100: My rapid-fire answers to the top 100 questions about moving abroad

Thinking about moving abroad but overwhelmed by all the unknowns? In this milestone 100th episode, I’m answering the top 100 most common questions people ask about living overseas—rapid-fire style.

We’ll cover it all:

• How to know if moving abroad is right for you
• Choosing the best country and city for your lifestyle
• Visas, residency, and the legal side of moving
• Finding jobs, handling money, and navigating taxes
• Housing, healthcare, and everyday life abroad
• Building community, staying safe, and adjusting to a new culture

Here are some episodes mentioned in this episode:

• Episode 91: Do I Have to Pay Taxes If I Live Abroad?
• Episode 49: Can I Get a Job Abroad If I Only Speak English?
• Episode 17: Would I Be Financially Better Off Living in the US or Europe?
• Episode 75: How Much Money Do I Need to Move Abroad?

Whether you’re in the early stages of dreaming or seriously planning your move, you’ll walk away with clarity, confidence, and practical insights to guide your journey.

👉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

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We all have challenges and I think it's an adjustment to live abroad. You grow in so many ways. You're open to other cultures and people. but it's an incredible experience. And anytime anybody tells me they want to move abroad I get so excited because genuinely, It's been the best thing I've ever done in my life 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. This week's podcast episode is really special to me because we're hitting a milestone. This is the 100th episode of the Move Abroad Podcast, which makes me so excited and so thankful for you. Thank you so much for listening to this podcast, for being a part of this community. I really appreciate you and I wouldn't be here if it weren't for you, if it weren't for people who wanted to move abroad, who are serious about it. So thank you so much for being a part of the podcast, for listening to it every week. And yeah, just thank you for being a part of the journey and. I'm just so excited that we've hit the 100th episode. So for the 100th episode, I wanted to do something a little bit different. I wanted to do something special to honor the fact that it was the 100th episode and I was trying to think of ideas. But what we ended up deciding is to do a rapid fire answers to the top 100 questions about moving abroad that you ask. So without further ado, let's dive into the 100 top questions with rapid fire answers. These questions have been broken down into different sections, which are deciding to move abroad, choosing where to move, visas and legal stuff, jobs and money, housing, healthcare and daily life and community safety and lifestyle. So those are all of the sections that we're going to go through, and there are many questions for each section. So for the first section, it is deciding to move abroad. So starting us off at question number one, which is how do I know if moving abroad is right for me? I would say moving abroad is right for you. If you know deep down that if you are later in life, if you're looking back at your life, you're old. Let's say you're 60, 70, 80 years old, and you're looking back on your life, are you going to regret the fact that you didn't move abroad? If you didn't move abroad, would you think like, oh, I wish I would've taken the risk. I wish I would've gone for it. If that's you, if you know that you're going to regret it, then I would say moving abroad is right for you. You have to give it a go. If it's a goal you have in your life and something you think about, if you. Just find yourself kind of wondering about moving abroad, thinking about it. If you bringing it up in conversations with friends or perhaps family, or even strangers that you meet at a party or whatever, then moving abroad is right for you. If that's you, you definitely have to give it a go. Otherwise you will regret it. Number two, should I do a trial trip first? Yes. I think that you should do a trial trip before you decide to move somewhere. If you've never been to a place, how do you know how it actually feels? There have been places that I've just visited that I thought, oh, I'm not gonna like this at all. I don't wanna go here. And then I go and I love it and I'm like, this place is awesome. Madrid for me, was a great example of that. I loved Madrid and I remember thinking. I can move here, but some places you go to and you think it's gonna be incredible. That for me was Athens. I visited Athens thinking I was going to love it, thinking it was gonna be so cool, and then I really did not like it. So you definitely need to visit the place before you decide that you want to move there. And I do recommend doing a trial trip first, because sometimes you'll think, oh, I visited there and it was great, but it's a very different lens whenever you're thinking about, could I actually live here? What would my lifestyle look like? What would life here look like? Could I be happy here? Could I settle in? Could this feel like home to me? Sometimes that's a very different. Feeling from, could I visit here versus could I live here? So I definitely think you should do a trial trip first, if anything, just to kind of figure out where you would live, like your neighborhood, what the gym situation is like, and just making sure you have that lens of, could I live here? Oh my goodness, we're only on question two. I gotta be more rapid about this rapid fire. Okay. Question number three. How much money should I save before moving? I would highly recommend you put together a spreadsheet or however you want to organize it, to think about what are the costs that you know you will have to move abroad. So like flight costs your any storage fees for back in the US or whatever country you're in. For getting your visas, anything that you know that you're going to need to do, make sure that you have all that accounted for in a spreadsheet. And honestly, you can just ask chat, GPT, what are all the costs I need to think about when moving abroad? And it'll help you do that. And then I would also recommend having. Like three, maybe six months of living expenses in your pocket, just in case there's emergencies, if there's any unexpected costs. I think it's just nice to have that cushion. If you have more responsibilities. I would say more money saved would be best. If you have less responsibilities, as in it's just you. You don't have kids, you're not married, you don't have high living expenses, then I would say less would be fine. Number four, can I move abroad if I don't know anyone? Absolutely. People do this all the time. I moved abroad not knowing anybody, and I know countless people who have moved abroad that did not know anybody. You just have to make efforts to meet people abroad once you're there. Number five. What are the biggest pros of moving abroad? I think it's just an incredible thing to accomplish in your life, to move abroad, to experience a different culture, a different way of life. To give yourself the opportunity to grow, to stress yourself, to be amongst people who are different from you, and a lifestyle that's different from you. And I feel like it just changes you for the positive. It gives you such a broader. Perspective of life and, and cultures and people, and I think it's just such a beautiful experience to, to give yourself that opportunity. Number six. What are the biggest cons of moving abroad? I'd say it's just missing out on time with family and friends. I don't get to go to every single birthday party, every single bridal shower, every single holiday with my family. Or with my friends. And it is unfortunate that I have to make that sacrifice, but I think that I plan my trips back home around the big things that are happening with my friends and family. So I'm there for weddings or bachelorettes or the big holidays that are important to me where I know that all my family is going to be there. So you're there for the big things, but you will miss out on some of the small things, and that's just, you know what happens. And it's a sacrifice, but I think it's so worth it for what you get in return. Number seven. Is moving abroad worth it? Absolutely. It is worth it. It is a little bit challenging. It takes guts to do it, definitely. But once you're there, I think for me I was like, this is so much better than I could have ever imagined. It's been the best thing I've ever done in my life and the thing I'm most proud of that I've done in my life. So I would say that moving abroad is absolutely worth it. Number eight, should I move abroad if I don't speak another language? Definitely, you can definitely move abroad if you don't speak the other language. I moved to the UK knowing I was not really into learning other languages, but I also have known people that specifically wanted to move to Spain or Portugal because they wanted to learn Spanish or Portuguese. Or maybe you wanna learn Italian, so you move to Italy. So if you really want to learn another language. There's no better way than fully immersing yourself into that space. So I would definitely say you can move abroad without speaking another language. I have a friend of mine who just moved to Germany and he was just trying to learn German, but he does not know German. You can definitely move abroad. Most people in Europe, especially those who are in younger age groups, do speak quite good English enough to at least get by. So you definitely can go if you speak English, and then you can learn the language once you're there. Number nine, how do I tell my family I want to move abroad? I definitely understand whenever family's not super supportive of the move. This was the experience that I had where my family was not a hundred percent on board. It was very emotional because I had never really disappointed my family. I feel like everything that I did was. Like my family is so proud of me and so excited, and they were a hundred percent on board. And this was the first decision I made where they were not a hundred percent on board and they were actually a little bit against it, and they said like, we support you, we want you to be happy. But I could tell it's not what they wanted me to do. And it took them a long time just to get to the point where they're like, okay, we support you. They were like, we don't get it. We don't understand why. I definitely understand. I would recommend if you know that your family's not going to be super supportive, is to start taking steps by yourself to decide where you want to move to, which visas you're going to get, how you're going to get a job, or how you're going to build the business, and kind of get a little bit further along the process. And then tell your family, you don't wanna wait too long, where they're like, how could you not include us? I can't believe you didn't tell me, but not at the very beginning, whenever you're just thinking about it because. Then they might kind of convince you otherwise, I think you need to kind of get a little bit further along to where you're like, no, I'm definitely going. This is what I really want. I know that I want, I've done research. I know this is a good choice for me. So I would recommend getting like a couple steps in and then discussing it with your family if you know that they might not be supportive. Number 10? Am I too old or too young to move abroad? I'd say there's no perfect age. I think it's helpful sometimes whenever you're younger because you a lot of