86: Should you leave the USA — Or just visit abroad instead?

More Americans than ever are thinking about moving abroad—but is it always the right choice? 

In this episode, we explore a question many people wrestle with: Should you actually leave the U.S. permanently, or would visiting another country be enough? We break down the difference between traveling and living abroad, when it makes sense to make the move, and when it’s better to stay put or take a short-term trip.

You’ll learn:

• Why so many people are considering life outside the U.S.
• The emotional and practical differences between visiting and relocating
• What makes moving abroad truly worth it—and when it’s not
• How to decide if you're escaping something or building something

If you’re unsure where to go, take the free quiz below to find your best-fit European city. Or take the quiz at jordangiberson.com/quiz. 💛

Listen in before you book that one-way ticket.

👉Take the free quiz: Which European city should you move to? 🤔

Grab my free guide: 5 Exact Steps to Move Abroad

Website: jordangiberson.com
Instagram: @jordan.giberson

Transcript

0:00

So sometimes staying and creating change in your current life is really the brave choice to fix those deeper issues that you're having. But sometimes we just need a fresh start. Sometimes moving abroad is the fresh start that we really need to fix some of those problems that we have. Hey, my name is Jordan Giberson. I'm a Texas girl living and thriving in London. The best thing I've ever done? Moving abroad, hands down. And I'm passionate about helping others do the same. Are you curious about finding a job abroad? You're in the right place, friend. I'll teach you the tried and true secrets of how to make moving abroad a reality for you and how to live a fulfilling life once you get there. We'll cover topics like choosing the best visa for you, how to get a job offer in another country, how to get over your fear of moving abroad, and how to live a life you love once you get there, this is The Move Abroad Podcast. Hello and welcome to another episode of the Move Abroad Podcast. Today we're going to be talking about should you leave the USA or should you just visit abroad instead. So in this podcast, we explore what it's really like to uproot your life and build a new one in a foreign country. And today we're going to be diving into a big emotional and sometimes controversial question. Should you actually leave the US? Is there more value in moving abroad than just visiting, or is moving abroad sometimes doing more harm than good? And how do you know whenever it's best to just visit a place rather than actually move there? I know this feels weird because I'm constantly trying to encourage you to move abroad in today. I am like, well, should you actually do it? Which feels a little bit opposite, but I do think that it's worth talking about because while I love living abroad, and I think that it is incredible and I love to encourage people to do it. I don't think that it's for everyone. So let's discuss this topic in today's episode and go ahead and get started. Let's first talk about why people want to leave the US. There is a growing trend here. More Americans are considering life abroad than ever before. I think some of that reason is because there is a, what's the right word? It's really just that there's a big sharing. There's a lot of sharing of information across the world, and you see more people living abroad and visiting abroad in general just because of social media. So you can think if they can do it, then I can do it. So I feel like that has helped more people consider moving abroad, and I think because there's an increase in travel over the past few decades, more people have been just going and experiencing life there, which then sparks the desire to want to move there. And so there's more people moving abroad in general. And I do think that there are more paths to be able to moving abroad and many other countries are open to Americans moving abroad there and getting jobs there than there might have been a few decades ago. So I do think that there is a growing trend of more Americans considering life abroad than ever before. And some common motivators might be cost of living. It might be political frustration that we did a recent podcast episode on politics and how it affects your life abroad. If you wanna go back and listen to that episodes, just a few episodes back on maybe healthcare, maybe that's something that you're considering moving abroad for the universal healthcare that European countries offer. Because the US doesn't offer this. Maybe it's because of work-life balance. Maybe you've been very frustrated by the working culture in the US and you're looking for more balance in your life. Or maybe it's just for the adventure and curiosity. I think that was mostly me, and I've reaped the benefit of some of those other things like healthcare, for instance. But I do think that my primary reason was for the adventure and for the curiosity of a different life and what that could look like, and I was just so inspired by European Life and how incredible it was and how beautiful it was that I wanted to move there and really experience life there and not just visiting. So for me it was a good choice. But yeah, I think that people often assume moving abroad is automatically better, and today we're really going to be challenging