Packing Our Bags -- Leaving On a Jet Plane; The Road to Becoming a Retired Expat

OUR BAGS ARE PACKED and ready to go, and within a year or so my husband Fred, Popsicle the cat. Ralph the dog and I are leaving on a jet plane, heading for South America - and we do not know when we'll be back, again! We do anticipate an adventure of our lifetime as new expats, a word that may sound a little strange to some people who are out of the expat loop, and definitely, a word I would not have used around my WWII father, who might have felt we were being unpatriotic.

A familiar scene from Cuenca, Ecuador -- a growing South American expat community

FIRST KNOW WHERE the word expat comes from, and that it is quite okay to be one: expat is short for expatriate-meaning someone temporarily or permanently residing in a country and culture other than that of his or her upbringing.

The word comes from two Latin terms: ex meaning "out of" and patria for "country" or "fatherland." (Expatriation is also used in a legal sense to mean renunciation of allegiance: the Expatriation Act of 1868 referred in its preamble to "the right of expatriation" as a "natural and inherent right of all people, indispensable to the enjoyment of the rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.")
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There are many reasons why people make this change, especially in this age of globalization as work reasons are often the case for becoming an expat. Even if a person is older and formally retired, some are opting for a new career in the export business, for example, and relocating to a country where they can retire and make extra money.

Sometimes people simply fall in love with a region or country, and there are still others who become expats because they want to try out a different life - to find something other than what they are used to.

One thing to know is that expatriates will differ enormously from one another and although they are often referred to as a homogenous group, they really are a group of people comprised of all sorts of personalities who make this decision for a variety of reasons.

So why are Fred, Popsicle, Ralph and I leaving for Ecuador? We love our country and have decided to change our retirement location for fun, economics, and other reasons. Like so many older folks whose retirement funds were lost over the past few years, we are moving away partly due to high costs of healthcare and dental care, rising food, transportation and housing costs in the U.S.

Like some others making this choice, we still want to believe that we can help people in other parts of the world, as volunteers in their schools and agencies, as purchasers of their goods and services, and in other roles as we discover new cultures, learn new languages and meet interesting people - all activities that are definitely good for the brain and the soul as one grows old.

HAVE YOU NOTICED that "expat" is cropping up more and more in articles and blogs on retirement? This is because more and more retired folks are packing it up and moving to places all over the globe. If you look around the Internet, you will bump into various "top ten" lists of retiring expat destinations with these countries seem to be making many of today's lists: Panama, Thailand, Bulgaria, Mexico, Uruguay, Ecuador, South Africa, Malaysia, Argentina and Costa Rica.

Reasons typically include low cost of quality healthcare, cost of living, rate of money exchange, government stability and more. Organizations such as International Living maintain reports that constantly rate and update expat destinations in these categories and more.

We have chosen our new home to be Cuenca, Ecuador, a South American city sometimes referred to as the Athens of South America because of the high number of colleges and universities in this town of nearly one-half million people. Santa Ana de los Curator Ríos de Cuenca, the city's formal name -- meaning Santa Ana of the four rivers basin -- is capital of the Azuay Province, and is located in the highlands. The center of this city is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Trust site because of its many historical, colonial buildings.

Important to us in choosing Cuenca was the friendliness of its people, cost of living, culture, beauty and languages spoken. I speak moderate Spanish and Fred plans to attend one of Cuenca's many excellent language schools. The city does not report a major problem with crime, is exceptionally beautiful and I recently visited there, so I know that what has been written about Cuenca appears to be true.

There is a strong presence of expats in Cuenca, many who spend much of their time as volunteers with the schools and various agencies, adding to our decision to go there.

If you are thinking about becoming an expat, use Google to find expat blogs in specific countries, something I have been doing to learn specifics on how to move pets, how to acquire visas, where to find a house or an apartment, and more.

It helps to meet up with such people, especially before moving to another country, and you can easily do this beforehand through the professional online networks, as LinkedIn or facebook, both which host various groups of expats who share their experience and knowledge.

Once in your new home, if you miss using your natural language, and want to reconnect with your culture, one idea might be to find a house or apartment near a local embassy, consular offices or the specific national group that might help you in transitioning to your new world.

What about starting language classes? Fred plans to spend the first three months in one-on-one Spanish lessons. He will be contributing to the local economy while learning necessary communication skills. He is using an Ecuadoran school, and not simply taking lessons from another expat who happens to live in Cuenca.
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FOR MOST PEOPLE, it will take time to "feel at home" when you make such a significant physical and cultural shift in your life. Fred is a psychologist and has several suggestions to help ease culture shock: "Find the libraries, local expat groups, the fun restaurants, the markets and all the places where you will have a chance to communicate using your new language skills, and after several months of getting out and about, you should find yourself loving to be an expat. If not, you may need to reconsider your decision." He plans on taking his own advice, and helping others around him with specific ideas about how to orient oneself into the world of multiculturalism.

