Within six months of moving to a new country, I realized I had built exactly what I had been afraid of losing.
Marissa Liesenfelt
I built the life everyone told me I should want.I was the chief operating officer of a growing company. I owned a home in Chicago. I drove a luxury car.From the outside, everything looked like a success. Yet any chance I got, I would leave.I'd book a trip. Sometimes with friends, sometimes solo. Traveling was the only time I felt truly like myself. When I came home, I'd start planning the next escape — sometimes before I had even unpacked.I spent years creating a life I perpetually needed breaks from. I dreamed of leaving corporate, starting my own business, and moving to Europe.But three fears kept me frozen: losing financial security, disappointing my mom by leaving as her only child, and having to rebuild a social life from scratch in a foreign country.Yet despite the fears, the pull to leave grew stronger with every trip. I was just waiting to feel truly ready.
After some conversations with a therapist, I realized I was waiting for a feeling that wasn't coming. I wasn't ever going to feel ready. I was going to have to do it scared and accept that I would disappoint people in order to choose myself.So I made a decision.I put everything I owned into storage and, in April 2023, left the US with two suitcases and a one-way ticket to Europe to test-drive being an expat.My first stop was Lisbon.It didn't take long to realize I'd made the right choice — but that didn't make it an easy one
