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    • Home
    • Countries

      Top Destinations:

      Whether you’re looking for fun and sun, a peaceful retirement, or the chance to earn some extra income, you’ve got a real world of opportunity open to you… In short, we’ve done our best to narrow down your best options, but only you can decide the right country for you.

      • Spain
      • Portugal
      • Panama
      • Belize
      • Colombia
      • Cyprus
      • Mexico
      • France
      • Montenegro
      • Browse All Countries

      Best For:

      • The Best Places To Retire
      • Health Care Abroad
      • Cost Of Living
      • Investing in Real Estate
      • Establishing Residency
      • Gun Laws In The World
      • English-Speaking Countries
      • Safest Places For Retirement
      • Best Places In Latin America
    • Budgets

      How Much Will It Cost You To Live Overseas?

      The only honest answer is, we have no idea. And neither does anyone else. The only one who can answer that question is you. Here’s the most important thing to understand about budgeting your new life overseas…

      Super Cheap

      • Chitré, Panama
      • Santa Marta, Colombia
      • Phuket, Thailand
      • Dumaguete, The Philippines

      Cheap

      • Medellin, Colombia
      • Boquete, Panama
      • Kyrenia, Cyprus
      • Hua Hin, Thailand
      • The Algarve, Portugal

      Affordable

      • Valencia, Spain
      • Cascais, Portugal
      • Las Terrenas, The DR
      • Pisa, Italy
      • La Rochelle, France
      • Mazatlán, Mexico

      Luxury

      • Ambergris Caye, Belize
      • Kotor, Montenegro
      • The Panama City Beaches
      • Paris, France
    • Resources

      Global Living

      • Living & Retiring Overseas
      • Raising A Family Abroad
      • Foreign Residency & Citizenship
      • Offshore & Diversification

      Making Money

      • International Real Estate
      • Banking
      • Employment
      • Investing

      Follow Us:

      • Meet Our Experts
    • Real Estate

      Join our Weekly Newsletter
      Overseas Property Alert

      Sign up for our weekly newsletter to receive expert insights on the best international real estate investment opportunities.






        We Value Your Privacy! We will not share your email address with anyone else, period.

        Buying Real Estate For Cashflow

        • Discover tips and strategies used by global property investing veterans

        Explore Our Latest Posts

        • Learn how to invest and purchase property abroad…

        Go To The Overseas Property Alert Site

        • How To Become Independently Wealthy And Fund The Lifestyle Of Your Dreams
      • Conferences

        Upcoming Events

        • Explore Our Events Site

        Live and Invest In Spain Conference

        Offshore Wealth Summit

        Greece Workshop

        VALENCIA, SPAIN

        Sep. 17-19, 2025

        PANAMA CITY, PANAMA

        Oct. 15-17, 2025

        VIRTUAL

        Nov. 13, 2025

        LEARN MORE
        DISCOUNT
        LEARN MORE
        PRE-REGISTER
        LEARN MORE
        PRE-REGISTER
        • MORE EVENTS

        Contact Our Events Team

        Toll-Free U.S. and Canada:
        1 (888) 627 8834
        From Outside North America:
        1 (443) 599 1221
        Working Hours
        Monday – Friday 08:00 am – 17:00 pm EST.

        Reach us with your questions by email at: events@liveandinvestoverseas.com

      • Store

        Unlock The World

        • Access Your Library

        Overseas Havens Reports

        • Expats' comprehensive destination guides

        Conference Kits

        • Hours of coverage  from our latests conferences

        Lahardan Books

        • Titles on living and investing around the world
        • Explore Our Store
        Your passport to a life well-lived abroad

        Services

        overseas living letter offers affordable retirement guidance
        The Simon Letter Wealth Protection Insights
        Global Property Advisor Global Investment Opportunities

        Our Customer Service team is here to assist with any questions or concerns CustomerService@LiveandInvestOverseas.com

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        Home Lifestyle

        How To Make Friends As An Expat

        by Live And Invest Overseas
        Dec 30, 2024
        in Lifestyle
        0 0
        Old buildings in Viseu reflected on a local creek, Portugal

        AdobeStock/dudlajzov

        One of the first places I ever felt a bit settled as an adult was in Vietnam.

        I moved to Ho Chi Minh City at 23. I moved into my first adult apartment with three housemates. I got a motorbike.

        I had a big girl job that paid me big girl money for the first time.

        I bought groceries and cooked meals and went on vacations with friends. I could have stayed forever. And I considered it. But I always felt like I was on the outside.

        From my complexion to my facial features to my hair texture, I was so clearly, visibly, an outsider. I couldn’t blend in in Vietnam.

        I could learn the language (though, as a tonal language, it was going to be a long, slow road), sit at local restaurants, form friendships with my Vietnamese peers, and never set foot in a gated housing complex—and I did all of those things…

        But I was always looked at as the foreigner I was. And that wasn’t going to change.

        When you’re looking at a place as your long-term home, you want to be able to blend in (at least I do). I was always treated with kindness in Vietnam. There was never any malice from my neighbors, my local coworkers, or my friends. I loved and still love that country. But for me to feel comfortable, I need to be able to go about life unnoticed.

        A decade and six countries later, I now live in Portugal, and I’ve learned a thing or two about what to look for to see if, first of all, you’re going to fit in, and second, if you’re going to want to stay in a place long-term.

        Another reason I didn’t stay in Vietnam is because it seemed like no one else did. It was hard to integrate into the local community in Vietnam, so my community of foreign peers was especially important. For many expats, Vietnam is a fun year or two. Even for the long-haulers, it isn’t a forever home.

