where will you live? Where will you work? Where will you travel once you’re there? And of course how is going to be a huge part of it — how to apply for a visa, how to move with pets
The world of food ingredients is vast, comprising countless items used across different industries. Although many of these are accepted universally, in some cases, a product considered safe in one region may be banned in another. The below list, based on a similar stance, explores such food ingredients that are
The idea of Blue Zones came from demographic research emphasizing areas with unusually high numbers of centenarians. Not only are these sites known for residents with long lives, but a great quality of life in aged individuals has been observed as well. That said, let’s have a look into the
When you ask people who’ve left the U.S. what they miss most, they invariably say Mexican food. While they probably mean Tex-Mex, the fact remains that many countries in the world have a real scarcity of spicy food, especially those in Northern and Western Europe. If you’ve never noticed it
Whether you’re plotting your move, or you’re an expat still trying to find your footing, you’re bound to feel like the new kid in town. Balmy weather, beautiful landscapes, and intriguing new cultural experiences can only go so far. What you really want is to feel the warmth of a
What traditions do you follow for winter holidays? How would you celebrate if the friend, foods, and events you were used to weren’t around? Even in the U.S., Brett and I love participating in Jolabokaflod, the Icelandic tradition of exchanging and reading books on Christmas. These Americans share the unique
If other countries were in Facebook relationships with the United States, they’d probably say, “it’s complicated.” As a global superpower with a strong military and economy, a country with a long history of social and political turmoil, and the creator of much of the world’s media and entertainment, opinions on
Blue Zones are areas of the world where people reportedly live much longer than average. Although the evidence is anecdotal, there are enough examples of centenarians in those locations that scientists continue to research the regions. The original Blue Zone was Nuoro Province on the island of Sardinia in Italy.
Ever wanted to just work abroad as you travel the world? A digital nomad visa allows you to do just that. Estonia created the first digital nomad visa in 2020 to encourage foreigners to visit during COVID. Since then, over 50 countries, cities, and territories have developed their own options
You might wonder why someone might contemplate leaving a highly developed country like the U.S., but the reality is that there are more than enough reasons. While the U.S. may appear to thrive on technology and materialism, humans cannot survive on that or the promise of the ‘land of the
