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.
The tourism market in Colombia’s Coffee Triangle is heating up fast—and expat hostel owners are setting up shop and cashing in. For decades, the Coffee Triangle—referred to locally as El Eje Cafetero—has been a favorite vacation spot for Colombians. But an increasing number of foreign tourists are descending on the region, too.
I had a cute house with a backyard, a great job, a wonderful marriage, and two beautiful little boys. I was living the American dream, but it didn’t feel like it. The long hours at work meant I didn’t have time to enjoy gardening in the backyard. Our sons Diego and Dante spent more time in daycare than with us. My husband and I were once so stressed that we both forgot our wedding anniversary.
Tanya Mimbres loves food. It’s one of her top interests when she travels. A native of New Mexico, she has lived in Paris and Barcelona. But when she moved to Malaysia five years ago she felt right at home. “Lots of my friends were traveling in Asia and were a bit shocked that I hadn’t been there,” she recalls.
When I first started uploading photos to an online stock agency I had no idea how it would change my life. I had stumbled on stock agencies while looking for a photo for a small design job. But once I saw how much money people were making from their photos, I realized I could do the same. A year after I started, I was making $600 a month. And my best-selling photo has now earned me more than $3,500.
It was New Year’s Eve 2012 and the view outside my window was perfect. In the darkness, I could just make out the rolling Italian hills, dotted with brick houses with terracotta rooftops. A lone bell tower rose from a small, ancient church into the sky. And as the bell tolled midnight, the sky lit up with fireworks from three different directions.
Location is a huge part of success in business…particularly when you’re dependent on foot traffic. When Cody Leigh Brown of Montana decided to set up a tea shop in Ecuador, she chose Cumbayá, a fashionable suburb of Quito, as her location. It just happens to be home to the Universidad San Francisco de Quito, where more than 5,000 students are enrolled.
From Bali to Belize, retreat centers are popping up to meet the demand of busy First World clients in search of relaxation. Janine Hall has found a niche for women-only retreats focusing on surf and yoga…Carrie Tengler has made a solid living from the spa and yoga business in Belize…and Kristin Gilbert-Ramirez missed yoga so much on her Costa Rican travels that she set up her own classes and decided to move there permanently.
For some time now, I’ve silently wondered if I am the only one who winces at the frequent admonishment to “go big or go home.” Why, I muse, would folks smart enough to abandon a large working environment want to replicate that? Why is millionaire status still flaunted as the pinnacle of success? Or home ownership the epitome of the American Dream? It all seems so…well…20th century.
Despite his many years working as a car-insurance salesman in Portland, Oregon—and making good money— Caelan Huntress always considered it a temporary gig. Today he has thrown out the cubicle, tie, and daily commute…and taken his sales skills online. He lives and works from his home in Costa Rica’s Southern Zone—a region on the southern Pacific coast, near the border with Panama. The beach is 45 minutes away. Shopping and quality medical care is just 15 minutes down the hill. And the verdant green mountains of the interior are an even bigger draw.
Latin America is seeing huge growth in the number of senior citizens. Birth rates are falling across the region. According to a study published by the United Nations’ Economic Commission for Latin America, the population of those 65 years and older will increase three times faster than the total population between 2000 and 2025 and six times faster from 2025 to 2050.