Why moving abroad doesn't automatically make you worldly.
You can move abroad, lower your cost of living, enjoy better weather and healthcare, and still be a terrible expat.
Because moving abroad doesn't automatically make you worldly.
Sometimes it just makes you an American with a cheaper margarita. 🍹
As we prepare for our own move to Mexico, we're thinking more about something that doesn't get nearly enough attention in the retire-abroad conversation:
Retiring abroad isn't just about what another country can do for you. It's also about how you show up once you get there.
In this episode of Queer Money®, we're counting down seven behaviors that can turn otherwise well-intentioned Americans into bad expats, from refusing to learn the local language to surrounding yourself entirely with other Americans to expecting your new country to operate exactly like the United States.
And yes, we're checking ourselves against this list, too.
🌈 Takeaways from this episode:
- 👋 Why something as simple as greeting people in their language matters
- How moving abroad without ever leaving your American bubble defeats much of the purpose
- 🏘️ Why living behind the gates can prevent you from ever actually becoming part of your community
- 🗣️ Why you don't need to become fluent, but refusing to learn the language isn't cute
- 💰 Why supporting local businesses should be part of enjoying your new country's lower cost of living
- 🌎 Why cultural differences aren't problems that need American solutions
- 💸 And our potentially controversial #1: wanting all the benefits of your new country without accepting any responsibility for supporting it
All seven mistakes come down to one bigger problem:
Bad expats treat another country like a product.
What's the price? What's the visa? What's the weather? What's in it for me?
Good immigrants start asking different questions:
- How do I belong here? How do I participate?
- How do I understand the culture?
- And what can I contribute?
We're becoming immigrants ourselves, and we're absolutely going to screw some of this up.
The goal isn't perfection.
It's participation.
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