"How Many Houses Do You Have Anyway?"
That question was posed to Jackson by one of his cousins while Jack was visiting family in the States last month. The conversation between the two 12-year-olds had to do with Jackson’s summer travel plans. He’d mentioned that we were going to be spending a couple of weeks in Medellin at our apartment there and then another couple of weeks in our place in Paris.
Jack’s cousin is impressed by this lifestyle. Jackson takes it in stride. I was happy to hear that young Sean was showing an interest, and we’re going to invite him to come spend time with us. The kind of open, inquisitive mind Sean seems to have toward the way of life we’ve adopted isn’t common.
The number of Americans interested in ideas and options to do with “internationalizing their lives,” as we call it, has grown dramatically in recent years and is expanding quickly still. This is an idea whose time has come, and more people than ever are recognizing this.
Still, we’re the minority.
We’ve been reminded of us recently by the e-mails and phone calls we’re getting from readers reporting that their friends and family don’t understand them. Don’t understand why anyone would want to open a bank account offshore, buy a piece of property overseas, become a legal resident of another country. “My friends think I’m crazy,” more readers than ever are writing in to tell us. “What can I do?”
My usual response is: Get new friends.
I do realize, though, that that’s not always easy, and, in truth, it’s not always necessary. You don’t necessarily have to get new friends. You do, though, have to guard against letting your friends who don’t understand you dissuade you from taking control of and diversifying your life to protect your family and your wealth.
Those friends who don’t understand are likely afraid–afraid of the unknown, afraid because of what they’ve read and seen in the news about foreign destinations, afraid of doing something illegal. None of those fears is valid, but they all can be hard to overcome.
No matter what your friends think, you know what you have to do. Don’t be like one reader who, earlier this month, cancelled his attendance at next week’s Emergency Offshore Summit.When his wife found out he was planning to attend with the specific agenda of researching the idea of moving to Uruguay, she threatened to divorce him and cut off his access to his grandchildren. The poor guy acquiesced. He gave up on his plan.
Maybe we should send Jackson over to speak with his wife. Jack can tell her how broad, diverse, and interesting his little life has been. Perhaps then she’d want to give her grandkids a chance to follow in his footsteps.
Lief Simon