that assumption and whether that is the case for you or not. So, one thing that I also wanted to dig into is the difference between traveling and living abroad. Travel equals escape. It equals luxury, it equals limited stress whenever you're traveling. It's an adventure. It's constantly fun. You're constantly going to new restaurants and seeing something really beautiful for the first time, whether it be architecture or a gorgeous beach that you've never seen or experiencing a new language and diving into that. It's different from your everyday life, and it's kind of an escape from your everyday life and everyday stresses. So that's what travel is like. Living abroad, you still have the daily reality of doing laundry and doing your dishes and needing to pay your bills and still needing to work to make a living. You know, you still have potential bureaucracy in that country and you have the emotional adjustment of living abroad. So, while I love living abroad, I think it's incredible. So I actually did a recent episode. It's episode 76, what your dreamy European life would look like. It's actually like this, that is the title of the episode. It's episode 76. It might be worth going back and listening to, because this is actually like ideal scenario of living in Europe and it won't always look exactly like that, but living in Europe does actually look like that. And I wanted to say that you do still have the everyday life stuff like doing laundry and working and all those things, but you still can like wander out of your apartment and like, go pass a little like crepe stand and go get a crepe in Paris. Or like go get your croissant. Or like, I wander down the street and like I'm gonna go to the dry cleaners actually today and I'm like gonna go walk to my local dry cleaners that's literally right down the road to drop off dry cleaning. And I'm gonna walk to a coffee shop in a little bit. One of my favorite coffee shops that's along the river. Like it does sound like I'm romanticizing it, but actually that's exactly how life actually is, but you do still have the the everyday life stuff. So I guess the point that I'm trying to make here is that there is a difference in traveling where it's escape and it's luxury. Like you're staying in a really nice place, like your apartment at home might not look exactly like the hotels that you might be staying in with great customer service, and you have limited stress because you're getting away from your everyday life, whereas living abroad you are still experiencing some of the everyday stresses that you have. Like I still have to pay my water bill. I still have to pay my phone bill, but I also get to walk down the street and like go to my favorite coffee shop that's just right down the street from me that I'm gonna go do in a little bit. So you do still have all those things like, you know, visiting Portugal, you might experience the amazingness that is Portugal. But then you also have to like get your residency and focus on that and like work on finding long-term housing, or maybe in Paris you are on vacation and you're eating croissants all the time. But then you realize, hey, I can't actually eat croissants every day because if I do that, it's like not the most healthy thing for me. So maybe that's not your everyday life, but whenever you're on a holiday, you're eating croissants every single day. You know, or like whenever you're actually living there, you might have to actually navigate the French customer service that tends to not be very good, or focus on getting a visa renewal or whatever. Like you still have the everyday stresses, but you do still get to enjoy the life abroad, which is why I wanted to move abroad and why I constantly encourage other people to move abroad because your life can be actually super dreamy. So if you do want to hear about go listen to episode 76, what your dreamy European life would look like it's actually like this, that is the title of the episode. So what feels magical on vacation might feel mundane or even frustrating in daily life. So I guess just trying to be really real with you in terms of like what that could look like. But it also does feel really dreamy because you do have a very different lifestyle. Like I walk along the river every single day in London and I love that I can do that. So your life can actually look really dreamy, but there is a difference between travel and living abroad, and I wanted to make that really clear. So now let's discuss when moving abroad is actually worth it and when it's better to just visit rather than actually move abroad. So this is whenever moving abroad is actually worth it. If you want to have a deep long-term change, not just a break. I remember whenever I talked to my parents about moving abroad, my mom said, well why don't you just go visit London in your 2 week holiday that you have every year, like you have 2 weeks of vacation, just go visit London. And I was like, no, mom. I want to be immersed in it. I want to live life there and not just visit it short term, like I want to actually live in and amongst it and for that to be my daily life. So she just didn't get it, which is totally fine. It's just not her vision for her life. But for me, I wanted a deep long-term change. I want to live my life there and not just have a break. So if that's you, then living abroad would be worth it. If you have researched visa