times don't have as many responsibilities, so it makes it quite easy to pick up your life and move abroad because you don't have tons of furniture and a family to think about and cars. Mortgage, and I just think that the steps are easier because there's less going on, really. But I would not say that if you're older, if you have a family, if you have kids, if you have a spouse, if you do have a mortgage and you have multiple cars and furniture, I would not say that that should keep you from moving abroad. It might just take a little bit longer to get there. You just need a little bit of a longer lead way to kind of plan and to figure out, the steps to be able to move abroad and get visas for everyone and all that. But I think it's not something to scare you away. So I would not say you're ever too old or too young to move abroad. If you're older and you're retired, there are specific retirement visas in specific countries. Not all countries have this, but most of the time if a country knows that you can provide for yourself, then they're fine for you to move abroad. So like if you're a freelancer and you're providing money for yourself, or if you're retired and you have passive income, they are quite a lot of passive income visas that are out there still. So that's something that you can look into. Number 11, is it irresponsible to quit my job and move abroad? I would say probably yes. I think that you should have a plan. I think that you should have another job offered in another country or to start working up freelance work and then move abroad with that. I think that you have to have a plan, not just quit your job and move abroad. You have to have a visa to move abroad and you have to have income. So I think you just need to plan and not just quit your job and like start trying to move abroad. Number 12, how long should I plan to stay abroad? I think that you should commit to staying at least six months, but I would argue to give yourself a year and say, I'm gonna give myself a year. I can do anything for a year, and I will reevaluate at that point. So I think that you should kind of have that in mind. And I would also recommend having a plan for how long you're going to stay abroad before you visit home again, I think that's helpful for your friends and family. So I would plan, when am I going to visit back home and how long am I going to stay? For me, I decided I wanted to visit home after six months of moving abroad. And then I gave myself a year where I would reconsider, and here I am six years later. So I think you should just plan for a year at a time and then kind of decide from there, or maybe two years and just see how you're feeling at that point. Number 13, should I move abroad if I'm single? I feel like that's the easiest time to move abroad. I was dating a boy whenever I was thinking about moving abroad, and he was great, but he was holding me back from being able to move abroad because it was a goal that I really had, that I was really passionate about, that I really wanted. So it's a lot easier because you don't have to think about another person. You just kind of can pick up and and go a lot easier. But if you're with someone, it doesn't mean that you can't move abroad or that's. It might be a little bit more challenging because you have to figure out how you both will be able to move abroad. But it does not mean that it's impossible at all. It's tons of people do it all the time, but I do think that it's. Amazing. If you can move abroad while you're single, I think that's a great opportunity. Number 14, how do I handle homesickness? Whenever you feel homesick, I call back home. I call my family and my friends, and I think you just have to stay busy as well. You might have times where you feel homesick, especially in the first year that you're living abroad, before you kind of figure out your new lifestyle and your new schedule and everything like that. But I'd say call back home. For me, I can't listen to country music because I'm from Texas. I like country music and that's the one thing that makes me feel really homesick. So I. Make sure I don't listen to country music, actually whenever I'm in London, but then I start listening to it more whenever I know I'm gonna go back home to visit. It's gotten better over the years and now I can listen to country music a bit more, but I would say just kind of stay away from those things that you know are going to make you really homesick or just to embrace it. It's just a sign that you. Love where you're from. And it's not to say that you're not enjoying your current adventure, but that you love your friends and family back home, that you love where you're from, and that's a really beautiful thing as well. Number 15. What is the first step in planning a move abroad? The first step, which sounds really silly, is that you have to decide that you're actually going to do it. I feel like a lot of people kind of contemplate it, but it takes a while to kind of get to that point of saying, no, I'm definitely doing this. I'm diving in, I'm going for it. I'd say that's the first step is kind of getting over that mental barrier of saying, yes, this is something I'm doing, I'm committing to. But the first practical step is deciding where you're moving to. You need to decide the specific country and the city that you're going to move to, especially the country that you're moving to, so then you can decide which visa do you need and, and how will you get a job or how will you have income if it's a freelance work or if you're going to be a digital nomad or whatever that looks like. But I would say the first step is deciding that you're going to move abroad like that. You're actually gonna do it. And then we'd say like the second step is deciding where to move to. But if you wanna count that as the first step, then you can count that as the first step. Number 16, should I move abroad permanently or just try it short term? Some people move abroad knowing that they want permanent residency, that they want to get dual citizenship, and that's awesome. I didn't move abroad with that mindset. I just moved abroad saying I'm gonna give it a year and see how I feel. I think that's sometimes a nicer thing to do because it doesn't feel as big of a mental hurdle, I suppose, to like actually do it. It's just saying like you're giving yourself permission just to decide if it's a good fit after a year, and I think that's okay. So I'd recommend giving yourself. The amount of time that you want to give it, whether it's one year or two years, or even five. So yeah, I think that's what I would recommend. Number 17. What if I regret moving abroad? I have known so many people who have moved abroad. So many Americans who are living in Europe, I have never talked to one of them or they said, I regret moving abroad. I feel like that is a fear of people, that they're going to regret it, that they're not going to like it. And while there might be things that you don't love or that are more difficult to adjust to, I have never met one person that says, ah, this was a mistake. I regret it. So I hope that you can find a bit of peace in that. And knowing that so many people have moved abroad before you, and I really have never met someone that said that they regretted it. Number 18. Do I need to have everything planned before I move? No, you don't have to have everything planned. I think for our type A really, organized people, you might want to feel like you have everything planned. But whenever I moved abroad, I did not have everything planned. I honestly, this is ridiculous. Thinking back I'm like, I can't believe I did that. But before I moved abroad, I, a week before. I moved, I had not bought my flight crazy. I also did not know where I was living. I did not have any accommodation. So I mean, I did it. You can do it. It was a little bit more stressful, but I kind of was like doing everything last minute and, it ended up being totally fine, but it would be helpful to have. Most things planned so that you're not as stressed whenever you get there, and you can kind of just enjoy once you get there. So, no, you don't have to have everything planned, but I would recommend putting together a checklist for yourself to know the big things that you wanna make sure you do before you move abroad. So I would recommend getting that checklist and making sure that you're checking off at least the big things. Number 19, what is the mindset I need before moving abroad? I think it's just making sure that you. Like actually decide that you're going to move abroad, that that's something that you really want. I think that it does take a while to get to that place in your mind where you're like, I'm going for this. So I think it's just the mindset of being open, of saying, I'm open for the adventure, knowing that it's not gonna be perfect, that there are going to be like. Little stumbles or things you weren't expecting, like little things. But I think just knowing I'm gonna be fine. Even if there's something I don't expect, I will be okay. I don't need to worry. Like I'm gonna dive into it and just take it as like it's going to be an adventure. Number 20, can I move abroad with pets? Yes, you definitely can move abroad with your pets. There is a bit of a process to move abroad with your pets. If you have dogs or cats. There's like paperwork that you might need to fill out. There might be certain vaccinations that you need to give them, but you can definitely move abroad with pets. There's just a little bit of a process that you might need to go through. Woo. Okay. That was the first section, which was deciding to move abroad. Now the second section is,, choosing where to move. So that's questions 21 to 40 deep breaths. Question 21 is, what's the best country for Americans to move to? I think there's not necessarily one best country, but I think there are several that are a little bit easier in specific cities as well, that are a little bit easier within those countries. I think that one would be Portugal. I think that Lisbon or. Porto would be great. I think that Spain is good. I think Madrid is really great. Barcelona is also a good one. I think that the UK is great, but it's a little bit more competitive sometimes to get a Visa and to get a job. But I think that London, obviously I love London, I love the uk. I think it's a really great place as well. I think Amsterdam is really great, just the Netherlands in general. There's also smaller cities that would be really good and there's a lot of expats, so I would recommend some of those as as some of the top places to go to. Oh, uh, Germany's another really good one. There's a really great economy there, really great job opportunities there and lots of visa options. So I think that Germany is also a really cool opportunity, like Berlin would be cool. Munich is really nice for family, so there are many great opportunities in in Germany as well. But just because I didn't list the country that you're thinking of, it does not mean that it's not a good fit. There are many other countries that would be a really great fit. Those are just some of the ones that, I think there's a lot of Americans, strong expat community, good job opportunities, good visas. I think it just kind of checks a lot of boxes, a lot of English speaking people. But it does not mean that another country is not going to be a good fit. I think those are just some of the best opportunities for people who are looking for good countries to move to. 22, how do I pick the right city versus country? I think it's good