Going Global to Pursue Your American Dream

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Got your head wrapped around the term "global?" These days, it's all we hear about -- businesses in the U.S. are "going global"; industry is "going global." Seems like everything has gone global in recent years. 

How about you? Given any thought to "going global?" This is what becoming an expat is all about. You may not have heard too much about the "expat path" in the past, before the economic downturn. But today, the expat option is becoming mainstream.

There is nothing new about packing up and relocating to seek economic and social opportunities elsewhere. People have done this since the beginning of time.  Individuals and families have always been willing to move in order to provide a better life for themselves and their children. Think of the early American pioneers setting off in their Conestoga wagons to head west. They wanted affordable land to put down roots and a chance to build a solid future for their children. 

The same thing is true today. It brings to mind that old saying, "the more things change, the more they stay the same."

Today is no different. After the severe recession and economic mayhem of recent years in the United States, coupled with what is perceived as a failing education and social system, many families are choosing to go global to seek new options and choices.

We all still want the American Dream -- who could have imagined it too would go global and migrate offshore? Who could have imagined that you might have a better chance to attain it elsewhere than in America itself?

Such are the times we now live in.

But wanting a better life for their families is a powerful motivating value that remains as true today as it always has. Families want the chance to provide the "best" economic, educational and social circumstances they can for their children.  They want quality of life and see it in a return to old fashioned values, the America of yesterday - close families and close communities. But now some people believe they have to look for it elsewhere - in other parts of the world.

At the same time, people welcome the chance to expose their children to new cultures, new languages and new ways of looking at the world. They are willing to go outside the box to give their children experiences in the world beyond America, a more "global" view of what this world is about. They consider this a   very special education to help prepare the kids for functioning in the global community of their future. Parents also get to share in this experience with their kids.

That's what one family of seven from Ohio did recently.  The parents were dissatisfied with the situation in America -- not just the economy, but educationally and morally, as well. They wanted to raise their children in a culture that promotes close family, community and religious life. They found it in Belize and aren't looking back. All members of the family are thriving expats. The parents feel proud to have followed the expat path to a lifestyle which they can afford and which suits them.

Now think of you and your loved ones conserving what you've got left and becoming an expat family --- in order to obtain affordable housing, good education for the kids, a comfy middle class lifestyle... and fewer ulcers... and a larger view of what the world is about outside America.

Macarena Rose is the owner of Rainforest Realty, a Belize-based real estate agency.