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This story is part of CNBC Make It’s Millennium money series that details how people around the world earn, spend and save.
After the birth of their daughter in 2022, Cara West and her husband Harley decided to sell all their possessions and try to live abroad.
It was decided by several factors. First, they received a $10,000 hospital bill after their daughter was born. In addition, as a contractor for a West German company at the time, she did not get the full year’s paid full-time maternity leave her colleagues did.
“A lot of things that started to come to light after I became a mother in the U.S., it really made me understand that the U.S. doesn’t support families and mothers and children,” she told CNBC Make It.
West began to look at how other countries around the world were helping parents, and began to explore the idea of moving her family abroad.
Cara West and her husband live as digital nomads in Syros, Greece.
Vicky Markofela for CNBC Make It
When the deadly shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, occurred in May 2022, West knew it was time to take the plunge. He and his family lived about three hours away in Austin at the time.
It was “absolutely devastating,” but “unfortunately, it wasn’t a surprise to me to hear about the school shooting,” West says. “I really knew at that moment that I had to get my daughter out of the US for her safety.”
From there, she and her husband set out to live as digital nomads. Nearly two years and 14 country visits later, the family has decided to settle for the near future on Syros, a Greek island in the Aegean Sea.
West works remotely as a luxury travel concierge and content creator.
Vicky Markofela for CNBC Make It
Now, West, 33, works remotely from Greece as a luxury travel concierge and travel content creator and is on track to earn more than $136,000 in 2024. Her husband quit his job as a restaurant manager in Texas and is staying. father of the house
“(It’s) a dream lifestyle that I honestly never thought would be possible, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything,” he says.
First stop: Portugal
Before fully committing to family expat life, West and her husband decided to try life abroad for three months through a startup called Life Without Limits.
The organization offers families fully furnished private apartments, co-working spaces and children’s education centers in various locations, including Bali and Tuscany. according to its website. The West opted for Portugal.
“It was the perfect solution for what we were looking for,” says West. “We could try this, see if it’s something we could see ourselves doing.”
West and his family spent January 2023 living abroad in Portugal.
Cara West
West was already working as a food blogger in addition to her full-time job, and she says they put about $10,000 of her earnings into savings.
Although they originally intended to make a living from it, West got his current job as a luxury travel concierge before moving to Portugal. So she quit her previous job and her husband decided to take unpaid time off from his job for the duration of the stay.
With that plan in place, the family landed in Portugal last January. The first thing they noticed was the slower pace of life, which allowed them to enjoy more time together as a family than in the US.
The slower pace of life in Portugal allowed West’s family to spend more time together, he says.
Cara West
“(My husband) saw how happy I was, how much I was glowing, how much time we spent together and as a family,” she says.
Born and raised in Texas, West’s husband, Harley, was initially hesitant to move his family out of the U.S. but after a three-month stint in Portugal, he agreed wholeheartedly.
Selling everything to leave the US
After falling in love with her first experience living abroad, West and her husband returned home with a singular focus: moving outside the US.
But to go abroad and travel full time, they would need money. The couple had already moved from a two-bedroom apartment to a one-bedroom unit to reduce housing costs. From there, they started selling as many things as possible, including furniture and a car, West says.
“We had to think outside the box because we didn’t have a home we could sell, we didn’t have any property we could sell,” he says.
The couple used the money raised from selling their belongings to pay off her husband’s debt. And that allowed him to step away from full-time work and become a stay-at-home dad. In the meantime, West continued to work remotely and earn money from content creation, he says.
Their sacrifices paid off in the end. When their Texas apartment lease expired in July 2023, they packed up for Belize, their next stop as digital nomads. After almost a year of nomadic living, the couple decided to make Syros, Greece their home in June.
“I wanted to be in a place that was really peaceful and quiet by the water,” she says. “And that is precisely what we have had here in Syros.”
The pros and cons of outdoor living
West says the slower pace of life and lower cost of living in Greece has made a “huge difference” in his family’s life.
“In the United States, the hustle is about culture and your worth is tied to your productivity,” he says. “But here in Greece … rest is really valued.”
The family enjoys exploring the island, trying new foods and traveling to various countries, including Albania and Italy.
As a digital nomad, West and his family have lived in several countries including Albania.
Cara West
“It’s really easy to get around the country. You can take ferries, you can take flights,” says West. “Overall, our lives are much fuller here in Greece.”
Also, the language barrier is not too much of a problem as many locals speak English.
As a black woman, West says she feels freer to be herself in Greece without worrying about encountering the racial microaggressions she faces in the US.
“I live in peace and I’m not worried about someone following me through the store or treating me differently because of the color of my skin,” she says. “Here they see me as an American.”
West says that life in Greece is more relaxed than in the US
Vicky Markofela for CNBC Make It
The sense of security of his family contributes to this peace. “Every day I walk the streets with my daughter in Greece, I realize how safe we are. And that’s the most important thing for me.”
West and his family have had a downside: missing out on vacations and birthdays with relatives. “It’s been hard to miss big moments with our family,” he says. “But, in truth, I would give everything to be able to live this lifestyle.”
How they spend their money
Here’s how West and her husband spent their money in June 2024.
Uma Sharma | CNBC Do it
- Moving expenses: $5,880 for first and last month’s rent for apartment in Greece, flights, digital nomad visa application and attorney fees
- Credit card payment: $4,221 for credit card bills
- Food: $1,952 in dining and groceries
- Housing and public services: $1,428 in rent, Wi-Fi and utilities
- Medicine: $1,278 for international health insurance, doctor visits and prescriptions
- Discretionary: $446 for clothes and makeup
- Subscriptions: $131 for gym memberships, Netflix, HBO Max and Apple storage subscriptions
- Telephones: $192 for phone bill
- Transportation: $78 for rental car and gas
Since they officially moved to Greece in June, the family’s monthly expenses have been much higher than usual, West says.
In addition to having to pay for the flight to Greece and the first and last month’s rent for the apartment there, they also paid for a lawyer who helped them apply for a digital nomad visa.
The couple has more than $60,000 in credit card debt, which was nearly “impossible” to pay off while living in the US, he says.
The lower cost of living in Greece helps. Now, “I try as much as I can to put that extra income toward paying off our credit cards as much as possible,” she says.
West and his family enjoy trying new foods and exploring the island together in Syros, Greece.
Vicky Markofela for CNBC Make It
After reducing their credit card debt, the couple plans to start saving for retirement and working with a professional.
“Next year is going to be a really big transition for us to have the resources to get the support we need (and) to have a financial advisor who can tell us where to start putting our money so that our money is working for us,” he says.
Plans for the future
Although West doesn’t foresee his family being forever nomads, he has no plans to return to the US permanently.
“It really makes life more fulfilling and richer abroad,” he says. “It’s just being able to see the world, meet new people, experience new languages, cultures, traditions — it’s so unique and something we really don’t get enough of in the United States.”
In the West it is easier to explore the world and different cultures while living in Greece.
Vicky Markofela for CNBC Make It
Now that they have made Greece their home, West hopes to expand his family.
When their daughter is of school age, the couple plans to sign her up for home schooling and connect with educational centers around the world that serve nomadic families and their children.
“This is a really great way for him to have that social engagement, but still be able to learn while traveling,” she says.
West and his family have no plans to return to the US permanently.
Vicky Markofela for CNBC Make It
When West began planning his move out of the US, he didn’t see many families who looked like his or were in a similar financial situation. He hopes more people will explore life abroad and not be intimidated by the process.
“It will always be there in your journey to become a digital nomad or an expat living abroad,” he says. “But it’s absolutely possible if you keep manifesting and keep the goal in mind.”
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