If you’ve found yourself recently thinking you might be happier somewhere else, you’re not alone. The American dream was built for us and it seems like less and less of us are actually living it.

What if the best place for you isn’t the country you fought for?

As military Veterans, we’re perfectly suited for expat life. We value experiences over possessions and don’t fear the unknown. I found something living abroad that’s harder and harder to come by in American society, peace.

Living overseas has been an incredible experience the last six years, everyday is full of adventure and possibility. For some Veterans, moving overseas is about a higher quality life at a lower cost. For others, it’s a fresh start, adventure, a slower pace of life or a fresh start.

For me, it’s mental health. I found it’s hard to heal in toxicity and realized how important my environment was for my mental health. That’s not to say moving overseas automatically grants you a better life but it gives you the freedom to create a happier one. Before you sell all your stuff and buy a one way ticket overseas, here are seven things to think about.

#1 Understand Your Benefits

One of the greatest advantages Veterans have is our benefits. Our VA compensation goes with us no matter where we call home and those dollars go further other places. The VA home loan and 2nd amendment stay in the states.

Healthcare

Every Veteran should sign up for the Foreign Medical Program on the VA portal. That’s how you get your service connected healthcare overseas. I’m emphasizing service connected because 100% Veterans are covered for everything stateside, it’s not like that abroad.

It’s only service connected care and conditions aggravated by service connected care. There are two options when it comes to using your FMP overseas, you can use a direct biller or you can pay for it out of pocket and submit to the VA for reimbursement. As anyone and everyone who has worn the uniform knows, the government is quick to take their money and slow to pay you yours.

• Signing up for FMP does not affect your stateside care.
• Travel with your FMP authorization letter, it’ll list all your service connected conditions.
• You can get treated for things rated at 0%.

If you’re a retiree or medically retired. You’ll want to enroll in Tricare Select Overseas. You’ll update your overseas address and contact information in DEERS, then enroll in TRICARE Select Overseas through milConnect or the TRICARE Overseas Program.

Start here with: Overseas Provider Search to check out different areas. Look for Network providers over Tricare Authorized provider, it’ll make billing easier. You should expect using Tricare to pay up front abroad and then be reimbursed.

Note: You have to select between FMP and Tricare. You can’t use both for a single claim and sometimes it makes sense to use one or the other depending on the situation.

Resource: Tricare Around The World – Unofficial FB Group

GI Bill

You can use your GI Bill overseas and more Veterans should. For more information check out my article Using Your GI Bill Overseas. It gets into recommended schools, BAH and the process.

#2 Pick Your Country

There’s no such thing as the best country for Veterans. I don’t like the cold and I like to scuba dive, so those dictate my location. You have to figure out what actually matters to you.

• How important is English?
• Beaches or mountains? A quiet town or a big city?
• Do you want to be close enough to fly home regularly?
• Healthcare, safety, infastructure, climate, visas, etc

The goal isn’t just to find the cheapest place on earth, it’s to find where you want to live. Start by thinking about the things that matter most to your quality of life. Some Veterans are looking for nightlife and dating and some Veterans are looking for peace and quiet coffee shops.

Research cost of living on Numbeo – which is the largest cost of living database. The country you pick is a very individual thing, I’ve talked to Veterans all over the world who are thriving in different environments. Some want to be around an expat community or have better access to healthcare and some are just trying to live a beach bum surfer life.

My Top 10 Countries For Veterans

1. The Phillipines
2. Panama
3. Thailand
4. Dominican Republic
5. Vietnam
6. Mexico
7. Colombia
8. Germany
9. Albania
10. Spain

#3 Your Visa Strategy

Finding a country you love is only half the battle. You also need a legal way to stay there. Your options to stay long term in a country depend on your age, income and situation.

With your military benefits you can quality for certain pension visas easily in places like Panama whereas in Thailand you have to be fifty to get the retirement visa. Some countries will take VA benefits as proof of pension and some won’t.

One reason there’s so many Veterans in the Dominican Republic is because there’s no visa or immigration paperwork required, you just pay when you leave depending how long you stay. And Vets hate paperwork.

I’ve been living abroad for almost seven years and the only visa I’ve ever had is when I was teaching in Thailand. I like to travel so much it doesn’t make sense for me to get a visa until I’m somewhere I want to stay forever. I’m writing this from Colombia, from my favorite cigar lounge on a Sunday afternoon. Here Americans get 180 days per calendar year and in a month I’ll go somewhere else. My nomadic lifestyle isn’t for everyone but everything I own I can fit in a single suitcase.

Countries routinely change their visa requirements and like any bureaucracy, some have loopholes and some don’t. I do get a kick out of Americans getting deported. I had a friend last week get deported from Thailand and banned for a year because he overstayed by a week. He told me both his Thai girlfriends were very sad and now he’s in Vietnam. It’s best to stay on the right side of immigration.

