29-year-old American relocated from Atlanta, Georgia to Bahrain, makes $140,000 a year: 'The culture shock was that things are better'

Mikayla McGhee is a self-proclaimed military brat. Both of her parents are in the U.S. Navy — her mom served 30 years, and her dad is still on active duty after 40 years.

“My life was moving around from military base to military base,” the 29-year-old American tells CNBC Make It.

McGhee spent most of her life living abroad in Japan, which, she says, led her to realize she wanted to make a life for herself outside of the United States.

“I was always working towards freedom, so I never knew exactly what I was going to do but I knew I wanted the freedom to be able to live wherever I wanted to and travel whenever I wanted to,” she says.

“Once you’ve experienced growing up abroad and you’re exposed to that, you continue to search for it. So moving back to the States after living in Japan, I always knew I wanted to live outside of the U.S. I just didn’t know how.”