options and you have a plan, and this is something that you've been wanting for a long time, that's whenever it's really worth it. Whenever you're open to adapting culturally. Emotionally and practically, that's whenever it's worth it. Whenever you're ready for perhaps having slower timelines, dealing with the visa paperwork, and perhaps having a bit of discomfort because there is change whenever you move abroad, you have to perhaps find a different shampoo brand. You'll have different grocery stores that you're not used to, and perhaps there's like different food and different restaurants that you're not used to or like a new language that you're learning, so it's not gonna be completely comfortable all the time because you're challenging yourself and that's actually a good thing to have a bit of discomfort and to challenge yourself because our brains are wired to desire, comfort and desire the things that we're used to instead of challenging ourselves and growing. So you will have discomfort and if you're okay with that and you want to grow, then moving abroad is for you and it is worth it. If you are not escaping your problems and you're intentionally building a new chapter, that's whenever moving abroad is worth it. So those are some times where it is worth it to move abroad and it would be a good change for you. And whenever it's not just whenever you actually should move abroad, and it's not just about visiting and just having like the luxury and the escape. So it can be much better to actually move abroad. And for me it was totally worth it. But these are the times whenever it's better to actually just visit instead of moving abroad. If you are unsure of your goal of why you want to move abroad. It's not really clear like what you're actually doing it for. Then maybe it's not worth it. If you're in a season of instability or a season of burnout, this might not be the time for you. If you are just curious, but you're not really committed to having the big life shift that is moving abroad, then maybe it's not worth it for you. Maybe you need to spend more time figuring out what you actually want. If you haven't like thought about your finances or thought about the language barriers of the visas, and you're like, I don't really wanna deal with any of that. Like, I don't wanna look at my finances, I don't wanna learn a new language if I'm moving abroad, I don't wanna deal with visas, then it's not worth it for you. You shouldn't move abroad. Maybe you should just visit. I genuinely believe that if you have been listening to this podcast, if you have been spending time learning about moving abroad, if it is constantly on your mind, you find yourself constantly talking to people about moving abroad and you're thinking about it. Like weekly or even daily, then you need to move abroad. If you don't, you will regret it for the rest of your life. But if you are a person where you're like, yeah, like that sounds great. I'd love to move abroad, but you haven't actually been putting in effort, which to be honest, if you've been listening to this podcast, that's probably not you, but maybe it is, who knows? Then visiting might be a better fit for you. I remember having this conversation with this guy one time. We were in London and I was speaking to 2 guys. And 1 guy, I was talking to him about moving to London and he was like, I've always wanted to move to London. It's always been a dream of mine. I've been thinking about it for a long time, blah, blah, blah. And then another guy was like, yeah, like, I've also wanted to move to London. I think that it'd be really great. I think that it'd be awesome to do that. And I asked them both the same question. I said, if you did not move abroad to London in your life and you got to the end of your life, would you regret not moving abroad to London? And 1 guy said. Like, yes, I would absolutely regret it. I've been thinking about it for a long time. I think I need to go for it. I think I need to make it happen because otherwise I will regret it in my like later life. Whenever I'm old and I'm looking back on my life, I will regret not doing it. And I asked the same question to the other guy and he said. Honestly, no, I wouldn't regret it. I love New York. I'm living in New York now and I love visiting London, but if I got later in life, I don't think that I'd actually regret it. So I think that this is a different goals in life and different people, and that's totally fine. But if I was you, maybe that's you. And you're saying, actually, I wouldn't regret it if I didn't move abroad. Like maybe it's not worth it to me to go through the stress of moving abroad and picking up my life and moving it over there, and I don't really wanna deal with visas. I'd rather just enjoy the vacation and just enjoy it for like a week and just live it up for a week, then that's totally fine. Visiting can scratch that itch without the pressure of moving abroad. It can help you gather clarity on whether you actually wanna move there or not in general, and by visiting it's just perhaps a stepping stone instead of a leap. If you do decide that you actually want to move abroad, but maybe you're like that second person, that second guy that's like, I love living in New York, or I love living wherever I'm at, and maybe moving abroad is actually not the best fit for you. Maybe just visiting is a better fit. But if you're like me and you