anxieuse abroad

Silly title, I know. There are tons of ways to get a visa — a job, a partner, school, or just “be rich” are the main ones that come to mind. When I sit back and think about how I did it though, I think the overarching theme was about finding the right people to help.

I’ve been wanting to make a big move for decades. I’ve done it a couple times, but always had to come back because I wasn’t making enough money to stay. It sucked. So this time, I really wanted to make sure more that any move would be financially viable and allow me to stay.

I wasn’t sure at first where I wanted to move, so I started by researching different countries and visas that might work. Of course I made another spreadsheet, and we had many many pro / con white boarding sessions at home to talk through various options. I applied to jobs abroad. Obsessed over more white boarding sessions. We spun our wheels for a couple years as Covid and layoffs changed the landscape of our lives more than once.

I don’t remember exactly how, but I ended up following Nancy Whiteman’s Expat in Portugal newsletter. Prolly through some connection on LinkedIn. It was right after she made the move and I loved reading about how she was finding everything and was super jealous that she’d figured it out. At that time, Portugal seemed like the best option through the D7 visa but I wasn’t convinced. I even had a call with Nancy one morning to ask her more about how it works financially on this visa and she was incredibly generous with her time and experience.

After a move back to the Portland, OR area from a 2.5 year whoops in Spokane, WA, I followed a new podcast and started listing to it at the gym. Again, not sure how I found it — I think it was also LinkedIn (yes, I’m that nerd) but it’s called She Hit Refresh. It’s led by Cepee Tabibian who moved to Spain at 35 and now has helped hundreds (thousands?) of women do the same. Anyway, I was working out and binging her interviews, one of which was about a woman who’d moved to France on a profession libérale visa and I thought, “waitwhatthefuckisthis?!”

I’d been looking into France for years but had only understood there to be student or blue card / exceptional talent visas, neither of which were going to happen for me. As we left the gym and walked to the car, I said to my spouse, “I found it. I figured out how we’re going to move and I think it’s France.”

In the interview, the women laid out how she did it, and mentioned that the book Foolproof French Visas by Alison Grant Lounes, saying the book was really helpful in navigating the process. She also said that she did everything on her own and got visas for herself and her family easily and without any issues. I ordered the book when we got home.

I obsessively read and quickly confirmed that yes, this profession libérale visa was indeed the best option for us, and yes we were eligible. It required that we write a very thorough business plan, complete with competitive analysis, marketing approach, financial projections, and letters of support and intent from businesses that would hire us. It was daunting, and I fucking hate this kind of writing.

It was around this time, late spring of 2025, that I found Baguette Bound’s Youtube channel. I poked around their blog and tried to find out more information on this specific visa, but there wasn’t a lot, I think because they didn’t want to compete with Valérie Aston, a French business visa advisor who they used to recommend on their site.

Sooooo then I went down the rabbit hole of Valerie’s Youtube Start Business in France. And it started to seem like a really, really good idea to get some help with this whole process. I felt guilty and stupid. Why couldn’t I figure it out by myself like the lady in the podcast had? I said as much to my friend Molly one afternoon, and she calmly said, “Sometimes the best thing you can do is get help and there’s nothing to be ashamed about.” I knew she was right.

And at the end of July, I bought Valérie’s course and in hindsight it was some of the best money I’ve spent. Sure, I probably could have figured it out myself, but it would have taken a lot more work, and time that I was able to spend preparing for the move and making actual money. Also, when the regulations changed mid 2025 regarding visas and ANEF approvals, things became more difficult which Valerie was able to help with. The French visa application of 2024 is not the visa application of 2026. And I expect with anti-immigration sentiment on the rise all over the globe, things will only get harder.

In addition to watching tons of Baguette Bound videos, which I still do and get lots of great info from, I read FranceFI — a blogger who retired super young and seems to know a lot about money and taxes. That’s also not my forte and I’m delighted that he’s creating thorough content about it and other life tips in a clear, informative way.

In summary, I don’t think we can do this alone. One of the hardest American mythologies for me to shake has been that of the intrepid, bootstrapping individualist. It’s bullshit. We need others. And there’s no shame in that. I hope this post helps someone in the same way that all these folks here have helped me. 🙌♥️