International Living’s expat network is your key to a new life in a new country. Get real, honest advice from people just like you. Discover the tips, tricks, shortcuts, and strategies you can use to cut through red tape and improve your life overseas right away.
Read about and learn from real-life experiences our expats have had in their new home countries, from health care to taxes, earning an income overseas to buying real estate…and much more.
In International Living magazine we often write about how a Social Security check can provide you with a comfortable, even luxurious, lifestyle in a variety of appealing locations around the world. However, when the time comes to relocate and start your life’s next chapter, it is useful to understand how, exactly, you receive that check, Read more...: Maximize Your Social Security While Living Overseas
Sorry to let you down, but you won’t find a moon pie in Nicaragua. Forget about finding a quality potato peeler or garlic-stuffed green olives. And it’s tough to locate flavored chia seeds or flavored vodka. Looking for Good and Plenty candies? Don’t look here. No, there are plenty of things you’ve had all your Read more...: Only You Can Create Your Dream Life—It’s Easier Overseas
Subscriber Login - Not A Member Yet? Click Here Email Address Password Remember Me Forgot Your Password?
Subscriber Login - Not A Member Yet? Click Here Email Address Password Remember Me Forgot Your Password?
Subscriber Login - Not A Member Yet? Click Here Email Address Password Remember Me Forgot Your Password?
Before I moved to San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, I worked as an attorney with the Internal Revenue Service. It was not unusual for me to think about taxes during idle hours on the weekend, at a Fourth of July fireworks display, or at other family events. For me, it was always tax filing season. Read more...: What Expats Need to Know About Tax-Filing Season
Earlier this year I had cataract surgery in Mexico. As an expat there on a valid residence visa, I could have gotten the surgery for free through Seguro Popular, Mexico’s national healthcare service. But, because I’d had eye surgery some time ago, I chose to go to the opposite extreme: To get the very best Read more...: Modern, Friendly Care for my Eye Surgery in Mexico
Holiday traditions often illustrate differences in cultural perspectives. Consider Día de los Muertos: Day of the Dead. In the U.S. and Canada, Halloween is a beloved holiday, but it’s lost any religious significance. In Mexico, Día de los Muertos—a relatively close equivalent—is a major religious and cultural holiday. Your world expands when you become an Read more...: Embracing New Traditions Abroad Has Expanded Our Horizons
In exchange for taking care of a home while the owners are away, you can live rent-free for months at a time all over the world. If you love traveling, and like the idea of doing so without paying for accommodation, housesitting is an established approach.Since I started housesitting, I’ve stayed in some enviable destinations...
One of the quandaries facing potential expats is what to do with their possessions. Is it worth shipping these to their new home abroad, or should they leave them behind? Some expats pack up all their belongings; others move with just a few suitcases and leave or get rid of everything else. But most people fall somewhere in between...