Retiring abroad offers the chance to redefine your life

“I loved the food, the wine, and as a history fanatic, it was impossible to turn a corner without some fascinating chapter of European history,” said Slaton. “I loved the idea of disappearing completely into a culture unlike my native one, with different values and ideas of how to live a meaningful and fulfilling life.”

Initially, Slaton considered Edinburgh, Scotland, and an apartment in Rome. Both were contenders until he saw his current home. “It called to me,” he said. Coming fully furnished and outfitted sealed the deal.

The cost of living in France proved to be more affordable with food being less expensive and insurance costs about one-fifth of what they were in the States. The most substantial headwind was understanding French bureaucracy—the red tape, the glacial pace of progress, and doing everything on paper with a half-dozen perfectly executed paper copies.

“Friends were amazed that I actually made the leap,” said Slaton, “not because it was me but, because they all wanted to do it but just couldn’t bring themselves to.”

The hardest part, making the mental commitment. “Once you’re here and start to relax, you realize how easy it was. You sleep better at night. Life finds the balance that it used to have before ‘adulthood’ made us nuts.

“Life is easy if you let it be,” he said. “The stuff worth having truly is free or darn close to it.”

Credit: Courtesy of Karen Lewis

Credit: Courtesy of Karen Lewis

Reach outside your normal way of living life

Jim and Karen Lewis, along with their cat and dog, departed Porterville, California, for Pau, France, two years ago. After 33 years of living in one house and raising two children, it was time for them to experience their own adventure.

“I was feeling the crunch of time passing us by,” said Lewis. “I knew we could not step into a country and know if we liked it enough to move there. It would take time.”

Having traveled to and experienced brief periods in Spain, it was the strongest contender. In 2019, Lewis and her husband walked 500 miles across Northern Spain on the Camino de Santiago, and it was love at first step.

During her search, no place “called” to her. She thought she wanted to be close to the Pyrenees Mountains, and then, her eyes wandered from the brown south-facing Pyrenees in Spain to the green north-facing Pyrenees in France. She found Pau.

“Life is calmer,” expressed Lewis. “We walk to the boulangerie, to the center of town to shop and see people we know on our walks. In the town I lived in for 33 years, I rarely saw people I knew because we drove everywhere.”

Every country does things differently. Be willing to reach outside of your normal way of living life, wherever you land. Learn the language early, and don’t wallow in the ‘Why is it so hard?’

Put in the effort to make it happen

For the last five years, Priscilla and Edward Esser, ages 58 and 61, from Macon have called the Loire Valley in France home.

“I’ve always wanted to live in France,” said Priscilla Esser. Both now retired, the Esser’s began the process of finding the ideal location and home after the 2016 election.

“We’ve always been in love with the Loire Valley,” said Esser. They searched for houses in different villages, finally settling on a midsize village. Once they found the right home, signed the contract, and prepared for the cash closing, it was a year before they were both in France full time.

Visa requirements were clear for short-term and long-term stays, as well as for Edward who would work remotely for a short period. The Esser’s provided required documentation of being financially self-sufficient, proof of health care, and confirmed housing, along with the promise not to work. According to the Essers, the cost of living in France was “easily 70% less than the United States.”

The French lifestyle of working to live rather than living to work, as had been the case in the United States, provided an incredible quality of life.

The move took commitment, patience, and an understanding that it could be a long process, but to both, it was worth it. “Do your due diligence and scout out different regions,” she said. “We put in the time and effort to make it happen.”