The idea
About Aspiring Expats
Why we believe values should come first – and how our methodology was born from nearly seven years of living it.
Hi, I’m Aaron. I live in the greater Los Angeles area with my wife and son – and together we’re on a mission to find our ideal second home abroad.
But we’re doing it differently than most.
The Problem with ‘Best Places to Live’ Lists
When I started researching international relocation again, I did what everyone does: Googled “best places for expats,” compared cost-of-living charts, made spreadsheets of weather and visa options.
It helped – but it missed what mattered most. And this time, I knew why.
I’d already spent nearly seven years living abroad in six countries – and I discovered that the places where I truly thrived weren’t the ones with the best amenities. They were the ones that amplified my values.
Our Approach: Values First
Instead of filtering destinations by budget, weather, or “expat friendliness,” we start with you: What do you actually need from where you live? What trade-offs can you accept? Which environments will amplify your best self versus slowly drain you?
We read every destination across six dimensions of daily life – Pace & Rhythm, Social Life, How Things Work, Work Culture, Self-Expression, and Nature. We tell you who WON’T thrive in each destination, not just who will. And sometimes the honest answer is “don’t move yet.”
We’ve distilled this into practical frameworks you can actually use. Explore our methodology →
Matching Values – And Discovering New Ones
Matching destinations to your known values is the safest starting point. But some of the biggest breakthroughs come from discovering values you didn’t know you held.
London opened my eyes – showing me there were genuine ways of living and defining success I’d never considered. Barcelona showed me what deep resonance actually feels like – its rhythm of community, presence, and creative energy echoed parts of myself I didn’t know were aching for expression.
And Hamburg, where my son was born, surfaced something I hadn’t been paying attention to at all: sustainability and intergenerational responsibility. Before Hamburg, those concepts weren’t seriously on my radar. But living in a city genuinely committed to balancing present thriving with future security – and watching them execute on it so impressively – rewired how I thought about what a life well-lived actually requires. Becoming a father there made it personal. I didn’t just learn new values; I internalized responsibilities I hadn’t known I was missing.
Our methodology holds space for both: clarifying what you already know you need, and staying open to what a new environment might reveal about who you’re becoming.
And because values evolve as life evolves, this isn’t a one-time decision – it’s a framework you can return to as your seasons change.
Our Journey: Testing It in Real Time
Our son finishes high school in 2028, which means serious time in our second home abroad has to wait until then. We’re using that runway the way we’d advise anyone in our position to – pressure-testing our values frameworks against every destination we explore.
Some of the places we cover I’ve lived in. Some I’ve spent real time in. The rest are researched the same way, with the same questions.
AspiringExpats.com documents what we’re learning, where we got it wrong, and how our thinking evolves. If our experiences help you make a clearer, more honest decision about where you belong and most deeply connect? That’s the goal.
Honesty, authenticity, and a dash of adventure – that’s our promise to you.
Learning Together
We don’t have all the answers – and we’ll be honest about what we get wrong along the way. We’re still learning, still testing, still refining the framework with every destination we explore.
Whether you’re a seasoned expat with hard-won wisdom, someone seriously considering a move, or just curious about what a values-first approach looks like in practice – we’d love to hear from you. Your insights make this better for everyone. Because ultimately, this isn’t just about finding the right address – it’s about finding communities where we genuinely thrive.
As we explore, we’ll continue to document both the values-alignment and the practical realities – financial planning, visa logistics, lifestyle adjustments – required to turn a values-match into an actual move.
About Aaron
I was born in Boston and raised in Los Angeles, and I’ve been fortunate to live in, or spend long stretches in, some of the most exciting spots in the United States – the Bay Area, New York, San Diego, Chicago, and Phoenix each taught me something. Those places shaped my American experience. But, it was time abroad – well outside my comfort zone – that forced me to grow most profoundly.
Over nearly seven years I called London, Hamburg, Barcelona, Buenos Aires, Beijing, and Rome home, and from those bases traveled to many more places. Each city became a teacher – revealing new sides of life, and new sides of me. That’s the story behind the research.
If we try and understand each other, we may even become friends.
– Maya Angelou
We built this for our own search first. Yours can start with what matters to you.