After talking about leaving the USA for years, we took the leap three years ago and moved to rural Portugal with our (then 10, now 13 year old) daughter. My husband is a freelance event producer/video guy. I'm a writer so I can work from anywhere, though I was never fully freelance before moving here because of the astronomical cost of healthcare in the States. We are both lucky that our careers are portable--and that we could stash a nice nest egg away after selling our (very modest but still astronomically expensive) house in San Francisco. Although adjusting to life in the EU has had its rough patches and steep learning curves, we have never once regretted the move--especially as we keep an eye on everything happening in the States.
We are all three thriving in new and unexpected ways, learning to let go of that capitalist urge to constantly Be Productive and just slow down, breathe, and take our time. Everything runs slower here, especially in Portugal (as compared to the northern EU countries). We joke that you can't have an American-size to-do list for your day here. If you get one thing done in a day, that's brilliant. Time to stop and celebrate.
Best of all, our daughter (who attended public school in California and attends public school here in Portugal as well) no longer has nightmares about getting shot at school. She feels safe here, and that alone makes the move worthwhile.
You’ve hit on some great points here. The living spaces being smaller I actually see as a pro though! I’ve learned I don’t need nearly as many things as I thought I needed. Not to mention keeping the house clean and organized is significantly easier! ;) And as you mentioned, the trade off is the public spaces are so much nicer and you spend more time outside of the home, most importantly with other people, therefore feeling more connected.
I lived in Europe “unintentionally” for four decades after arriving less than a week after graduating high school. I was still half hungover from grad parties when I began my gap year and left with eyes wide open when we moved to Canada and I became an immigrant in the city I grew up in. (We moved so we could be closer to my aging parents.)
A few observations:
- Arriving in Canada was like time travel, especially when looking at hospitality where things seem inefficient and unprofessional compared to Europe.
- As an immigrant, you’ll never be perceived to be a local. After 20 years in Norway, people didn’t introduce me as a “colleague” or “neighbour”. They often felt it necessary to introduce me as “from Canada” even though I had a Norwegian name through my ancestry and learned to speak the language without a detectable accent.
- That said, the same thing happens here. In the city I grew up in, people often introduce us by saying, “they moved here from Europe”. The John Irving quote from “Son of the Circus” is true: “Immigrants are immigrants all their lives.”
- Living abroad for an extended period of time, especially if you’re outside the expat bubble” expands your understanding of life and in my experience that translates to a greater appreciation of diversity, tolerance, and the fact that most people are more alike than they are different. You’ll find all kinds of people everywhere, most of them care about other people, and if you learn to challenge your biases you’ll discover wonderful things about yourself that you otherwise would never know.
Great article, Brent. I encourage everyone that has the opportunity to try to live abroad. Not just Americans to Europe, just everyone to somewhere else! It ain’t always sunshine and rainbows, but in my experience it is the best education you can get!
Thank you for re-posting this! My partner and I have been traveling full time through the US for the last 5 years and we're ready to go international. We've done 6 months in Mexico and a month in Canada, but we crossed borders with our "house" in tow. This will be different since we won't have a house and we'll be flying and not driving. We're planning to start with Central and South America in 2025. Hopefully, we'll be ready for Europe in 2026. I'm leaning heavily on your experience and advice for this, lol, and I appreciate all that you offer here!
One important note: there seems to be an exodus of American people—not restricted to the US—flying to Europe lately, notably in Southern countries. Their arrival with increased capital has exacerbated inequalities, squeezing the purchasing power of Europeans already living there. It's crucial to carefully consider where you establish your home, to avoid repeating comparable living crises triggered in Latin America.
As a Malaysian, I’ve heard the lament “Malaysia no hope already, better to move overseas” all my life. I have relatives who have made that move, most to Australia or United States. Heck, I myself moved to Australia for a few years, though not to migrate, but because “my life sucks so let’s move abroad to find myself”. Unlike most of my relatives, however, I moved back to Malaysia. A move many find incomprehensible because it was generally perceived that life is better abroad.
So it's really interesting to hear this now from Americans now. Peronally, I don't think america is as hopeless as so many people make it out to be but okay, i have to admit the politics seem dire, but speaking as someone who comes from a country whose politics was deemed corrupt and beyond salvegable, whose democratically-elected govt was ousted by a coup during the pandemic, and yet manage to elect a PM who has been a political prisoner for decades ... eh miracles, can happen.
