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Home Retirement/Living

One Big Idea

by Kathleen Peddicord
May 22, 2026
in Retirement/Living
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Should you really be thinking about retiring to a new country?

That is… who should consider this idea? Surely it’s not for everyone.

Selling everything you own… packing up or giving away every possession… buying a plane ticket for some foreign country… and then showing up and trying to build a whole new life there?

Who would do that?

Why would anyone do that?

You know the big-picture reasons to consider this big idea. There are many, and my team and I remind you of them every day.

Plus, you have your own personal reasons, I’m sure, for considering taking this leap and launching a new life in a new country.

But is it really for you?

I’d say the fact that you’re even considering the notion of retiring to another country gives you part of the answer to that question. Because considering the idea means you possess one of the two qualities you need to make a big success of this.

#1. I’m Talking About Open-Mindedness

The world is a big, interesting place full of opportunities and options. It’s not all roses. Bad things happen… are happening… will continue to happen. Maybe worse things are on the way. We recognize all that.

But, here at Live And Invest Overseas, we choose to focus on the potential and the promise all around us, rather than the problems and the trouble.

We choose to recognize that, no matter what experiences we’ve enjoyed to date, we don’t know everything… and we’re always curious to know more.

We have our ideas… now we’d like to be introduced to some other ideas, from other folks in other parts of the world. How do they do things? How do they live their lives? What can we learn from them?

If you share that way of looking at the world, then I’d say that, yes, a new life overseas could be everything you’re imagining it might be.

What’s the second quality you need to make a go of this?

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#2. A Sense Of Humor

Your open mind will lead you to all kinds of new and interesting places and experiences. It will allow you to reinvent your life completely (if that’s what you’d like to do)… and to make discoveries that, today, you probably can’t imagine.

Some will amount to the greatest, grandest adventures and the most fun of your lifetime.

Others will frustrate you, intimidate you, concern you, confound you, even conspire to drive you out of your mind. Some days, enjoying the new life in paradise you dreamt about for so long, your patience will be tried and your fuse will be short.

Those days, when nothing makes sense and no one is around to help, what will you do?

You’ll make a choice.

Either you’ll moan and groan, rant and rave, and wonder what’s wrong with all these so-and-so’s you’re now living among… why don’t they understand?…

Or you’ll smile. You’ll chuckle.

You’ll remember that nothing was ever going to be all roses and that nowhere is perfect. You’ll remind yourself of the big-picture reasons why you made this leap in the first place, of all the advantages you’re enjoying living where you’re now living.

And you’ll laugh.

It’s that decision, which you’ll face again and again and again, maybe every day, that will determine the ultimate outcome of your personal retire overseas adventures.

If you can choose to find the absurdities and the chaos around you interesting and charming, rather than maddening and blood-pressure elevating, you’re golden.

Until next time,

Kathleen Peddicord
Kathleen Peddicord
Founding Publisher, Overseas Opportunity Letter

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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