How to Live Abroad Part-Time for Cheap! | Senior Travel

have you ever wanted to live abroad part-time maybe you're retired and you want to keep your home but you yearn for a change of pace for a few months a year maybe you've dreamed of living abroad your entire life and never got the chance but you just can't uproot your life and go full time whatever the reason we're here to explain what we call Flex Pat living it's a little term we made up we do that a lot yes we could probably write a dictionary yeah so the retirement Travelers dictionary have made up terms so we want to show you how you can live abroad part-time without a big investment and without all the red tape of residential visas you might be surprised at just how affordable this option is so stay tuned we're John and Beth and we are the retirement Travelers we are a senior travel couple who are enjoying a life of full-time World Travel we are currently traveling on an around-the-world Journey where we are blogging our adventures for our website retirementtravelers.com so head over there and sign up for our newsletter oh and be sure to hit subscribe after all our kids think we're cute old people oh you're you're cute I'm just old you're cute too baby thanks so today we're going to tell you about an idea that we talk about all the time all the time yeah it's called flexpat living you know recently we did a video where we mentioned it and we had several inquiries about what this really looks like and how it compares to expat living first flexpat living is the idea of living abroad in different locations starting by living in one city for 90 days now this is the length of time of most tourist visas you pick a city pack your bag and go live for a few months in a rented home or an apartment and then repeat it at another location it is the very deliberate idea of immersing oneself into a community much like an expat the emphasis is on being a resident and not a tourist International snowboarding is like this but with flex padding you switch countries and you don't always go to the same place so let's pick a country and start there let's say you decide to go to Costa Rica now this country has a tourist visa that allows someone to stay in their country for 90 days now in 90 days you can rent a home or an apartment you can explore you can meet some local people you can interact you can even learn the language you know you live a fun and interesting life there there you know you can connect with groups you can find a church or perhaps even find a volunteer opportunity you immerse yourself you know you meet the butcher the Baker and even the Candlestick maker you know you go with the purpose of not being a tourist but being a resident yeah and at the end of this period you pack up your things and you either go home or you spend 90 days in another country now if it were us we'd head next door to Nicaragua or Italy or the Philippines or Ecuador I mean the possibilities are endless the point is go to another location and repeat the process make friends connect with groups learn about the place eat the food whatever I mean in the process you stay for another three months you relax you think you live and you take your time also if you consider our suggestion of flexpat living take a look at our video called a life without stuff it'll help you see the impact of having fewer things has had on our life we also have a packing light video so be sure to check both of them out think of it as doing a little homework to see where we're coming from let's talk about what this does for you one of the biggest reasons we like flexpat living is that it avoids the high cost of setting up an expat home in another country I mean many people give up on expat living when they realize the bureaucratic nightmare that they are about to encounter many countries have income requirements medical screenings and investment minimums meaning you must purchase a home or start a business these residential visas can take a long time to acquire and and much of the joy and of going and starting over begins with this huge Cloud hanging over their heads you know some countries you know you can get a residential visa for a couple of years and then you must reapply for it you know even if you've already bought a home the result for many people not all is that after the honeymoon period's over they want to head back to where they came from you know they they have a house to move and they end up with a lot of regrets because it isn't the Nirvana that they had imagined Legend you know if you're thinking of full-time abroad flexpat living will allow you to try out a country or two on for size before making a long-term commitment we highly recommend that you at least do a year or two of flex padding before attempting full-time expat living it lets you compare places so you have less regret and you can find the perfect place for you probably the first thing that comes to mind is the cost of something like this we have found that the biggest cost of travel is how fast you move now if you move weekly like us your costs are going to be higher but if you move slowly a plane ticket from one country to another is an expense that you can account for I mean there are some great bargains to be had if you are flexible with your schedule many of the expenses you have while you're away from home are ones you would normally have but are oftentimes much cheaper we've also found that other than the traditional Airbnb or verbo type rentals you can get a better bargain if you go local in your search now we check prices when we arrive at a city and if you book say a three-month rental with a local realtor you can get a very good deal in most low-cost countries you can live inexpensively making it very affordable for most retirees you know if you want to know more about you know the cost of these places just do a quick search and you will see that