I moved to Paris from the United Kingdom in 2017, and while I expected some challenges along the way, I was surprised to discover that many of the things I’d been worrying about turned out not to be issues at all. However, in their place were several other unforeseen obstacles that I wished I’d been
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Sia and Mikael Lilja, who moved from Sweden to Japan, where they bought and are restoring an old house. It’s been edited for length and clarity. We’ve been together for 12 years and married for the last 4. In 2020, we bought a piece of land
Nine days into 2025, I stood at gate G7 in Amsterdam waiting to board my flight to Cape Verde to build a nomadic life on my own terms. A year and a half later, strangely enough, I’m still here. The temporary adventure turned into a life, complete with friends, routines, and a man who, after
Jeff Layfield spent years imagining where in the US. He and his wife would retire after leaving Hawaii. Instead, they now live in a traditional house overlooking the sea in Japan. Before retiring, the couple lived in an apartment upstairs in their parents’ home on Oahu. Layfield worked in data management for the Marine Corps,
I retired at 53 and have been slowly traveling the world with my husband for almost 2 years. Last month, while we were renting a villa in Bali, everything next to it usually went quiet at dusk. That’s when there was a knock on the door. “Tomorrow night there will be a party,” Kadek told
This September marks 10 years since my father died and I left not only Florida, but the United States. Leaving the country was difficult, but now I am experiencing a new kind of pain: losing my connection to the United States. My relationships with my friends, my family, and my hometown have changed, but so