“We’re living an adventurous life for less than half of what we’d spend in the US,” says Kirsten Raccuia, an expat based with her husband in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. “And so many things we enjoy all the time would just be occasional, ‘holiday’ activities if we still lived in Chicago. Yet here… it feels like we’re living on permanent vacation.”
For lots of people, that’s the ultimate dream: Arrange your life so you can live on permanent vacation.
Jen Stevens, International Living’s Executive Editor, here. At IL, we’re on a mission to help you do that—whatever your particular “permanent vacation” dream might look like...
Maybe you’d want a place you could retreat to a few months a year, send the kids and your friends to enjoy it when you’re not there (or invite them to come and stay when you’re in residence).
Or rent it out when you’re not using it, and you could cover your costs—or even pocket a profit with it. Or simply go... rent... and enjoy the flexibility of checking out new places...
Maybe you’re after a full-time getaway, a new adventure in a community where the pace, climate, and cost of living suits you.
Maybe your dream is to have multiple bases you can earn income from and visit whenever the weather is best there... a Portugal place where you can golf, a Mexican beach retreat, an Irish cottage by the sea...
Here’s the thing: You can live better overseas. And you can do that at pretty much any budget.
If you’ve yet to get ahold of our full report (150 pages of insight, guidance, and recommendations) on the best places to go in 2026, you can request our Global Retirement Index 2026 with a special, discounted IL offer, here.
It comes down to value... in dollars and cents, for starters. The US is relatively expensive. And so... when you go to a place where things cost less, you can watch your options expand.
Instead of spending $200 a nice meal out for two with appetizers and wine and dessert... that meal might cost you $60 or $80. And that means you can enjoy twice as many fancy nights out. Or you simply have funds leftover to spend any way you like...
Instead of plonking down $1.4 million on a second-home condo with a beach view in Naples, Florida—you could have one in swanky Cabo, Mexico for under $300,000.
Watch Your Quality of Life Improve
But living better isn’t just about spending less. It’s about enjoying life more. It’s about watching your quality of life improve.
And that happens in all sorts of ways...
You could embrace a life that moves at a slower pace, with less stress... so you just feel better.
In so many places, a leisurely lunch out with a friend is something that happens four or five times a week...
Walking in the park in the evening, stopping for a glass of wine, running into the neighbors and lingering to chat... that’s just how days unfold...
It can mean being able to afford “rich people” luxuries—like a housekeeper and gardener—so you never make another bed, empty another trash can, or clean another toilet.
And travel can become so much easier (and less expensive). That’s something to consider, too. When you have an overseas base, it gives you a convenient jumping-off place for exploring, particularly within the region where you’re based.
If you’re in Europe, it’s easy and inexpensive to hop around the continent. Paris for a long weekend—why not? Like the idea of some sun and sand? Head to the Spanish coast for a week.
Ultimately, I’m talking about quality of life—something that, for many people, is diminishing in the States today, where it feels harder than ever to simply keep up.
In fact, one recent study showed that you needed at least $10,000 more in 2024 just to live like you did three years prior.
I don’t know about your health insurance, but ours just doubled... we’ll be paying premiums of $32,000 a year for our family of five. And we still have co-pays and thousands in deductibles. It’s madness.
In communities across California, Colorado, and Washington State, you need a whopping $101,000 a year to be considered a “middle earner.”
Yet in the places we tell you about at International Living, you can live well from as little as $24,000 a year.
Smaller budget. Bigger life.
You’ll find the places we’re most excited about this year in our 2026 Global Retirement Index—which you can access with a special International Living membership offer, here.
A More International Stance Can Provide You Protection (And You Don’t Have to Go Full-Time to Enjoy It)
We are living in uncertain times. And if you’re troubled by the rate of violence in the US... worried about the state of the economy... concerned about the political divisions—or the direction you see the country headed in... take heart...
