- Cristina Johnson moved to Belize from Pennsylvania in 2015.
- Johnson said living in the small Central American nation improved her finances and quality of life.
In 2015, Cristina Johnson, a disabled writer from Downingtown, Pennsylvania, was looking for a fresh start. Due to her condition and the difficulty she was having finding employment in the United States, she decided to move abroad.
Johnson was split between relocating to Asia or Central America. However, after careful consideration, she chose Belize, a small tropical country of around 419,00 people located between Mexico and Guatemala on the Caribbean coast of Central America.
"Thinking about the practicalities, Belize just made more sense," Johnson told Insider. "It's an English-speaking country, and it's driveable. The cost of living is way cheaper, and I could also work remotely."
In November 2015, Johnson packed up three large suitcases and a tote, and hopped on a plane for Belize, a country more than 3,000 miles away that she had never visited. She has spent the past eight years there while building a house at a fraction of the cost of even a tiny home in the US.
As it turned out, Johnson pioneered a trend that exploded in popularity during the pandemic: The digital-nomad wave.
The phenomenon, which was brought on by the pandemic's surge in remote work, has led to many Americans traveling and living abroad. As of 2022, 16.9 million American workers describe themselves as digital nomads, a 131% increase from the pre-pandemic year of 2019, according to a study from the technology-solutions company MBO Partners.
The motivations for becoming a digital nomad differ, but affordability is a prominent factor for many people. It's what encouraged Johnson, now 52, to move to Belize, where her bills are around $250 a month.
With the currency-exchange rate being about two Belize dollars to one US dollar, Johnson — who currently works as a content-marketing copywriter and earns around $1,200 each month — has managed to save thousands.
In 2021, Johnson used her savings to build a one-bedroom, one-bathroom home in historic Forest Home Village, part of the Toledo District in the southern tier of the country known for its Maya chocolate. The project cost her $18,000.
"I just started building and there were no questions asked about the dimensions of my septic tank or load-bearing walls or anything like that," she said. She added that one of the reasons she decided to build in the area is because "the property taxes are almost nothing."
Johnson said building a home was an accomplishment she would have never been able to afford in the US. Looking back, she said, "I would have died broke and poor with nothing to show for a life of hard work and effort, despite disabilities."
However, affordability isn't the only advantage of living in Belize. To her, the peace of mind is priceless.
"I could not even venture a guess on how much I've saved over the years but even if I saved a million dollars, it would not be as valuable as the mental, emotional, physical, and psychological things I have gained."