Dear Twenty-Somethings in America,
You’re not moving around or across the US – at least this was the case made by Todd and Victoria Buccholz in a New York Times essay on Sunday.
Why? For a number of reasons I suppose. The Atlantic‘s Derek Thompson questioned their points in an article on TheAtlantic.com today, yet ultimately comes to the same conclusion: young Americans aren’t migrating throughout America as they are often underpaid, underemployed and very often high in debt. Moving is expensive, both financially and emotionally, and uprooting across the US is a disconcerting decision to make during times of economic uncertainty. If you’re relatively secure in an underpaid job, why risk migrating to another US city where you’ll be potentially unemployed and facing higher costs of living?
A fair question, yet the one I would pose to you comes from a significantly different angle.
If you’re underpaid or underemployed, why continue in the same seemingly never-ending rat race with so many of your peers?
Hardly making ends meet in Boston? DC rents are on the rise? Struggling to find full time employment post graduation in Chicago? Forget a move from the East Coast to the West Coast, why not replace the economic uncertainty of suburban America for the uncertainty and excitement of life in an international city?
This is a move of grander proportions and one that will ultimately result in you having a better understanding of the world we inhabit, its cultures and you’ll become more employable as a result. Not to mention, you’ll have a bloody good time along the way.
I know this option is not even in the minds of most Americans, yet throughout many places in the world an “Overseas Experience” is a rite of passage for those coming out of high school and going into college or out of college and into the ‘real world.’ This international and long term travel gives you a greater understanding of the world – an understanding that quite simply won’t come from your one week vacation in Cancun.
A temporary life abroad is one that is far more achievable than you can ever imagine.
Countries like New Zealand and Australia welcome twenty-somethings with open arms and 12-month working holiday visas. Jobs are easy to come by – whilst odds don’t necessarily favor you landing that marketing gig you’ve been dreaming of (though you might), working customer service as at a ski field, mixing drinks in a lakeside bar or making coffees in a funky cafe are very real possibilities. Not your dream job, sure – yet they’re means to an end and allow you to experience life outside your comfort zone (all while living in some of the most beautiful places in the world).
If backpacking in New Zealand or Australia isn’t appealing, countries around Asia welcome US citizens to teach English as a second language. Unlike most of the work you stand to find down under, this is a potentially lucrative overseas working experience. High wages and low costs of living stand to allow you to pay off your debt significantly faster in Seoul than you ever will in NYC.
I’m not suggesting that moving abroad is an easy answer to all your problems. Backpacking around the world isn’t easy. International travel or life working abroad brings about fears and uncertainties of an entirely new scope. Yet facing this fear of the unknown is a terribly addictive and fulfilling feat.
The world is begging to be explored, learned from and experienced and now is the time to see it.
Sincerely,
(Backpacking) Matt
Backpacking Matt 
Very true words — moving internationally can seems scary but the adventure is worth it. And ironically for me, teaching in Madagascar for a $200/month salary is the most financially secure I’ve been since graduating college. For once I’m in a place that’s affordable enough for me to go out on the weekends and travel how I would have liked to in the U.S.
@Jessie Thanks for sharing your experience. It’s fascinating to think how $200 a month can allow someone to live so comfortably. I spent a couple months working from SE Asia and enjoyed the (albeit) brief stint into minimalism. I was traveling with a daypack and got by on very little outside of cheap meals, the occasional Thai bucket and lots of time on the beach.
Just don’t come to Spain…economic crisis and govt retentions have driven my salary down over 200€ since the start of 2012. I’m now making 60€ more a month than I did working as a language assistant with private classes!
@Cat Great point – I imagine Spain wouldn’t be a good choice of places to relocate to. From my understanding, most of Europe is now difficult work visa wise for American citizens anyway.
Matt, it’s rather ironic that you should post this now. I’ve been stalking your blog for a bit and dreaming of moving overseas. I’m currently on vacation in London and simply never want to leave. I’m living off something like 20 pounds a day, 30 if I go drinking and I just feel more alive than I ever did back home.
And I don’t want to go back unless it’s to sell my car and leave again. Now, thanks to your article, I know how to go about doing that. I was going to go to nursing school and attempt to immigrate as a skilled worker but nursing school will always be there, my 20’s will end in three years and I’d rather learn Spanish while backpacking through South America or teach English anywhere than go home and do the expected.
Thank you!
@Juli Cheers for the comment – glad you said hello! 🙂 Delighted to hear you’re enjoying London and considering a more long term trip abroad. As I mentioned too, Australia and NZ are very good options for someone wanting to take a year or so out. It’s terribly easy to apply for the work visa and you can take up whatever employment you can find during your stay. Travel safe and thanks again for the comment.
