The Best Place to Live Abroad
Doesn't actually come from a cute listicle shared online but instead is what's best for you and your lifestyle.
Where’s the best place to live abroad, really? There’s no singular right or wrong answer here.
Next week we’re moving to Belluno, a small “city” marked as the gateway to the Dolomites in Northern Italy. Even here in Trieste we often get looks of confusion and even empathy when we tell them about our upcoming move.
They can’t imagine a worse place to live but we can’t imagine a better one.
Contrary to the fact that I just updated all of our “best places to live” guides on the website, these lists are actually a bit of bullshit. What’s right for me, a 57-year old man from Denmark, or an 19-year old person from Guatemala will likely not align. Even a group of fellow 35-year old married women wouldn’t all agree.
Maybe they’d love Belluno, too, but more often than not we’d have different ideas as to what’s the “best.” There’s a big difference between what’s the most popular, has the best stats, and actually feels like a good fit for your lifestyle.
Are you looking for the best place to find a job abroad? You’ll likely want a bigger city.
Are you looking for access to nature and a calmer pace of life? Skip the cities from above.
Are you looking for the most affordable place to call home? That’s just a stat that might not reflect real life.
Are you looking for a nice sense of community and delicious food? People look for friends in different places and our palates might not favor the same flavors.
Are you looking for anywhere that’s legally possible? Each nationality has different legal rights, so you’ll need to make sure you’re filtering information for your passport.
This is all to say that rather than focusing on the places you’re “supposed” to love, focus on the qualities that overlap with your lifestyle.
Let’s take Bali as an example. People have been shocked that we’ve never been to Bali in all of our years living in SE Asia and as digital nomads. For many, that’s the undisputed king of paradise. For me, its incredible popularity was the exact reason I was never intrigued to visit.
Truthfully, this is the same thing I’d say about traveling somewhere new. Why always follow the beaten path when the world is so much bigger and more diverse than that?
It’s easy to get caught up with what’s trending on social media or the city or town that’s on the top of every list. And maybe that place is perfect for you. But just because it’s right for one, doesn’t mean it’s right for all.
And that’s a really good thing. The world is too wonderfully diverse for all of us to flock to one single place.
Lists like these can be a really good starting point to understand the basics and get the ball rolling but don’t be afraid to divert from the popular path. Most people assume Raf and I would live in Rome or Florence, and while I’m sure we could have made those work, the tiny city of Belluno that most have never heard of seems like the better fit for us.
Dig into the updated lists for 2026 but remember, it’s not a one-size-fits-all solution:
If you’ve moved abroad somewhere not quite expected, share in the comments. I’d love to hear more about the places you love most.
xx,
Kat
agreed about Bali. And agreed that there is no such thing as best place to live, universally. In fact, the factor that determines most strongly your satisfaction is a small group of people next to you, your friends and your dear ones. Geography is sort-of secondary. While I might have my list of best places, I'd never publish them - I don't want to contribute to the "bali effect", degrading the places through overtourism. I lately wrote about what happened to Ikaria, a quiet Greek island after National Geographic named it one of the alleged Blue Zones of longevity: https://nomadicmind.substack.com/p/the-blue-zone-curse