I once made a man in Ukraine go from smiling to staring at me like I’d just asked for his bank PIN and his grandmother’s secret borscht recipe in one breath.
The first time I moved abroad, I thought I was just changing my location. I didn’t realize I was about to reprogram my brain.
I used to think I was a pretty savvy traveler.
I’ve navigated post-Soviet Ukraine in the late ’90s, dodged aggressive taxi scams in Tbilisi, Georgia, even survived the on-street survey scams of Phuket, Thailand.
But then I almost booked a hotel that didn’t even exist.
I thought I was prepared.
I once met a fellow traveler in Bangkok, Thailand who had been lured in by the Instagram fantasy of digital nomad life in Chiang Mai: cheap rent, endless coconuts, and a laptop lifestyle that looked effortless.
I thought the best travel experiences had price tags.
As an expat, I’ve lived in multiple countries without ever needing a car. Here’s how I made it work, and why it might be the best reason for you to move abroad too!
I was recently reminded of how American food was, well… different, when my Italian landlord here in Saranda asked me about peanut butter.
You think you know the rules, until you step foot outside the U.S.A…
Think moving abroad is your escape hatch? The ultimate red pill out of The Matrix, where sky-high rent, soul-sucking commutes, and nonstop political chaos keep you stuck in a life you never signed up for?