Have you ever wondered what it would look like to live abroad for a year? Or maybe move permanently? When my husband and I announced that we were going to do just that, the responses were varied. But, what we saw most was curiosity. Not one person asked us why we would do such a crazy thing or scoffed at us.
Some people were curious in the sense of Oh my gosh, I could never do that!. With others, you could hear the wheels turning inside their head. Their questions were more fact finding. What does that look like? When are you going? How did you pick Spain? What do your kids think? And some people reached out to get the real meat and understand how we got to this point. They were curious about what they needed to know in order to do something similar.
There was no turning back now! Not that we have considered it. Because of all of the interest, I wanted to share some insights and things to ponder if you are thinking about a life abroad. And in case you need an excuse, travel is good for your mental and physical health.
Making the Move
There are obviously a lot of tactical details required in order to make such a big move. The top ones are Where do I want to go? When do I want to go? And What do I do with all of my stuff? We decided we didn’t love most of our furniture enough to store it long term so we let it go. It felt amazing! We don’t go until October and have been staging our move in response to opportunities that have presented themselves. I’ll share more about that later.
Live Abroad Legally
Another thing you’ll want to think about if you’re considering living abroad for a year or more is your income stream. That’s important to consider now as it ties to available visas. You don’t have to wait until you retire. Assuming you’re planning to live in one place rather than be truly nomadic, you’ll likely consider the following visa options. These will vary based on the location you choose:
- Non-lucrative – You are not working and are living off of passive income. This can be retirement funds or businesses that you receive income from but that you are not actively working in or managing.
- Work/professional – Generally, you have a highly desirable skill set that warrants a hire from outside the country.
- Digital Nomad – Almost 70 countries offer this option at this time. With this you are basically making money outside the country and spending it in the country.
- Golden visa – This has been an option in some European countries but is not as widely available as it once was. Where it is available, it requires a large investment in the country ($250,000+) and gives you a pass to travel freely in the Schengen area.
If you do want to be truly nomadic, many countries offer tourist visas for US citizens fairly easily (often without submitting any paperwork), but there are time constraints, usually 90 days or less. For the other visas listed above, there can be a lot of paperwork and bureaucracy involved. Make sure you are giving yourself enough time to navigate that.
Decide
Once you decide on a location, there are other details to navigate like healthcare and health insurance, finding a place to live, and possibly learning a new language. But before you get to that, you need to decide that this is something you want. Not just something that would be nice to do one day, but decide that this is an adventure that you are going to pursue. You want to get your mind ready to receive information that will support that decision.
As a leadership coach, I work with high achieving women on the verge of transition. This can be things like a change in career, level of responsibility in their career, or starting a new business. This often comes as their kids are becoming more independent and they now have more time to go after what’s next for themselves. (By the way, staying out of your teenagers’ way while you each work on your own selves does wonders for your relationship.) I coach these women about the importance of making a decision. We often don’t decide or declare what we really want so that we don’t feel so bad or look bad if it doesn’t work out. This is like telling yourself you’re going to fail before you even start.
Set Your Intention
If you truly have a desire to live abroad some day, decide. Declare it and set a target timeframe, even if it’s several years out. Once you do that, stay aware of things that are coming into your life that could take you in that direction.
It was six years ago that we started talking about the possibility. We knew our youngest son was going to move out of the state for college and saw that as our window to live abroad and explore for a few years. We hadn’t decided on where we wanted to go but set an intention. Initially, we took advantage of business opportunities that allowed us to work from anywhere. Then the housing market in Colorado was super hot and we sold our home that was now way too big – and way too much work – with the goal to re-invest abroad.
We are still working on some of the details that will get us the visa we need, but it’s all coming together because we decided. We will be in Spain in two months navigating the neighborhoods and looking for our longer term living quarters all because we set an intention six years ago. If you want to keep up with our experience, join us here.
Conclusion
Anything you want to do in life whether that’s living abroad, changing careers, or have more freedom to do whatever you want whenever you want, starts with setting an intention. An intention for what it is you want and what the outcome and the journey looks and feels like. You’ll never get there if you don’t decide. So what decision are you making today?
