Paris Versus Lisbon—It’s A Tough Choice… European borders opened recently, allowing me to do a little more than dream of getting out of France for a bit. Ireland is likely to be our first trip out of the country. It’s an easy enough prospect considering the short flight and the fact that my parents will…

Finding Your Flock Overseas One of the greatest challenges when moving overseas is creating a new social circle from scratch… Your friend group back home was likely built over many years, maybe even decades… numbering a few friends from college, perhaps… some from jobs over the years… a handful you met through parenting… and those…

It’s Time For A Second Passport One of the biggest annoyances of my life is that my whole family has second passports—EU passports, no less. Despite living overseas most of my life—including significant time in Ireland, France, and Panama—I still hold only my U.S. passport. My stepdad Lief calls this oversight one of his very…

Meet The Gang From Mexico We won’t be able to meet in person at this year’s Mexico event, so I thought I’d take the time to virtually introduce you to some of the key speakers who’ll come together online next week. These guys are the real deal—expats who have lived in Mexico for years and experts…

“Cost Of Living Is Wonderful And Health Care Is Amazing” Fellow reader Dianne R.—a full-time expat in Mexico—shared this note last week on our Overseas Living Club page… “My husband and I have been living in Guadalajara, Mexico, for two years. We’re about 4.5 hours from Puerto Vallarta and they are finishing up a new highway…

Little-Known Secrets To True Freedom And Total Independence During the COVID-19 confinement, I gave gardening a try… I didn’t do so well. Most of what I bought died. And, honestly, my heart was only half in it… The apartment I was quarantined in was a temporary home and I didn’t have much invested in it……

A Welcoming, English-Speaking Expat Community On The Sea From Ecuador to Uruguay to Colombia, Latin America Correspondent Lee Harrison has been living south of the border since 2001. So smitten with his latest adopted home of Mazatlán, Mexico—where he’s been based for the past four years—Lee claims it represents one of the best lifestyles he’s…

The Good (And Affordable) Life In Playa Del Carmen Playa del Carmen is a little beach town that sits about an hour south of Cancún on Mexico’s Riviera Maya. Once a sleepy fishing town, the port was inadvertently put on the map by Jacques Cousteau in 1954 when he filmed an underwater documentary of the…

Bienvenidos A Mexico: Halfway House For Expats Panama has been called the ultimate halfway house for American expats. But I disagree… For those who aren’t ready to launch themselves into a truly foreign culture… who want some familiar comforts, reliable services, and to be able to get by in English… Mexico is the ticket. It’s…

Medellín: A Modern-Day Cinderella Story With our virtual event on Colombia coming up soon, I’ve been thinking back on good memories of this wonderful country… Again this week I refer to Wendy Howarter’s recent Overseas Living Letter issue on her adopted home town of Medellín…