Would it surprise you to know that you have had a high-ticket, money-making skill since you were 7 years old…one that is truly in demand in the global market…a skill that foreign executives pay top dollar hourly rates to learn?  What skill could a 7-year-old possibly possess that a CEO would pay top dollar for? […]

The ferry from Istanbul to the island of Büyükada in the Sea of Marmara takes about 75 minutes. It’s a basic, unadorned commuter ferry, really—nothing like the high-speed, comfortable, tourist-centric ferries that zipped me through the Aegean Sea to the Greek island of Santorini last summer. My fiancé, Yuliya, was relaxing as best she could […]

Here’s my problem: I want to do everything. And I want to do everything right now.  On a certain level, I’ll argue this is a beneficial character trait. It means I have institutional knowledge about a broad base of topics and experiences, and personally I like that because it informs my writing. Want to know […]

In 2006, I took my first trip to Italy, visiting the renowned city of Florence. At the time, I was an aspiring New York City event planner. However, eager to explore Italy, I decided to accept a position with a tour operator that assists American university students on their travels. I departed New York thinking […]

Italy Italy is consistently ranked among the top 10 countries in the world for healthcare. It also has the highest average life expectancy in Europe, according to the U.N. Development Program. These facts verify what I see on the ground every day: Italy is a healthy place to live.  The Italian healthcare system is affordable […]

I had planned to write a different column today…and then I was thinking about an article that appears in the October issue of The Savvy Retiree and, well, I just really wanted to write about it. I think it says so much about the real world of freelancing and the possibilities that exist there, particularly […]

Disillusioned with life in the Atlanta suburbs, Grace Alexander and her wife, Amanda, decided to search for a better life overseas for themselves and their three children. “We were dissatisfied with things in the U.S. Our health wasn’t great. We didn’t love living in the South. So, we started looking for alternatives,” says Grace.  With […]

In May 2006, I arrived in Uruguay for a two-week stay. During my time exploring this gem of a country, I experienced a peacefulness that seemed to emanate from both the landscape and the culture.  As my planned departure date grew near, I felt reluctant to leave. The idea of making a new life in […]

Is English your first language? Then you have all the skills you need to teach English online.  You know how to speak with correct pronunciation. You have an extensive vocabulary base. You’re familiar with common idioms and expressions in English. You use correct grammar when speaking or writing. All of these abilities are highly coveted […]

I just paid $1.78 for a half-liter of beer while spending my lunchtime at a park in Prague where I enjoy writing. That’s neither here nor there, save for the fact that American friends often ask me what life costs living abroad.  Which got me thinking that maybe there’s an interesting column this weekend in […]

At 23 years old, I accepted an internship as a teaching assistant in a private school in southern Brazil. Although the pay was low, I learned an invaluable lesson from that experience that helped me build my dream life abroad: teaching English can be a passport to seeing the world.  Fast-forward to age 33 and […]

I want to start off today with a graphic… That’s the month-to-month income growth through the first six months of 2020 for U.S.-based freelancers, according to Payoneer, a popular money-transfer and cross-border payment system that I and other freelancers rely on for getting paid. To me, it’s a telling number because it says so much […]

I just Googled, “How Learning English Changed My Life” and there were over a billion search results. Now, not every result had those exact words. There were many variations, like… “How learning English changed the course of my life.” “Learning English is the best decision I ever made.” “How learning English has enriched my life.” […]

Catherine Lefevre is the embodiment of what’s possible in the modern working world. A French-Canadian living in Panama, she works remotely in accounting and compliance for a Colombia-based company that serves clients in the U.S. By choosing to live in affordable Panama City, she’s been able to buy a condo. She’s also a co-owner of […]

A message recently received from one of my friends: “So, like, if I wanted to get a visa to live in Prague, could I? I mean, I’m not saying I want to, yet. But, like, could I—just in case?” It’s the “just in case” that stopped me.  I’m accustomed to questions from friends and acquaintances […]

I am “Out of the Office.” Not for you—I mean, you are reading this column, so I did, in fact, write it. But for all those people out there who want me to edit and format their screenplays, I’m actually not around at the moment. And let me tell you why: There are only so […]

“You have one of the nicest rooms,” the hotel clerk insisted as she walked me up a flight of wooden stairs. She pushed open the door to a spacious room and steered me to a set of French doors that she flung open, almost cinematically, to reveal the ancient, Venetian port of Chania, Greece just […]

Money magazine called me last week. One of its reporters wanted to chat about Americans who are increasingly interested in skedaddling to destinations south of the Rio Grande—particularly Panama, Mexico, Colombia, Uruguay, and Brazil. So many Americans now have the capacity to work from wherever, and the cost-of-living is generally so much cheaper, that relocating […]

Once our children left home, my husband, Pete, and I realized the days of big family dinners and holiday gatherings were going to be much less frequent. So, in our 40s, we sold absolutely everything we owned and decided to explore as many countries as we could over a five-year period and then settle back […]

Growing up, my Sunday looked like many other Italian-American’s. From pasta and fresh bread to dinners ending with espresso, Sunday’s were about famiglia. At the time, I took this for granted, not understanding how special these occasions were. When I lost my grandfather and then shortly after my father to cancer, I realized our Italian […]

A larger trend that began several years ago is now ramping up as an after-effect of the COVID-19 pandemic: the work-and-live anywhere lifestyle of digital nomadism. What was once mainly a trend among millennials has become a coveted lifestyle among various age groups that now have the freedom to move about the world and work.  […]