Life can turn upside down in a heartbeat -- or in a lack of a heartbeat. Last year I told you about my father's passing after a long, difficult illness. At the time I wrote, "My father’s death has reminded me — viciously and viscerally — just how short life is. If you delay your plans, hopes and dreams too long, you may never experience their reality." Today I am trying to cope with the loss of my mother, who went suddenly. One day she seemed healthy, the next she was on medication for heart …
Pacing Your Portable Expat Career
You expect that you'll need time to readjust and develop new routines when you make a big move. Did you know the same thing happens when you make tiny changes as well? Recently I moved my home office from one room in my house to another. Since then, my productivity has dropped -- a lot. It never occurred to me that something as simple as moving my workspace within my house could throw me off to this extent. What's Your Plan? If you're developing a portable career now, as a future expat, you …
36 Best Cities for Quality of Life or Business
As future expats trying to decide where to live, we have to balance all sorts of important issues: quality of life, health care, affordability, weather and climate seem to top everyone's lists. The Economist recently ranked cities worldwide for Quality of Life. Vancouver, BC, Canada Melbourne, Australia Vienna, Austria Toronto, Canada Calgary, Alberta, Canada Helsinki, Finland Sydney, Australia Perth, Australia Adelaide, Australia Auckland, New Zealand Here's their …
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Finally! A Real Roadmap for Moving Overseas
I've found it! Earlier this year, I wrote about my disappointment in a product that promised to be a roadmap for expats. Instead, it was a bunch of fluff -- mostly recycled fluff, at that. I haven't given up the search, though, because we future expats need something that will take us, step by step, from our home countries to our lives abroad. Now the solution is available -- and right now, it's being offered at half price. Kathleen Peddicord has used her three decades of writing about the …
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Higher Standard of Living. . .Same Budget
Interest in living overseas is exploding. How do I know this? Not from any government study. . . In the past few days, Live and Invest Overseas has announced their new conference schedule for the upcoming year, and to say it's jam-packed is an understatement. After promoting the spring conference as their only Panama event this year, they've added another in August and another in January. In September they're holding their Emergency Offshore Summit, and in October they're coming to Orlando …
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Better Health Care Abroad — For Less
What do Brazil, India, Costa Rica, Thailand, Panama, Singapore and Hungary have in common? They're all medical hotspots for Americans seeking procedures they can't afford in the US, according to travel website Boots 'n All. International Living adds Mexico, South Korea and Turkey to the list. If you're considering living in a country known for medical tourism, you can be pretty confident that the quality of care is top notch. But what about health care as a resident? That's a question more …