        A decade since I lived there, almost all of the long-haulers I knew have moved back to their home countries or on to other adventures.

        In Vietnam, I would pull up next to local women at a red light, all of us on our motorbikes, and they would stare at me. And it was fine; there was nothing behind their stares but interest. But I wanted to tell them that I’m just doing the same commute back and forth from work that they are. We’re the same, really.

        For me, a forever home is one where I can blend in and quietly carry about my day-to-day life.

        So now I live in Portugal, where I still don’t blend in with my blonde hair and blue eyes, but I blend in a great deal more here than I did in Vietnam. There are Portuguese natives that are blonder and fairer than me. People start conversations with me in Portuguese. They don’t question that I could be from here. But, of course, I am not.

        I feel welcome, I have friends and community, and on the surface, I blend in. But the reality is that it takes work every single day to feel like I blend in beneath the surface.

        And that part’s on me.

        So here’s what I do…

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        1. Seize Every Opportunity

        My friends have made fun of me for being a borderline stalker (I’m not, I promise!) because when someone is friendly to me, I pursue them.

        A woman my age strikes up a conversation? You best believe I’m not walking away without some way to get in touch with her. She suggests a coffee or a glass of wine? Oh, I am going to make that happen. I get invited to a gathering with Portuguese people around? I am there each and every time with bells on and a bottle of wine in hand.

        The best way to get people to think of you as one of them is to be one of them. Show up, be consistent, and demonstrate that you’re here to stay. And then return the favor.

        I throw a small Thanksgiving dinner each year—the one American tradition I carry with me—and I invite all my Portuguese friends. We go around the dinner table and say thanks, we stuff our faces with turkey and gravy and all of the fixings, and we top it off with apple pie. Because as much as it’s vital that you feel welcome with them, it’s equally as vital that they feel welcome with you—that you make it clear that you are all one community now.

        1. Give Yourself Permission To Have Foreign Friends

        As important as it is to have local friends and to become a part of the community of the place you have moved to, it’s OK to have fellow foreign friends, too… people you can commiserate with.

        For me, it’s good to have people around who are also far from home and can’t pop over to their parents for Friday night dinner. Or people who are also going through the bureaucratic headache of visas and other immigration paperwork. Or people who also speak English as their first language. Or people who are also struggling with all of the same exact things that I am struggling with.

        1. Prioritize Those Who Are In It For The Long Haul

        By leaving Vietnam a decade ago, I only perpetuated one of the reasons why I left in the first place. I wasn’t in it for the long haul. And since then, I’ve left again and again.

        But now that I am in Portugal for the long haul, I avoid forming deep relationships with people who aren’t committed to being here forever. And forever is an impossible amount of time. Because who knows, right?

        But there are people who come with no intention of staying. Sometimes they know that, and they state it clearly. Other times you have to read between the lines… Maybe they kept a home, a business, or other strong ties to where they came from. Whether or not they know it, they’ll be going back at some point.

        I’m friendly to these people, of course. I chat with them about their new life and what they are excited about, but I don’t prioritize them. I prioritize the long-haulers.

        I’ve had too much turnover in my life, and after a few years of living abroad, you will too. So sniff out those who aren’t in it for the long haul by listening to how they talk about their new home and their old one.

        1. Learn The Language And Culture Beyond Textbooks

        I make it my mission to figure out what it is that people my age were raised on. Because learning the language is important, of course, but communication goes beyond that.

        It’s cultural touch points and references. It’s learning the dirty words, the slang, the little jokes that everyone knows and no teacher or textbook will ever teach you.

        It’s important to listen for these little jokes, asides, and references and ask about them when they come up.

        Consume the culture. Watch the movies. Listen to the music. Remember the names of local celebrities and why they’re famous. Listen out for local gossip.

        The world around you is your best classroom.

        1. Accept Your Fate

        Life as an immigrant isn’t easy. You’re going to find yourself on the outside of conversations and left off of guest lists. Just when you feel like an insider, you’ll be thrust out again.

        What may take the most effort is being OK with all of that. If you’re in this for the long haul, and I hope you are, simply accepting your fate may just be the most important part of the process.

        Sincerely,
        Caitlin Boylan
        Contributor, Overseas Living Letter

        Tags: 'Expat Life'Affordable Lifeamerican living abroadhow to live overseas
        Share83Tweet52
        Live And Invest Overseas

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        Live and Invest Overseas is the world's savviest source for top opportunities to live better, retire in style, invest for profit, do business, and own real estate overseas. Established in 2008, the Live and Invest Overseas' editors and correspondents have more experience researching and reporting on top opportunities for living well, investing for profit, doing business, and owning real estate around the world than anyone else you'll find.

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          Top Countries

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          • Belize
          • Colombia
          • Cyprus
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          Best For:

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          BROWSE ALL COUNTRIES

          Budgets

          How Much Will It Cost
          To Live Overseas?

          Super Cheap

          • Chitré, Panama
          • Santa Marta, Colombia
          • Phuket, Thailand
          • Dumaguete, The Philippines

          Cheap

          • Medellin, Colombia
          • Boquete, Panama
          • Kyrenia, Cyprus
          • Hua Hin, Thailand
          • The Algarve, Portugal

          Affordable

          • Valencia, Spain
          • Cascais, Portugal
          • Las Terrenas, The DR
          • Pisa, Italy
          • La Rochelle, France
          • Mazatlán, Mexico

          Luxury

          • Ambergris Caye, Belize
          • Kotor, Montenegro
          • The Panama City Beaches
          • Paris, France

          Resources

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