Who? Why?
There are probably as many reasons to live outside of your native country as there are people who do so. In my case, my husband and I realized several years ago that, if we stay here, we will never be able to afford to retire. Add to this my lifelong desire to spend significant time in another country, and we began looking at the possibilities of retiring overseas.
But that’s not the only reason, not by a long shot!
What Kind of Expat Are You?
This series of posts explores the reasons some people are motivated to live abroad. Do you see yourself in one of these descriptions?
How?
There are plenty of websites that provide information about the what and where of
expatriation. This isn’t one of them.
Instead, I’m interested in how people make such a momentous decision. I want a forum where people can discuss the “human side” of moving to another country. I have questions like:
- How do you tell your elderly parents you plan to move to a different country without hurting their feelings and/or freaking them out?
- How do you cope with the inevitable frustrations and setbacks as you embark on your journey?
- How do you pay for your new life overseas?
- Who do you share your victories with?
That’s what I’m attempting to do here. Please join us! If you want email updates, you can subscribe here.
Who am I?
My name is Susanna Perkins, but I call myself Future Expat. Even though I’m blogging about my own experiences, I’m not a publicity hound, and I sort of try to keep a low profile. But not too low. You can find me on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.
Professionally, I’m a writer, in the process of making my work geographically independent.
Because we need to earn a living after we relocate (and a poll I conducted a while back shows that 80% of you also need to generate income to finance your overseas life), I’ll be sharing some of the ups and downs of my business and providing links from this site to the various services I offer. I hope you’ll consider hiring me if you need an experienced copywriter or to set up your own WordPress blog!
I’ll also write regularly on how you could finance your own international adventure.
Finance Your Life Overseas
Life is short and moves fast
This week, we’ve had a sobering reminder about how quickly life can change. My father, who has suffered with MRSA and been on kidney dialysis for over two years, passed away peacefully before breakfast a few days ago. Although we’ve known it could happen at any time, it’s always a shock. It’s also a sobering reminder. Life moves fast. If we don’t make this move soon, we may never experience the excitement and personal growth that occurs when you plunk yourself down into the midst of an unfamiliar environment, culture, or society. That’s something I’ve wanted to do all my life. I don’t want to end up with only regrets.
Instead of slowing our plans to move abroad, we’re actually speeding them up! We figure we can survive better, for longer, in a less expensive country. As long as I have my laptop and a good internet connection, I’ll be able to do business from anywhere. And my husband is looking into teaching English as a second language.
The plan now is to complete some necessary work on the house, then put it on the market this spring. Once it sells, which could take a while, we’ll head south.
I hope you’ll join us on our journey, and share yours with us as well.
