What Happens When Americans Actually Leave—and Don’t Come Back
You know the moment.
It’s a Tuesday afternoon. You’re on your third video call of the day, eating reheated pasta over your keyboard, and wondering if Slack is just a digital surveillance system with a calendar.
At some point, without even thinking about it, you type:
“Can I live in Mexico for $1,200 a month?”
That’s the moment the exit begins.
Most Americans don’t leave in a blaze of glory.
They leave in a blur of burnout, curiosity, and just enough “screw it” to book a one-way ticket.
They don’t plan to stay forever.
They plan for “a break.” And then… they stay.
🧳 Meet the Fugitives
Angela — Oaxaca, Mexico
“My Spanish is terrible, but my Tuesday afternoons are perfect.”
She left Seattle after realizing she was paying $1,700 a month to be an unwilling audience to her neighbor’s 5AM fitness routine.
She’s been in Oaxaca ever since—fluent in mango negotiations and bureaucratic rage, but not so much in conjugation.
Patricia — Valencia, Spain
“Gerald and I rule the neighborhood. Gerald is my cat.”
Patricia left after a trust-building sales event in Colorado involving CBD gummies and inspirational rock music.
Now she works 30 hours a week for a German company and gets preemptive cortados from her barista.
Jared — Lisbon, Portugal
“My Portuguese is 60% profanity, 30% food words, 10% apologies.”
Jared moved to optimize his life. Portugal de-optimized it beautifully.
His neighbors taught him how to curse, slow down, and rewire his nervous system one espresso at a time.
Maria — Southern Italy
“The WiFi is theoretical. The wine is theological.”
Maria quit tech. Bought a dehumidifier. And lives in a town where her neighbors treat Slack like a medical emergency and confiscate her laptop after dark.
Why These Stories Matter
Nobody leaves the U.S. because of one clean reason.
They leave because of a dozen disappointments, a flash of clarity, and just enough momentum to try.
They’re not influencers.
They’re not trust funders.
They’re people who just… reached a limit.
🧰 Want to Join Them?
Start with the free tools I built for people exactly like this:
- Download the Exit Strategy Toolkit
Includes a 90-Day Planner, Budget Sheet, and Visa Checklist - Preview the Books
Real stories from Italy, Mexico, and the spreadsheet-rage zone - Enter the Vault
Re-downloads, printables, back issues of The Departure Lane newsletter
You Might Be a Tuesday Fugitive If…
- You’ve opened Zillow in Portugal during a meeting
- You’ve said “we could always just leave” more than once this year
- You’ve Googled: how hard is it to get a visa to literally anywhere else
If that’s you?
You’re not crazy.
You’re just almost gone.
Let’s make a plan.
—Colin
exit-strategies.info
