You're Never Too Old to Start Over Again
Too Old for This Sh*t: How to Take Your Life Back from an Ageist Society
Recent events may mean big moves for all of us, so let’s talk
For people who were already contemplating a move out of the United States, recent changes may have convinced you to finally consider that shift. For my part, I count on the VA, its healthcare and Social Security to stay housed and fed. Changes are coming to all those offerings.
However you may feel about government bloat and inefficiency (and I largely agree), the fact is that when such programs are sliced, a great many people are likely to get hurt. The promise of how “it’s going to hurt for a while and then it will get better” is a red herring to my ears.
If you’re old enough, “a while” can take up much of the last of your life as you struggle to pay for your essentials waiting for the promised “better.”
Good friends feel I am overblowing the danger. While I honor that viewpoint, the military part of me is wise enough to realize that the next four years are going to be bumpy.
For some if not many, bumpy enough financially to choose to consider becoming an ex-pat.
This isn’t about politics. It’s about being responsible about my remaining years, and the quality of those years. These would be issues no matter how the election had gone, with the terrible state of healthcare, inflation and the predatory nature of our society, especially on the elderly.
Plenty of our fellow Substackers are already living overseas, and writing about those experiences. Where they land is as varied as their lifestyles. A cottage in a French village sounds like heaven to some, while a pricey condo in downtown Bogota sounds terrific to others.
I’d considered this in 2022, but my house refused to sell. I recommitted to my current dream home, and in fact am just putting the finishing touches on it. Those touches wiped out my savings, and I made them based on the assumption that my income was stable.
Right now that’s not a good assumption.
Being older/old/ancient in America is already rough work. It’s not going to get easier, either. For example, medicine is further privatized for rank profit and a great many good doctors are getting their passports and investigating other countries. That’s just one area. Inflation is another. Rampant corporate greed, another.
I would prefer that my final years not be a struggle to survive as it already is for too many.
So in the vein of hope for the best and plan for the worst, I started planning this week.
I had a conference call just now with my friend and expert on ex-pat living, Tim Leffel.
Tim’s a great many things, including the guy who can help you boost your travel writing career. You can find that at TravelWriting2.com. You can also buy his book of the same name.
I’ve written articles for his site PerceptiveTravel.com.
That’s not why we were talking. Tim spends a lot of time keeping up with ex-pat communities all over the world. His book A Better Life for Half the Price is the best book on the topic.
For people who are even thinking about moving overseas, I strongly recommend that you invest in Tim’s book. He updates it regularly. He’s continually blogs about the changes which affect our choices.
For those who are leaping at any ex-pat straw they can find, please slow down and do your research. Many, many factors go into this choice, including all the legal ramifications of such a move and whether or not there’s a stable, welcoming government.
As we’ve seen, a government can change at any time. As I was considering Colombia, there were significant changes to the availability of health care to expats. Health care costs skyrocketed. That’s likely to happen when ex-pats show up with expensive, complex diseases that the locals largely don’t have, and those expats want free or cheap health care.
Expect this kind of thing to continue, and expect that there may be stricter health requirements to get in some countries.
The other thing to realize is that in-country expat Facebook groups are just as full of the ugliness we see in America. You can’t escape it, so plan for reality.
When I considered Colombia back in 2022, I spent three weeks to take a look around in an area close to a big city, which I would need, and where I’d find English-speakers. It was in that part of the country I’d be most happy: high, cool, wet and gorgeous. Had my house sold, that might have happened.
Your move might depend on the sale of your home. Had my home sold as planned back in 2022 I might well be living in or near Manizales, Colombia.
If you have other resources and options, you still need to choose well so that you don’t find yourself irritated that your new home isn’t “American enough.”
You’re not just moving. You and I have to move our attitudes, assumptions and ways of being as well to adapt, just as all immigrants do.
Isn’t it interesting that when it’s us, we’re an expat, but if it’s them, they’re immigrants?
