Colombia is the happiest country in the world according to a new survey just released by WIN/Gallup International.The research firm has been studying the outlook, expectations, views and beliefs of people from 68 countries around the globe for 39 years.This year, Colombia topped the list of happiest countries in the world, scoring 85 percent on the study’s Happiness Index. The Read more »

How safe is Mexico for expats? If you live in Mexico or are considering becoming an expat there, personal safety is an issue that should be a concern. But how much of a concern?In November of 2015, Mexican authorities found the bodies of two missing Australian surfers in a burned-out van on a back road in the Mexican state of Read more »

“I knew from seventh grade, when I saw a movie about Mont Saint Michel in Normandy, that I was destined to live in France. It was a black and white film and I remember feeling that at some point in my life I will go there.”Carol Artigues has lived in Aix-en-Provence, a sun-kissed city of about 150,000 people located 20 Read more »

A meeting in Munich last year brought together the perfect combination of business skills, creativity and computer savvy required to start a successful entrepreneurial venture.Our entrepreneurs abroad in Munich, Germany are Ingo Ehrle and José Freitas, founders of a new start-up company called XPLingo. They are developing a unique product to teach language skills by immersing users in an interactive adventure Read more »

Colombia is the happiest country in the world according to a new survey just released by WIN/Gallup International.The research firm has been studying the outlook, expectations, views and beliefs of people from 68 countries around the globe for 39 years.This year, Colombia topped the list of happiest countries in the world, scoring 85 percent on the study’s Happiness Index. The Read more »

We begin 2016 with much more editorial focus on the country where 11 percent of all American expats call home, the largest concentration of Americans outside of the U.S.In 2010, the Mexican government’s last census showed nearly one million foreign-born people living in the country, three-fourths American.The state of Jalisco – home to the international resort city of Puerto Vallarta Read more »

Like Christmas, New Year’s is celebrated in many different ways around the world but also has been earth’s biggest celebration for over 4,000 years.No matter which country you’re in, most of you will be celebrating by attending parties, eating special foods, making resolutions (that you will keep for at least two weeks) and watching fireworks display, if not in person, Read more »

How do you celebrate Christmas? Expats around the globe will be spending the most celebrated holiday in the world in many different ways, whether you’re secular or religious.You may not know that the Christmas we celebrate today has only been around since the 1860s, a Victorian-era invention, although Christmas has been celebrated in many different ways for hundreds of years.On Read more »

It’s a well-known fact that American workers have fewer days off each year than almost any other people on the planet. But there are a few places in the world where paid time off from work brings new meaning to work/life balance.A new study by financial services company UBS reports that Manama, Bahrain, gives it workers more than 34 days Read more »

A new interactive language program created by entrepreneurs from Germany and Brazilmay make learning a local language a lot more fun for expats.Ingo Ehrle and José Freitas are the founders of a new Munich-based start-up company called XPLingo, which is developing a unique product to teach language skills by immersing users in an interactive adventure story.The two have come up Read more »

MYIA’s Adventurers Abroad feature for December takes us to Aix-en-Provence, a sun-kissed city of about 150,000 people located 20 miles north of Marseilles, France.Our adventurer, Carol Artigues, has lived in Aix for nearly twenty years, but her journey to France began decades before in New York and then Atlanta.Carol tell us, “I knew from seventh grade, when I saw a movie Read more »

Our top story for December – “Why Are Americans Renouncing Their Citizenship?” – focuses once again on an American tax policy that has had a negative impact on many expats.According to U.S. Internal Revenue Service data, over 1,400 Americans gave up their U.S. citizenship in the third quarter of 2015, bringing the total for the year to 3,221, a 25 Read more »