I totally agree! I didn’t have many postgrad prospects in the US, working part time jobs to save up, but once I was working in Australia, I could cover my costs of living (food, apartment, transportation) in addition to saving up to travel. It’s something I never would have been able to manage with the wages and hours I was getting back home.
@Caroline Plus, in Australia, you’re well positioned to hop on over to Southeast Asia where the cost of living / traveling is extremely cheap.
Excellent advice! I went abroad and worked answering phones in Sydney at a pizza place for $22 an hour off the books. While the standard of living was a bit expensive, I’m originally from New York so not too much different. And you’d never find a gig like that here!
Matt, good letter. I moved to Taiwan in 2009, leaving a good job and a pretty girlfriend behind to pursue my dream of learning Chinese. Has it been tough at times? Yes. Has it been completely worth it? Damn right. I don’t understand why so many of my friends back in Texas are sitting around grinding through a terrible economy when the whole world beckons. Ahh well…
@Jack Thanks for the feedback and for sharing your story. I don’t understand why so many remain in the states waiting for the sluggish economy and job market to clear either – maybe this letter will reach some of them and help to change their outlook. Good luck in Taiwan!
This article is not very poignant and highly contradictory. If you don’t have the funds to live within a US city, barely able to pay rent or your student loan debt – how are you going to travel across the country? To move across the country is a great expense for many people – even airfare is a huge deterrent for those who wish to go abroad but don’t have the several hundred (much less thousands) of dollars necessary.
It doesn’t seem like good advice to suggest to people who don’t even have money to live where they are now, and pack their things up and move to some foreign country. Even with teaching abroad, not all companies pay for airfare and there’s still the act of getting your own Visa and general paperwork done.
Trust me, as someone who went through the process of trying to teach abroad and couldn’t because I didn’t have the money, your post severely misses the mark. The greatest financial hurdle in traveling is gathering the expenses to get over there.
@Tatiana Absolutely, the greatest hurdle is gathering the expenses for the flight – yet it can be done.
I spent 10 months in DC prior to moving to NZ working 50+ hours per week in an office and in a restaurant with the goal of putting money aside to buy a one-way flight to New Zealand. It wasn’t easy and I lived a very simple existence for the time I was there, yet the end result was the opportunity to work and travel in one of the most beautiful places in the world.
Ideally too this is something you’d do before you’ve hit rock bottom and are struggling to make ends me. If this is a goal you set far enough in advance, it’s completely realistic to slowly put money away for a move abroad.
Unfortunately, for whatever reason, this isn’t even on the radar of most twenty-somethings in America.
I loved this article. So relatable! I studied in Spain during college, then went to teach English in Spain after college. I’m back in the US now and am constantly searching for my next adventure. I think Australia/NZ will be it!
@Kim Yes! Come to New Zealand, it’s simply fantastic here. 🙂 Very glad you can relate.
I had to share this one with my friends, Matt – they all seek the same jobs you’ve described, but inside the country. No one wants to go to another country to live and work. I’m alone in that respect. My friends would rather settle down in their hometowns and never leave, never explore the world. I hope reading this changes their minds.
@Patrick Thanks, glad you enjoyed. I’ve been thinking for some time how to best get this message out and the articles in the NYT and on The Atlantic poised perfect opportunities for a reply. The author of The Atlantic article has asked for stories of twenty-something Americans on the move (or not on the move) and will write a follow-up article. I’ll be very interested to see if he includes the option of moving abroad.
Yo Matt, long time no talk, like the article. Get out there America, the world is waiting!
I’m in Shanghai now actually, just starting a 7 week trip in China – next will be a few months in South America when I get the chance.
@Peter Merhaba! Can you believe it’s been 3+ years since we were in Turkey?! Glad to hear your’e still on the road – hope you’re enjoying Shanghai. Cheers for comment friend!
We moved our young family from San Jose to Sarawak in 2009. While we don’t have all the comforts of California at our beck and call, we are living comfortably and are able to travel around Malaysia – a big plus. It wasn’t easy at first, but somehow we adapted and are making the best of it.
Still looking forward to going back to the States, though.
@Nate – Cheers for sharing your story – and what a fantastic opportunity for your children to be exposed to new cultures. How long will you say in SE Asia?
Inspiring post!
Well said 🙂 While Canadians are known to be quite the travellers, in Toronto, that’s very much the mentality. I’ve never understood why a trip to Cancun is all that exciting (you go with a bunch of friends, stay in a resort, and come back home)…just as a lot of people here don’t understand how I can possibly like backpacking.
All your photos of New Zealand makes me really want to go there!
