Two years ago I left my native land behind and embarked on a grand adventure. With seven children in tow.
The reasons were varied but it was something I’d thought over for a long time. The first year was tough, and there have been times I wondered if I’d ever feel at home here – yet after two years, I can say we’re settled. And we had our eighth child here – he’s never been to the states.
The thought of ever moving back to the US repulses me now. I’d go if I was forced, but there is such a simplicity and freedom here that I can’t imagine voluntarily going back under the yoke.
They say if you can make it for two years in a foreign country, you can make it for good. We’re set.
Today I’m going to take the children to the mountains to see what we can see. And I bought a bottle of champagne Rachel and I will pop tonight in celebration of two years.
Expatriating is complicated and confusing and scary but it’s not at all impossible. Having made the jump once, I could do it again if need be.
If Florida secedes from the union, I’ll move back. But until that happens, I’m happy.
14 comments
Huh? Thought you moved back and forth from the states and the tropical farm is a bit of a “colony” or “retreat” from the Florida life. Where is the place you live?
Undisclosed location, Central America. We left the states for good.
David…you are a braver man than most. Can’t say that I blame you, although I have faith that shortly after you left, this country reached a turning point…a very slow turning point, but a turning point none the less.
It’s going to be a difficult and uphill battle, but I believe this country will once again be wonderful. I believe that once the USA turned it’s back on God, we started a steep decline. I feel like we are starting to right this ship with God’s help, once again.
God bless you and tour family David. Congrats on making it in that mysterious land you now call home. Don’t completely give up on the Stars and Stripes yet…
Alex, I do hope things are turning up. The attacks the president is facing every day are incredible – I’ve never seen anything like it.
I really feel the country was wounded mortally by the Civil War and has been moving farther into tyranny ever since. God can work, though, and I pray He does. My bet is the states break into pieces within two decades.
Hey David (Mr. Goodman),
God Bless you and your family.
How is your Spanish coming??
I admire the courage you have.
Still waiting to hear when Rachel’s cookbook is coming out…. and her book on raising healthy kids would be great too, now that we have one.
I really want her to finish that cookbook but she’s so busy homeschooling the children and taking care of a baby I can’t even get her in my videos anymore. Thank you.
Congratulations, and God bless you! We only made it ten months. That was long enough for our first babe to get an interesting second passport. But it helps a lot to have a non-location-dependent source of income, better destination research, more planning, and…. childcare help. I would like to blame the poor job market, but really it was the intense infant colic that kicked our butts. Raising kids without extended family to help out is not for wimps ;)
Amen
Yes, it’s really hard to just jump without an online business. I work for a variety of clients doing everything from audiobook editing to voice acting and article writing – I built that up over multiple years and hit “escape velocity.” But you’re really right: it’s hard to raise children without extended family. Rachel and I don’t go on dates.
If it’s not too far off-subject, how did you get into audiobook editing?
When I was 18 I got a job writing copy part-time for a Christian radio program. I was fascinated with the audio editing one of the other editors was doing and asked him to show me how. He refused, saying “I only wanted to edit tapes of my band,” which was true. Then he got into a personality conflict with the boss and decided he wanted to transfer over to the TV department – and told me that he would teach me to be his replacement so the boss would let him switch jobs. I learned rapidly and ended up editing 5-10 radio programs a week, along with promotional spots and audiobooks. When I was signed as a writer a few years back, the owner of the publishing house knew that I had done audio editing and asked if I’d be interested in taking over their audio division. I said yes, and have been doing that for a few years now. Between ProTools, Photoshop, Final Cut Pro and LibreOffice, I am a one-man media machine. It’s good to keep learning and hustling, as you never know what will come in handy.
Staying on top of technology is in itself almost a full time job. I’m 41…have a 20 year old son who should ‘ve on top of this stuff….but I’m still the IT guy at home.
Yeah, seriously. My eldest is learning 3D modeling and rendering programs for fun… it’s beyond me.
Nice! Thank you.
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