A few days ago, I asked the question, “Is US health care driving Americans to move abroad?” The response was swift. “Of course it is,” wrote Lya Sorano, Atlanta businesswoman. “Hardly a month passes in which I do not hear about a friend-of-a-friend or former neighbor decamping to Mexico or Costa Rica. I may be next . . . :-)" Mary Duckworth Mimouna, living in Morocco, responded: "It was one of the major factors prompting me to move overseas in 1993 when I did with my foreign husband. We had no …
How Will You Finance Your Life Overseas?
In our recent poll, we discovered that most -- at least 80% -- of our readers will have to generate some income when they move overseas. None of them plan to hold an overseas job with their current employer, but half intend to develop some kind of self-employment income. This will be the first in a series of ongoing articles that may give you some ideas about your overseas self employment. Since it's what I plan to do, and what I know best, let's start with writing. Writing is probably the most …
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What Kind of Expat Is She?
Margarita Gokun Silver recently posted her three top reasons for becoming an expat. It sounds to me as though she's a good example of a Student/ Adventurer! What do you think? Three Reasons to Become an Expatriate by Margarita Gokun Silver Growing up I never had an opportunity to travel and see the world. I was born in a country that didn’t let its people go abroad and thus I was effectively cut off from anything that lay beyond the borders of my homeland. Naturally, as it is with all human …
Does Thinking About Moving Make You More Creative?
A few months ago, I published the results of a Fast Company study of MBA students. The study concluded that those who had lived outside their home country performed better on a creativity test than those who had not. However, that study concluded that simply traveling abroad did not enhance creativity in the way that living abroad did. Scientific American has just added more to the debate about expats and creativity. An article published on July 21 indicates that psychological distance makes …
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Quality of Life: What Does It Mean to You?
In my last post, I asked the question, Why Would Anyone Want to Leave the US? One recurring expat theme revolves around “quality of life.” This is mostly subjective, and something you might perceive as positive which adds to your quality of life, might be a negative to me. One example might be the proximity of bars and clubs. If you regularly enjoy the city’s nightlife, like to meet your friends or make new friends at clubs and dance until dawn, being close to such a great source of …
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