And there are people who say they can't work abroad because they have young children. In fact, raising your kids in your home country and keeping them in conventional schools is a preference.

Digital technology gives us options, enabling us to make choices. But these choices involve trade-offs: money vs. freedom; spending time with existing friends and family vs. making new friends; stability and security vs. adventure; and so on.

There's a myth about foreign travel that's so pervasive that it must be addressed here. It's the belief that living abroad is expensive and threatens financial security.

When you live a conventional life in a highly industrialized country, your biggest costs tend to be fixed costs: There are the expenses that go with living in a building -- rent or mortgage, plus utilities, trash, Internet, water etc.; then there are transportation-related expenses, usually car payments, insurance and gas; and then there are taxes, payments on debt and some others.