I just have a feeling that all that hugely negative noise from your media is affecting your perception of your country. TBH, American media is awfully toxic, so much so that sometimes I'm relieved that my country's media is more, er controlled.
Anyway, about Malaysia, the reasons for this perception is many, but boils down to the societal pressures minorities face in Malaysia. (That would take too long to explain in this Note, but a future Substack beckons.)
But for me, the quality of life is better in Malaysia. It’s in Malaysia that I could get debt free, be agile with my career and now have a career in tech, and live a life with rich access to culture and fly to anywhere in Asia cheaply.
Australia is great, but it didn’t suit me in the long run. I found it stifling to my career as my experience wasn’t valued there, and it would be tough to “proove” myself to the right people to get anywhere quickly.
But most importantly, in Malaysia I could be with my family and i realise that i needed to be close to them more than I realised.
We moved to Cuenca, Ecuador, in Feb 2023 on a retirement visa (while still working remotely)—for fitness (no car needed), social, political “detox,” and retirement catch-up reasons. In the U.S., we were barely making it—even on two decent salaries. After selling everything and now being able to invest/save half our income (while living very well), we’ll also benefit from FEIE on this year’s tax return. We’ve made expat AND Ecuadorian friends. And so far, we’ve had 10 (!) family members visit us. Amazing. Like you, we’re very grateful.
I can vouch for a lot of what is said about Europe here. However, the education systems vary greatly in Europe. Personally, I thought Canada’s education system was better than Belgian’s and way better than Spain’s. I Canada there was a lot more freedom to choose different subjects and electives, depending on what you’re good at. They don’t look down on kids who want to go into trades and encourage it through electives. They also make it easy to take your kids from school for a month or more to travel. In Spain and Belgium, all this is almost unheard of.
A great read, as the most often are...the big difference is this time it is relatable. My hubby and I have made the decision of retiring to France. We are living in the US , he is still working, we came from Canada with his work. He has 449 days left...but who's counting? Ok...I'm counting! LOL As it sits know one of the HUGE driving forces, other than the elephant in the room, couch Trump cough, we cannot afford to live here when retired, at least not the way we want to, and Canada is in a VERY similar situation! Thanks for waking me up again!
I think about it every day, but after looking for a remote job for the last 2 years I’ve decided the stress is too much and I need to have a different plan. So now I’m focused on working 2-3 more years here in the PNW, then retire & travel - and find opportunities to work or volunteer where ever I chose to be. I love America but it’s just too dysfunctional and stupid, it’s exhausting.
Yeah, I spent a couple of days on the phone with various government agencies when I went back to Ireland, and it’s one of the toughest. I barely miss the cut-off for ancestry. The only option for me as a self-employed writer would be the retirement visa, but…my writing would probably count as work? Ugh. Next possible option is to just….somehow make 250K Euro and donate it through Portugal’s program 🤪
Just as America is cursed with anti-black racism, Europe is cursed with hatred of the Jewis. Europe was the seat and citadel of Christendom for two millenia, and Christians, to some extent, were united in their belief that the Jews killed Jesus.
In my youth, I was fervently left wing, and I was attracted to Europe, but the pervasive anti Semitism of the continent made me sick. In any event, America may be quickly doing down the same path as Europe as a cursory review of academia wiil readily confirm. Of course, graduation day is on the horizon, and I am bracing myself for the torrent of terribly boring commencement speeches that will, naturally, castigate Israel as a colonial, imperialist power. In this essay, I examine some of the basic flaws in cognition which generate pervasive anti-Jewish sentiments.
really useful. It's interesting think how all of us has dufferent perception on other places, i kean not the oggettive pro and cons, but as we see life overseas. I'm european and recently even I dreamed to move in America. Now I'm studing pro end cons, (and I'm Italian, i have more cons 😛), but at the end I'll stay here, or maybe near here. but thank you for this point of view.
Well said. My wife and I left the U.S. in 2015 on a whim when she got a teaching job in Chengdu, China. After 3 years there we spent 2 in Latvia and then, in 2020, retired to a flower farm in the northwest Algarve, Portugal. We really don't plan to return to the U.S. for many of the reasons you give in your article. Life is too good here.
