What I Dislike About Living Abroad After 20 Years in 60 Countries

I love living abroad, there are also a LOT of downsides to leading an expat or digital nomad lifestyle. After traveling to 60 countries in 20 years, these are the main negative things I dislike the most about living abroad. (Make sure to see my other video linked below for the positives of living abroad.) TIMESTAMPS:

00:00 Highlights (negatives about living abroad)
00:52 #1 Far from family and friends
2:17 #2 Miss out on life events
3:33 #3 No real home
5:40 #4 Saying good-bye
6:22 #5 Dating is hard
8:19 #6 Not fully accepted by locals
9:45 #7 Not fitting in anywhere (home or abroad)
11:05 #8 Experiencing discrimination
15:09 #9 Painful learning curve (culture and logistics)
18:12 #10 Getting scammed
19:24 #11 Language barriers
21:08 #12 You become your country's representative
22:14 #13 Paying US Taxes
23:49 #14 Uncertainty

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👱🏻‍♀️ About: Kristin Wilson is a digital nomad, online entrepreneur, and expat relocation consultant who has lived, worked, or traveled in 60 countries over the last 15+ years. In the past decade, she has helped 1,000's of people move abroad or travel full-time while working remotely.

Kristin is also a writer, speaker, podcaster, and TV host who has been featured on The Today Show, HGTV's House Hunters International, Huffpost, Bloomberg Businessweek, The New York Times, Business Insider, ESPN, and more.

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NOTE: This video is for informational and entertainment purposes only and is not individual consulting or advice. Global travel restrictions and advisories change frequently. Please consult the relevant authorities such as your local government, airline, embassy, consulate, and/or tourism providers before booking international travel, moving to a foreign country, or applying for a work permit or work and travel visa.

#livingabroad #movingabroad #expat

[TravelingwithKristin]

What do you dislike about living abroad or something you're worried about? Comment below and I'll give any advice I can 🙂

[Nrmad]

Gotta say you're one of the few travel channels that I take the time to watch past the first few minutes. I feel like your comments and reflections are interesting, well thought out without the fluff or BS of other channels. You're not out here trying to crack jokes every few seconds or get the perfect luxurious footage of you in each country. You talk like a real person with some self awareness.

[catherinemourounas]

I lived in Greece for 12 years, and it was, a wonderful experience. It had ups and downs, and I was advised by a psychologist friend to not think about whether I liked it there, or not for the first year. Well, I tried my best to follow that advice, and tried not to compare with the US, and the lifestyle I had here in NYC. The only time my heartstrings were tugged was when I spoke long distance to my best friend or a family member. Eventually, in 2014 I moved back to US-and have regretted that decision to do so. The family members who encouraged me to move back? Well now they totally ignore me, they don't think the way I do, are very closed minded and make no bones that they think I made a mistake by leaving the US. Just goes to show-always follow your gut, not family advice! At least in my case!

[ronbeaubien]

Number six is so true. After traveling and living abroad, I don't fit in abroad and I don't fit in at home either. It can feel very isolating.

[A_Bunch_of_Savages]

I really appreciate the thoughtfulness and high quality of your work.

[pokuspony]

It can be an extremely lonely lifestyle, regardless of the great sights you get to see and the cool people you meet so briefly. The outsider feeling never goes away either, but just gets stronger. It is a hard balance of trying to understand how lucky you are for experiencing so much, and how sad it can be to float through it all mostly alone and relatively disconnected. I can't imagine the most simple things like buying a sofa of my own or having dinner with people who have known me for more than a couple of months. These are odd things to miss out on, but it is a weird part of being human. Some things about being human do not disappear while living an extraordinary life.

[gomertube]

She may not have been able to express the feeling at the time, but I am certain that your grandmother was thrilled that you were by her side. Those moments are priceless.

[nathangoode]

From my well over 40 years of worldwide travels and still continuing to do so heavily, these are very real and valid points. Traveling is an opportunity cost of missed events, yet amazing and gained life experiences and mindsets. There are many mental and physical tips and processes that can help people quickly adapt to unknown and semi permissive environments. Excellent video and thoughts.

[chasca]

I lived in West Germany for 7 years. Not a day went by when I wasn't asked "When are you leaving?" Finally, after 7 years, when I announced that I was, thankfully, leaving, then everyone said, "Why are you leaving?" The anamolies of living abroad.

