No Hype—You Can Retire Overseas This Year No Matter What Your Life Looks Like Right Now
You can reinvent your life… start over… enjoy the lifestyle or the retirement you’ve been dreaming about… this year… no matter what your life looks like right now.
No matter how big (or small) your budget…
No matter your age (you’re neither too young nor too old… I promise)…
No matter what else is going on in your life right now (there is no “right” time)…
No matter if you need to continue to earn a living (you can)…
No matter your family circumstances (whether you have school-aged children or parents you’re responsible for)… or what your kinfolk think (let them call you crazy)…
No matter your concerns, your fears, your uncertainties…
For years, I daydreamed about what life might be like in some exotic, foreign clime. From the age of 21, I travelled regularly, all over the world… but, for 14 years, I returned home and rationalized a reason to stay there.
We all need a little push, something to get us started.
Once you take the first step, though, the second is easier, the third easier yet, and soon you have that glorious thing called momentum helping to pull you along.
In my case, the little push came from my employer at the time. The international publishing company I’d been working for 14 years wanted to open an office in Ireland, to take advantage of the business and tax incentives that the Irish government was offering back then. The opportunity presented itself… and, finally, I found the courage to jump.
Today I recognize that one reason I was able to leap when I did was because I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I’d been researching and writing about living overseas for years, yes, but research isn’t the same as reality. When my husband and I packed ourselves, our daughter, and our eight oversized suitcases into the SUV that day in Baltimore and made our way to the airport for our overnight flight to Shannon, Ireland, we didn’t know what we didn’t know. And that was probably a good thing.
In the 18 years since, we’ve reinvented our lives from Baltimore, Maryland, to Waterford, Ireland… from there to Paris… and then, most recently, we re-launched ourselves again in Panama City, where we’ve living now. Along the way, we’ve started businesses, made homes, and raised our children (one of whom was born in Ireland)…
Frankly, we’ve probably done just about everything you could imagine doing as part of your new life overseas. We’ve bought, built, renovated, decorated, and sold houses. We’ve bought, flipped, and developed land. We’ve shipped personal belongings, antique furniture, and pets. We’ve qualified for residency, opened bank accounts, even acquired second passports in Ireland…
Did we ever imagine way back then that, 18 years later, we’d have travelled from Waterford, Ireland, to Paris, France, and then on to Panama City, Panama, where we’d be living, running a business, and sending our 16-year-old son to school?
No way. We had no idea when we took that first step down our own adventures-overseas path where it would lead.
And I can’t tell you now where your adventures overseas will lead you. But I can say with confidence that the only thing you’ll regret about them is that you didn’t find the courage to launch them sooner.
I can also tell you that no matter what your reservations… they can be addressed and overcome. This idea is infinitely customizable.
Kathleen Peddicord