Look in the right spots, and you’ll find, as I’ve said, more affordable shores—but also, to be clear, often friendlier shores, where the weather and lifestyle might suit you better, as well.
And you don’t have to move full-time—or even at all—to reap the benefits of a more international life. In fact, you can begin to take a more global approach to your life starting today—from right there at home.
That way, no matter what may come of the political, social, and economic conditions in the United States in the years to come, you could have in place a measure of protection.
For instance, consider that you might be eligible for a second passport and not even realize it. (As of 2022, experts estimated that roughly 40% of Americans could qualify for a European passport.) Now, do you need a second passport to live abroad legally? No. But with one, you gain greater flexibility in where you can travel and in how long you can stay—even if, like during the pandemic, our borders close.
Or consider hard assets—like real estate. When you hold real estate (and for that matter physical gold or other metals) in the right way, you don’t need to report that to the IRS. Yet it’s a 100% legal way to effectively move funds outside the stock market, outside the US, outside the dollar. That can give you an effective hedge against a downturn at home.
And—regardless of how things play out in the States—you could end up with an asset you can enjoy and even profit from through appreciation gains and rental income.
It’s Easier than Ever to Move Overseas
If you’re ready to explore your overseas options, you should know: Your timing is good. It’s never been easier to get around this planet of ours. The physical infrastructure is more sophisticated than it has ever been. Airlines fly to more places, smooth roads take you today where no roads existed 20 years ago. Heck you can call an Uber in all kinds of places—from San Miguel de Allende, Mexico to Prague in the Czech Republic—and a guy will roll up and take you exactly where you want to go.
Plus, the internet has changed everything—making a move so much less isolating than it once was. I remember when I moved to Africa in the early 90s—there was one phone in my village. I’d pre-arrange for a call from the States (via mail)... then—at the designated time—I’d show up at the Post Office, where the clerk would get the call behind the desk, and she’d point me to the booth in the corner and patch the call through to me.
Today, you can plant yourself in some far-flung spot if you want to—like a surfing beach in Panama’s Chiriqui province... or a little town nobody’s heard of in the Dordogne in France’s Southwest... and dial up your grandkids on FaceTime so you can attend their piano recital via video in real time.
Online you can move money around in the blink of an eye. You can decipher foreign words by simply pointing your phone at them. It’s all rendered the world at once bigger and smaller—and altogether easier, really—when it comes to navigating new places.
It’s never been easier to be an expat. If you feel the “pull” to try on a new place for size... even if only for a few months a year... do it! It’s easier than you think—when you have the right tools.
And the best tool to start with is International Living’s 2026 Global Retirement Index. It’s the 35th year we’ve pulled this guide together. Inside we rank, rate, compare, and contrast 24 countries across seven categories. And we do it with an eye to producing useful insights.
We keep correspondents around the globe—folks who live in the places they talk about. So they’re on the ground—buying their groceries, renting apartments, making friends, learning the language. And they’re uniquely qualified to share with you insights you can use to help match what you’re looking for in a retirement with a real-world place on the ground where you could make it your reality.
Don’t wait to start exploring your overseas options. The world isn’t standing still, and neither should you. Use this time to start putting your “ducks in a row,” to start exploring what your best options would be.
There’s no perfect, one-size-fits-all destination. But I feel 100% confident that you can find a place that suits you well. And at International Living, we can help make that happen.
Here’s the best place to start: Get plugged in to all our International Living guidance, starting with the 2026 Global Retirement Index, yours free with this special offer.
This is exactly what we are doing!
My family and I are moving from Hong Kong to Thailand in a few months since my income isn't tied to a desk anymore.
This is precisely why I hold covered call ETFs alongside broad growth funds.
Sure, they cap my upside, but the direct flexibility and cash flow they bring are game-changers.
Moving from an expensive city like HK to Thailand allows us to massively upgrade our lifestyle while keeping our monthly spending the same—and those monthly CC ETF distributions actively fund our real-life choices along the way.