Expat'ing (I think I just made up this word) is not a new concept for Americans, of course, since most of our relatives come from somewhere else. For instance, in the 19th century, thousands of Americans were drawn to Europe-especially to Munich and Paris-to study the art of painting. Henry James, for instance, was a famous expatriate American writer from the 1870s, who adopted England as his home.

Interested in learning even more about the history of expatriation? The Expatriate Archive Centre in The Hague (Netherlands) has a unique collection of letters, diaries, photographs and films documenting the social history of expatriate life. It collects journals, letters, diaries and photographs - in fact, almost any document from the past detailing the lives and experiences of people working and living away from their home country.

The Expatriate Archive's purpose is to collect, preserve, promote, and make available to the public and researchers a collection of primary source materials documenting the social history of expatriate life, giving a voice to the memories and experiences of expatriates of all nationalities from all over the world, and to establish a research resource for historians worldwide.

The archive has always had an international approach and conducts all business in English, and translates every document they receive into English, to make it more easily accessible for future researchers. Visit this center at http://www.xpatarchive.com.

Meanwhile, we invite you to come along on our South American expat journey - planning, going, arriving and getting used to the inevitable change.

Vayamos!

SUSAN

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Pee-Wee Herman with Big Adventures, he’s NOT! But Bill Birnbaum shares ‘A Lifetime of Small Adventures,’ making Pee-Wee’s life look -- well -- boring

Have you ever wanted to chuck it all and do something different? Turn your world upside down? Abruptly stop what you are doing and take a quantum leap into the unknown?

IF YOU ARE prepped for something new and different to do as you retire, you might be inspired by Oregonian Bill Birnbaum, who at 64 has already adventured himself silly, starting down his adventure-filled path in childhood, working into an enlightened retirement.

 Bill Birnbaum enjoys the rocky coast. Not sure where -- could be 

anywhere from Oregon to Peru to ...

I found Bill while looking for someone to blog about, someone who fits the nature of my new retirement blog -- someone who could take me where I would like this blog to go.

So I was fooling around with Google, when I discovered him in the Internet ether. Go ahead and try finding him: google “retirement adventures authors speakers” and Bill’s blog http://www.billbirnbaum.com/bills-blog/ pops right up, I promise.

When I ran into Bill and corresponded via email, he alluded that he is finally “retired” as far as some of his more dramatic adventures go – like swimming in wild rivers or dusting off and walking away from plane crashes, but he is still adventuring, just in more refined ways, for instance through introspection and writing a book to share his years of adventuring experiences and his later, deeper thoughts with readers.

Birnbaum’s book, A Lifetime of Small Adventures, starts out when he is a kid in New York and moves into California, through parts of South America and coming to rest in Central Oregon. He enjoyed a twenty-year “serious” career authoring books on business strategy while serving as the publisher and editor of a professional business strategy newsletter. 

But life always required something more for this man to feel vibrant, like traveling around in small planes, in four-wheel-drive vehicles, say in rural Mexico, or backpacking in the mountains and deserts of the American west and leading mountain climbing trips for the Sierra Club.

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One way or another for Birnbaum, there has always been somewhere to go and something to do. Here’s a good one he likes to tell: once in Mexico, he drove up to a remote shack, two guards came running up to his car pointing rifles in his direction. Another time, he sat behind the pilot when their twin-engine plane crashed landed. 

Adventure actually means anything from picking up hitchhikers in college to towing off planes from dry lake beds for Birnbaum. Only a couple of times was he in any real danger, I am sure he told his mother – I am also sure he told her this more than once.

This adventurer's early stories flow like lemmings dropping off the cliff. Once, he hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon; trying to swim across the Colorado River he was caught by the strong current, and as he struggled, he could hear the sounds of the downstream rapids growing louder and louder. Does this story have a happy ending? Guess so, since he's still here to tell it.


But where was Birnbaum going with all of this?

In 2007, when 64 hit, Bill and his wife, Wendy were ready for something entirely new. They sold their home, put stuff in storage and bought plane tickets to a place in South America that most of us have never heard of,  Arequipa Peru. For the next eight months, they lived in this poor community in the Peruvian Andes before heading out for an additional four months traveling through parts of Ecuador, Chile and Argentina.

