Random countries = random outcomes.

A very significant amount of planning is needed by any prudent person before making decisions like this. issues include educational quality and transferability when it's time for university, U.S. and foreign taxation issues, residency permit issues, medical care, language barriers, cultural adaptation, whether U.S. expats are welcome, whether they have generally been able to integrate successfully into society, retirement issues, limits on the rental or purchase of real estate, safety, crime, medical care quality and availability, and the unpredictability of how foreign political and social environments may change rapidly and unexpectedly. potentially rendering what now looks like an attractive destination affirmatively unwelcoming.

Anonymous wrote:
European here. Ah, here come the "I can live abroad so easily" threads.

No. You can't.

Your list tells me you haven't thought ANYTHING through. That sort of mentality doesn't bode well for living abroad, especially if you're not even going to bother to learn the language, and if, to you, the places you listed are interchangeable. The ignorance and entitlement are MIND-BOGGLING.

This! ˆˆˆ

Oklahoma.

European here. Ah, here come the "I can live abroad so easily" threads.

No. You can't.

Your list tells me you haven't thought ANYTHING through. That sort of mentality doesn't bode well for living abroad, especially if you're not even going to bother to learn the language, and if, to you, the places you listed are interchangeable. The ignorance and entitlement are MIND-BOGGLING.

Anonymous wrote:do you speak Portuguese or Spanish??

Actually, almost everyone speaks some English in Portugal. Very few Europeans speak Portuguese so English is pretty widely taught. I believe they also have a Digital Nomad visa program, but I could be out of date on that.

You have to do your research and at least visit on holidays a few times to def a feel. Whenever head about people randomly considering cheaper options to relo to I just cringe. It's kinda a big deal don't you think?? You have to feel comfortable whenever you move to and in order to know, you have to go enough to know. It's not about what's on paper OP. This is a home and it won't be 100% perfect!

Bulgaria. Great weather, beautiful countryside, very cheap property, excellent food, easy flights to lots of great holiday destinations.

Anonymous wrote:Generally speaking, cheap places are cheap for a reason. Crime, lack of infrastructure, low productivity, whatever.

I am not saying it’s not worth it, but you need to be fully aware of the trade-offs.

Yeah, I would try it out before packing it all in and relocating. I knew a couple (former fed and spouse) who moved to Guatemala (where the wife was from and they had met). They moved down because they both knew Spanish and the culture and it was warm, and they just were not prepared to deal with the constant security issues and how much more work life was there in a lot of ways. It can be a major adjustment.

They had moved all the way down there and could barely afford to move back.

Thailand, Indonesia, any of the Eastern European countries (though they are not warm year round), Mexico, etc. There are plenty of places.

Then just go to PG county.

Generally speaking, cheap places are cheap for a reason. Crime, lack of infrastructure, low productivity, whatever.

I am not saying it’s not worth it, but you need to be fully aware of the trade-offs.

do you speak Portuguese or Spanish??

What about healthcare and insurance?
Puerto Rico. Key West or somewhere there. It's not the bad Florida.

What about visas? You can’t just live wherever you want.

I’ve got kids, and DC is expensive, if I lose my job my partner and I are open to just moving somewhere cheap, warm with a stable quality of life and potentially more affordable private schools. My partner could telework for her job.

A few choices:
1) Costa Rica
2) Coronado, Panama
3) Lisbon, Portugal

Anyone else have any ideas of random places like this? We’d rent out our house and have a few other properties to help pay for it. This would probably be for a few years with random trips back to check on our home base of dc.