I think ‘fear’ is a large part of the equation. As comfortably miserable as some are they’re afraid to roll the dice – even just a little bit.
Amen to that. Everyone, in my opinion, should try an expat life for at least a year. It broadens the mind in fantastic ways. I’ve been living outside of the USA for almost 15 years now (Japan, now NZ), and I’ve loved every minute of it.
As a graduate student who is planning to defend in the next few weeks and then set off on a RTW trip, I know all too well how stressful the prospect of moving is when you’re trying to juggle so many other things. I think if it were not for our upcoming extended trip (talk about an incentive to finally get that dissertation done!), my husband and I would likely fall back on what is easiest and just stay put.
But there are too many good things out there to take the safe and easy path. I think most people probably try to get their wanderlust out of their systems before they start grad school, but I’m just so grateful I’m making this choice now rather than never. The next few weeks are going to be scary as I say goodbye to the path I’d always thought I’d follow, but I have a feeling that during the time I travel the world, I’m going to learn far more than I did in 7 years working towards a PhD.
I am seriously considering working abroad in new zealand. I am wondering where a backbacker stays? Do you rent?
I want to travel alone to new zealand… good or bad idea? Im nervous
So true Matt. More people need to see moving overseas indefinitely or for at least a year as a real option & possibility instead of something that only super crazy or “confident” people do.
I agree with Samuel, people fear leaving their comfort zone. They might not like where they are at the moment, but it’s not enough to drive them to try something else – because it’s scary and awkward.
Good post!
I am far removed from my 20s but when I was in my mid 20s, I moved from South Carolina to California. I now have been out here 10 years now and have traveled more than I ever have. If where you are confines you and holds you back, make a change. You don’t have to move across the country or the world but start by making some change that moves your life in a direction that you want.
When I lived in California I found it impossible to save enough to travel – so I changed that by moving. As a result I can live a bit more minimally, not relying on having a car and therefore be able to travel more. I saw it all the time in people I knew – working long hours just to pay for the car, or the expensive condo. I know which one I would choose!
Good advice, but it shouldn’t be exclusive to American’s, it’s not a bad move for anyone to move abroad if nothing is happening at home, just be careful about where you pick.
I thought Australia would be a good move, but it was expensive to live in, and living costs are important. I managed to get by fine in Japan (one of the most expensive countries in the world) because I had a steady job through most of it. But I would have saved more if I worked in Korea or Taiwan as the cost of living is much lower.
There are plenty of people with plenty of blogs who are fine examples of how to do it these days.
Agreed. No need to rush into a 9 to 5! Explore! Travel! Live!
Very true. I am on my twenty-something and I’m very lucky to have traveled and see Europe. A couple of my friends decided to teach English in Korea – rather than work as a banker in New York city. And it seems like they’re having the time of their life which money can’t buy.
As a recently graduated 24 year old from the Midwest, struggling to make ends meet in Boston, 8 months off of a one week vacation to Cancun, I have to ask, are you a Jedi?
I’m leaving the rat race in January/February to find real meaning on the road. Thanks for the extra bit of motivation, Matt.
Thanks for this open letter Matt! I can completely relate to it as I am a twenty-something stuck in a boring 9 to 5 job. Although, it’s a job (and pay) I imagined having in my late thirties. While leaving the pay will be difficult, I making the leap and will be moving abroad to teach English in Spain. Your letter and journey as a whole only serves as further inspiration and encouragement for me. Thank you!
We know exactly what you mean! That’s why after we graduated we moved to Taiwan to teach English for a couple of years. The best education (in my humble opinion) traveling. Thanks for sharing!
@Dan Awesome, hopefully you’re enjoying it!
Definitely an inspiration to start traveling. Thanks for sharing!
Just came across this post and I gotta say, it’s right on the money. It’s one of those things where once you’ve ‘seen the light’ it can be a bit frustrating trying to then communicate your experience to those who are still ‘in the dark.’ I share your passion to let people know that there are 7 billion people on the planet and JUST as many ways to live.
Keep up the great posts!
Tallkid
What a fantastic article. You will always have time and money for what’s important to you. Leaving for SA in January for a multi-year adventure!
Awesome mate, enjoy planning for your coming trip. I was in South America last year for only a couple weeks, but am dying to go back.
Yes! California is sucking me dry. It’s time to get out.
Stumbled across this a little late, but your post is on point. While not everyone is lucky enough to be able to do such things, those who are should take advantage. I’m curious, if someone was going to choose between Australia and NZ, which would you recommend? Specifically for entertainment or tech jobs. Thanks!
Tank you for this! I’m sharing this with my peers of 20-something Americans. 🙂