After talking about leaving the USA for years, we took the leap three years ago and moved to rural Portugal with our (then 10, now 13 year old) daughter. My husband is a freelance event producer/video guy. I'm a writer so I can work from anywhere, though I was never fully freelance before moving here because of the astronomical cost of healthcare in the States. We are both lucky that our careers are portable--and that we could stash a nice nest egg away after selling our (very modest but still astronomically expensive) house in San Francisco. Although adjusting to life in the EU has had its rough patches and steep learning curves, we have never once regretted the move--especially as we keep an eye on everything happening in the States.
We are all three thriving in new and unexpected ways, learning to let go of that capitalist urge to constantly Be Productive and just slow down, breathe, and take our time. Everything runs slower here, especially in Portugal (as compared to the northern EU countries). We joke that you can't have an American-size to-do list for your day here. If you get one thing done in a day, that's brilliant. Time to stop and celebrate.
Best of all, our daughter (who attended public school in California and attends public school here in Portugal as well) no longer has nightmares about getting shot at school. She feels safe here, and that alone makes the move worthwhile.
You’ve hit on some great points here. The living spaces being smaller I actually see as a pro though! I’ve learned I don’t need nearly as many things as I thought I needed. Not to mention keeping the house clean and organized is significantly easier! ;) And as you mentioned, the trade off is the public spaces are so much nicer and you spend more time outside of the home, most importantly with other people, therefore feeling more connected.
I lived in Europe “unintentionally” for four decades after arriving less than a week after graduating high school. I was still half hungover from grad parties when I began my gap year and left with eyes wide open when we moved to Canada and I became an immigrant in the city I grew up in. (We moved so we could be closer to my aging parents.)
A few observations:
- Arriving in Canada was like time travel, especially when looking at hospitality where things seem inefficient and unprofessional compared to Europe.
- As an immigrant, you’ll never be perceived to be a local. After 20 years in Norway, people didn’t introduce me as a “colleague” or “neighbour”. They often felt it necessary to introduce me as “from Canada” even though I had a Norwegian name through my ancestry and learned to speak the language without a detectable accent.
- That said, the same thing happens here. In the city I grew up in, people often introduce us by saying, “they moved here from Europe”. The John Irving quote from “Son of the Circus” is true: “Immigrants are immigrants all their lives.”
- Living abroad for an extended period of time, especially if you’re outside the expat bubble” expands your understanding of life and in my experience that translates to a greater appreciation of diversity, tolerance, and the fact that most people are more alike than they are different. You’ll find all kinds of people everywhere, most of them care about other people, and if you learn to challenge your biases you’ll discover wonderful things about yourself that you otherwise would never know.
Great article, Brent. I encourage everyone that has the opportunity to try to live abroad. Not just Americans to Europe, just everyone to somewhere else! It ain’t always sunshine and rainbows, but in my experience it is the best education you can get!
Thank you for re-posting this! My partner and I have been traveling full time through the US for the last 5 years and we're ready to go international. We've done 6 months in Mexico and a month in Canada, but we crossed borders with our "house" in tow. This will be different since we won't have a house and we'll be flying and not driving. We're planning to start with Central and South America in 2025. Hopefully, we'll be ready for Europe in 2026. I'm leaning heavily on your experience and advice for this, lol, and I appreciate all that you offer here!
One important note: there seems to be an exodus of American people—not restricted to the US—flying to Europe lately, notably in Southern countries. Their arrival with increased capital has exacerbated inequalities, squeezing the purchasing power of Europeans already living there. It's crucial to carefully consider where you establish your home, to avoid repeating comparable living crises triggered in Latin America.
As a Malaysian, I’ve heard the lament “Malaysia no hope already, better to move overseas” all my life. I have relatives who have made that move, most to Australia or United States. Heck, I myself moved to Australia for a few years, though not to migrate, but because “my life sucks so let’s move abroad to find myself”. Unlike most of my relatives, however, I moved back to Malaysia. A move many find incomprehensible because it was generally perceived that life is better abroad.
So it's really interesting to hear this now from Americans now. Peronally, I don't think america is as hopeless as so many people make it out to be but okay, i have to admit the politics seem dire, but speaking as someone who comes from a country whose politics was deemed corrupt and beyond salvegable, whose democratically-elected govt was ousted by a coup during the pandemic, and yet manage to elect a PM who has been a political prisoner for decades ... eh miracles, can happen.