to pick the country first. Maybe you can kind of look at both simultaneously, but I think choosing the best country that fits your needs and and fits the visa that you're looking for and the language you're looking for and like what the culture is like there I think is helpful. And then maybe deciding the city after that once you've decided the country. I mean for country, you wanna look at things like visa language, like those things that I mentioned, like weather, job opportunities. I think the right city is just what is a good fit for you? Do you want a bigger city, a smaller city? What is the culture that you're looking for? So like our example of Germany, you might say Germany is a really good fit, but Munich is going to be quite different from Berlin. Berlin is more like edgy and artsy. Munich is a lot more family oriented. So I think it's just kind of deciding what's the best fit for you. Question 23, which countries have the easiest visas? I think that those ones I listed before, I think, UK is a little bit more challenging, I think with visas. I think that Germany is a good one. I think Portugal is a really good one that are a little bit easier to get visas, but I think it also depends on the type of visa that you know that you want. So is it a working visa? Is it a digital nomad visa? So like digital nomad visas? Not every single country has them. So I think if you know you wanna be a digital nomad or if you wanna be a freelancer, then I think it's just. Like figuring out which countries do have a digital nomad visa. So I think it kind of depends on the reason why you want to move to the country or like how you'll be making your income to help you figure out which countries have the easiest visas. But I think those countries I listed before, I chose them as I, I think they're some of the best countries to move to because they do have an easier visa process. In general. Question 24, which countries had the hardest visas? I think that. I honestly think that the UK has one of the most difficult visas to get because I think it's just a really competitive country. They're becoming a lot stricter on the visas in general, so I do think that it's harder, especially if you want to get a job. I think that getting a job in a visa in London is quite challenging. Does it mean that it's impossible? No. A lot of people do it all the time. They get jobs and they get visas. To be able to work in the uk. I did it. I'm not that special. If I can do it, you can do it, but it, it is a little bit more challenging perhaps than some other countries. 25. What are the most English friendly countries in Europe? I mean, obviously the UK and Ireland are both English speaking countries, but there are a lot of countries where, especially if you are amongst younger people, they will speak English quite fluently. I'd say in general, more like Northern European countries like the Nordics, they'll be really English friendly. Like Germany, I would say, Portugal, Spain will be actually quite good. But I also think like the further north you go, the better countries like Italy or some like Eastern European countries might not be as strong. But yeah, I would say that more Northern European countries will be stronger. Question 26, should I prioritize cost of living or lifestyle? That's really a question that you need to be asking whether you prioritize. The cost of living. You wanna live somewhere like Portugal or Southern Europe that's a little bit cheaper for cost of living or lifestyle. So like it might be a stronger lifestyle. In in Northern European countries, but the cost of living is higher. So I think it kind of depends on what your priorities are, and kind of just like listing out maybe your top priorities of the country that you wanna move to. So speaking English, your top priority, or is it the availability of jobs or is it you want sunshine? So maybe Southern Europe might be a better fit. So I think it's just deciding what are your biggest priorities for where you're moving to. Question 27, which European countries are most affordable? I think again, most affordable are probably southern European countries. I think that the less affordable, more like, better for lifestyle, perhaps as in it's a bit more organized and a bit more like clean it's like places where there's a higher cost of living, where everything's a little bit more organized, perhaps. Might be like the Northern European countries, like the Nordics. I think they're gonna be the least affordable. And then the most affordable iss gonna be Southern Europe. So I'd say it kind like. The top is actually the most expensive, like if you're looking on the map. And then the bottom countries, like the southern countries are gonna be the more affordable countries. So one of the most affordable, I'd say is Portugal. That's gonna be a good option where there's good visa options and it's still quite affordable. Question 28, which cities are the safest for women? Honestly, most of Europe I feel like is pretty safe for women. People travel. Solo all the time. Women travel solo all the time. I traveled solo a lot across Europe and I always feel really safe. So I'd say across Europe it's actually really, really safe. You always have to be a little bit careful, but I think that, it is quite safe in general, just like across the board. But if you wanna feel like absolutely safe, like you wanna walk on any street, any alley at 2:00 AM and feel super, super safe, I'd say the Nordics are really strong for that. They're extremely safe. Question 29. Should I pick a city with a large expat community? Absolutely. I think it's really important to move somewhere that has a strong expat community. And expat just means that people who have moved abroad from another country, so they're living in a country that's not their own. I would definitely recommend moving somewhere that has a big expat community because there're just going to be people that are open to you. I think that that means that the local people will be more open and welcoming to you because there are already other people that are similar to you. I think it's also good to meet other expat community. I think it's also good to meet other people who are from. Another country because they have a similar mindset to you. So I think that it's good to have a mix of expat friends and local friends, but I think that it just makes the city more open to you. If you move to a city where there are no expat people and you're the only one, it's going to feel a little bit more difficult to integrate into the. The city, and I think people won't be as open to you than a place that has a big expat community and smaller towns also can have a big expat community. It just depends on where it is. But it does not mean that you have to be in a huge city to have expat community. There are smaller towns that also will have a lot of people that are from abroad. Question 30. How important is weather when choosing where to live? That is really a question that you have to ask yourself. What's the most important to you? I feel like you do make trade-offs in Northern and southern Europe. Northern Europe is going to be colder. It's going to be cloudier, perhaps maybe a bit more rainy. Southern Europe is going to be a bit more sunny, but Northern Europe is going to have better job opportunities. Southern Europe is going to be. A little bit more difficult if you're looking for like a classic nine to five job. So I think it really depends on what your main priorities are. Question 31, what countries are best for remote workers? I think it's the, the countries that have the digital nomad visa or have, a freelance visa if you're a freelancer. So I would just, you know, I have other episodes on. Visa specifically. So if you wanna just search Visa and see what there is on there. But there are quite a few episodes on remote working where I talk more about specific countries,, that are best for remote working and where we dive into a bit deeper on that question. Question 32, which countries had the best healthcare? Honestly, across Europe, healthcare is quite good. I think that in the US we do have some of the best healthcare in the world, but the healthcare in Europe is really strong. So I would not worry too much about not having good healthcare. I see that across the board there is really strong healthcare. If you want to ask specific questions about your specific country, then do a quick Google on that, on the quality of healthcare in that specific country. But I'd say across the board, across Europe, it's pretty strong healthcare. And healthcare is also a lot cheaper in Europe as well because it is either heavily subsidized or completely paid through taxes, so you don't have to worry about going into massive amounts of debt because of healthcare problems like you would in the US. So that's something that's super nice about Europe. Question 33. Which countries are best for digital nomads? It's really the countries that have the digital nomad visa. So those countries include Portugal, Spain, Italy, Croatia, Germany. Greece, Estonia, Malta, Norway, Iceland, and Ireland also have those visas at times. So, but I think the, the first few countries that I mentioned are typically best for, digital nomads. Question 34. Should I choose a place based on travel opportunities? Honestly, across Europe, you can pretty much travel anywhere in Europe. Honestly, no matter where you choose in Europe, you can probably get across other European countries pretty easily, as long as you're near an airport and there's so many trains as well. Depending on where you're living, it's not going to be that difficult to travel no matter where you are in Europe, if you're flying, it shouldn't be more than a three hour flight all the way across Europe. So you really can travel across Europe pretty easily, even for like a long weekend trip or something like that. Question 35. What countries are easiest for making friends? Honestly, a country and a city that has a strong expat community. So as we said before, make sure that you choose a city and a country that has a strong expat community. And normally you will be able to make friends in those places. Question 36. Where do most Americans live abroad? I'd say there's not a specific place that Americans live abroad, but you are going to find Americans living across Europe, across European cities, but they are going to probably choose similar places that you would pick. So we've mentioned Portugal, like Berlin. Amsterdam, all those places have big expat communities. They're going to have a lot of Americans. So really you can find Americans wherever you're going. There are so many of us, so many Americans, so there are a lot of Americans living abroad, but you're going to find Americans. Probably in the pockets that you're wanting to move to as well. So all the countries that have easier visas to get to that have better economies, that have, more English speaking communities. So that's going to be like the Netherlands. I feel like Portugal has a good community. Spain, there's going to be pockets as well, like honestly across Europe, you're going to find that 37, which countries have the highest quality of life? I think it really depends on what you view as high quality of life, but as we've said, the Northern European countries are going to have more of a high quality of life. Whereas the bottom countries are going to have, better cost of living. But I think it really just depends on your priorities. I mean, if you think that having really good sunshine throughout the year