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  • Home
  • Countries

    Top Destinations:

    Whether you’re looking for fun and sun, a peaceful retirement, or the chance to earn some extra income, you’ve got a real world of opportunity open to you… In short, we’ve done our best to narrow down your best options, but only you can decide the right country for you.

    • Spain
    • Portugal
    • Panama
    • Belize
    • Colombia
    • Cyprus
    • Mexico
    • France
    • Montenegro
    • Browse All Countries

    Best For:

    • The Best Places To Retire
    • Health Care Abroad
    • Cost Of Living
    • Investing in Real Estate
    • Establishing Residency
    • Gun Laws In The World
    • English-Speaking Countries
    • Safest Places For Retirement
    • Best Places In Latin America
  • Budgets

    How Much Will It Cost You To Live Overseas?

    The only honest answer is, we have no idea. And neither does anyone else. The only one who can answer that question is you. Here’s the most important thing to understand about budgeting your new life overseas…

    Super Cheap

    • Chitré, Panama
    • Santa Marta, Colombia
    • Phuket, Thailand
    • Dumaguete, The Philippines

    Cheap

    • Medellin, Colombia
    • Boquete, Panama
    • Kyrenia, Cyprus
    • Hua Hin, Thailand
    • The Algarve, Portugal

    Affordable

    • Valencia, Spain
    • Cascais, Portugal
    • Las Terrenas, The DR
    • Pisa, Italy
    • La Rochelle, France
    • Mazatlán, Mexico

    Luxury

    • Ambergris Caye, Belize
    • Kotor, Montenegro
    • The Panama City Beaches
    • Paris, France
  • Resources

    Global Living

    • Living & Retiring Overseas
    • Raising A Family Abroad
    • Foreign Residency & Citizenship
    • Offshore & Diversification

    Making Money

    • International Real Estate
    • Banking
    • Employment
    • Investing

    Follow Us:

    • Meet Our Experts
  • Real Estate

    Buying Real Estate For Cashflow

    • Discover tips and strategies used by global property investing veterans

    Explore Our Latest Posts

    • Learn how to invest and purchase property abroad…

    Go To The Overseas Property Alert Site

    • How To Become Independently Wealthy And Fund The Lifestyle Of Your Dreams
  • Conferences

    Upcoming Events

    • Explore Our Events Site

    Live and Invest In Spain Conference

    Offshore Wealth Summit

    Greece Workshop

    VALENCIA, SPAIN

    Sep. 17-19, 2025

    PANAMA CITY, PANAMA

    Oct. 15-17, 2025

    VIRTUAL

    Nov. 13, 2025

    LEARN MORE
    DISCOUNT
    LEARN MORE
    PRE-REGISTER
    LEARN MORE
    PRE-REGISTER
    • MORE EVENTS

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    Toll-Free U.S. and Canada:
    1 (888) 627 8834
    From Outside North America:
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    Working Hours
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    Reach us with your questions by email at: events@liveandinvestoverseas.com

  • Store

    Unlock The World

    • Access Your Library

    Overseas Havens Reports

    • Expats' comprehensive destination guides

    Conference Kits

    • Hours of coverage  from our latests conferences

    Lahardan Books

    • Titles on living and investing around the world
    • Explore Our Store
    Your passport to a life well-lived abroad

    Services

    overseas living letter offers affordable retirement guidance
    The Simon Letter Wealth Protection Insights
    Global Property Advisor Global Investment Opportunities

    Our Customer Service team is here to assist with any questions or concerns CustomerService@LiveandInvestOverseas.com

  • My Library
Live and Invest Overseas
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Home Retirement/Living

A Retire Overseas Challenge No One Talks About

The Retire Overseas Risk No One Talks About

by Kathleen Peddicord
Jan 24, 2023
in Retirement/Living
0 0

Planning for a retirement that includes spending some or even all your time in another country is an increasingly appealing idea with enormous potential upside.

As a result, it’s easier than ever to find help making a plan to retire overseas. However, one challenge you will face as you launch your new life in a new country is seldom discussed.

I Call It The Panic Stage 

No matter how long you’ve planned for this or how much research you’ve carried out, there is a good chance that, sometime during your first year in your new country, perhaps even during your first month in your new home, you’ll wonder what in the world ever possessed you to think leaving home was a good idea.

What were you thinking? You must have taken leave of your senses. Paradise? This place is no paradise. This place is a nightmare.

This isn’t an adventure. This is nuts.

My best advice is to wait out the panic. It will pass.

Moving to Ireland 20 years ago, my husband and I thought the transition would be transparent. We Americans think we know the Irish. They’re just like us, aren’t they? No, they’re not.

Wherever you decide to chase your dreams overseas, even if it’s somewhere as seemingly familiar as Ireland, you’re going to discover that the people living there aren’t like you either… in ways that won’t be apparent at first. You’re going to find that life is more difficult than it was wherever you came from. It will be more complicated and less predictable.

My husband and I arrived as full-time residents in Waterford, Ireland, in November. By February, I was sad. I felt indescribably sad for no reason I could identify. We were comfortable in our rental cottage on the river. We were making friends and settling in.

All was well, but I was, frankly, miserable.

Then we took a trip to Nicaragua. After a few days on that country’s sunny southern Pacific coast, my sadness disappeared. What was going on?

It was the Irish winter. Though I’d traveled in Ireland for years, I’d never lived through an Irish winter. Some days the sun rises after 9 a.m. and sets before 4 p.m. in the afternoon. In between those hours, it’s typically gray, drizzling, overcast, and damp.

Ireland can be a great place to call home, but before you commit to retirement in the Auld Sod, experience it in winter. Spend time in the country in January and February.

Or consider spending only part of the year in the country. Ireland is a place that makes good sense as a part-time retirement haven. You could retire to Ireland each summer, then spend your winters someplace bright and sunny.