Birnbaum had already initiated some heavy thinking about life’s meaning as he moved into middle age, the father of two sons whom he dearly loved, and concluding that his adventurous activities were more than just physical pursuit, but were activities that did contain emotional and intellectual dimensions.

The adventurer turned executive turned “deep-thinking” retiree opines that most people are too busy these days, too wrapped up in materialism, and way too concerned at times with “things that aren’t important at all.” In his memoir that he wrote last year, Birnbaum tells stories to highlight life lessons learned along the way, for instance sharing his own personal experiences when located far from home and family on the morning of September 11, 2011 – 9/11.

Birnbaum’s book is both fun and serious reading, even if the reader is never motivated to take a big or small adventurous step on his or her own. There are still plenty of laughs to share, like:

Fourteen year old Billy flooding the basement of his home, or living with the results of too much experimentation with rockets and explosives, and doing “just a little bit” of damage. 

I would love to hear his mother’s take on those activities. You will hold your breath when you read of the plane’s single engine quitting at an altitude of 2,500 feet. And once again, he is still among the living to finish the story. Lucky guy…

Peace Corps stuffed shirts be damned! 

Readers will admire Bill Birnbaum or may think he is just plain nuts, maybe seeing him as screenplay author of the next Jackass movie. After all, who at age 64 would apply to join the Peace Corps? When this bureaucratic agency’s medical department rejected his application, Birnbaum and his wife simply purchased plane tickets to Peru, coming up with their own volunteer opportunities in the Peruvian Andes. 

RETURNING TO THE U.S. from South America, Bill continued his volunteer work teaching English to Hispanic adults. But during summer months, you may find him out on a nearby lake in his red kayak, or hiking in the lush Oregon Cascades. 

In winter, he might flash by on his cross-country skis.

I always liked Pee-Wee Herman, the eccentric man-child  who embarked on the big adventure of his life across the United States mainland, setting out to find his beloved bike, when it was stolen. 

Having found Bill Birnbaum, I know I have discovered another adventuresome guy, maybe a little like Pee-Wee in his younger years, with plenty of fun stuff to share, but now with more common sense and soul.

When asked to describe his memoir, "A Lifetime of Small Adventures," Bill simply refers to the subtitle, "Stories of adventure, misadventure, and lessons learned along the way."

I would place "Heartfelt" at the beginning of his subtitle.

Bill holds both a Bachelor's Degree in Electrical Engineering from The City College of New York, School of Engineering and a Master's Degree in Business Administration from California State University - Fullerton. 

Susan

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More and more women are becoming entrepreneurs: from the outset, midway through corporate careers, and as they face retirement

Working women are getting better and better at taking care of themselves financially, through becoming entrepreneurs. In fact, new research is showing that more professional business women than ever before are blowing Corporate Dodge and leaving their employee positions to become their own profit centers. Others are starting their own businesses at the very beginning of their careers.

Still other women are ending their corporate and business careers to develop their own organizations and businesses, making enough money on their own to contribute to or even totally fund their retirements.

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"Everywhere I look, women are starting micro businesses—selling jewelry, make-up, food supplements, eBooks, stuff on eBay or they are becoming personal trainers, freelance editors, offering massage or other related health-care services. Blogs are helping these new business owners, often giving them the voice the need.

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Glass Ceiling Be Damned; Time For Jumpin' Ship

Interestingly, The Nation recently reported that a number of women, faced with unequal pay, are opting out of the workforce in increasing numbers. Apparently, between 1993 and 2006, the number of college-educated women in the workforce fell by a tenth of a percent a year, and by 2008, the workforce had 1.64 million less college-educated women than it should have, if women had not been leaving at a significant pace, their story states.

These numbers feel right to me. I left a corporate journalism career (after working for various publications) years ago, tired of discrimination, and deciding I would be better off doing my own research, writing, and self-publishing my own work. Just yesterday, I was sharing this experience with a young woman who was thinking about leaving her current job as we talked over lunch about the old boy network. “Develop your own niche business and you’ll be happier and more successful,” I advised. 

Another friend, after recently experiencing job loss, confided she is not going to look for any more “jobs,” but plans to set up her own sales company. I gave her my blessings, too, knowing they will both succeed because they are skilled, smart, motivated, and VERY sick and tired of jousting at work with white men (young and old) who typically work less productively, but have it easier getting raises and climbing the corporate ladder.

