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Where would you relocate if you could choose anywhere? And what's the best way to go about it?
More Americans are packing up and relocating abroad, and we dig into what makes a place feel safe, walkable, healthy, and genuinely enjoyable day to day. We compare two helpful lenses for choosing a destination: global livability rankings (think Copenhagen, Vienna, Melbourne, Tokyo) and expat friendliness lists that spotlight surprising standouts like Taiwan, Cambodia, Bahrain, and Oman, alongside familiar favorites like Portugal and Canada.
We’re joined by Darren Johnston from Send My Bag, a company that helps people relocate by shipping millions of bags worldwide. We talk through a simple expat move checklist: deciding what to keep versus sell, planning baggage and shipping, and thinking early about pets. Then we zoom into the first week after arrival, when you need local cash, groceries, bedding, and the basics that turn an empty place into a functioning home.
We also cover the essentials that keep a move overseas from spiraling: staying connected with eSIMs, setting up finances with a realistic three-to-six-month buffer, navigating slow bureaucracy, and building community through expat groups, local clubs, and everyday routines.
Darren shares travel memories of Rome and his pull toward Tokyo, reminding us that the best relocation plans still start with curiosity.
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Darren Johnston is a relocation expert at Send My Bag, an international luggage shipping and relocation platform. Launched in the UK in 2006, the company now serves customers in over 80 countries each month.
Podcast host Lea Lane has traveled to over 100 countries, and has written nine books, including the award-winning Places I Remember (Kirkus Reviews star rating, and 'one of the top 100 Indie books of the year'). She has contributed to dozens of guidebooks and has written thousands of travel articles. Read her weekly essays on Substack.
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Our award-winning travel podcast, Places I Remember with Lea Lane, has produced over 130 travel episodes! New episodes drop on the first Tuesday of the month, on Apple, Spotify, and wherever you listen to podcasts. All episodes are also on the website: placesirememberlealane.com and appear on Lea's Substack, Lane Changes.
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Travel vlogs of featured podcasts-- with video and graphics -- now also drop on YouTube.
