Lessons About Moving Abroad

Who among us hasn’t been cheered during an otherwise down time or learned an important life lesson from a dog?

About 20 years ago, when I was having a difficult time in a particularly tense business negotiation, I stopped for a moment and happened to look away from my computer screen and phone and towards the floor.  There, with new eyes, I saw Cookie, the family dog, fast asleep near my desk, as usual, her complete contentment and lack of concern in sharp contrast to my...

When in my early twenties, after crossing the border near San Diego with my friends and driving south in Mexico, I noticed lots of houses in which the construction had begun, but was not finished.

 

“How stupid”, I thought, viewing what I believed to be evidence of bad planning on a large scale by lots of silly people.  “What a waste!  Why get started if you don’t finish?”  (I may even have harrumphed, but I don’t remember.)

 

If you’re an expat, you may not want to read this. If you’re considering becoming an expat, you need to read it. Here’s what I’ve taken away, thus far, from my recent heart attack, and a very real brush with death in Medellin Colombia. Some of these insights I never imagined. Some of them were almost worth the roller coaster ride and associated pain and concern they presented.

 

We expats pride ourselves on our resourcefulness, our resilience, and our spirit...

The care I received for my cardiac event at Medellin’s Pablo Tobón Uribe hospital was excellent, with world-class attention, state of the art equipment, and highly professional staff. Tobón Uribe is a Joint Commission accredited institution, ranked as one of the best hospitals in Latin America. Indeed, my only complaint concerning the four days I was embedded there was about the mediocre meals. Hospitals must have been in competition with the airlines for worst food, and the airlines...

On Wednesday, January 7th 2018, while walking near my apartment in Medellin, I had a heart attack. I realize it was above and beyond the call of duty for a writer/contributor to go to this length for a story. No need to thank me, I’m recovering nicely, and because of my Colombian cardiac adventure I now have in-depth, personal info on health care in my adoptive country.

 

I once lived in Colombia. Now I live in the land of Ace Inhibitors, Beta Blockers, Plavix &...

My wife Jet and I had just left a party in an expat community with mostly retirees when she asked me an obviously rhetorical question.

“Did you notice?”

Of course, the very broadness of the question made it essentially impossible to give her a specific answer, so I gave pretty much the only response possible.  “Notice what?”

“How almost everyone we’ve met here seems to be so happy and at ease.  They’re all telling us about how they love it here and...

As much as I disdain essays that begin with the phrase, ‘your experience may be different,’ I have no choice here. Your experience obtaining a residency visa in Colombia may indeed be different. Here’s the latest info, and as the title indicates, it’s rudimentary.

 

You can visit Colombia as a tourist for up to 90 days. This may be extended for an additional 90 days, but the extension must be sought, it’s not automatic. In order to live in Colombia beyond...

(We thank the wonderful people and our good friends at Nextavenue.org, where this article was originally published July 28, 2016.)

 

I was at a lecture a few years ago where the speaker casually mentioned that most members of the audience were in the final third of their lives. As I looked around, I saw a lot of “old people,” so it seemed like he was right.

 

Then, I did the math relative to myself.

 

Oh, no! He was...