Where Not to Move Abroad (Avoid These 3 Countries)

Most Americans make a HUGE mistake and walk right into a trap when they move abroad. Before you spend thousands or waste your golden years, I’ll show you the three countries Americans THINK will save them, what they’re ACTUALLY like, and where you should be looking instead if you want a lasting lifestyle upgrade, not just a change of scenery.

When Americans come to us considering a move abroad, they often start with English-speaking countries – usually the UK, Australia, or Canada. It’s a safe transition, right? Similar culture, familiar laws, and no language barrier.

But there’s a massive problem with that assumption, and it could ruin your move abroad before it even begins.

These countries offer almost the exact same experience as the US, which sounds comforting until you realize that’s also the trap.

If you’re leaving the US in search of a better life overseas… If you’re leaving America to escape high taxes, expensive healthcare, social and political tension, ever-increasing costs, cultural burnout… These places aren’t going to fix any of that. We’ll highlight a few countries later where your dollar triples, healthcare is better, and the culture actually heals you. But let’s first talk about why to avoid these three countries.

For example, the average cost of living in Toronto is on par with Boston, Chicago, and Seattle. The healthcare is free, but as you may know, it can take years to get a simple operation. One of our clients just gave up waiting for 48 months – 4 YEARS – for a simple knee operation and got it done in a 2-week timeframe in Costa Rica. 

London and Sydney, Australia! Similar to San Francisco cost of living. Housing is ridiculously expensive, and locals in both cities are suffering because of it. 

What if I told you that in many cases – especially when it comes to day-to-day life – costs are higher in these three countries than in the US? They also deal with many of the same political and social issues that the US does – drug crises, political polarization, dissatisfaction with government, increasing crime rates, etc. UK Prime Minister Kier Starmer has the lowest ever approval rating. Never heard of him? Exactly.

Here’s another point that often goes unaddressed: You have earned a strong currency for all your life. The only issue is that you also spent and continue to spend that strong currency. If your goal is not to work any longer and stretch your dollar as far as possible, you need to spend a currency weaker than the one you’ve earned, where you can access a significant advantage, and where most importantly, your quality of life improves.

By the way, we exposed 44 different geoarbitrage-able destinations in our free 162-page guide linked below. Check it out.

So the question becomes: if you move abroad and everything feels the same, what was the point of moving at all? Just to switch it up? That’s an expensive tweak, no?

I’ve lived abroad for almost a decade across 15 different countries. I believe the truth is this: The Anglosphere gives you familiarity, but not transformation. If you’re trying to not only change your life but measurably improve it, you need a new environment.

So where do you go if you actually want something different – not just different branding on the same problems?

Countries like Mexico, Thailand, and Argentina deliver (and have been delivering for decades) that life upgrade for thousands of Americans while the usual suspects (Canada, UK, Australia) fall short.

Let’s talk cost of living first. 

In Mexico, you can eat incredible food (big bonus!) for a few hundred bucks a month, rent a spacious apartment for $1000 a month, and afford private plan, world-class healthcare for $100-$200 a month. What does that same coverage cost in the US? Drop a comment below and let me know what you’re currently paying for housing in the US.

Thailand offers a more tropical, humid climate where in cities like Chiang Mai and Bangkok, you’re always within walking distance or a short metro ride from everything you need. Walkability changes lives! Fancy restaurants, high-quality clothing – All this stuff can’t stack up to the cost you’re paying in your home country.

Argentina offers a European lifestyle without the European price tag; a really rich, beautiful, historic, and proud history and culture; and of course, my favorite part of life in the Southern Cone, world-class wine and steak. This is why Argentines can get kind of a nasty reputation with the rest of Latin America – because they often come off as more cultured, sophisticated, and worldly than the rest of the region. And I totally get it!

In each of these three places, families stick together. Culture and tradition is deeply engrained in their people from the day they’re born. Climate is far more favorable than that of the Midwest or New England. Cities are far more walkable and you don’t need that account-draining everyday tool we call a car. Life moves at a pace that prioritizes humans over hustle.

Compare these three destinations to Canada, where a one-bedroom in Vancouver will still run you $3,000 per month, and forget about owning unless you’re bringing seven or eight figures. Even then, we’re talking about a shed, not a home. Or you could spend just $800 a month on a luxury, 3-bedroom condo in the jungles of Chiang Mai. 

Or contrast lifestyle. Social life in Toronto and London can feel just as cold, disconnected, and distant as it does in a fast-paced US city.

The key argument some of you will bring up in the comments is inevitably safety. Of course, this is a factor. You will GENERALLY be safer in these three countries than you would be in other regions of the world. But many cities in Latin America and Asia, especially those popular with expats, have comparable or even better safety metrics than major US cities. Get this – Once the world’s most dangerous city, Medellín, Colombia, now has a lower homicide rate than Washington DC for crying out loud. And we don’t recommend you stay in the sketchiest parts of the developing world. With your dollar-denominated retirement or employment income, you can afford to live in a gated community with 24/7 security in most developing countries in the world.

“But what about infrastructure?” Valid. And yes, some places have growing pains. But if you’re flexible, patient, and open-minded, what you GAIN in freedom can far outweigh what you temporarily give up in convenience. And some of these countries may surprise you with their fast development, lovely people, and efficient, walkable cities.

You don’t have to choose between safety and savings, or culture and comfort. You just have to stop looking where everyone else is going and start looking where improvement – again, not just change – is possible. That’s a HUGELY important distinction.

Here’s what I want you to leave this video thinking: Retiring abroad is about reinvention. And reinvention doesn’t happen in your comfort zone.

It’s not that these countries are bad. It’s that they’re too familiar to push you into a better version of yourself. Same stress, same spending habits, same political tension, same general social issues – just a different backdrop.

When you move to Canada, the UK, Ireland, or Australia, the systems are so similar – the taxes, the media, the social expectations – that you don’t actually improve your lifestyle.

You eat the same food. You spend the same way. You consume the same headlines. Same. Same. Same. 

Let’s be honest – The US has become a pressure cooker for the rats of the rat race. And if you’re leaving to escape that heat, going to a country that mirrors its every move is just relocation, not the reinvention or transformation we’ve talked about today.

We’ve worked with hundreds of retirees who realized this too late. They moved to Vancouver, or London, or Brisbane – and felt the same burnout.

But the ones who’ve moved to Mexico City, to Medellín, to Chiang Mai – even with a bit of cultural friction – have, by and large, ended up happier, healthier, and freer.

Now, I’m not recommending you go somewhere extreme. I’m just saying you should be intentional. Don’t chase familiarity. Chase better outcomes.

This isn’t really about where you move: It’s about who you become as a result of your new environment. And if you get the country wrong, you might never get to the version of you you came looking for.

If you want a different life, you have to choose a different environment. The goal isn’t to replicate America when you move overseas. It’s to escape it.

If you’re curious about where hundreds of our expat clients are heading, watch this video on the 7 best destinations for US retirees in 2025. We broke down visas, taxes, and a whole lot more. Check that video out right here.