Expat Advice

International Living’s expat network is your key to a new life in a new country. Get real, honest advice from people just like you. Discover the tips, tricks, shortcuts, and strategies you can use to cut through red tape and improve your life overseas right away.

Read about and learn from real-life experiences our expats have had in their new home countries, from health care to taxes, earning an income overseas to buying real estate…and much more.

Expat Advice Archives

Reclaiming My Freedom With a Roving Retirement

By Rick Ellis |

July 25, 2016

Why would anyone give up friends, family, a beautiful home, a good job, and security to roam around with a small bag and a backpack half the world away? I had it all. But, like so many people, the fast pace of life and high stress in the U.S. just had to go. Long working hours, business travel, churn and reorganizations in the office… So over three years ago I quit my job, sold my house, car, and everything else, left two boxes of personal items in my friends’ garage, and took off.

Own Acres of Farmland, Close to the Beach, for Under $150,000

By Jason Holland |

June 21, 2016

I’m sitting on a terrace set on an extremely steep drop, the misty valley floor visible far below. The surrounding mountains go all the way up to the clouds. Homes are set here and there, on small patches of flat land or on bits carved out of the hillside, among coffee plantations and farms. I’m high enough that the temperature is comfortable—in the 70s F—even though I’m firmly in the tropics. A sliver of the Pacific Ocean is visible on the horizon. As the sun sets, the ocean glitters.

Four Routes to Long-Term Living in Ireland

By Eoin Bassett |

June 21, 2016

If you want to spend a summer pottering in a quirky cottage garden tucked away in Irish hill country, with the prospect of a cool pint of Guinness and an evening in the local pub ahead…then it’s easy. To stay 90 days in Ireland if you’re a U.S. citizen, just get a round-trip ticket and get off the plane. Your passport gets stamped and hey presto. Your Irish adventure has begun. Want to stay longer? You could do one of the following four things.

France’s Excellent Healthcare Just Got Easier for Expats

By Barbara Diggs |

June 21, 2016

The French healthcare system, legendary for its excellence, is about to become much more accessible and affordable to expats. This is because in January this year, France instituted a new universal system of healthcare, called the Protection Universelle Maladie (PUMA). This system grants an automatic and continuous right to healthcare to those who legally reside in France in a “stable and regular” manner. This means that, if you’ve lived in France for three consecutive months and are a permanent legal resident (that is, you live in France at least 183 days a year), you’re eligible to apply for public healthcare coverage.

Country Living Close to Big-City Amenities in the Orosí Valley

By Jason Holland |

June 21, 2016

I take the bend on the winding and steep mountain road, and a patchwork of forest, farms, and pasture is spread out on the valley floor far below. A river, with large rocks creating whitecaps, cuts through the landscape. Beyond it I can see Lake Cachí, glittering in the mid-afternoon light between the shield of pine trees that lines its shore. The tall, thin poro trees are in full bloom. Their orange flowers look like autumn leaves at a distance. They’re a favorite of local farmers, because when their nitrogen-rich seed pods fall, they act as a natural fertilizer.

Profits Await in Nicaragua’s Upwardly Mobile, Colonial City

By Ronan McMahon |

June 21, 2016

Right now, you have an opportunity in León, Nicaragua, that will allow you to tap into a new and emerging middle class. This is among the most powerful drivers of profit opportunities I know. In the places where I’ve seen this trend play out, a similar trajectory happens. The economy is on the up. That means more, and better paying, jobs. Credit opens up. When enough people move up a social class, they want to show it. They mark their arrival into the new class with purchases—new cars, fancier foods, vacations—and, most importantly for a real estate investor, new homes.

The Ease of Social Networking—Expat Style

By Edd Staton |

June 21, 2016

I was catching up with a high school friend over Skype recently. During our conversation, he shared his amazement that my wife Cynthia and I enjoy what he called our “crazy social life.” He said, “It seems like you two are always busy having fun with friends.” I replied that, since I’d “walked in his moccasins,” I understood his feelings. “Let me ask you,” I said. “I know you recently moved, so how many of your new neighbors have you met?”

An Active, Healthy Lifestyle in Ecuador’s Highlands

By Wendy DeChambeau |

May 23, 2016

“You could hike every day here and see something different,” says Kristin Simmon-Lowman of her new home in the highlands of Ecuador. “My friends and I just hiked Fuya Fuya (an inactive volcano), which was wonderful. Now we’re working up to doing Mount Imbabura (one of Ecuador’s most iconic mountains), so we’ve been getting a training system going to get in shape for that. There are waterfalls all around and a lot of lower foothills.”

Healthier and Happier in Medellín, Colombia

By Nancy Kiernan |

May 23, 2016

“For the good of my health, I had to make a change,” says expat Jennifer Enright of her decision to relocate to the Colombian city of Medellín. “I had to reinvent myself businesswise. After working for years as an executive head hunter for high-tech companies in Seattle, I had had enough. Too much rain and cold, and I injured myself from too much repetitive motion.”

The Automatic Health Benefits of Life in Matagalpa

By Bonnie W. Hayman |

May 23, 2016

Lying in the northern mountains of Nicaragua, at the heart of coffee country, the city of Matagalpa is green all year round. With temperatures ranging from 59 F to 74 F, the cool breezes are a welcome break from the warmth of the lowlands. And even by Nicaraguan standards, Matagalpa is highly affordable: Figure $1,200 a month for a couple, all in. But these advantages aren’t all you’ll find here.