That was our strategy. After our first long winter in Waterford, we escaped to the tropics every December and returned to the Emerald Isle in early March, in time to appreciate Irish spring and summer.

A few years ago, I mentioned the phenomenon to a friend preparing to move overseas for the first time, suggesting that he shouldn’t worry about the panic stage he’d eventually experience because it would pass.

My friend smiled and nodded politely, humoring me.

It can be hard to imagine during the excitement of the pre-move phase that after maybe only a month or two in your new home, you might find yourself questioning the move altogether. My friend insisted that it wouldn’t happen to him.

“I’ve spent months researching and making my plan,” he explained with confidence. “I understand what I’m getting into. I’ve thought this through from every angle, and I’m fully prepared.”

A couple of years later, over drinks one night, he remarked, “You know, before my move, when you talked about the panic stage that everyone goes through at some point after relocating to a new country, I laughed to myself. Panic, I thought. Why would I panic? The idea seemed extreme and, frankly, silly.”

“But, I have to tell you,” he continued, “it happened to me. It was maybe a year into my move to Ecuador. I realized that I was feeling out of my element and uncertain in a fundamental way, unsure of myself and my new situation. I was experiencing a feeling that, I had to admit, could best be described as panic.”

I asked what he decided to do.

He responded, “I remembered what you’d recommended. I waited it out. I realized that I was feeling overwhelmed by the frustrations of living in the Third World. I reminded myself why I’d wanted to make the move in the first place and of all the things about Ecuador that I love. There are many. After a little while, the panic passed.”

Your panic phase in your new home could be a result of the weather and the seasons, as it was for us in Ireland. It could be a reaction to the trials and frustrating tribulations of life in a developing country, as it was for my friend. It could be homesickness, which you should be prepared for. You’re going to experience it from time to time.

No country is perfect. Everywhere has its pluses and minuses. The minuses eventually are going to get to you.

Living high in the mountains in Panama may provide glorious views and a gentle, spring-like climate, but you won’t be near a real city or an international airport. You’ll be living a country life among neighbors who, in this part of Panama, speak only Spanish. Sometimes the remoteness will overwhelm you.

Ecuador offers an extremely affordable cost of living, but it is also a Third World country. Retirement in the Third World isn’t for everyone.

Although it was our third international move and our third country of residence since we left the United States, my husband and I experienced the panic stage in Panama, where we struggled to adjust to the tropical climate and to the inconvenience factor.

Panama is working hard to earn recognition as a First World nation, but, right now, it’s not. This is a land where things don’t always work as you’d like or expect.

So, What Should You Do? 

The key to being happy in your new home, wherever you decide to make it, is to keep your perspective and your sense of humor. When doubt and frustration creep in, as they will, remind yourself of two things.

First, don’t make any hasty decisions. The moment of panic will pass.

Second, while you’re waiting for that to subside, remember why you chose this country in the first place.

Was it for the beach? Then escape to the coast for a few days of relaxation beneath the palms.

Was it for the super-low cost of living? Take yourself out for a nice dinner on the cheap.

What do you enjoy most in your new home? If you moved there for the fishing, make time to go catch some and then have your friends over for a fish fry.

Think about why you’re feeling uncertain about your decision. Once you identify why you’re second-guessing your move, you can address those points.

If you don’t like the current season, go somewhere else until it passes.

If you’re missing family back home, invite them to come visit. If you’re not happy in the neighborhood where you’ve initially settled, consider another.

Be prepared, at some time during your first year of retirement overseas, perhaps even during the first month or two, to wonder what in the world you’ve done. No, this wasn’t crazy, and it wasn’t a mistake. Wait it out. The panic will pass.

Just on the other side is the new life you came to find.

Sincerely,
Kathleen Peddicord signature
Kathleen Peddicord
Founding Publisher, Overseas Opportunity Letter

Tags: 'Ecuador''Ireland''moving overseas''Nicaragua'expatsliving abroadPanic stage
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Kathleen Peddicord

Kathleen Peddicord

Kathleen Peddicord has reported on opportunities for Americans to live, retire, and do business overseas for 40 years. She has traveled to more than 75 countries, invested in real estate in 24, established businesses in 7, renovated and built properties in 6, and educated her children in 5.

Kathleen has moved children, staff, enterprises, household goods, and pets from the east coast of the United States to Waterford, Ireland, then to Paris, France, and finally to Panama City, Panama, where she has based her Live And Invest Overseas business. Peddicord and her husband, Lief Simon, now divide their time between Panama and Paris.

Peddicord was a partner with Agora Publishing’s International Living group for 23 years. She opened, staffed, and operated International Living publishing and real estate marketing offices in Waterford, Ireland; Panama City, Panama; Granada, Nicaragua; Roatan, Honduras; San Miguel de Allende, Mexico; Quito, Ecuador; and Paris, France. Peddicord launched Live And Invest Overseas group in 2008 and has built it into a successful multimillion-dollar business. Today, she shares her firsthand experience of expat life with more than 500,000 readers of her publications, including Overseas Opportunity Letter and Overseas Living Letter.

Kathleen has been featured often in The New York Times, MSNBC, AARP, CNN, Bloomberg, CNBC, and more and writes monthly about expat matters, international real estate, and offshore diversification for Forbes and U.S. News.

Kathleen has written several books including the memoirs “At Home In Ireland” and “At Home At Los Islotes” and her latest title “At Home Abroad,” all published by Lahardan Books. Her best-selling "How To Retire Overseas: Everything You Need To Know To Live Well (For Less) Abroad” was published by Penguin Random House in 2018 and her “Buying Real Estate Overseas For Cash Flow (And A Better Life)” was published by Wiley in August 2020.

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