An American couple sold their house in California and retired in Malaysia. They love 'not owning anything.'
"We knew that our income could go a lot farther in Malaysia, and we thought: 'We could actually do this. Why not?'" Ellen Eggers told BI.
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After 2 major hurricane seasons, they were done with Florida. Next stop: a hilltop villa in Thailand.
"I'd read something about Koh Samui being like a little Hawaii, and I thought we should go and try it," Wes Moss told BI.
A former flight attendant found unexpected peace in Bangkok. She left the Midwest to move there alone.
Antoinette Yvonne said her parents weren't shocked when she decided to move abroad, since she always followed through with her "crazy ideas."
She'd dreamed of retiring in Malaysia for years. At 58, she packed up her life in New Zealand and went for it.
"It's just so nice to be able to meet up with people without having to worry about, 'Oh, my God, how much is this going to cost?'" Jill Tozer said.
She bought the first apartment she viewed. It's in one of Singapore's most iconic public housing complexes.
In recent years, some of Singapore's public-housing apartments have prices soaring above 1 million Singapore dollars, or about $751,000.
They met in Bali, fell in love, and built 2 tiny houses among the rice fields for $30,000
Though one of them is Indonesian and able to buy land in Bali, the couple decided to lease the land because they didn't want to take it from the locals.
A mom chased the American dream. Her daughter walked away from it and moved to Thailand.
Chiang Mai caught the attention of Katherine Phillips, 32, when she kept noticing the name show up on lists of popular destinations for digital nomads and expats.
He left the US and moved to Malaysia to retire a decade ago. Now, he lives in a $620-a-month apartment in the capital.
Andrew Taylor, 70, said he would've had to continue working if he'd stayed in the US. Some older Americans are still working because they can't afford to retire.
A Gen Xer was laid off from her job in LA and moved to Bali to retire early — 5 years later, her mom followed suit
"She's in her senior years and needs support, and I have the opportunity to help her with that," Debbie Welsch told BI.
A Gen X couple bought an abandoned house in Japan for $23,000. They're restoring it as part of their retirement plan.
The couple was told that the house in Japan had been vacant for 12 years and had served as a sake brewery until the early 1900s.
They bought an abandoned house in rural Japan for $6,500. Now, they're renting it out on Airbnb for $130 a night.
The couple applied for a startup business visa, which allows foreigners to move to Japan to start a small business.
A millennial couple in Singapore spent 8 months turning a rundown unit into their dream home. Take a look inside.
The couple told BI that they viewed 20 different places before buying the first floor of a 1950s house for about $1.34 million.
At 18, she dreamed about moving to Japan. When she turned 50, she quit her job and bought an abandoned home near Osaka.
Chani felt stuck in a rut, working 10-hour days as a teacher. "I just can't keep going on this treadmill. I've got to change something," she told BI.
He was stressed out and unfulfilled living in NYC. So, at 25, he left and moved to Bangkok to start anew.
Paul Lee traveled to Bangkok for a break from New York. "But then I liked it so much that I decided to move there," he told BI.
A retired Florida cop moved to Thailand with his wife and their dog. He says his new life is cheaper, safer, and less stressful.
"I never realized how hypervigilant I was all the time, even off-duty, until I moved here," the retired cop told BI.
She felt trapped in her corporate job in NYC, so she quit and moved to South Korea. Now, she lives alone in a $640-a-month loft.
"When I started working, at entry level, I didn't understand how people in New York could afford rent and food and to do things," Chen Teng said.
A California family of 5 found a house in Scotland listed for under $270,000. The catch: It was half the size of their old place.
"Seeing what the children could get by being over here was sort of nostalgic. It brought us back to the '90s childhood we had," Annie told BI.
She was still in college when she started applying for the housing lottery. Now, she pays $1,600 for a one-bedroom apartment in NYC.
Rent prices in NYC grew more than seven times as fast as wages in 2023, according to a May report from Zillow.
They got priced out of NYC, so they bought a $160,000 house in Vermont — but country life doesn't mean they're 'suddenly wealthy'
The one-bedroom house, which came with 2.6 acres of land, was initially listed for $225,000.