Here at International Living, we always recommend you rent before you buy. You have no way of knowing if a city or town is right for you until you’ve spent about six months there.

When you move abroad, you’ll learn to live again in a hundred different ways. New and exotic customs and foods…new holidays and celebrations…and maybe a new language and friends. It’s like getting an entire second life within the span of a single lifetime.

Dianne arrived in Belize from Canada a little over three years ago. Unlike many local expats, she’s neither baby boomer nor retiree—but an energetic 40-something single who came ready for a new adventure.

After eight months of traveling throughout Central America, we returned to Europe and chose to live in France; we felt it would be a safe, stable, and interesting country in which to raise our children.