You’ve Just Gotta Try This

My Life in a Nut Graf

Back in college at Louisiana State University, I joined the intramural lacrosse team. And there are some facts about that decision you need to know for this dispatch to make sense:

1. I was 6’2” and 190 pounds soaking wet (while holding a 15-pound weight).
2. I was built like a bicycle: all handlebars and spokes.
3. I am unusually athletic for whatever reason.
4. And I will try anything once because life, to me, is about collecting experiences. You never know what you’re going to like unless you open your mind to opportunity.

Now, back to our story…

My first game as a lacrosse player was against Texas A&M. The only relevant truth is Texan boys are as corn-fed as Texan cattle. I had the ever-loving bad-word beaten out of me.

And I realized that while I’m really good at football, baseball, and soccer, lacrosse is best left to those who thrive on masochism, like that dude from Fifty Shades of Gray.

My point is that life, for me, has never been about knowing anything.

It has been about trying everything.

Only through trying can you get to the knowing.

Which brings me to my real topic —the “nut graf”—so late in this dispatch that my journalism professor back at LSU would likely fail me. That nut graf: Try something new now, before it’s too late to try anything other than a casket.

That something new for us is chasing a new happiness abroad.

Since joining International Living in 2018, I’ve spoken at several conferences focused on living and retiring overseas. And at every one of them, attendees approach me and tell me about their dreams of moving to Europe or Mexico or Costa Rica or wherever. But I can tell many are hesitant—unsure if this is the right move.

They’re worried about what friends and family might think.

Maybe I’m selfish, but honestly this is my life. By which I mean this is your life. You ride the merry-go-round once, and then Death comes to take you home.

I’m talking to Xers and Boomers here when I say we’re all at that age where we’ve each quietly contemplated how many more seasons we have. We have a relatively limited amount of time to live the life we want. The life we’ve dreamed about.

If living abroad falls into your dream repertoire, don’t let that dream fade. Feed it. Nurture it. Chase it down like a hound dog on the scent.

It’s not so hard really.

As I told attendees at the last IL conference in Denver, from the moment I made the decision to move to Europe from Long Beach, California, I was living on the continent in less than two months. I had my work permit for the Czech Republic in 10 weeks.

And I had my one-year, temporary residence visa in my passport one week shy of five months.

Those months might have well been days, because the newness of life as a foreigner—and living every day in a foreign land—was exciting and new (Love Boat theme song flashbacks, for those who remember).

That’s how quick a dream can manifest itself.

The first step: Taking the first step.

Do something that kickstarts the process and forces you to follow up. Find a visa agency in the country where you want to live and send them an email explaining your plans with questions on what’s needed to begin pursuing the residence visa you want. Maybe that’s a digital nomad/independent work visa. Maybe it’s a retirement/passive income visa.

Frankly, this is no different than juggling.

No one is born knowing how to juggle. You start by throwing a few balls in the air, and then reacting.

Same with chasing a life overseas. You throw a couple balls in the air and, well, you learn as you go. Soon enough you’re juggling… or living along the Riviera Maya or wherever.

See, it goes back to what I wrote up top: It’s not about knowing anything. It’s about trying everything.

Only way to know you hate lacrosse is to try… and get the hell beat out of you by a Texas A&M Aggie built like a steer.

Only way to chase your dream is to try… and either love the new life or miss the old one so much that you realize what you have is the dream.

Either way, you just gotta try.