is important to you and your quality of life, then probably Southern European countries are going to be the best. If you want to move to a country where you'll have higher income, then probably Northern European countries will be better for you. 38. Which cities are most family friendly? I feel like the cities that are most family friendly are going to be like the smaller communities just outside of city. That's the same thing, whether you're in the US or you're in Europe. Normally there's going to be, not suburbia, but something that's a bit more family friendly is going to be a little bit further outside the city where the houses are a little bit bigger, there might be more schools available. So probably like just outside of the main cities, I would say. 39. What if I can't decide between two places? I'd say if you can't decide between two places, there's probably not a wrong answer. They're probably going to be great, but just have a little bit different experiences, if you're trying to decide between two, but I'd recommend if you have time to do a test drive of both of those places. Spend some time, even if you only have a week that you can get away. I would recommend spending a little bit of time in each place where you have that lens of, could I live here and what will my life look like here? So you can get a really good feel spending time in the place. Question 40, can I test a country before committing 100%? You can a 100% test the country. And I think that you should, if you have the ability to spend multiple weeks in a place to really get a good feel of the neighborhood and could I actually live here? And what would that look like? I think that would be an incredible opportunity. But not everyone has that opportunity. So I would say just go for as long as you're able to. But if, if you're a single person and you do freelance work, and you can do that from abroad for a few weeks, then I think you should go for it. I think you should just get a feel for it and see what makes the most sense and see if it feels good to you. So that's what I would recommend. So that is our second section completed, which is choosing where to move. Our third section and set of questions is section three, which is visas and legal stuff. So this is our questions, 41 through 60. So question 41 is, what's the difference between a work visa and a residence visa? So a work visa is whenever you're first moving abroad, you'll more than likely have to get a work visa of some sort. Whereas residence visa, that's really just talking about permanent residency. Most of the time you'll have to have some sort of visa for three to five years. Some countries are more, but I would say. More often than, than not, it'll be about five years before you can get your permanent residency. Permanent residency is basically the equivalent of the green card in the US if you want a comparison. So it gives you full rights of a citizen without having a passport. Normally, once you have your residency and most countries, you can get dual citizenship. There are a few European countries that do not allow dual citizenship. The Netherlands is an example of that. So you'll wanna make sure that you're moving to a country that will allow you to get a, another passport if that's something that's important to you. Otherwise, a residency permit will be totally fine and you could live your whole life, staying there and having full rights of a citizen, basically. I think normally the difference between a residency, like permanent residency and your citizenship is that permanent residency. You might have a residency requirement. So like if you leave the country for multiple years and try to move back, you might have to reapply, for instance, or you might not have the right to vote in that country. Whereas if you have citizenship, then you can vote, but there's not normally huge differences between a residency visa or like permanent residence and a passport like getting your citizenship. Question 42. How long does it take to get a visa? Normally it's going to take several weeks. Some visas will allow you to expedite where you can get it within a few days, but to just go through the process and apply for the visa and make sure you gather all the correct paperwork. A lot of times you have to go get your biometrics done, so you'll do your fingerprints and a photo. It's like a pretty easy appointment. It, it does take a few weeks, like I would a lot for a few weeks. And if you wanna be extra careful, if you have more people in your family, if it's a married couple and kids, then you might wanna give a bit longer leeway, but I would say a few weeks is probably standard. Question 43, can I apply for visas while already living in Europe? There are some visas that do allow you to do this, but. I'd say more often than not, you'll need to apply in your home country. Question 44, do I need a lawyer to apply for a visa? It really depends on the visa that you need. For like if you're going to be getting a job, most of the time the company will be sponsoring your Visa. So they're kind of claiming you. They're saying, government, don't worry. I'm gonna be paying them to live here, like I am responsible for them. So most of the time in that circumstance, the company will take care of that and you don't need to worry about lawyers and that the company will provide the lawyer and they'll take care of it for you. Whereas if you are applying for your own visa, I think it depends on. If you know you have a special circumstance or it might be a little bit more difficult, if you're getting a digital nomad visa, for example, that one's I think a lot easier. Like the process will be easier. So I'd say you probably don't need to get a lawyer, but if you have a special circumstance or it's a visa that's typically a little bit more difficult to get, then maybe you'd want to ask a lawyer. You might want to consider doing a consultation with a lawyer. I feel like normally they'll do a free call with you initially to kind of learn about the process and you can ask them any questions that you have and then get a feel for it and decide if you want to get a lawyer from there. Question 45, what happens if my visa gets denied? I feel like normally you are going to know if your visa might get denied because you might have a special circumstance of some sort, or if you're not meeting the eligibility requirements, let's say you want to get a freelancer visa and there's a certain threshold of income you're supposed to have, but then you apply and you have less income than what it requires, then you probably know that I might get denied. But let's say that you know that you meet the threshold, you know that you meet all the requirements and it gets denied for some reason. It's probably a really minor thing that there was a discrepancy in some information, or they just need more information in general. So at that point you can kind of go back to them and say like, Hey, what do you need? I've had friends that have had this done where the Visa initially got denied and then they went back and there was just some paperwork that was missing or something that they didn't give the government. So most of the time it can get rectified. 46. Can I move abroad on a tourist visa? You can stay abroad on a tourist visa, but you can't like live indefinitely on a tourist visa. The UK is quite generous and allows six months of living on a tourist visa here in in the uk. Whereas a lot of countries just allow for three months. If you're going to the EU, it'll be three months, so 90 days for Americans. But you can't really extend that. That's normally like it is what it is on the Truist visa. But if you have the opportunity to come and stay for a little bit on a Truist visa, then that would be a cool way to kind of decide where you want to move to do the test drive of living abroad, or just kind of enjoy staying for a short period of time. Question 47, can I extend a tourist visa? No. Most of the time you cannot extend a tourist visa in Europe. There are other countries where you might be able to extend a tourist visa globally, but in Europe most of the time, no, they're pretty strict on the 90 day cutoff. Question 48, what documents do I need for a visa? It's normally fairly standard. It's not going to be a ton of documents to be honest. Most of the time they just wanna prove your income. If you have a freelancer visa, they wanna make sure that you're not a criminal, like you kind of just fill out some paperwork and it's, it's not normally super extensive, but if you want to know the exact documents that you need for your visa, just look up the eligibility requirements or even start the application. It's, there's no harm in starting an application. It's not gonna hurt you. You can always just kind of. Start applying and just see what the process is. Once you start the application. It doesn't mean you have to click submit, but you can just kind of see what the requirements are and what the process looks like. Before submitting question 49, what's a digital nomad visa? A digital nomad visa is a visa that allows you to live and work abroad in Europe or other countries outside of Europe as well for a short period of time. So normally it's going to be about a year, sometimes two years. Some digital nomad visas are less than a year actually. But I feel like typically it's about a year to two years that you can be on a digital nomad visa. They're not typically meant to be a long-term visa, and a lot of times they don't lead to permanent residency. I mean, just kind of looking at the name digital nomad, like they're assuming that you're just visiting for a short period of time working remotely, and you're going to leave normally for a digital nomad visa you're working for. A company or companies, like if you're doing more like freelance work, or maybe you work for one company that's abroad, you won't normally have local like in the country clients, that's going to be more like a freelancer visa. Question 50, what's the easiest visa for Americans in Europe? I honestly think the easiest Visa is going to be a student visa. I feel like that's the easiest fit in the door, the easiest to do. You just have to get into the school, and then once you get into the program, like if you're getting a master's degree or something, then you apply for the Visa and it's super straightforward. There are tons and tons of students that study abroad every single year, so it's very normal, very easy. I feel like probably the second easiest one is a digital nomad visa. If you can get a remote job and be able to work abroad or if you have more like freelance work, then I feel like a digital nomad visa is probably the second easiest one to get where it's a very easy application, very straightforward, but if you know you want to live abroad longer, then you might want to consider a freelance visa. Or a, just like a normal working visa, if you're going to have a 9 to 5. So there are many visas, but I think the easiest, like the super, super easiest is going to be a student visa. And then second is maybe like a digital nomad visa. But no matter what your circumstances of why you want to live abroad, normally there's going to be a visa that covers it. Whether you want to start a company, you want to be a digital nomad, you want to be a student, you want to have a retirement visa, those do exist. So it depends on the country. So. Look up the country and make sure that it has the visa that fits what you need for your income. Like if you're saying, I wanna retire here, like not