The child of parents who both served in the U.S. Navy, much of Mikayla McGhee’s early life was spent moving from military base to military base.
McGhee, 30, spent most of her time living abroad in Japan, which she says led her to realize she wanted to build a life for herself outside 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,” McGhee tells CNBC Make It.
“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.”
In 2020, McGhee was living in Atlanta, Georgia, and went to visit her parents in Bahrain, where her dad was stationed at the time. The country is located in the Persian Gulf and is home to the Naval Support Activity, Bahrain, a U.S. military base.
