A young American has revealed how he escaped California's crippling cost of living to build a new life in a quaint European city - where he now lives comfortably on just $1,100 a month.
Colby Grey, 24, grew up in rural San Luis Obispo, California, where international travel was so rare that 'not many people in my town had passports,' he told CNBC Make It.
'You didn't really travel much and you didn't go to school very far either,' he told the outlet. 'I was one of the ones that went further and then when I studied abroad, I was one of the first to leave the country.'
Now the university graduate has left the Golden State's astronomical rents and education costs for an idyllic European lifestyle in Leuven, Belgium.
Leuven comes with affordable housing, universal healthcare, and the freedom to explore nearby countries on a whim.
