From Canada to Freedom: My Expat Journey

I have always been interested in travel, but my real love of exploring the planet happened after a trip to Tennessee. Travel is about the experiences you have with other people and not just “getting away from it all”. My mother inspired our trip to Tennessee. Mom was a huge Elvis Presley fan, and I had always wanted to take her to Graceland. We hardly travelled when I was growing up because we lived on a farm, so it was hard to leave the animals and the crops.

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The opportunity came for us to take Mom and Dad to Tennessee in 2011. We decided to buy the trip for my parents as a Christmas gift. I had a strong feeling that we needed to do this now because if something ever happened to Mom and we couldn’t take her, I’d regret it forever. It was now or never. Christmas 2010 came, and Mom was ecstatic with her gift.

In April 2011, we travelled to Tennessee as a family and made memories. Tennessee was also our first trip outside of Canada for the winter. My husband and I were hooked. To see the green trees and smell the fresh cut grass when we knew the ground was white with snow back home was such a unique experience for us. Now we understood why people travelled south to escape the Canadian winter deep freeze.

We came back home with many fond memories of that trip. I call that trip a “God Thing” because in December 2011, my mother suffered a severe stroke. She walked a fine line between this world and the next for several weeks. If we hadn’t taken her to Graceland in April, she never would have made it there. I would have lived with that regret for the rest of my life. Mom has since passed, but our memories of that trip to Tennessee live on.

I don’t have many pictures of that trip on my computer since it was long ago and many of my pictures are currently in storage, but I do have one of Mom and our son Brandon in Elvis’ private jet, the Lisa Marie. Mom looks so proud.

Time to Make a Difference

I knew I needed a career change—one that would get me out of the office and away from the corporate world. Travel was calling my name. I enrolled in the Travel & Tourism diploma program at SAIT in Calgary, and I graduated in April 2018, with Honours and a 4.0 GPA. I have an extensive administrative background, so that, coupled with my love of travel, helped me to excel at the program. After graduation, I embarked on long-term travel to launch my travel writing career by exploring different countries to find my niche.

My niche found me in Germany while sitting in a biergarten overlooking the rolling hills of the German countryside. We were staying in a small town in Waldeck, and it was our last night in the country before heading to France. It was in this serene setting that we realized our true love of small towns and the unique experiences they offer. My favourite topics to cover in small towns are history, food, drink, and photography. Photography is my other passion, and architecture, street photography, and historic sites are my favourite muses to capture.

Travel has changed me and my family, and it can change you, too. My first book, Roam Free: A Travel Transformation Memoir, was published on January 8, 2020, and quickly became an Amazon bestseller. Roam Free is a tale of our struggles, travel stories and inspiration for you to take the leap and transform your life with travel.

The World Shifts

The next quest was to find a new country to live in that fit with our values.

The catalyst to get out of Canada happened in 2021. Government overreach and the prompting (another God Thing) to get out of Canada before we no longer could caused us to pull the trigger and leave with the intention of finding refuge in a country that still offered freedom to its residents. We needed an online income before we left. This door opened when I landed a job writing for an expat publication. I quickly moved up into the managing editor position of the publication’s international magazine specializing in migration, alternative investments, and lifestyle.

The most difficult aspect to moving away from Canada was leaving family. We were already separated by government lockdowns and geography so we might as well live in a country that offered more freedom.

Could we afford to leave? Could we afford to stay? I had a fear of freezing to death and a nagging feeling to get out of Canada before we could no longer leave. We had a housesit arranged in Texas, which was wide open with no restrictions, and we would not be paying any rent. We had income with my job and my husband’s online work had begun paying as well. The cost of living was cheaper where we were going.

There were many places we were interested in exploring. Where would we go when our housesit in Texas was done? Where does a person start? We were open to where God would lead us. Be ready to walk through doors when they open and walk away when they shut.

Through my work with the expat magazine, I realized there were so many unique options for alternative lifestyles out there and many of the freedom seekers I was writing for didn’t know these places existed. These places are looking for people to relocate to their settlements. Writing was no longer enough. I wrote to inspire people to move. Now it was time to take steps and help people make the move themselves.

My passion is about helping you discover what you want in a freedom lifestyle and country, educate, inspire, empower, and then ultimately guide you to a new home.

Your freedom destination is out there. Don’t settle for where you are if you are not happy. There are places to get away from the chaos you see unfolding in front of your eyes. Autonomous islands. Free cities. Special economic zones. Sea steading. The possibilities are endless. Get your imagination ready.

I moved away and found my happy place in Mexico. I can help you find a new place to live and adjust to the expat lifestyle. There are places in this world that people know nothing about, and without me, you won’t find them. I have connections to get you there.

Book a free, half-hour discovery call so we can find your freedom community.