Since I was old enough to vote in presidential elections, I’ve heard plenty of grumbling across the political spectrum about moving to Canada if one candidate or another wins. And since I have been a full-time worker, I have also been party to a number of pie-in-the-sky conversations about the expat potential of retiring to Barcelona; Buenos Aires, Argentina; or Bangkok.

But conversations about leaving the United States have felt a little different over the last couple of years. It started when several of my parents’ contemporaries actually retired abroad, rather than just thinking about it. Then multiple friends picked up stakes—which included selling houses and cars and uprooting high-school aged kids—simply to relocate away from America.

It’s not just my circle of friends and acquaintances, either. CS Global Partners found a 102.4% jump in U.S. expatriation in the first quarter of 2025 compared to the last quarter of 2024—although that jump only represents an estimated 1,285 individuals in real numbers.

As easy as it is to say you’d like to become an American expat living it up in another country, the reality isn’t necessarily that simple. I spoke to two people who have moved away from the U.S. about the hidden costs of emigration.

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Infrastructure matters

Valerie Roseborough retired to Panama when she exited her career in sales and marketing. She first got the expat itch during COVID-19. “In my early career, I had done a lot of solo international traveling,” she says. “Seeing so much of the world go through the same thing at one time reminded me of how connected I had once felt to the rest of the world.”

That convinced Roseborough to start traveling more—with retirement in the back of her mind. She spent six months in Mexico and realized it was not her place. “The infrastructure wasn’t going to work for me,” Roseborough says. “It’s a large country and sort of challenging to move about from state to state and place to place.”

Once Panama presented itself as an option, with its large international airport and direct flights to North America, as well as generous discounts to retirees, Roseborough realized it was an ideal spot for her second act, as an expat. Travel to and from her home in the Washington, D.C. area makes it possible to stay closely connected with her children.

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