The American Dream as it exists today is a hamster wheel grind that keeps roughly 60% of the population living in poverty. The minimum work week consists of 40 hours, overtime is often mandatory if you want to retain your position, and the threat of being downsized in favor of someone who is willing to do your job for half the pay is constantly hanging over your head. The hope is that one day, when you are around 65 years of age, you will finally have enough money saved up to be “allowed” to retire, at which point you can kick your feet up and enjoy a life of relaxation and luxury. But until you reach that point, you have nothing to look forward to other than a continual grind of 8 hour work shifts, barely managing to pay your bills on time. And, if you are like most Americans, you are actually juggling your bills and paying alternating ones late each month so that you can just manage to squeeze by.
Thankfully, there is a way to break out of this so-called American Dream. The expat lifestyle is something that has sprung up in the past decade since the advent of global Internet, with more and more Americans looking beyond the borders of the U.S. to find stability and security in wages. It’s not a new concept, since expats have been living and working abroad for years, but it’s one that is easier than ever now that the Internet is a global phenomenon.
This is the independent expat lifestyle, also known as the digital nomad lifestyle. By living in countries around the world you can bypass the entire mortgage/debt/40 hour work week lifestyle and instead become a location independent traveler who lives anywhere you want, setting your own schedule and living a permanent vacation as a digital nomad.
Imagine having $1,000 a month actually be worth the same as $3,000 per month, or even $4,000 per month. That is the reason so many expats are exploring the digital nomad lifestyle, because when you take your business to a country like Bulgaria or Thailand, Mexico or Colombia, your dollars are worth three to four times what they are back in the United States. As long as you have an Internet connection and some form of digital income (such as PayPal or direct bank deposits) you can live as an expat, which means pensioners or any type of freelancer or individual working on the Internet can transition over, out of the brick-and-mortar and into the full-time traveler life.
Almost every country around the world has the flexibility to allow expats to pursue the location independent lifestyle, because they usually only have a per month requirement for income and then a couple of weeks of waiting for your application to be approved. As long as you can provide proof of income or pension on a monthly basis, you are good to go. Usually this is around $1,000 per month for countries like Mexico, Colombia and Bulgaria, for example, and once you prove to the government that you make the minimum you can move ahead into the international expat existence. You won’t need a 30 year mortgage where you are going, because the sky is very literally the limit when you can make $4,000 or $5,000 per month on your average salary but only need to use $1,000 per month on your actual cost of living.
You can save thousands per year living as an international digital nomad in countries around the world. You could live in Mexico, Uruguay, Colombia or any other country just as easily as you could at home.