Three years ago, David and Cathy Thayer moved from northern Idaho to Cayo, Belize. In Idaho, the Thayers had nine months of winter each year. In Cayo, they have 12 months of summertime.
Despite the promise of eternal summer, Cathy did not immediately embrace the prospect of packing up and leaving her U.S. life behind. “When David first got this idea of moving to another country into his head, I humored him,” Cathy says. “He’d start talking about moving to a new country, and I’d listen. To his face I’d say, ‘Ah, that’s interesting, dear.’ To everyone else I was saying, ‘No way!'”
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When her husband came to her with the notion that the couple retire overseas, Cathy hadn’t traveled anywhere other than Paris. When David told her he’d bought tickets for them to travel to Belize, she was shocked. “I didn’t know anything about Belize at the time, but I knew one thing,” she says. “I knew that Central America is nothing like Paris.”
However, David realized that if he had any chance of realizing his dream of life in a new country, he needed to get his wife on board. Reluctantly, Cathy agreed to take the trip. “I agreed to travel to Belize because I told myself it’d be a nice vacation. That was the extent of my commitment at first,” she says. “However, I have to admit that I found I liked two things about Belize right away. First, I could communicate with everyone, because English is the language here. And, second, it was warm.”
Initially, the couple thought they wanted to live on the ocean. But, after two days on Ambergris Caye, one of the Caribbean islands offshore from mainland Belize, David and Cathy realized the beach life wasn’t for them.
David suggested they take a look at Cayo as an alternative. “I’m not a jungle girl,” Cathy says. “When I think of jungle, I think of snakes and bugs the size of your head.” However, she agreed to go see Cayo with David with the condition that if they didn’t find a place to live that they both liked within three weeks they would finally give up on the whole idea.
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Their last day in Cayo, the day before their return flight to the U.S., David and Cathy walked into a house available for rent, and Cathy knew she’d found the place where she wanted to live. “I knew the minute I walked onto the property,” she says. “I could just see myself living there.”
The couple has been living in Cayo ever since. Today, Cathy is as enthusiastic about their decision to make the move as her husband. “One of my favorite things about being in Belize are the other expats,” Cathy says. “We’re all different, quirky in our own ways, but we have one big, important thing in common. We all left home, left the States, to come somewhere completely new. It’s no small thing. It’s a pretty amazing and cool thing.”
“Back in Idaho, I had a fine life, but a small life. I had my work, my home. I had Target. I shopped for entertainment. I was happy, but I had no idea how much I was missing out on,” Cathy says. “Making this move has opened up the whole world to me. Now I see how small and fearful my perfectly fine life really was. I was afraid of moving outside my comfort zone, but I didn’t even realize it. I made this move for my husband, but I think I’m the one who has really benefited.”
Of course, the past three years reinventing their lives from Idaho to Belize have not been without struggle for the Thayers. The two biggest challenges at first were the internet and the roads. However, the couple reports that both of these things have improved dramatically since they’ve been living in Cayo.
The biggest change for the better has been personal. “The fears I had moving here have been replaced by confidence,” Cathy says. “In the beginning, I was afraid of Belize City. Now I travel to Belize City on my own, walk around, shop, speak with people I meet. Belize City doesn’t scare me anymore.
Living as expats for three years, David and Cathy have learned that the most important thing in expat life is to remain open and to be willing to change your mind. “Our children didn’t get it at first,” Cathy says. “All our kids came around after visiting and seeing our life here in Belize.” The Thayers send their family an email update each week, telling them what they’ve done that week.
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Last year, in response to one of the email updates, their daughter wrote to say, “I’m so happy for you guys, for what you’ve found for yourselves. I hope that sometime in the not-too-distant future I can find something as great for my own life.” The support of their children made their new adventure even better. “I have to admit that that made us feel a little proud,” Cathy says. “We’re having the best time of our lives, and now we also feel like we’re blazing a new trail of example for our children.”
Kathleen Peddicord is the founder of the Live and Invest Overseas publishing group.
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How One Couple Exchanged Winter in Idaho for Eternal Summer in Cayo, Belize originally appeared on usnews.com