every country has that visa. So just make sure that you're moving to a country that has the visa that fits your income requirements or like how you're making income. Woo. Okay. We're halfway, halfway there. How are we feeling? i'm trying to go rapid fire as much as I can, but oh my goodness, every question I'm like, okay, well I could go deeper on this, but no, it's meant to be rapid fire, so we shall continue with number 51, which is, can I move abroad? As a student, as I said, honestly, this is probably the easiest way to move abroad. There are thousands of students that move abroad to Europe every year, every semester that study abroad, like get a Visa. So if you wanna be a student abroad, that is the easiest path. Question 52. What's the Schengen Zone? The Schengen zone it's basically all of what you consider European countries. It just means that if you're in those countries, then you can freely move about the borders. Just like if you were in the US and you just. Kind of drive through multiple states at once. That's the same thing in Europe where you don't have to stop at border control every time you enter a new country. So like in Europe, the countries that aren't a part of the Schengen zone would be like, examples would be the UK and Ireland. They're not a part of the Schengen zone. Question 53, how do I stay abroad longer than 90 days? So 90 days is the typical truist visa in Europe. As I said before, the UK does have, 180 days, so you can stay for six months. But in Europe, most of Europe, it's only 90 days. So if you want to stay longer than 90 days, you will have to get some sort of visa to live there longer. Question 54, can I get permanent residency? Yes. Most of the time you have to have a visa for. Five years. Typically it's five years, sometimes a little bit less. Sometimes it's more depending on the country and the visa that you have. So if you know that you want to get permanent residency, make sure that the visa that you are applying to does go towards your years to get permanent residency, because not all visas allow this. IE, sometimes the digital nomad visa does not go towards permanent residency, so if you know that you want that, make sure you look at the requirements for the visa and whether you can get permanent residency with the visa or not. Normally after five years, you can apply for permanent residency, and then sometimes after that you can apply for citizenship abroad. So that's actually question 55. How do I get citizenship abroad? Most of the time you have to get your permanent residency first, and then you can look into getting your citizenship and look into the requirements of that. So you have to have Visa for. Three years. Sometimes mostly it's five and sometimes it can be more, and then you apply to get permanent residency and then you can apply for citizenship. Question 56, what is dual citizenship? Dual citizenship means that you have citizenship in two countries, hence the word dual. So in the United States, you are allowed to have dual citizen. So that's something to consider if you're from another country that's not the us You'll have to check that your country does allow for dual citizenship. So for example, India does not allow for dual citizenship. So if you are from India. And you wanted to get your dual citizenship in the uk for instance, you would have to decide which citizenship you wanted. You could only have one or the other. Whereas in the United States, you can have dual citizenship, thank goodness. So as an American, you can keep your citizenship. And then once you're able to get citizenship abroad and Europe, then you can get citizenship in that country. But you'll also have to make sure that the country that you are applying to get the citizenship in. As in like in Europe that they also allow for dual citizenship. So the US allows for dual citizenship, but you have to make sure the other country that you're applying in also allows for dual citizenship. So like you might be an American think, oh great, I can get dual citizenship, but then you move to the Netherlands and they don't allow for dual citizenship at this point. So you just have to make sure that both countries do allow for that. Question 57, can I move abroad if I'm self-employed? 100%. I actually feel like this is one of the easiest ways to move abroad, especially if you do not want to be a student. So if you are self-employed, most of the time there will be a freelancer visa, or maybe there's like a startup visa or like if you owned your own company, then you can get that visa. So you definitely can work abroad if you're self-employed. I actually feel like it's one of the easiest ways to move abroad. Question 58, can I live abroad on retirement savings? Yes, you can In some countries, not all countries have a retirement visa because in order to live abroad long term, you do have to have a visa. So you'll want to make sure that the country that you want to move to does have a retirement visa. And in that case, yes, you can live abroad on retirement savings. Question 59, can I move abroad if I have debt? 100%. We have actually done an episode on this, a few episodes back if you want to learn more about it. But the short answer is yes, you can live abroad if you have debt. I would say just be aware. Don't ignore your, commitments to paying off the debt and just be weary of it. You don't wanna just kinda like leave the debt and just forget about it and move forward and be like, I don't live there. And so it's like outta mind. You don't wanna have that attitude. So, go back and listen to that episode, if you wanna hear a bit more on that. Question 60. How much do Visas cost? Honestly, it ranges so much. It really depends on the country and the visa that you're applying to. I feel like the UK is probably one of the more expensive ones, let's just say that you have to pay $2,000 and then another 1000 per year for other like side charges. Whereas in other countries, depending on the visa, it might be so much cheaper. Some visas are only like a couple hundred dollars and that's it. Whereas some visas in some countries are going to be a lot more expensive. So you'll just have to do your research on how much that visa costs. But honestly, a quick Google will probably give you your answer on exactly how much the visa and the process is going to cost you. And the Visa cost itself shouldn't be that much. It's not gonna be that crazy, but if you pay lawyer fees on top of that, that's where a lot of the cost is going to come from as well. If you know that you have a special circumstance or you want a lawyer to help you out. Woo. Okay. That is our section three finished, which was visas and legal stuff. The section number four is jobs and money. Question 61 in our new section, jobs and Money is, can I get a job abroad if I only speak English? Yes, you definitely can move abroad if you only speak English. I would encourage you though, to learn the local language because I think it's really difficult to fully integrate into the country abroad if you don't speak the local language. But if you know just a little bit of the language, or even if you don't know any, I think you can move abroad only speaking English. You'll just have to think if you are applying abroad for jobs that the job does not require you to speak that local language fluently. I think it really depends on the job, it really depends on the company and what you're doing. But a lot of international companies are great if you want to speak English abroad, I did do an episode on this several episodes back if you want to move abroad and only speak English, so go back and listen to that episode if you wanna learn more about that number 62, how do I transfer my career overseas? Most of the time you can transfer your career pretty easily. There are some careers that it's a little bit more difficult. For instance, if you're a lawyer, then you know the laws of the United States or wherever you're coming from, and it's a really different system if you're moving abroad. But I do think that you can often transfer your career like you can. Kind of, transition a little bit. Even if you are a lawyer for instance, you might just have to do your work a little bit differently. It might not look the same, but I think that there are jobs that where you can kind of transfer those skills. So, you can definitely transfer those skills. But a lot of jobs are going to be similar-ish. So, for example, I work in marketing. Marketing is pretty similar, whether you're doing it in the US or you're doing it somewhere abroad. There are, you know, cultural differences if you're marketing in a different market. But, like the marketing itself, like the job itself is not that different. 63. What's the best way to find jobs in Europe? Honestly, I think the best is is LinkedIn. I think LinkedIn is a great place. Employers use it everywhere abroad, but there are so many job boards out there. So if you're looking for a specific job, let's say you work in a specific industry, like the creative industry, there's probably a job board for the creative industry specifically. So if you're looking for a specific job, it might be worth doing a quick search in Google or even on chat GPT, just to ask what are the specific job boards for this type of career in this specific country? And see what it spits out. But most of the time, I feel like LinkedIn is like, you're pretty covered there. 64, can I work remotely from abroad on a US job? This is a little bit tricky. I do have friends that sometimes work. Remotely abroad, even though their employer doesn't know it. And they won't, they can't do it long term because of the working hours. But I have known people that have done that on a Tourist visa. But if you're looking to move abroad more long term, that's not really a long-term solution. And you need to have a visa to work there. So you can, yes, but you also need to make sure that the US company is happy for you to do that, that you're allowed to do that for the job. Because there are some like legal and tax things to think about. Whenever you are, wanting to live abroad with a US job, so that's something to speak to your employer about but if you are able to do that, I think that's one of the easiest ways to move abroad as well, if you're able to convince that company to allow you to work abroad. 65, can I freelance abroad? Absolutely. And I honestly think this is one of the easiest ways to move abroad if you're able to build up freelance work. I think it's a great opportunity to get a visa abroad and work abroad and to be able to travel if that's what you're interested in, which I feel like a lot of people that want to move to Europe, they want that opportunity to travel around Europe. And I think that working freelance allows you to have that flexibility and freedom. 