Want to Move Abroad? Start Here!
Weekly Posts to Help You Begin Your Adventure! Part 1 in the "Move Abroad Series"
Are you considering, or planning to move abroad?
First of all, huge congratulations! While initially this may appear daunting and overwhelming, I promise you that the rewards will eventually dwarf all your worries!
I moved to Portugal from the US, solo, sight unseen and without a support group in the fall of 2022 and it was the best thing I’ve ever done in my life. —And I’ve done a lot of really cool things (which is not meant as a brag). If you want to read a little more about that and my reasons, please check out this article!
I’m excited to help you navigate this process. I’m a hand-holder and cheerleader, even from afar. I do offer a class to help you through the process, plus I’m writing FREE articles about it so you can dive right in.
The first piece of the puzzle is mindset. I feel like this is the first piece of most puzzles, right?
So how do you get into the mindset? Get excited!
How do you get excited? Research where you want to move!
If you have no idea, that’s okay too. Maybe you feel drawn to a specific country or even an entire continent. Start there.
Here’s how I narrowed it down.
For my entire life, I wanted to live in Europe. The why is a longer story and not relevant for this article but you can learn more about that here, if you’d like. I spent most of my adult life working two full time jobs and saving as much as I could in order to travel to Europe as often as possible. But it wasn’t until the Covid lockdown that I realized I could make my dream a reality (which is also discussed in-depth in the same article).
Europe is a big place with over forty different countries. I had only visited a handful but Italy was my favorite so I researched what I would need to move there. Unfortunately, they weren’t offering a resident visa and I don’t have Italian heritage. So I researched some more. And I came across Portugal. After researching Portugal I learned that I qualified for the residency visa and that was enough for me to move forward with my plans.
An added benefit was that as I explored articles and information on Portugal, I learned how amazing it is. And even more amazing is that since moving here, I continue to uncover more phenomenal things about this magical country, almost daily!
Had I looked at other countries I would have learned that there are ways to obtain visas elsewhere in Europe. Spain in particular has a similar residency visa to Portugal. But the more I started researching Portugal, the more I felt like it was the country for me.
This was because:
Portugal has similar weather to California, where I lived my entire life.
It’s the third safest country in the world.
It’s not as expensive as other northern European countries.
The healthcare is socialized (AKA affordable!) and phenomenal.
When you decide to move, or even before that, when you’re thinking about moving, be mindful of who you share the information with.
There will be people in your life who:
Won’t be supportive.
Won’t understand.
Will try to talk you out of it.
Will bring up all the negatives and reasons why you can’t possibly move.
May even stand in your way and try to stop you.
I wish, for all of us, this wasn’t the case but sadly it is. If you know in advance who these naysayers may be, you can avoid the drama by not sharing your plans with them. If you have friends or family in your life that have mentioned moving abroad is their dream too or people who travel extensively, you may want to confide in them.
However, if you find that no one in your life is supportive (and if this is the case, I’m so sorry!) there are many online groups you can join! If you haven’t decided on an area, you can join an array of expat or digital nomad groups on facebook. There may even be some meet-up groups in your area. Search meet-up for locations, digital nomads, expats and whatever the native language is of the country you’re considering moving to.
And there’s always Internations. I know several people who use Internations and love them!!
If you have decided on a specific area, you will probably find a supporting Facebook group. For example, not only are there a lot of Portuguese specific groups, they are broken down by region. It’s this way for most larger countries. Introduce yourself or just lurk. Read what people who are living there are saying.
I caution you to avoid the negative people. There are some in each group and they like to bemoan wherever they moved to, but I bet that most of these people were just as negative while living in their home countries. I don’t find negativity helpful, even if some of the things they’re complaining about are true (for them). This is because everyone has a very different perspective and vastly different experiences.
For example, before I moved to Porto I heard:
Don’t move to Porto unless you’ve visited in the winter first.
Winters in Porto are often warmer outside than inside your apartment.
Energy is so much more expensive in Europe, you probably won’t be able to afford to run a heater.
These types of blanket statements don’t work for me. First of all, what if you have a well insulated apartment? What if you have built in (it’s not central here) heating in your apartment? What if you were living in Michigan or Chicago or even Seattle for most of your life before moving to Porto?
Other people’s experiences are subjective (of course) and I take them with a grain of salt.
Were the statements I heard about Porto true or false?
Well… my first winter here was amazing. It was cold/ish for one month only and it rained for one month but both were doable. My second winter here was all rain, all the time. It was only cold for about two days. And I’m from California so cold for me is different. I have a lower tolerance than people who have been living in colder areas. However, there were nine consecutive months of rain. But not all winters will be like that. I hope!
