What’s going on? Are we witnessing mass emigration from the U.S.? What’s the deal with the never-ending get-away articles with tantalizing headlines like, “Best Place to Move Abroad,” “Retire Overseas at Half the Price,” “Top 10 Places to Live,” and “Most Livable Cities”? Do these articles signal a huge movement?
Judging by the weight of articles on the pages of Forbes, AARP, Money, Huffington Post, Kiplinger’s, USA Today, and others, we are led to believe that huge numbers of people are burnt out on the good old USA, don’t like where they live, tired of the rat race, adventuresome, seeking a larger understanding of the world, or can’t afford to stay put. Into the emigrant stew are those who are untethered workers, digital nomads, or just anxious to throw off the yokes of corporate life.
What these articles don’t address is: Why would they leave? What would make them take the risks? Why leave family and friends? What are they looking for? Is there a brotherhood of soon-to-be expats in the making? We’ve been close to this phenomenon and wanted to shine a light on the subject.
What we need is a bull*#*@ meter for articles titled Best, Cheapest, Most Livable, etc. Everyone is getting in on the action. One blog ranked El Paso as the third-best city to retire. Really? Miami was No. 1. Got to love those $15 mojitos.
While a great city, do retirees really want big winters and can they be convinced that Minneapolis is in the running for Top Places to Retire by an article in Huffington Post?
People who can’t find Ecuador on a map read articles such as, “Live on Social Security Like a King,” in reputable magazines and go to Kayak to book a flight and a hotel. Do they speak English there? Que no saben.
Mexico has always had an expat following, but the barrage of articles has gotten out of hand. We fell in love with San Miguel de Allende a couple of years ago, but a recent reader poll in Condé Nast Traveler’s Readers’ Choice Awards 2013 deemed it the best city in the world. Come on.
By the way, Charleston, South Carolina, was No. 3 in that same poll. Please. It is a nice city but their readers need to get out more.
What’s going on? We need clarity. Let’s hear from real expats, travelers, those actually living abroad. How many expats are there? Who are they? Is there a new type of expat? These questions intrigue us.
For six years we traveled and met amazing expats with a variety of perspectives and reasons to be living abroad. From retirees seeking a lower cost of living, to seasoned perpetual travelers, to everyday people with a curiosity that sends them out into the world.
The subject was so fascinating to us we decided to write a book. Not actually write it but collect stories from new and seasoned expats to get a sense of what is going on and share that first-hand information with our readers.
No catchy headlines, no stories designed to add clicks, but rather a volume of personal accounts from people who decided to leave their home countries for other places. We think it is enlightening. To get a complete picture, we included expat stories from as many countries as possible. TodaysExpats.com
