US Expat abroad guiding principles 2026

I get a lot of thoughts from traveling to other countries and if I don’t write them down, I’ll forget most of them. Another takeaway from my summer trip to China and Taiwan, as I had a great time catching up with friends in Hong Kong at the American Club in Central, HK, drinks in Lan Kwai Fong and later Peel Street. Also drank at Stormies in Kowloon on a layover as I headed back to the States.  

I met a Nigerian fashion exporter in Guangzhou (him and I were waiting in the lobby of the Hilton).  

These thoughts are about positioning yourself as an US expat in 2026.  A lot of my friends who are still there, have been there for 15-20 years.  @earthwalker7  sorry I didn’t hit you up.  

But I’m wondering, what you think is the guiding principles for making a life in a foreign country in 2026?

I believe:

• You can still get back and middle office roles in large multinational financial institutions in HK, Singapore, etc where you are speaking English.  That’s one way to get over the pond.
• Hot take from another friend, who became fluent in Chinese over the course of 20 years in Hong Kong, Guangzhou (he’s a white guy), is language alone is not enough to make it.  In fact, he said learn the language if you generally love the culture.  What really matters, and maybe this is the highly business culture of Canton, is can you help make more money.  So, have specialized skills and relationships.  Could be Hollywood connections and a certain technology for movie making.  Could be connections to markets sub-Sahara Africa and an eye for what would sell.  Could be further integrating into the culture by having a spouse from there. 
• If you have kids while you are abroad and you have a foreign wife who can help make your kids multilingual, you could put your kids in the local elementary school system, and save for international school when learning concepts become more complicated.   I thought that was an interesting “life hack” that comes with many benefits. 
  
  
  
  Anyways, I think about living abroad for a couple years while my kids are still children.  I gained a great perspective spending time in elementary school in Seoul because my dad worked for the US Army.  Just wired my brain a little differently than my peers in Hawaii (it could just be me).  I also think about just travel more, but the kids don’t face hardships of having to figure things out on their own.  I think going to school on the base was like living in another part of America I was unfamiliar with while simultaneously living in a foreign country.