Reminds me of the old George Carlin quip: if it’s your stuff it’s stuff. If it’s their stuff, it’s shit.
Mexico might seem like a great deal. As I just learned from Tim, the minimum wage has doubled as their industry and trade with America have grown. With that, the income requirements for ex-pats who want residency also increased exponentially. Areas near the beach are much more pricey as everywhere, as more rich Americans move south and real estate prices leap accordingly.
I’ve got Tim’s books and will be poring over them carefully over the next weeks and months.
Hope for the best, plan for the worst.
I’ve already spoken to my real estate agent, know the current value of my home and the state of the market. That all will change again as the months roll forward.
Your passport may be welcome but it also has to be current. You can look at the State Department’s online renewal here. Be aware, it’s getting lots of attention right now. Don’t count on the four to six weeks, in other words.
Tim’s years of work in this area make him the go-to expert. He has an under-$200 package deal where you can sign up for his Facebook group, get two consulting sessions (worth $150) and participate in forums where you can learn about your chosen destination and more. He is a wellspring of relevant information.
If this intrigues you, please see this.
As you can imagine, after the last election Tim’s sites saw a surge of interest. My call was one of many he’s fielding even as he continues to update his research all over the world. People want answers and good resources.
If you were toying with the idea before, and now it feels a lot more real, stop Googling Canada. Start reading experts on expats, and take the time to think carefully about where to land.
Tim’s books and his offerings are an excellent place to begin once you take your finger off the panic button. I’m not panicked; I have my moments but ultimately, it’s about being prepared.
You’ve got this. I’ve got this. Life goes on.
For some of us life may need to go on somewhere else. There are still places where our (up-to-date) passports are welcome.
For many millions of Americans already, home is somewhere else now. For some a move may be enticing. For others like me, it might be inevitable for financial reasons.
One more thing about moving, no matter whether it’s down the block, to another state or across the world.
Texas has a love affair with Augustus McCrae, Texas Ranger, and hero of one of my most beloved mini-series, Lonesome Dove. In one of my favorite scenes, Gus is soothing Lorie, who wants so badly to go to San Francisco:
“Lorie darlin’, life in San Francisco, you see, is still just life.”
I chose to come to Oregon because I wanted the trees, the rain, the weather. It was perfect. But life is still life. Work to do, bills to pay, the same everyday challenges. There is no magic fix for just life. That’s between our ears.
If things do not bode well for some of us, we may well decide to leave. But wherever we go next, it’s still just life. As with all of life, then…
Let’s play.
These are interesting times. I’m all in for finding a positive way forward. Like many I am genuinely concerned, and still deeply committed to doing well by my fellow human. I hope this article was useful to you especially if a move has crossed your mind. Above all, travel where you think you might want to live. That will be on my agenda this coming year, which will take me back to Ecuador and other places I want to explore. What a great excuse to get out and about.
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"Stop googling Canada." Absolutely. We won't be a safe haven from the next four years. In fact, we may very well suffer more than those of you in the U.S. with the Trump tariffs and the end of our open borders and the likely contamination if not outright theft of our natural resources.
You should also warn people that Americans - all 360 million of you, regardless of who you voted for - are going to be blamed worldwide, including Spain and Portugal and everywhere else you think of as a safe haven - for the collapse of your democracy (and theirs) and your withdrawal from NATO and flagrant disregard for climate change. Of course those with money will be welcomed anywhere -that's never going to change - but those of you who wish to bring your U.S. "values", without the wealth, may be in for a rude awakening.
Left out as one of the adjustments to living elsewhere is language. English-speakers are notoriously entitled in this regard, expecting to be able to live elsewhere without adapting. I've had to learn enough French, Spanish, Thai, Karen, etc. to be able to function at a basic level in places I've lived. It's not impossible, and definitely not restricted to the young or a fictional category of person with gifts for language. It only requires intentionality and an investment of time, regardless of age. When you factor that into your relocation decisions, the world opens up considerably.