Sure, some things are slowly getting better as the Women’s Movement marches along to a tired drummer. However, it is not happening very fast, and many women are (as Fannie Lou Hamer once put it) getting “sick and tired of getting sick and tired.” They are telling researchers they don't appreciate the sex role stereotyping that still goes on, along with frequent lack of opportunity, poor mentoring, glass ceilings and other issues that still have not disappeared, even with support of The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Wasn't the workplace support to become more open with possibilities for women and others? More fair?

(Fannie Lou Hamer, a heroic African American woman who lived in rural Mississippi, was a devout civil rights leader who  brought the 1964 National Democratic Party’s convention to a halt, as she and her Democrat colleagues tried to take Mississippi's official delegate seats for themselves. As Democrats, they were sick and tired of being “represented” by white, male Dixiecrats, a short-lived segregationist party. I write about Mrs. Hamer in several of my Mississippi civil rights books and I think her "sick and tired" quote is great.)


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About my two friends...

Undoubtedly, when they retire, if they follow through with their current plans to leave their current careers and go into business for themselves, they are sure to have more money and end up with careers they can take into retirement. They will not have a glass ceiling staring them in their faces, and they will not be spending time with office politics or be the subjects of discrimination, hostility, bullying and stereotyping.


Further, they will not have to face the possibility of upcoming reproductive rights battles, at least directly. Damn. I remember those days when I couldn't get a job unless I promised not to get pregnant. Or when I could not get a job because I had a child. Will Arizona really succeed in requiring that women tell their employers why they are asking for birth control?

Apart from the obvious concerns, such as the inherent disparity in women’s pay in this country and the general brain drain of educated women dropping out of the workforce, I wonder if anyone is tracking how many women are not so much leaving the workforce as reinventing it, like my two friends.

From my own experience, and from watching family members, friends and co-workers, it is truly becoming harder and harder to maintain a work-life balance as the hours (and often, commuting time) creep up.  Hey, it is easy to bring home a lap and do some work while the rest of the family is out fishing, going to Saturday festivals and generally having a great weekend! It is too easy to slip in some free hours for a boss’s financial and career gain. Been there…that.

Certainly, this happens to men, as well. However, just when you are feeling a little empathy for the guys, remember who typically does most of the child-rearing and household management besides doing their outside the home, money-generating jobs. Add to this, the rising costs of childcare and many women find their entire paychecks are going to pay for daycare. (Men usually do not count daycare as their expense.)

This is not a new observation, that women absorb enormous costs when they work outside of the home, but raises are not being handed out generously, these days, and the cost of daycare only goes up, so it is practically silly NOT to leave the workforce under these conditions, observes Cedar Burnett, writing for Salon.

“If you’re working long hours for less pay than your husband, and your entire monetary contribution is sucked up into preschool, employment outside-the-home seems like an exercise in self-flagellation rather than actual need.”


Women-Owned Micro Businesses Growing in Numbers

So, once these college-educated women leave the workforce, what are they doing?

I do not know what you are seeing, but some of the women I know are starting micro businesses--selling jewelry, make-up, food supplements, eBooks, stuff on eBay or they are becoming personal trainers, freelance editors, offering massage or other related health-care services. Well-written blogs are often the driving force behind these new opportunities.

Burnett reports that “…legally, or not-so-legally, women are increasingly working 10-40 hours a week outside the traditional workforce model--in addition to raising their children. Are the statistics tracking this? At least for the cash-economy jobs, almost certainly not.”

I am convinced this entrepreneurial model will only gain in popularity as younger women start having their babies and as women get fed up and move out of corporations—and as more and more women retire. Unable to find meaningful, well-paying part-time work, educated women “raised to defy tradition” should gravitate toward alternative self-employment.

“Even without children, if the choice is to work 40-60 hour weeks in a competitive work environment (that is, if they can even find a job) or try and craft your own business, many women of all ages are going to say goodbye to the confines of the traditional workforce.”

Looks like some true career shape shifting is definitely underway, by women who are just starting their careers, women already in the midst of corporate careers who are “sick and tired of being sick and tired,” and by women who are smartly moving into retirement, wanting to start their OWN successful businesses, for a change.

So what do you think about this? Are you an entrepreneur newbie? How is this working for you? Please share your thoughts and comments.

Thanks, Susan 


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P.P. S.S. I have set up some new information to help others learn how to Start a Blog That Matters. Take a moment, if you can, and look, HERE.

How to Start a Blog That Matters

I am using blogging to sell my eBooks -- this is my retirement project!

If you are interested in learning more about blogging, and how to use blogs to sell your services or products, I have arranged for you to receive information on How To Start a Blog That Matters. Just click HERE and learn more.

Susan