To look up different Visas in a specific country: Use this – Expat Country Guides.

#4 Do A Trial Run

Your trial run is a recon mission. A lot of Vets fall victim to the margarita effect. They hit up some cool town on vacation and think, “I could live here.” But real life isn’t a vacation and drinking on the beach gets old. Your trial run moves into ordinary life territory. You want to move past the honeymoon thinking for your new location and start experiencing the things and frustrations of everyday life. Using public transportation, grocery shopping, cooking your own food, joining a gym and explore your healthcare.

What problems are you willing to live with?

What’s your real, individual cost of living opposed to what some Instagram post said?

While you’re doing your trial run, ask other expats:

The trial run is probably one of the most overlooked things when Vets go abroad. Eventually it stops feeling new, you have to build a routine, relationships and a life. The beginning is always exciting, the food is fresh, rent is cheap and you’re exploring a new culture. You start wondering why you didn’t move years ago but eventually reality always shows up.

You might find it’s not as cheap as you hoped, you might struggle with language barriers, you might feel isolated and you might miss home. A trial run might be costly but it’s more expensive than uprooting your life, moving to a foreign country and finding out it’s not for you.

#5 Focus On Your Finances

Moving overseas can change your financial situation. Most people think you have two ways of improving your financial position – you can make more money or spend less. Well, moving abroad provides a third option. Because your military benefits are paid in dollars but your expenses are in pesos, baht or another currency where you have more purchasing power.

You want to build a solid financial picture before you go. I wouldn’t put all your faith in the social media influencer world telling you they live like royalty in Asia for $1,000 a month.

• Keep your US banking infrastructure.
• Get cards with no international fees. (I use Charles Schwab and that’s where my VA money gets deposited, it’s the best international debit card)
• Learn how to transfer money internationally – Sending Cash Internationally
• Always decline ATM conversions when getting cash.
• Have backup plans on backup plans when it comes to having access to your money.
• It’s usually best if you’re staying long term to have a local banking account on top of your American one. Opening a bank account differs country to country.

Even though thing are cheaper in other countries, you have to be more disciplined with your money – not less. You want the freedom to decide what you want to do, not what you can afford to do. I’ve seen so many Veterans fall into the trap of overspending overseas because you do have more time on your hands and sometimes freedom is dangerous.

Check out my article : Planning Your Move Abroad – 5 Financial Aspects for more in depth info and resources.

#6 Build Your Community

A reality that doesn’t make it into Youtube Videos and social media posts is that life abroad can be lonely. For Veterans, that’s especially a risk because we tend to isolate ourselves. You can’t wait for a community to find you, you have to build one.

Every city has expat meetups, language exchanges and clubs. You do have to put yourself out there like you’re a kid again. You have to take up hobbies, join hiking groups and introduce yourself to people. Go play pickleball, take up scuba diving and take dance classes.

There are platforms like Meetup and Internations where people host get togethers. Beyond that, your best friend is social media and check out Facebook groups in your city. Check to see if where you’re headed has Veteran groups, like the VFW or American Legion.

One of the best pieces of advice I can give you when it comes to making friends and building community is to become a regular somewhere. Our daily interactions matter. With our neighbors, at a local gym or coffee shop. Veterans routinely form relationships while doing something, so maybe a martial arts gym or volunteering somewhere is a good starting point.

You can’t always trust other expats to have your best interests in mind. Or even to be good people. I made some of the wrong type of friends in Bangkok my first year overseas and spent too much time in bars during the day and red light districts at night. A common phrase in the expat world is that a local will try to scam you for a thousand pesos and an expat will scam you for a thousand dollars.

Check out the biggest Facebook group of Veterans Abroad: Military Veterans Abroad to see where Veterans are at around the world.

Freedom

We fight for freedom and yet while we’re serving we are some of the least free humans. We don’t get to choose where we go or even what we wear. Some of us do something strange after we get out with our freedom, we hardly use it. But we fought for freedom and that also means the freedom to leave.

Thank you for your service. Share the article with another Veteran and if you’re struggling today, check out this video I did of Veteran Affirmations For PTSD.

Sign up for my newsletter and check out my other books and resources for Veterans on my Linktree. Keep on keeping on and if you have questions, hit me up.

You can hit me up on Instagram or TikTok and I’ll send you PCS to Paradise: The QuickStart Guide For Veterans Moving Overseas which will have more info and resources. It’s a free 40 page PDF with what you need to know.

For further information, my book Veterans in Paradise: The Veterans Guide To Moving Abroad is available on amazon. On my blog I have more articles about moving and living overseas and Veteran mental health.