You’re Not Lazy, You’re Overwhelmed (Adventure Abroad Activation)
You’re not lazy or stupid about living abroad.
You’re just overwhelmed by all the information that’s out there!
Especially about how much living abroad could cost.
Here’s a simple way you can determine how much coin you should bring, and be bringing in, when you move abroad.
Hint: it’s easier than you think, just watch the video below.
Using Numbeo, just like in the above video tutorial, type in where you live and where you want to live, and the site spits out a detailed profile compared to your current country.
Groceries, entertainment, schools, electricity, and more!
You can run free searches, or create a profile and use their premium services.
Start there, and if you change your mind about one country, that’s perfectly fine, but at least you started.
Because finances are one of the big reasons that people say…
“I Don’t Know Where To Go!”
Yeah, we hear that a lot.
As we planned our move to East Africa, we had to get real with ourselves (like budgeting), and you should too, so here are some tips that helped us and can help you, too.
Get Real With Yourself
Get real in these 3 areas:
- Your readiness to move
- Your ideal environment
- Your deal breakers
You’ll want to keep track of everything you need to take with you and everything you need to leave behind.
Make sure that everything coming with you is necessary and an asset to you and your family when you move.
Be clear on your deal breakers about your new country.
For example, if you know you like to drive and you need pristine infrastructure, you might narrow down your list of potential countries to ensure that the roads and highways there are up to your standards.
Or as close to them as possible.
If one country is more expensive than living in the United States, then it’s a pretty good bet that you can’t move there.
You set the parameters.
That’s how we tuned out the noise when the question of “Where do we go?” got loud for our family move.
We get it, there’s loads of information online, but it’s not a competition.
You don’t win $1,000,000,000 for choosing the “best” country to move to – you get peace and safety for your family.
This isn’t a contest.
It’s a new chapter in your story.
There is no perfect, one-size-fits-all country out there – but you can find the perfect country for you.
PAIN: The Great Motivator.
What are you tired of? Pain is a great motivator for moving.
Could it be:
- Food?
- Politics?
- Cultural decay?
- (Gun) Violence?
Or maybe it’s something else?
Just as it’s possible to find the country that fits you perfectly, according to your wants and needs, you can apply the same logic to why you want to leave the West (United States/United Kingdom).
List everything you hate about living in the West, that causes you pain, things you wish you could change but you really can’t.
Let this list fuel your rocket ship toward a new destination, one without all of those things making your life miserable.
Switch out mindless scrolling for intentional learning. One has a vision while the other doesn’t.
Let the pain and discomfort of your present circumstance wash over you.
Now, what are you going to do about it?
Not to be glib – U.S. police (built on the concept of capturing freed enslaved Africans) can’t kill you if you’re not in the U.S.
So if you’re fed up, get out.
You don’t care anymore who’s running for president because you see the circus for what it is.
Get out.
You’re done with the erasure of African American history in the crumbling public school system, because if our children don’t know who they are then the future looks pretty bleak.
They’ll be whoever the dominant group says they are unless you get out.
The chemicals in most of America’s food are draining you, ruining your skin and muscles, destroying your senses and blood, and utterly breaking your body down.
You just want better and you know it’s out there somewhere, and the thrill of a new life in a new culture with a beautiful quality of life keeps you up at night.
Get out of your current country and find a more promising environment to thrive in.
Was your life leading up to your move abroad? Maybe even to a new life in Africa all along?
- Always thinking about exotic animals
- You can’t stop writing down and saving new recipes
- You befriended people different than you all your life
- No way you’re retiring in America
- Your passport is missing the stamps from all those faraway places
- You regularly consume international food, music, and art
- You always wanted to start a business, maybe teaching online
- God always felt closer when you’re adventuring somewhere
Think about these things – only you know the answer, and that gives you the edge.
We always tell people to focus. Focus on what you want.
We get well-intentioned messages from people about scary things happening in Africa and all over the world.
But what we notice is that we both have the same thing in common about those scary places: we don’t want to go there.
(And in our case, we ain’t there!)
The online algorithm serves you. So fill it up with all the things you dream about living abroad.
Diligently research countries that offer the best life you want or as close to it as possible.
- A slower, or more creative pace of life
- Types of food that you love
- Better education for your children
- Most attractive digital nomad visas
- Ideal destinations for retirees
- Rich multi-cultural exchange and community
The list can be as long as you want it to be.
Trusted Travel Tools
So we come full circle – back to cleverly using the cost of living (and other considerations) to find the best place for you to land.
It really is that easy to start.
Use Numbeo and other cost-of-living tools to get the facts on the county you’re dreaming of moving to.
Compile a list of these ideal destinations based on your budget and the figures on the site and go from there.
But wait, there’s more!
There’s a similar tool called iVisa, where you can type in the country you live in, and then the country you’re interested in living in, and it tells you if you need a travel visa or not.
For example: UNITED STATES to KENYA.
You Need A Visa.
Kenya ETA: 90 days.
Validity: 90 days after issue.
Number of entries: Single entry.
Max stay: 90 days in total.
Another example: UNITED STATES to CANADA
You Do Not Need A Visa.
Canada Advance CBSA Declaration (ArriveCAN): 30 days
Validity: 30 days after arrival
Number of entries: Single entry
Max stay: 90 days per entry
Pretty cool, right?
Searches are free, or you have the option to create a profile and use their premium services.
So, click those research links above and Bookmark them on your browser right now!
To help you keep these tools close, we created a short playbook so you have both Numbeo and iVisa and more in one place.
You can find them by downloading our free Epic Expat Research Guide.
That’s all for today, thanks for reading, and peace and blessings in your travels.
— Josiah and the Bradleys.