I just have a feeling that all that hugely negative noise from your media is affecting your perception of your country. TBH, American media is awfully toxic, so much so that sometimes I'm relieved that my country's media is more, er controlled.
Anyway, about Malaysia, the reasons for this perception is many, but boils down to the societal pressures minorities face in Malaysia. (That would take too long to explain in this Note, but a future Substack beckons.)
But for me, the quality of life is better in Malaysia. It’s in Malaysia that I could get debt free, be agile with my career and now have a career in tech, and live a life with rich access to culture and fly to anywhere in Asia cheaply.
Australia is great, but it didn’t suit me in the long run. I found it stifling to my career as my experience wasn’t valued there, and it would be tough to “proove” myself to the right people to get anywhere quickly.
But most importantly, in Malaysia I could be with my family and i realise that i needed to be close to them more than I realised.
We moved to Cuenca, Ecuador, in Feb 2023 on a retirement visa (while still working remotely)—for fitness (no car needed), social, political “detox,” and retirement catch-up reasons. In the U.S., we were barely making it—even on two decent salaries. After selling everything and now being able to invest/save half our income (while living very well), we’ll also benefit from FEIE on this year’s tax return. We’ve made expat AND Ecuadorian friends. And so far, we’ve had 10 (!) family members visit us. Amazing. Like you, we’re very grateful.
You make me miss Europe! But I’m pretty content living in (Southeast) Asia too!
I can vouch for a lot of what is said about Europe here. However, the education systems vary greatly in Europe. Personally, I thought Canada’s education system was better than Belgian’s and way better than Spain’s. I Canada there was a lot more freedom to choose different subjects and electives, depending on what you’re good at. They don’t look down on kids who want to go into trades and encourage it through electives. They also make it easy to take your kids from school for a month or more to travel. In Spain and Belgium, all this is almost unheard of.
A great read, as the most often are...the big difference is this time it is relatable. My hubby and I have made the decision of retiring to France. We are living in the US , he is still working, we came from Canada with his work. He has 449 days left...but who's counting? Ok...I'm counting! LOL As it sits know one of the HUGE driving forces, other than the elephant in the room, couch Trump cough, we cannot afford to live here when retired, at least not the way we want to, and Canada is in a VERY similar situation! Thanks for waking me up again!
I think about it every day, but after looking for a remote job for the last 2 years I’ve decided the stress is too much and I need to have a different plan. So now I’m focused on working 2-3 more years here in the PNW, then retire & travel - and find opportunities to work or volunteer where ever I chose to be. I love America but it’s just too dysfunctional and stupid, it’s exhausting.
Yeah, I spent a couple of days on the phone with various government agencies when I went back to Ireland, and it’s one of the toughest. I barely miss the cut-off for ancestry. The only option for me as a self-employed writer would be the retirement visa, but…my writing would probably count as work? Ugh. Next possible option is to just….somehow make 250K Euro and donate it through Portugal’s program 🤪
Just as America is cursed with anti-black racism, Europe is cursed with hatred of the Jewis. Europe was the seat and citadel of Christendom for two millenia, and Christians, to some extent, were united in their belief that the Jews killed Jesus.
In my youth, I was fervently left wing, and I was attracted to Europe, but the pervasive anti Semitism of the continent made me sick. In any event, America may be quickly doing down the same path as Europe as a cursory review of academia wiil readily confirm. Of course, graduation day is on the horizon, and I am bracing myself for the torrent of terribly boring commencement speeches that will, naturally, castigate Israel as a colonial, imperialist power. In this essay, I examine some of the basic flaws in cognition which generate pervasive anti-Jewish sentiments.
https://davidgottfried.substack.com/p/graduating-seniors-disregard-most
really useful. It's interesting think how all of us has dufferent perception on other places, i kean not the oggettive pro and cons, but as we see life overseas. I'm european and recently even I dreamed to move in America. Now I'm studing pro end cons, (and I'm Italian, i have more cons 😛), but at the end I'll stay here, or maybe near here. but thank you for this point of view.
I have a few family members pursuing their Italian citizenship, and I may follow suit eventually. So many temptations!
Well said. My wife and I left the U.S. in 2015 on a whim when she got a teaching job in Chengdu, China. After 3 years there we spent 2 in Latvia and then, in 2020, retired to a flower farm in the northwest Algarve, Portugal. We really don't plan to return to the U.S. for many of the reasons you give in your article. Life is too good here.