Courtesy of Christian Salafia
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Christian Salafia, a former US Navy engineering laboratory technician and cyber and information security consultant who moved from Florida to South Africa in 2021.
The following has been edited for length and clarity.
I moved to South Africa for my now-wife three years ago. It's the best decision I've ever made.
Back in late 2019, early 2020, my then-girlfriend Kim and I had known each other for years on Facebook, but it was always "Happy Birthday," nothing more interactive than that. Then she invited me to South Africa.
I needed to renew my passport, and she needed to renew hers. So, we said, "Whoever gets theirs first travels first." Hers came quicker, so she came out to the US in February 2020, just as Covid was starting to make noise around the world.
We spent 10 days together, and I thought, "This is probably going somewhere, so next time, I'll come out to South Africa and see what life is like out there."
Three days after she went home, the world shut down. So, I didn't get to come out until November 2020.
When I finally came out to South Africa, I absolutely fell in love with the country.
Courtesy of Christian Salafia
When I stepped out of the plane for the first time in South Africa, I felt immediately relaxed.
One of the first things we did on my first trip was have lunch on the beach, with Table Mountain just a few kilometers away. I remember standing there looking over the Atlantic, Table Mountain on my left, soaking in the scenery.
We stayed at a hotel resort, which is about four hours away, and saw the wide open spaces with the rolling hills and the animals just roaming around. It just feels so unspoiled.
At the time, I spent two weeks and an additional two weeks because I contracted Covid before I could go home. We came back to the US in December 2020, and she stayed through New Year.
Courtesy of Christian Salafia
I called my daughters — I have two adult daughters — and asked, "How would you feel if your dad decided to move to South Africa?"
My daughter said: "Does she make you happy?" And I said: "Absolutely." And she goes: "Go, have fun."
And so, in August 2021, I came out here with three suitcases — I had sent two boxes — and built a new life halfway around the world.
Courtesy of Christian Salafia
Before I left the US, I was making close to six figures, and it was still very stressful to make sure bills were paid and to wonder whether I was going on vacation.
But here, through the lower cost of living, we're able to have the life that most Americans think is the American dream.
We're in a very nice house in the Winelands, and we have a car. I'm now semi-retired; I get a Navy disability pension and am a cyber and information security consultant.
We go on vacation. we can go on nights out and go to the theater and the opera. And we're not always stressed about whether we can afford it.
Courtesy of Christian Salafia
My wife recently told me: "When you first got here, you were very stressed, anxious, and like you had to be doing something. In the years since you've been here, you've been very relaxed."
I think what people don't understand about being an expat and living in a developing country is that it's a much simpler life.
You don't feel rushed anywhere, and it allows you to be fully present all the time. There is the joke that Cape Town is called the "Mother City" because it takes nine months to get anything done.
The food is amazing. You can tell everything is natural and not processed, and that just makes food better.
In the first couple of years I was here, load-shedding was brutal, with days where we were without power for 8-10 hours a day.
The memes and jokes that floated around social media, from everyday South Africans to even the ad guys at Nando's, were priceless.
Everyone here knows South Africa has its problems — electricity, water, corruption, and crime — but it doesn't seem to faze anyone.
They don't let it get them down or make them angry and bitter.
Even meals here are an event. You show up at people's houses at 2 p.m.; you don't eat until 8 or 9 o'clock at night. It's an all-day thing.
It's the same thing in a restaurant. If you go out to breakfast, you can expect to spend a couple of hours.
I miss my kids, family, and friends. But I have no regrets. I don't think I'll ever move back to the US because it's too busy and too stressful.
My wife and I want a simple life. We want to enjoy it and not feel like we're working our tails off just to survive.
If I had to give one piece of advice to anybody who's looking to move out of the US, it'd be to not look to Western developed countries first. Look to the more developing countries.
I had this conversation with friends of ours a couple of months ago who also emigrated here, one from the UK and his wife from Romania, about where we would go if we ever left South Africa.
Not one of us chose a developed country or to go back to where we came from. Instead, it was South Africa, Namibia, Tanzania, Botswana, and Central America.
They're culturally richer, and if you can work remotely, choose someplace that is different.
Take the risk. Be bold. Don't trade one developed nation for another. Go and explore the world.
