Operation Great Expatscape Phase 1: Exploring New Homes

Has the great American expat exodus happened? Or, I should say, is the great expatscape (expat escape) underway?

I don’t know. I still hear people grumbling about wanting to leave, and I know some who have started exploring options. However, I don’t know anyone who’s pulled the trigger yet.

Maybe many are in the same boat as my husband and I, and they’re trying to figure out where they’d like to live, too.

Some are lucky. They already know where they want to go. I really envy those people.

Expatscape Problems: Where to emigrate?

In my defense, I had always assumed I could just emigrate to Canada. If I qualified for residency there, and if I could afford it, I’d move to Vancouver or Victoria in a heartbeat. If I could also get Wayne on board. He fears winters would be too cold and dark for him there.

He’s always longed to make his great expatscape to Turkey. Their inflation issues have squelched those dreams for him, though. And even though I absolutely love the culture and the people there, the language barrier worries me. I had tried to learn some, but Turkish is tough. The learning wasn’t coming easy, which frustrated me. I really want to live somewhere I can speak the language. I fear even immersion won’t help, which would really frustrate me.

So that’s left us adrift trying to figure out where else we might like to live.

Expatscape Options: Narrowing It Down

Some good friends of ours moved to Valencia, Spain a couple of years ago. They’re absolutely loving it. Well, mostly. They’ve had a couple hiccups here and there, but overall, they feel their quality of life is exponentially better than when they lived here. Housing is less, though not as low as they initially expected. Healthcare costs, however, are significantly less. Same with things like Internet, cell service, and groceries.

Spain is an option. Wayne really liked Valencia, but it didn’t capture my heart and soul. Not like some other places we’ve visited that have haunted me after because I could totally envision a life there. I’m a very gut-oriented person in that way. If it materializes in my mind’s eye, that’s a green flag to proceed.

I liked Palma de Mallorca, though. Wayne’s concerned about living on an island, however.

Vigo and Bilbao, Spain are also contenders. So are Lisbon and Porto, Portugal, and Montevideo or Punta del Estye, Uruguay.

Lately, however, one country has unexpectedly piqued my interest: Argentina. I can’t even tell you what placed it on my radar. It was a little bit on Wayne’s. The first time he mentioned it I immediately shot that down.

I chuckle now thinking about how vehemently I declared, “No! I’m not moving to Argentina!”

1st Stop: Argentina

I don’t remember what happened to make me reconsider, but I know it started with Mendoza. It was included in some kind of compilation video about places to retire. Something about it called to me. To the point that I looked up other videos specifically about it. The more I saw, the more I felt it: that siren call of enchantment beckoning to me, “This could be your place…”

Then we started watching AussieEspañol on YouTube. If you’re unfamiliar with that channel, Ryan is on a mission to be the first person to travel from Argentina to Alaska in a tuk tuk.

Well, he and his dog Patti, who our whole family is obsessed with. Even Mr. G. Either that or he likes Ryan’s Aussie accent. If he’s in another room when we start watching an episode, he races in.

But I’m pretty sure it’s Miss Patti that Mr. G is smitten with. Because I can even say, “We’re getting ready to watch a Patti episode,” when he’s outside (his most favorite place to be) and next thing I know he comes to snuggle on my lap to watch the show.

Anyway, Ryan started in Ushuaia, Argentina. Once I saw that, Argentina really had me hooked. It looked so much like Alaska, which is one of my most favorite places on earth. In fact, in a perfect world (one where I had unlimited money), I’d winter somewhere mild, and spend every summer in Alaska. Sadly, that’s not an option.

But Argentina is. Yes, they’ve experienced massive inflation too, and Milei is a character, but he does seem to be trying to improve his country’s economy. Unlike our president, who said, “When I win, I will immediately bring prices down, starting on Day One.” Instead, they continue getting more expensive. And I don’t see that changing anytime soon.

Ultimately, we’d like to visit all the places on our narrowed down list and make a decision. Will it happen that way? I don’t know.

Wayne and I finally decided that while airfare is cheaper to Spain, and takes less travel time, we’d rather bite the bullet and head to Argentina. So I guess we’ll start there…and possibly end there, if we like it enough. If not, we’ll explore our other options.

Chime In

Where in the world would you move if money and other issues were not a factor?