In my apartment it’s not usually colder inside than outside. I noticed this to be the case only a few times, during both winters I’ve spent here, and I was going out four times a day to walk my dog. I don’t have built-in heat or AC and I run two heaters through most of the winter plus two dehumidifiers. And guess what? My energy bill (during the most expensive month) was half of what I paid in the US for a smaller apartment.
I use these examples because, had I listened, I wouldn’t be here now.
Of course there are some things to pay attention to like safety, scams and natural disasters. Although a lot of this is often blown out of proportion as well.
Which brings me to… the other things to consider when picking a place to live are cost and safety.
Cost is major. If you can only afford to live on $1,000 a month there are plenty of places in your budget. If you’re budget is double that, it opens up more places, etc.
A great free place to check for living costs is the website Numbeo.
Numbeo’s site also lists the quality of life in a given area, the crime rate, health care, pollution and traffic for most places. However, the information on Numbeo is fully dependent on the input of people living in these cities, so some areas may be blank.
I typed in Kampot, Cambodia because I have friends living there for under $1,000 a month. And since you can compare two places; I compared Kampot to Siem Reap which provides a side-by-side view of each city.
Maybe you’re trying to decide between Siem Reap, Cambodia and Chiang Mai, Thailand. Or Barcelona vs Sevilla.
Yes, it will take research but this is how you get into the mindset of being excited about your move!
If you know other people who have moved to an area you’re interested in, please reach out to them. Most of us love talking about this. Not all, but most.
I remember when I had decided on Portugal and I met a woman in a digital nomad group I belonged to. It was a paid group with a monthly subscription and I’m so glad I joined because I met one of my closest friends there. But this other woman from the US who’d moved to Portugal refused to speak to me. She told me I could pay her for a consultation, and her fee was quite high.
I’m glad that happened though because it taught me what I don’t want to do. I’m not saying I want to (or even can) spend hours and hours of my time consulting people for free, but I am always happy and available to answer questions! After all, what goes around…
Many years ago when I started writing novels, there were so many people who helped me (for free) along the way. And along the years I too gave back to new writers. It’s the pay it forward model and the compassionate way to be.
Here are some actionable steps that can help you decide where to move.
List your criteria for, living somewhere. These may be but are not limited to:
Safety (overall, for women, for LGBTQ+, for BIPOC).
Cost of living.
Visa availability/qualifications.
An expat community.
Language learning. (Maybe you already know Spanish for example).
Weather.
Healthcare.
A city vs a farm.
Good transportation vs owning a car.
Proximity to an airport.
Make a list of places you would consider moving based on your criteria. Some popular destinations (this is just a tiny list to help get your creative juices flowing) include:
Europe: Spain, Portugal, France, Germany, Albania, Croatia, Bulgaria.
South America: Argentina, Ecuador, Uruguay, Chile, Brazil, Columbia.
Central America: Panama, Guatamala, Belize, Honduras, Costa Rica, Columbia.
Asian Countries: Malaysia, Taiwan, Thailand, Cambodia, India, Korea, Georgia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Japan.
Africa: Gabon, Kenya, Cabo Verde, Seychelles, South Africa, Ethiopia.
Canada
Resources in this article:
Part 2 - Conquer Your Fears About Moving Abroad
My Upcoming Class: How to Move Abroad on a Budget
I’m excited to help you make your dream of moving abroad a reality! 🎉 Book a video consultation with me to get personalized guidance for your big move, or check out my super affordable, self-paced class to learn key steps and strategies for relocating abroad. Let’s make it happen!
Consulting Information: Discover how I can help make your move abroad smoother and stress-free.
Work With Me: I offer personalized á la carte consultations and ridiculously affordable packages to fit your needs!
My Class: Learn step-by-step strategies to move abroad on a budget—all at your own pace!
—If you’re interested in learning another language before you embark (or after) on your new adventure, I highly recommend the platform Preply! It’s what I use to learn Portuguese and it’s also the platform I teach on. Please use my referral code for $17 off your first lesson!
—I use Wise to transfer money internationally between bank accounts and they also offer a free ATM card that can be used worldwide without fees. Please use my referral code for a free transfer of up to $600.
—I’ve started using Kindred Home Exchange in order to secure affordable accommodations! If you’re interested and want to sign up, you will get five nights with my referral code!
—I use Safety Wing for my travel medical insurance abroad. You can check them out here.
—For travel hacking I use my Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card. I earn enough points by using the card regularly (with no foreign transaction fees) to get a “free” RT ticket from Europe to the US at least once a year.
Thank you so much for reading! If you don’t want to become a paid subscriber (my articles are free) but enjoyed this article, you can buy me a coffee below.
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Your support (in all ways) is greatly appreciated!
Great point about the ex-pat group moaners! They can be so negative it's shocking!
Thank you for this post - I've lived on four continents and cannot agree more on how important community is!