66. Do I need a local bank account to work abroad? I think that most of the time, yes, it is helpful to have a local bank account. I think you'll run into problems if you don't have one, but I think that you can get by for a little while if you don't have one. I have known people that have lived abroad for months and they still didn't have a local bank account and they were able to get by. There's just some things that are going to be a little bit frustrating. For example, in the US we use Venmo a lot. To easily transfer money between people and split bills and things like that, or to pay your rent, it's like easier to do it. So it's going to be a little bit more difficult if you're trying to do that abroad. If you're trying to transfer money between people. If you're trying to, pay your rent, then it's going to be a bit more challenging and you probably will need to open a local bank account. But I feel like the online banks are quite easy to get an account in. I think that Revolut is is one of the best. So you can definitely do that and I would recommend it. 67, what industries are easiest to work in abroad? I think that no matter what industry you work in, there's going to be opportunities, but just like in the US where there's certain cities that are best for certain industries, I think that's the case everywhere. So for example, Austin, Texas, if you want to work in like a tech startup, then Austin is a really good pick, whereas middle of nowhere. Tennessee might not be as great if you want to work in a tech startup. It's the same thing in Europe. There are going to be some cities where industries are easier to work in. So Berlin for example, there's a big creative industry in London. There's a big financial hub, or Zurich, there's a big financial hub. So I think it kind of depends on your industry and I think for that it might be helpful to do a quick Google as well to say like, which countries or cities are best for this industry? If you're working in accounting. There's accounting everywhere. You probably don't have to worry about that too much because every company has accounting. So I think it kind of depends on the work that you're doing. Or if you work in healthcare, like that's going to be everywhere. Whereas in finance, for example, there might be some cities that are better than others. 68, do I need to pay taxes in both the US and abroad? Normally, no. Normally, because the taxes are a little bit higher in Europe, you won't need to pay double tax. Most of the time you'll be paying a little bit more taxes abroad than you would in the us. So you tell the US, Hey. I've already paid this much in taxes and the US is like, oh great. You've already paid this per like up to this percentage. Like you're not gonna have to pay our taxes because you were already taxed that amount. So most countries in Europe have a tax treaty with the US so you won't have to worry about paying dual taxes, but you will still have to., File for taxes every year. So a few episodes back, we went into detail on taxes. It was a really great episode. I would strongly recommend you listen to it if you want to learn about taxes. We covered pretty much, hopefully every question that you would have. That's one of my favorite episodes I've recorded because I think it's just super, super practical. Not the funnest topic, but super practical. So go back and listen to that episode. If you want to learn more about taxes. That was episode 91, US Expat Taxes, what Every American Moving Abroad Should know. If you wanna learn more about taxes. Question 69, how does the foreign earned income exclusion work? The foreign earned income exclusion is basically if you are living abroad, you can exclude from taxes in the US up to, I think it's like somewhere around $120,000 or something like that. And then once you make more than $120,000 a year, then you would pay taxes on that amount. But like I was saying a little bit earlier. You won't normally have to worry about paying double taxes because if you are paying a, a higher tax bracket in Europe, which most of the time, which a lot of the time is the case, then you're not going to pay double tax on any amount because the tax is higher in that country, if that makes sense. But again, if you wanna learn more about taxes, I'd highly recommend going back and listening to episode 91. Question 70, can I retire abroad? Affordably? Yes. Just like anywhere. You have to live below your means. You have to save in order to retire affordably. So just make sure that you are putting money aside. In some countries they require you to put money aside. Just like in the US there is what's it called? A 41K. So the same thing abroad. You'll have a pension and a lot of times the company will put money into it and you put money into it, and so you're able to save. But I would say you probably should save even more than that on the side to make sure that you're covering your, expenses and what you want to have later in life. So, yes, short answer is you can retire abroad affordably. Question 71, how much money should I save before moving abroad? I think that if you are single and don't have a high cost of living, then probably you don't need to save as much, maybe three months of living expenses. Maybe if you have a family, you're married, you have kids, you're gonna have more expenses, then maybe you should save more. But I would recommend, three to six months of living expenses before moving abroad just to make sure you have a buffer and you don't feel worried if you have any unexpected costs whenever you're moving abroad. Question 72, what's the cost of living in Europe versus the us? I actually did an episode on this way back on episode 17. Would I be financially better off living in the US or Europe? So I do a direct comparison between Europe and the US and it really depends on what you're doing. But a lot of times I feel like you're actually kind of equal,, in terms of cost of living and the income that you'll have. But if you do something like freelancing where you have US clients and you're living in a country with a low cost of living like Portugal, then you probably will have a better. Lifestyle because you have a high income in a low cost of living country. But I feel like overall it'll be probably about even for the income that you'll have if you're working in the country and for the cost of living. 73. Can I move abroad without a job lined up? Yes, you can. However, I would be really careful about doing this. I think. If you don't have a lot of responsibilities and you're in a place in life where your accommodation is kind of ending and you're planning on moving out anyways and you don't have a job at the time, and you have this kind of gap in your life where you have the ability to go abroad and to meet people in person and network in person, then definitely go for it. But I would be a little bit careful about just dropping everything, selling your car, moving outta your apartment, selling all your furniture, and then just moving abroad without a job lined up. So I think., Take risks. But I would just be cautious. Just be smart about what you're doing. 74. Can I study abroad and work part-time? Yes. On a lot of study abroad visas, they will allow you to work, up to 20 hours per week, which is a great opportunity because you can get your foot in the door working abroad, getting some work experience and they might even sponsor your visa after you finish studying abroad. So that's why I think that studying abroad is a really great from the door to be able to. Move abroad and, and to continue living abroad after your program. 75? How do I negotiate an international job offer? Great question. There is nothing against negotiation. I think that if you feel like you deserve more than definitely negotiate, I would just make sure that you do thorough research on how much that job pays in that city and country abroad, because you might be doing the same job in the US but it might have a higher salary, for instance, but there might be a lower cost of living where you're moving to, and so the salaries might be a little bit lower, but that doesn't mean that your quality of life will be lower because the cost of living in the country will be lower. So. I'm not saying don't negotiate. I'm just saying go into it knowing what the salaries are typically for your industry. And I'm also of the mind of kind of just getting there and getting your foot in the door and just start working abroad. And then once you're there and you have a visa secured and a job secured, then you can be more picky and apply for other jobs. Whew. Okay, so those were our first four sections, and now we're 75% of the way there, which starts us off on section five, which is housing, healthcare, and daily life. Which brings us to question 76. How do I find an apartment abroad? Whenever you're first thinking about moving abroad, if you do have the opportunity to do a quick trip there before actually moving there to find an apartment, I'd recommend using that time to go view apartments if you're able to do so. If you don't have the time to do that, I'd actually recommend that you do an Airbnb or something for a month. Maybe there's a sublease you're able to find, or you do it through Airbnb. Also, just as a sidebar, if you do want to do Airbnb, but you're thinking it's expensive, a lot of times if you send messages, like you can send a message to Airbnb hosts and you can negotiate the price, you can ask for a lower amount. A lot of times if you stay for a month, they will offer you a discount because it's a longer amount of time. But you might also consider sending them, a message and asking for a specific price. And sometimes they'll say no, but sometimes they say yes, I've done that before, where I reach out to 10 Airbnbs and ask them and try to negotiate. And you're definitely like, you can definitely negotiate with them. Just something to consider. But I would recommend doing short term accommodation, whether you do Airbnb or there's other resources online, like if you find a sublease or short term rental and maybe just do it for a month or something like that, and then find housing once you're there, because I do think that you really need to find housing once you're already living there so that you can get a feel for the neighborhood, make sure it's not on a sketchy street, make sure that the house doesn't have a weird smell or there's not a train track right above it or something like that. You just wanna make sure that it's going to be a nice place to live In terms of finding the apartment abroad, honestly, I would just give a quick Google and just like look for. Apartment rentals in Madrid, Spain, or something like that, wherever you're moving to, and see what websites come up because there might be different rental companies and different websites that different countries use. So that's my recommendation on apartments. Question 76, do I need international health insurance? Most of the time, whenever you're on a visa, you will, and depending on the visa, you will probably need to get your own health insurance. It's probably not going to be super expensive. Like if you were to pay for healthcare in the US it's basically like paying, it's basically like paying for travel insurance if you've ever done that before. So. It might cost like a hundred dollars or $200 per month or something like that per person. So you might need to get that as a requirement for your Visa. You might not need to do that, but I would say that if you're on the Visa, you might need to to do that., I don't pay for my health insurance, but it is a part of my visa and the cost for my Visa. So the company I'm working for paid that. It kind of depends on the visa and the situation, but a lot of times,, Europe does have international healthcare, but if you're a freelancer or if you're on a digital nomad visa, then you probably will need to pay for, health insurance while you're on that visa. But a lot of times it's not crazy expensive. 