By the time you read this, I'll be tossing the last few items into my suitcase and heading for the airport. Today I fly to Panama to attend the Live & Invest in Panama conference, followed by a week exploring the country. This is the culmination of a decision made in January, just a couple of months ago. But in another respect, it's the culmination of nearly five years of research and planning. That's about when I started reading some of the expat websites and thinking about retiring …
Cheap Cities for Expats — But Would You Really Want to Live There?
Last week we published the top cities in the world for high cost of expat living. Now it's time to flip it around and show you the lowest-cost cities. I explained the methodology here. While most of the high cost-of-living cities are in the Pacific Rim and Europe, most of the lowest cost cities are in Africa. So, without further ado, here are the least expensive cities for expats in the world. Sanaa, Yemen NukuAlofa, Tonga Tripoli, Libya Thimpu, Bhutan Colombo, Sri Lanka Phnom Penh, …
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Highest Cost of Living Cities for Expats
It's that time of year again -- time to list the "best of" 2010. From XPatulator, here are the 10 most expensive cities in the world to live in. "Expensive" was determined by looking at the cost of a basket of items in each location. How They Rank Xpatulator ranks the cost of living based on prices for the same goods and services in each city. They use New York City as their baseline, with a cost of living rank of 100. They choose their 13 basket groups of goods and services based on what's …
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Uh-Oh. Thanks, Facebook for Outing Me to my Mother-in-Law
Last week I decided to post some items we're selling on Facebook Marketplace. Little did I know that the "sharing" choices are different for Marketplace ads than for regular status updates, and that difference caused an uproar in the family. My in-laws have steadfastly refused to discuss our plans to become expats. It's the unspoken elephant in the room. We've found this refusal enormously frustrating, and I know she's frustrated, too. Anyway. . . back to the story. . . We've been trying to …
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Don’t Sacrifice Your Family on the Expat Altar
Among expats who return home earlier than planned, most cite family problems as the reason. It doesn't have to be that way. By the end of 2010 there were over 213 million expats worldwide -- up from 177 million in 2005. And, according to Pricewaterhouse Coopers, there will be a 50% increase in the number of international assignments by 2020. Some, the traditional expats, are sent abroad by an employer while others chose to go abroad and find ways to support themselves. The Practical Guide to …
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When Life Gets Funky
From time to time, some aspect of life seems overwhelming. Most recently, I've gotten that feeling of overwhelm from trying to simultaneously plan our trip to Panama while putting the finishing touches on the house in order to list it for sale. Add a few go-rounds with well meaning relatives who don't have a clue about what I'm doing -- but offer all sorts of unsolicited advice about it -- and I've been in a downright funk. How do you break out of a funk once its well and truly …