Best Countries to Live in As American, From Retiree Who’s Lived in 50

My wife and I are Americans who have been fully nomadic since 2019. In the past few years, we’ve visited about 50 countries.

We have stayed in some places for as little as a few days and others for several months, but our “sweet spot” is four to six weeks, which gives us time to absorb the flavor of the local culture.

Of all the many questions we get asked about our full-time nomadic lifestyle, the most common is probably, “What’s your favorite country?”

As simple as that query is, it’s also one of the most challenging because we love so many and consider several of them “home.”

However, if I had to choose, here are a few of my favorite countries we’ve lived in — plus our top pick.

Vietnam felt like an affordable expat heaven

We spent 17 months traveling around Southeast Asian countries and fell in love with many places in the region, including Vietnam.

The second time we visited Vietnam, we stayed for all of our 90-day maximum visa period. We felt we got the most bang for our buck in the amazing city of Da Nang.

It seems popular among fellow expats, likely because it’s affordable and close (about 30 minutes away) to the ancient city of Hoi An, a UNESCO World Heritage site with incredible preserved history and charming canals.

As expats, Da Nang was also a great city for transitioning into Southeast Asian culture, since it still has many Western-style offerings, like grocery stores with offerings that remind us of home.

The country’s fairly inexpensive cost of living made it easy for us to comfortably live, explore, and eat well during our stay.

We had so much affordable and incredible food (and fresh fish) in Vietnam. I loved frequent bahn mi sandwiches for less than a dollar, and pho soup breakfasts for not much more.

My wife and I never had a dull day in the country since it also has many beautiful landscapes, rivers, and beaches. And with the convenience of our affordable $45 a month scooter rental, nothing felt too far away.

Italy is magnificent and filled with history

It’s easy to see why Italy is on many bucket lists, and we’ve now lived there twice.

The country is filled with historic architecture, churches, and museums, which have been incredible to explore.

One of our first stays was in the small medieval town of Tivoli, about 20 minutes east of Rome, where we lived in a 500-year-old apartment. That blew my mind, as it’s about double the age of the United States.

The ancient town was founded hundreds of years before Rome, too, and it was my first gut punch of recognizing how little of the world I had seen.

Eight months later, we were on the island of Sicily for six weeks. It carried the same sense of ancient history, with the stunning, centuries-old Temple of Apollo prominently in its town square.

And, of course, we enjoyed Italy’s world-famous culinary scene and incredible wine offerings. While in Sicily, we regularly visited the local street market to stock up on fresh fish and $2 bottles of delicious wine.

We appreciate the medical tourism in Malaysia

Over the years, one of our biggest incentives to visit Malaysia has been its affordable yet high-quality medical services.

As full-time travelers, it’s been our go-to place for medical tests and scans. After all, Malaysia’s medical tourism market is pretty huge.

We’ve had positive experiences with high-quality clinics in the country that have been more affordable than what we’ve encountered in the US and most other countries we’ve lived in.

During our time in Malaysia, we’ve gotten full-body exams, blood tests, and head-to-toe scans for only a few hundred dollars.

We’ve easily paid for all our medical expenses here out of pocket without navigating complicated insurance policies and red tape, which is almost unheard of in the US.

Plus, it’s worth mentioning that Malaysia has impressive skylines, mountains, and rainforests worth exploring, too.

Croatia is still our favorite country we’ve lived in

Although we’ve spent time in about 50 countries, Croatia still tops them all.

We spent almost two months there in 2019, and have been back three more times since. When we first moved to Croatia, we didn’t know much about it. However, we quickly fell in love.

Fortunately, English is widely spoken here, so communicating with locals was easy. Plus, we were able to eat tons of fresh seafood while in the area.

During one stretch, we lived in affordable waterfront lodging about 20 minutes north of Split, one of our favorite cities.

Its focal point is the downtown waterfront Diocletian Palace, which has residential and commercial units built into the walls. Its charm and history felt intoxicating.

We loved regularly walking several miles along the city’s promenade and enjoying the changing view of the water, ships, and sandy beaches.

A few years later, we toured Croatia’s northern region, starting from the Istrian Peninsula and heading south while stopping at half a dozen islands along the way.

Even this excursion barely made a dent in how much beauty there is to see in the country, since it has 49 inhabited islands and hundreds of others.

We look forward to one day going back.