78. Is healthcare abroad cheaper than in the us? Yes. Overall healthcare is so much cheaper than in the US and it's still really strong healthcare. I dove into an episode on healthcare, which is episode 75, healthcare systems in Europe, what Americans need to know. So if you want more details on healthcare specifics, then I think that could be a really great podcast to go back and listen to. Question 79, can I use my US credit card abroad? Absolutely. You can use your US credit card abroad. I would though recommend double checking that your credit card that you're using does not have a fee. Some credit cards do have an international fee that they'll charge on top. So for example, American Express, they're probably gonna charge you an additional. Like, what is it, 2.5% or something like that on top of what you're already paying for, like whatever the cost is. So make sure that whatever credit card you use, it does not have, an international fee. Question 80? How do I set up a bank account abroad? I think the easiest way is to set up a digital bank account. A lot of times you'll have to have proof of address, so you'll have to be already living in the country before you can get the bank account, but you might be able to get around that with certain online banks. I would recommend Revolut. I think it's a great bank account to use, so I would recommend getting that one if you're able to. 81. Do I need to bring all my belongings? No, you don't need to bring all your belongings. I definitely recommend you don't do that. Actually, if you have created custom furniture that you love, you picked out the specific patterns, and you love all your furniture so much and you really want to ship it over, you definitely can. There are. Ways where you can ship your furniture and it might take six weeks or something, but it's more affordable whereas if you try to ship it for the next week or something, it's going to be crazy expensive. But if you love your furniture, you can ship it over. However, unless you have a special circumstance, I feel like you're probably better off just putting that furniture in storage for whenever you move back, to the US or to your home country or selling it and buying new furniture abroad. I think it's just so much easier. But you can look into shipping your, your furniture,, and it'll be like through a freight and it's a lot cheaper than, than doing air transport. But just in general on your belongings, I think. Probably just coming with your favorite things. I think just a few suitcases with the essentials, I think is the best, and then buying the things that you need once you arrive abroad, because honestly, we have so many things that we really don't need that we would probably forget. We even had, I kept all my stuff in storage for years. I still have a lot of it in storage, and I thought, okay, well, whenever I move back, we're like, what if I need it? And oh my goodness, I never looked back. I never used any of that stuff. You just, we just have so many things that we don't need, so. I think probably don't worry about your belongings. I think just bring a few suitcases with the clothing that you need and some of your most favorite items, some of your most like treasured items. I brought over a few paintings that my grandmother had painted, and just like a few pieces of memo memorabilia that I really liked that were special to me, like some things that reminded me of home. But other than that, I think probably. Don't worry about bringing all of your belongings. Question 82, should I ship furniture or buy new abroad? We actually just kind of went over that, but I would recommend probably just buying new abroad unless you have really specialized furniture something that was really special to you, that has a lot of meaning. Otherwise, I think probably buying abroad is going to be better. Question 83, how do I get a local phone number? It's honestly pretty easy to get a phone number abroad. I liked keeping my US phone number. And getting an international one as well. So I use my phone, data for my US phone number whenever I'm in the us. But I do have a local phone number. I think honestly, you could probably get a sim card in the airport whenever you're there, or there's so many different shops on the main streets where you can get a local phone number and they can help you out and get it sorted. So I would just recommend going in person and just sorting it out in, in a local shop. 84. Can I drive abroad with a US license? Yes. Normally you can drive abroad with a US license, but there probably will be an expectation that you eventually get a driver's license within that country. Just like if you had a, a license plate, you know, and you went to a different, state, they would eventually expect you to get a different state license plate and a, and a license with that state. So it's kind of the same thing in Europe as well. Do I need an international driver's license? More than likely, no. But maybe you can look into getting an international driver's license. I've honestly never really understood the purpose of getting an international driver's license. I feel like it makes more sense. So just use your US license whenever you're, whenever you first arrive, and then looking into getting a local driver's license once you've been living there. So I would just look into the process of that country and what it looks like to get a driver's license, but I'd say probably won't be like the first thing you'll do whenever you move there, but I think that's a good checklist item to do. I've been living abroad for six years and I still don't have a UK driver's license. I keep meaning to, and I just haven't done it, but., I think that it is nice to have, and there's been a few times where I'm like, oh, dang, I really wish I had it because in the UK having a US driver's license, I'm technically not allowed to use my US license anymore. I need to get a UK one. So yeah, I would, I would recommend doing that whenever you have the time. 86. How do I find English speaking doctors abroad? I feel like a lot of people in professions like that. If it was a doctor, I feel like they probably will. Be a little bit more well versed in, in speaking English. Just like in the US especially in Texas, there are a lot of people that speak Spanish and a lot of people in healthcare do speak at least a little bit of Spanish to be able to communicate. So I do feel like finding a doctor that speaks English, it will be fairly easy and we hope well educated people and so that they will speak English, but if you feel a little bit nervous about that, if you maybe call the doctor's office ahead of time and ask for an English speaking doctor, then they might be able to help you as well. Okay. 87. Is grocery shopping more expensive abroad? No, I'd say it's actually cheaper, pretty much across the board. But I think that there are, just talking about expenses in general, I feel like groceries typically are cheaper, but then some of the things might be more expensive. So I think it kind of depends on what it is, and I think that in terms of cost of living, you can just google the cost of living for whatever you're planning on moving to, to see what the expenses might look like. And I would highly recommend you do that before moving abroad to understand what your budget should be and what, your income looks like versus. What way of living you're kind of used to versus what the expenses are. So I would highly recommend doing that outside of groceries, but just kind of in general. But I would say in general, grocery shopping is probably cheaper abroad. 88. Is there anything important I should know about daily life abroad? I think just knowing that something might be different, like the brands of the gyms might be different or. The brands of your shampoo and conditioner or the specific ingredients that might be at the grocery store might be a little bit different. So I think that some things might be different, but just be open to kind of adjusting some of your recipes. So I have a really hard time finding buttermilk in the UK if I want to make buttermilk pancakes from scratch. So you have to think of alternatives or sometimes recipes are in different. Like measurement systems. So I just have to be willing to adjust to that. So I think it's just being open and treating it like an adventure and just knowing that you ha kinda have to find your new system of doing things like just if you were to move to another state, you have to find like, where's the local gym? Or how would I get to certain places if you're using public transportation. So I think it's just kind of figuring out, how things are different and just giving yourself some grace and some time to kind of sort the. Through how life is different whenever you move abroad and just give yourself grace and being open to it and treating everything as an adventure. And after a few weeks, you'll kind of be more acclimated and it'll feel more normal to you. 89. Should I learn the metric system before moving? Such a good question. Yes, it would probably be helpful, but should it be the top of your list of things to do? This is really embarrassing. I still don't really know the metric system. Like for example, this is a separate thing, but I still use Fahrenheit. I still don't even use Celsius. Whenever everyone here uses Celsius and you know how you're on a meeting ever or you're talking to people and a very common just chat, like a very common thing to talk about is the weather. People love talking about the weather. It's safe space. Everyone can talk about it, but people are like, oh, the weather, blah, blah, blah. But I still know Fahrenheit. So if I'm talking to someone who's British or from another country, they're like, oh, it's blah, blah, blah Celsius, and I'm like, oh. Um, yeah, it's, it's like t-shirt weather or like, oh yeah, like a light sweater would be good. Like I just, I still don't know Celsius. I still don't know, like some of the measurement systems, like how we do things differently, like gallon versus leaders here, and I just, I'm still not on top of that, to be honest. And if I've made it through six years and not knowing it perfectly, then you don't have to learn the metric system right before moving. But I mean, it would be ideal to learn it, but I wouldn't sweat it. 90. What apps make living abroad easier? I feel like WISE is really important. It used to be called transfer Wise, now it's just called wise. It helps you to send money internationally to different bank accounts. So I have my US bank account, I have my UK bank account, and if I ever wanna send money between the two accounts I use Wise. So that app has made living abroad. So much easier. I love wise so much. Speaking of money on the calculator app, on iPhones, you can do like, there's a little toggle where you can click convert and it will do like the different, currencies. So you can change the currency or I think it also has like measurement. So like if you don't know the me don't, so if you don't know the metric system, you can go on there and it will kind of convert, like different measurement types. So that's been helpful. I think that Revolut as a bank, I don't have any affiliate or anything like that with Revolut. I just think that they're really cool. I don't even have a Revolut account actually, but I've been thinking about getting one because I've just heard so many good things. So I feel like they're a good bank. But anyways, I think that that's a good one. Some people swear by city mapper to get around. I prefer Google Maps. I think Google Maps is really reliable, but some people really like city Mapper. It's not in every city abroad, but if it is in the city that you're moving to, some people will really like it. I don't use it, but I've heard really good things. So those are a couple examples. Okay, now we're onto our section number six, which is community safety and Lifestyle. So these are our final few questions. 