have someone saying, Hey, like, why don't you just take a job? Like, why don't you just continue living in the US and just go there on your 2 weeks of holiday you have in a year. Like why don't you just visit instead and that's you sounds better. And you're like, actually, yeah, like maybe that's a better fit for me then that's incredible. Like definitely do that and just visit and maybe it's better for you to just visit instead of move. But if you're like, no, that's not me, like if you have the same response that I had to my mom where I'm like, no, I don't wanna just visit, I want to live in and amongst it, then maybe that's better for you to actually move abroad and to just take that leap and actually do it. And one thing that you can do is you can take a cheeky little like trip abroad and to experience it and see if you actually like it and if you actually want to live there. So if that is you and you're thinking about maybe doing a trip abroad to figure out if you actually want to live there or if you're still trying to decide where you actually want to move to and you're still considering a couple places. Then go back and listen to episode 74. It's called Before You Move Abroad do this first, so it's episode 74. You can go back and listen to that episode where we dig into how to do a test drive of your city abroad or to how to figure out like where between a couple different countries or cities might be the best fit for you. So that is when moving abroad is actually worth it, and when it's better to actually just visit instead of moving abroad. Now, let's just talk about when moving abroad isn't always the answer. Just in general. Just a few things I wanted to mention is that moving abroad is not the fix for deeper issues like loneliness, career dissatisfaction, or burnout. Sometimes it can actually make those problems worse because then you're throwing yourself into a new environment with things that are unfamiliar to you, where you should really just be focused on healing yourself and healing those problems and moving abroad whenever you're in a really good place in life. So it's not about geography, it's about getting clarity and healing those things with intention. So sometimes staying and creating change in your current life is really the brave choice and what you really need to be doing to fix those deeper issues that you're having. But sometimes we just need a fresh start. Sometimes moving abroad is the fresh start that we really need to fix some of those problems that we have. So I think you need to really dig deep on what the reason is that you're moving abroad, and if it is a dissatisfaction with life, with your career, or with loneliness or burnout, to really dig into, is moving abroad, going to fix those things, or is it going to make those things worse? Because sometimes I think depending on what the problems are. Moving abroad might make them worse because you now don't have community around you. You now maybe don't speak the local language like you're trying to navigate this new life in a new place where everything is unfamiliar, but sometimes it is the fresh start that we need depending on what those problems are. So I think you need to really dig into what those things are and figure out whether moving abroad is going to help those things. And whether it's gonna be the fresh start that you actually really need, because sometimes we just need a fresh start or sometimes it can make it a little bit worse. So I think it's really digging into what those things are. So I did just wanna touch on that moving abroad isn't always the answer, but sometimes it is the fresh start that we need. So I would dig into what those reasons are to figure out. Whether moving abroad or just visiting at this time and moving abroad at a bit later time, like maybe in 6 months or a year, whenever you've worked through those things, might be a better fit for you. So there is so much value in both traveling and moving abroad, but they do serve different purposes. If you are unsure, visit first, you know, explore, reflect on how you felt, what your experience was like, and if you are serious about moving abroad and you know that it's the best fit for you, then my goodness do it. Like I am all for moving abroad. It is like something that I push for and I think is incredible and I think that so many people really want to move abroad and they don't actually do it. And it makes me sad to think about people like not actually moving abroad whenever they really should and really want to. But if you are a person where you're like, eh, I think I'd actually be better perhaps just visiting abroad or maybe visiting abroad first to see if you actually do want to move there, then that's totally fine. So I hope that this episode brought you a bit of clarity on when you should leave the US and when you should just visit abroad instead. So thank you so much for listening to this episode. If you do know of a friend that would really benefit from listening to this episode where you feel like they've struggled to decide whether they should move abroad or not, then please feel free to send this episode to a friend. I would really appreciate it. So with that being said, I will go ahead and close out this episode. So thank you so much for listening to another episode of the Move Abroad podcast. I will catch you here again next week. Same time, same place. I'll catch you then.