renting a nice place is very affordable you might want to go you know see a place for three months and you could see it for the same price as a Riverboat Cruise or even a luxury vacation that only lasts two weeks yes and when we travel to low-cost countries we are shocked that the prices are so low and this this is a great way to live without the high inflation that affects more developed countries we really dread the effect that high-cost countries have on our budget we love visiting those places but we dread paying for them in low-cost countries we are always so pleasantly surprised by the prices of everyday things on top of that the experience is oftentimes more interesting the people are more approachable and the interaction is very memorable in lower cost countries like these the grocery store is more affordable along with local farmers markets you know usually the Street Markets offer great produce and oftentimes there's a Saturday or Sunday market that most Americans would die for they are incredible and we have seen them all over the place you know the prices are cheap and the quality is great when we travel even to low-cost locations we are amazed at the upscale dining opportunities you would think only come from high-end locations people are creating gorgeous restaurants in these places and we are constantly amazed at our choices for example we love Medellin Colombia and when we stay in El pleblado a lovely part of town we can go to a fancy restaurant have a salmon dinner for two with vegetables and drinks and desserts and the whole nine yards for about thirty dollars now this is a great meal one in the states that would start at 75 to 100 hundred dollars the medical care is the same you know we have received Medical Care and Medellin for about forty dollars per visit for things like a dental exam and cleaning a mammogram she got the mammogram I didn't and ophthalmologist exam and even blood work you know it seems that everything costs about forty dollars always yeah our prescriptions are all name brand and they cost about a tenth of the cost of what you would pay in the United States so it's just a win-win for Flex pets looking for a break and we always stock up before we continue our trip now as a side note we have medical coverage in the states that reimburses us for our medical care so you need a policy if you're going to travel like this if you have Medicare you might want to add a global plan like Geo blue or Cigna Global that gives you coverage while you're abroad and to supplement your coverage back home it's a big topic one that has many variables now recently we did a poll on our Channel and asked how long most people wanted to travel in retirement the answer surprised us most want to travel for three to six months a year this is why flexpat living is on our minds a lot you know we think this is a wonderful way to add travel stays within the retirement budget oftentimes we see people leave off the low-cost destinations and we think this is a big mistake so let's talk about the varied Adventures or Journeys that you could have flexpat living gives you many experiences in many different cultures it allows you the opportunity to take your time travel the world very slowly live a rich life and build upon an enlightened perspective of the world people ask us all the time where our favorite places are and they are never the places that are the tourist hot spots they are always the out of the way surprising experiences that we have that we didn't expect it's the place where the people are approachable and curious It's the places that you see and you wonder why this place isn't at the top of every tourist list out there it's the places where we see people living their lives normally not in an area that has become a caricature of itself you're probably wondering which countries we've been to that we think would make good choices now for low-cost countries we have a lot of recommendations yeah we loved Columbia North Macedonia Argentina Philippines Malaysia Romania Albania there's just so many you know we we loved Montenegro Hungary Guatemala let's see Bulgaria and even Thailand of so many great choices yeah and for mid-range countries we would recommend Panama and Costa Rica and Spain Portugal Greece Italy Slovenia that was awesome Croatia and Malta we think that any of these countries would make great Flex pet locations for three months at a time so what do you think about flexpat living we think flexibility is the greatest attribute as a retired person it offers Grand Adventures while maintaining a home base as well it offers someone who has a full life back home to take a break and integrate into another Community you know it gives people a new lease on life and if a low-cost countries are chosen it doesn't wreak havoc on the retirement budget it also allows someone to follow the most ideal weather around the world and take advantage of shoulder seasons in the most popular tourist spots it has a lot of good sides and not many downsides that's right and if you have any questions please leave them below and if you want to check out these two videos we mentioned earlier here they are we hope they inspire you to live your best life and have another grand Adventure be sure to hit subscribe and follow along on our retirement Journey around the world

Channel: Retirement Travelers

Views: 138,270

Keywords: live abroad, living abroad, live abroad for 3 months, live abroad now, retire abroad, expat, expat life, living abroad in italy, living abroad cheap, international living, best places in the world to retire, international snowbird, living in costa rica, living abroad vlog, international living panama, live abroad and thrive, retiring abroad, expats, travel abroad, retirement travelers, traveling abroad, early retirement travel, Senior travel

Id: 3qIKOCImvo4

Length: 12min 9sec (729 seconds)

Published: Sun Jun 11 2023