91. How do I make friends abroad? I think just like if you're going to a different state, you're just trying to get in front of people that you might get along well with who have similar interests to you, where you have a lot in common. So, if you're athletic and you like being really active, then maybe you join a running group. Or maybe you're really into nature, like maybe you're a granola girl, maybe you join a. Hiking group, where you meet similar like-minded people or maybe you're really artsy, maybe you join like a painting club or pottery classes or whatever it may be. I think just doing things that get you out of your house where you can go out and meet people and connect with people and I think it's really helpful whenever you have something like that where you're meeting weekly to kind of foster those relationships in a natural way. Because if you meet someone randomly in a coffee shop and you might meet up once, it's not as easy. You can definitely do it a 100% but I think it's a little bit easier to form friendships whenever you have a consistent. Like somewhere where you're meeting them consistently, whether it's a book club or running club or just whatever you're interested in. I think that's really helpful. And if you're moving somewhere where you want to learn the local language, I feel like in a language class, like an in-person language class, I think would also be a great fit to meet other people who have probably just also moved abroad,, and are looking to connect to people too. So I think that would also be a really great place to meet people. 92. Is it safe to move abroad alone as a woman? Absolutely. I've done it. I've known so many women who have moved abroad alone. I think Europe is a really safe place in general. I've talked about this on the podcast before, but European countries, like most if not all European countries, well, I do know that all European countries rank higher than the US in terms of safety. But I think that most, if not all European countries are like the top, top of like safest countries to live in the world. They're like ranked like. Like boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. Like all in order, like the top safest in the world. So I would say that Europe is, is very safe to move abroad to alone. As a woman, you always have to be careful. You don't wanna be walking down a random alley in., Rome at 2:00 AM like, you don't wanna be doing that, but I feel like overall it's really safe, as compared to the US and just, just safe in general for women. 93. How do I deal with missing family and friends? I totally get it. I miss my family, I miss my friends. I had to be really intentional with my family and friend relationships whenever I moved abroad. I think just making sure that You have to find a new way to communicate. So whether you're sending each other voice notes or texts, or you're sending reels, or you have a weekly check-in call with each other, I think it's just figuring out how to still keep those relationships and make sure you're still keeping in contact. And then whenever you go visit home, making sure that you are intentional about spending time with them. 94, how do I stay connected with people back home? Yeah. I think it's, I guess those two questions are kind of similar, but I'd say just we can connect online. I think it's so great that we're able to, have video calls with each other or phone calls as we're walking. I think it's great. This is just not my style, but I know some people that have a weekly call with family members or with friends at a specific time on a specific day to make sure they're keeping those relationships. So I think you just have to find your rhythm with your people and figure out like how they like to communicate better. Maybe you're better at texting, maybe you're better at voice notes. Maybe you're better at phone calls. Maybe you do email. I don't know so it's just figuring out the style that works best for you and your people to stay connected. 95. What's the hardest part about moving abroad? Ooh, that's a hard question. I think the hardest, honestly, this sounds a little bit silly. I think the hardest part about getting abroad is just deciding that you were a 100% going after it no matter what. That you were like pressing in. You're like putting an effort to make it happen. I think that's the hardest part about getting abroad. I think the hardest part of living abroad is that you miss out on times with family and friends. I think just feeling like my brother visits my parents' house probably daily because he lives so close by and he's like, what's for dinner? So I think sometimes it's just making sure that you're still keeping strong relationships and that you're being really intentional. So I'd say that's for me is the hardest part. 96. What's the best part about moving abroad? I think the adventure. I feel like it's been genuinely, it's been the best thing that I've ever done in my life. I'm so happy that I moved abroad. I love that I have the best of both worlds where I get to visit my friends and family in Texas and, still enjoy that part of my life and enjoy spending time with people. But that I have the coolest adventure ever of living abroad and meeting international people and traveling to different countries in Europe when it's so easy. And, just meeting people from all over the world that have different perspectives from mine. I feel like it's opened up my mind about different types of people and ways of doing life and I feel like just for the adventure is just the best part of moving abroad. 97, will I lose my identity? Abroad. I think this is a really interesting one because. I don't wanna scare people and it's not something to be scared of. But if someone were to have told me this, I would've been like, okay, that's kind of weird. And like it would kind of freak me out like I would losing myself. But you do change whenever you move abroad. Like it just kind of changes, I think, in a positive way. How you see the world, how you see yourself, how you view the United States, Like you just see different ways of life and you're like, oh, well I actually think in the US we like still do that way better. Or you might say like, actually in the US we don't do that as well. I actually think that their style of education and I'm just thinking of kids parenting or their way of working and how they take off and they, whenever they're off work, they're really off work and they don't have this like guilt of whenever they take off or whatever. I think that there's like different things that, I had taken on and, and it's like changed my perspective on some things. I think in a positive way. 98, how do I date abroad? Yeah. I think honestly dating apps are a thing globally. Like you can pretty much get on a dating app, and you can meet people abroad that way. I think it's so nice to be able to join. Organizations as you're connecting and making friends and being open to dating those people as well. So I think that that would be a really cool way to meet people, in person abroad. I think that whenever you're moving abroad, you're starting everything kind of from scratch. You're starting like new people you work with, new people that are in your running club, like new people that you, like, you meet someone and they invite you to a birthday party or something, and I think you just have new pools of people to date. So I would say just be open. And see what happens. But yeah, I'd say that dating abroad is probably really similar to dating in the US you have dating apps or sometimes you meet a friend of a friend and, you can meet organically. So I think it would be quite similar. You just might be dating a lot less people that are Americans and more people from country, or maybe you're a part of an expat community of people that are from. Canada and Germany and Italy and Australia and you kind of date people from other countries as well. 99, what if I want to move back to the us? I think that's totally fine. I think the whole goal is that we accomplish the goal that we have of living abroad, that we accomplish, the dream of living in another country and experiencing life abroad and, and if you decide to move back to the US then that's totally cool. But I think it's just giving yourself the time to adjust and saying, okay, I'm gonna give this a year and if I still love it, I'll stay for another year. If I don't love it, I'll go back home. And I think you just kind of take it step by step. Question 100. Our final question is if moving abroad is worth it in the end. Oh my goodness. Of course it's worth it. It is. As I said a few questions back, it's the best decision I've ever made in my life. I have not met one person who has said, I regret moving abroad. Worst decision ever. I've never heard anybody say that. I think that we all have challenges and I think it's an adjustment to live abroad. But it's such an adventure. It's the best thing I've ever done. It's challenging, you know, you grow in so many ways. I think that you're open to other cultures and people. It's such an adventure, travel opportunities. I think it's just such an incredible experience. I have loved it, and anytime anybody ever tells me they want to move abroad, I get genuinely so excited that, that someone else is wanting to move abroad because it's been the best gift of my life so far. So that's it. Those are our a 100 questions. Oh my goodness. This episode was so long. I was like, okay, rapid fire. I'll go really fast, but wow. Okay. Thank you for sticking with me. If you're still here, you might've needed to listen to this in chunks because it's been very long, but those were our five sections, so we went through a hundred rapid fire answers. To the top 100 questions about moving abroad. So we talked about deciding to move abroad, all the questions around that. Choosing where to move was. Our second section three was visas and the legal stuff. Our fourth section was jobs and money. Our fifth section was housing, healthcare, and daily life. And our sixth and final section was community safety and lifestyle. So thank you so much for sticking with me till the very end. I know this is the longest episode ever, which feels fitting for our 100th episode of the Move Abroad Podcast. I would not be here if it weren't for you. So thank you so much, listener. Thank you so much for listening to the podcast. And I appreciate it if you've made it to the end, I know it's been a long one, but I'm so appreciative that you're here. That you are a part of this podcast and I'm just so grateful that you're a part of this adventure and I'm excited to welcome you abroad whenever you move abroad and accomplish your dream of moving abroad to Europe. If you have made it to the end and you've enjoyed this podcast, just in general, this episode and all the episodes previously, I would love it if you left. Me a review. It just helps me reach more people to be able to listen to the podcast. So, thank you so much for listening to another episode of the Move Abroad podcast. For being a part of this. I'm celebrating the podcast and making it to a 100th episodes. I know a lot of podcasts don't make it that far and, I'm proud of us for. Sticking it through to a 100 episodes, and I'm excited for so many more episodes to come in the future as well. So thank you again so much for listening to the Move Abroad podcast. I will catch you here again next week, same time, same place. I'll catch you then.