We blow the 7 most common excuses for putting off becoming an expatriate out of the water…so stop complaining and start reading.
We, the staff and contributors at EscapeArtist.com, have heard it all before – the hundreds of excuses levelled at us about why a given individual, couple or family would like to lead the life we all love living abroad, but how they just can’t because of the restrictions they place on their own lives and their own freedom of choice and movement.
In the past I personally have pandered to these people, doing my best to swallow their excuses and making them feel better about their inability to cut the ties that bind them to their mundane and restricted outlook on life…but no more! I am fed up of hearing people enviously lusting after my life abroad, whilst at the same time whining on and on about why they couldn’t possibly be as brave or as adventurous or as bold as me and expatriate to find a better quality of life overseas.
Today I am going to come right out and say it – to all those of you out there who would love to see more of the world, stop making excuses about why you can’t relocate and expatriate, and just get on with it and stop limiting your own life and that of your children and your partner too! If you feel you’re truly unable to move because of ‘valid’ and ‘genuine’ reasons such as healthcare for you, education for your children or employment requirements for your spouse for example, read on as I blow the 7 most common excuses for not making a move abroad out of the water.
After you’ve read this report there will be nothing holding you back from making your dreams of a new life abroad come true!
1) “I couldn’t possibly relocate at the moment because I have school-age children, and I wouldn’t want to upset their educational progress.”
Oh my GOD! Get over yourself – even if your child is a genius or ‘just’ a naturally gifted prodigy there are schools around the world that can accommodate their learning requirements! There are thousands of international schools spanning every continent and almost every single nation in the world – what’s more, if you commit to a permanent move abroad your child could well settle in to a local educational establishment. You may even discover that they thrive in a new nation and through the medium of a new language.
The expectations and pressures that we pile on our kids when we’re living in a nation like the US or the UK, where league tables and competitive neighbours and fellow parents make us insecure and pushy, tend to fall away when we’re living abroad, struggling to learn a new language and our children are putting us to shame with their linguistic talents! I’ve seen it many, many times – children love learning a new language, it’s an adventure, and they love the fact that they can do it better than their parents! It’s a gift that gives them a great deal of confidence at a crucial point in their lives.
So, if you have school age children I’d like to point out that there are schools around the world that can accommodate them – and I would also like to mention that living abroad, embracing a new culture, becoming steeped in the language and ways of a new people is an education in itself – and one that no amount of money can buy you if you remain stuck in your old life.
2) “I’d love to retire abroad but I have a medical condition that restricts me.”
I’m genuinely sorry to hear about your medical issues – but remember that there are doctors, hospitals, clinics and drug stores abroad! What’s more, healthcare and dentistry overseas can be anywhere up to 75% cheaper than in the US for the same or even higher standards of care and medicine!
In countries that the ill informed might consider to be basic and backward such as Turkey, Cuba and Argentina to name but three random examples, you’ll find American, British and European trained medical professionals working with the latest methods and technology for a fraction of the cost that you would pay back home.
In addition to this fact, you can get international medical insurance that will cover you for every single illness or medical mishap no matter where you choose to live overseas. If you require regular medication or treatment, just research the hospitals in your favoured country before you go – and if you are really restricted, (either by your condition or your own limitations), make sure you live within easy reach of a clinic so that you can have care on call whenever you need it.
A final point to make with regard to this particular excuse is that when you unburden yourself from the ties that you’re allowing to bind you to your old life, when you free yourself up and embrace your dreams, you leave the stresses of your current life behind and you move to somewhere of your choosing where the pace of life is ideally more laid back and the climate is ideally beautiful, you may very well find you feel a hell of a lot better than you did before anyway. That medical condition that’s plaguing you might ease, become easier to live with or disappear altogether! I’m not saying that moving abroad can create miracle cures – but I am saying that people with conditions such as asthma, stress-related illnesses and arthritis often all see improvements when they expatriate and begin living a better life abroad for example.
3) “I’m not ready to retire, I still need to earn an income so I couldn’t possibly expatriate.”
According to a well-respected international survey of expatriates conducted by HSBC, a leading bank of the world, expatriate professionals earn on average 25% more than their peers back home.
Do I even need to elaborate on that point?
In case I do, what that means for you my friend is that you can not only potentially find work abroad and extend, enhance and develop your career, you can potentially earn far more if you move abroad than you do now too! If you couple the chance of a higher salary with the fact that you can often enhance your taxation status when you expatriate – then you add a lower cost of living in to the mix too – you will quickly see that you’re mad to remain living the life you are living and working the job you are working!
If you want to have a better chance of retiring before you’re too old to enjoy your time away from work, you’re better off seeking out a new job, career or employment opportunity abroad now because you can earn more, pay less tax, spend less and therefore have far more cash in the bank to save and invest for your future.
4) “I’d love to move but I’d miss my family too much.”
It’s a well-known, documented and proven fact amongst expats that as soon as you move abroad you set a trend! Your family will be watching your progress with concern initially, but as soon as they see you settle in and embrace your new life, and as soon as you highlight all the things that are so much better about your new life, you’ll be surprised at how quickly your family will come round to your way of thinking.