[michaelsix]

when you think about life is a process of saying good-bye and letting go, the trick is realizing our life is short and you must be fully in the moment

[Wonkaforever]

Another thing she doesn’t touch on (most likely because she’s young), I’ve heard from older nomads that living abroad they have zero retirement back up plans. They have not accumulated any social security or pension funds from working in one place for a long period of time. Some may think this is trivial until they are pushing late 50’s and realize they don’t have enough savings and will get zero assistance from any government or pension. Something to definitely plan for.

[jorgecervantesmj]

Great video! Honest direct and impartial. After more than 20 years outside my home country, your words ring true to me. Having a home base is essential for stability. Besos y abrazos.

[AlwaysHereAndNow]

Kristin, this is so honest and accurate. I found that for me, being an explorer and world traveler was/is part of my identity, and I had to reconcile my growing need to have a home base. Making a place my own even if only a rental has been a slow process. I found that my inability to settle down had (also) to do with unhealed trauma and never having felt that my home growing up was a safe space because of all the drama that was going on. So having my home didn't feel safe to my subconscious mind, if that makes sense. I know everyone's journey is unique and each life is complex, but I have noticed that pattern in other serial travelers and expats. For each one to find their own balance of travels and staying in place, but when the nomadism becomes escapism (which it had for me, or linked to relationships pulling me here or there), it is time to face deeper fears and be willing to try something else.

[brandonbufe]

I admire your honesty and wisdom as much as I do your bravery, Kristiin.

[chrisclermont]

I want to personally thank you for your sidebar about discrimination at 12:12. As a person of color who travels abroad and married to someone from a foreign nation, it is great to appreciate the care and consideration you put into your vidlogs. You are awesome!! All the best.

[Max]

You did a frank and candid analysis of discrimination in certain foreign countries. It is generally a deal breaker for most people, whether or not they want to stay in that country.

[hadenwesley]

Love this. I've been abroad enough to empathize with all of it. As for coming back, I never was the same--in good ways, but definitely causes a disconnect with family. However, a friend was in Asia for about 12 years and returned, and something I never thought about when you return to your home culture after so long, the culture itself has changed, so you can never truly return home since both it and you are so different.

[mramachandran]

I have to admit that I was reluctant to watch your videos initially, but I
appreciate your philosophy, depth of knowledge, humility, and perspectives. I especially enjoyed the extended segment about discrimination. Most travel videos ignore the fact that there are BIPOC travelers who actually might be treated better abroad. (Or much worse than white travelers.) I loved everything you said and how you said it! :)

[seanayah]

This video really resonated with me. I spent almost four years traveling in my 20’s. I loved investigating every nook and cranny in caves or cenotes in Mexico and Guatemala or observing stoic people in Sweden and looking for stains or imperfections in spotless Denmark. The experiences I had through Central and South America, Europe, and the Middle East were so rich and exciting, and I loved meeting people from all over the world and just investing time with them. I will always treasure my spontaneous journey, I said yes to everything. But at 29, I grew tired of moving around in cheap hostels and short term rentals, or the complications of simple tasks due to language, and the other travelers kept getting younger and could drink and stay up longer or had more energy, and every time I fell in love it was fleeting, plus my resources were depleted. The world started to look and feel ugly to me, and my attitude changed. I was no longer easy going and eager to learn about people and cultures. Instead, I was offended that they expected me to change for them, and I was stubborn. That’s when I knew it was time to come home. I got a job back in my hometown. Then the pandemic happened. I bought a house and I’ve been hunkering down. It’s taken me years to adjust to being back, but my attitude is getting better and my bright-eyed youthful elation and curiosity for the world is coming back, slowly but surely. I’m taking a trip soon, to Austin, TX for a weekend and getting out of my comfort zone again, this time I’m eager to see more of the USA. Thank you, Kristin.

[wendemather]

This was a fantastic video Kristin. You are so well spoken and informative. My husband and I sold everything in northern Canada, when our youngest went off to university, and went looking for a new home abroad. We tried Mexico, Ecuador, Panama and the Dominican Republic over the course of 3 years and chose the interior of Mexico. We experienced most of what you listed as reasons for disliking living abroad, but the ones we can add to your list are : increase in violence which threatened our safety, sharp increases in medical insurance, changes in airlines servicing the area, and the 180 degree policy changes regarding expats almost every time the government changed. We were permanent residents, but had to live under a different set of rules and laws. It wore us down as we got older and when my husband was getting ready to retire, we made the heart wrenching decision to sell everything once again and we go back to Canada. That was 8 years ago, and we still miss what we had, but know it will never be that way again if we went back. You are doing such a vital and honest service to the people on your channel…keep up the good work.