According to Wikipedia, “an expatriate (often shortened to expat) is a person temporarily or permanently residing in a country other than that of the person’s upbringing. The word comes from the Latin terms ex (‘out of’) and patria (‘country, fatherland’)”.Mar 13, 2015
Wikipedia
Having lived my entire life in Tennessee, nearly all in 2 areas (Middle and East), I have always wanted to live somewhere else. Michael has lived in ET more than 30 years as well. We aren’t getting any younger and it feels like time is short. With retirement imminent for myself, and Michael newly retired, it seems like now is the right time to do something different!
There are multitudes of comparison websites out there for research into everything from climate/weather, sports, crime, happiness, food, environmental responsibility, affordability, etc. We used many of these over the last 5 years to narrow down items that were the most important to us for living. These are some of the rankings we used:
Global Residence Index on Healthcare
World Population Review on Violent Crime
Nation Master Comparative Statistics
The Galloways’ criteria for the desired location
- Climate and weather – warmer and less humid, however continuity is the key. I am over the multiple gray day and useless winter cold, as well as the rain deluges we seem to get on a regular basis now.
- Affordability – we must be able to live as well as or better than we do in Tennessee on the same budget
- Activities and Culture – Michael loves sailing, cooking, and bike riding; Leslie loves exploring, swimming, and sunshine. New location must have plenty of all.
- Healthcare – affordable and quality as good or better than in Tennessee.
- Education – I need to live where education is important, and the people take it seriously.
- Environmental Responsibility – goes without saying.
- Politics and Religion – less of both please.
- Niceness of the Locals – of course! No one wants to live around assholes.
- Language – I don’t speak any other language fluently but I’m willing to learn. As long as English is somewhat spoken I can muddle through.
- Food – I’m a picky eater so some places are easier for me than others. There must be some things I like at the very least so I can dip my toes into the local cuisine.
- Finance – our money is in the U.S. so ease of transfer without onerous fees and taxation is a must.