Shar Wynter: I remember the first time I hit six figures, I was
so proud and happy. And then it was such a fleeting moment. I was
still going to work every day, working long hours, not being able
to enjoy this money that I'd worked so hard for. And I decided,
you know, I'm going to take a break. I'm going to do a career
shift. One of the major aspects of my gap year was to travel. I
had visited about 40 countries, but Lisbon felt like home. You'll
get a lot of bang for your buck here. This is the moment in my
life when I've made the least amount of money, but it's the most
freeing life that I've had. My name is Shar Wynter. I moved to
Lisbon to live my life on my own terms and as freely as possible.
When I was living in the US, I was working as a consultant for
Deloitte Consulting, primarily servicing financial services
clients.
I loved the perks and benefits. You could travel and they paid
for your travels. I loved how much I learned. But it was high
burn. I did have some high burn projects where we were working
12-hour days, and that was not like obscene. Like it was like,
oh, that's just normal. The first time I moved abroad was to
London. And then I went back to the States because it was only a
temporary assignment. And immediately I'm like, I don't like it
here. And that was partially because I had gotten exposed to some
new just lifestyle standards. So I'm like, 'why do I have to work
on the weekends? I didn't have to work on the weekends in
London.' And I would look at the people above me. They're working
even harder than me. So I'm working to work harder, and to have
less time to enjoy this money that I'm going to make? And then my
dad passed away in 2018. And that was the turning point when I
realized, 'I don't want to work myself to death.' And then I
started saving really aggressively. Like I moved into a studio,
got a used car, like I just dramatically reduced my expenses. I
had an emergency fund, which I think anyone should have
regardless of what you're doing in life. I had my gap year fund
and then I had set up a business fund because I said, 'I don't
know what type of business but when I want to start my business,
I don't want to have to depend on anybody.' I set a monetary
amount for all three of them. And once I reached my goal, I was
ready to quit.
Oh man, so Lisbon chose me. I say this all the time. But I think
it's a combination of the laid-back culture, the food. You have
the great weather, the fact that I don't need a car here. And I
also want to support and live somewhere where I'm accepted, where
my peace of mind - it can be prioritized and I can exist without
lethal racism. The black experience in Lisbon for me as a black
American has been very pleasant. And then the cost of living. I
would not be able to live comfortably the way that I'm living in
the US. My monthly budget is around $2,500 now and before in the
States, it probably would have been closer to $4,000 or even
$5,000. I pay 1,100 euros per month for my place. I live city
center and it's a modern proper full one-bedroom, two full
bathrooms and it's furnished. Do you know before this I was in a
studio in Atlanta and I was paying $1,800? My private health
insurance - that covers - it's quite a lot. That's one of the
biggest reasons why I said I was moving abroad because I refuse
to be like one medical slip-up away from you know, all my money
going down the drain. Like all my hard work. Once you get your
finances under control, I think it makes it a lot easier to have
space to pursue your creative entrepreneurial desires and
aspirations because you have time.
Hiwote: The Xpat App is kind of the perfect place to go for me if
I'm thinking about traveling to a different city. Yeah, because
basically I want to know where the black people at, and what are
they doing?
Diara: When I was actually transitioning to Portugal, it was
really helpful to see other black people making transitions all
over the world.
Hiwote: For me, it's about belonging, and a sense of knowing that
there's someone else who sees or experiences the world in a
somewhat similar way to me.
Shar Wynter: If they want to find out where the black community
is, or connect to someone who's black and living abroad, who's an
expat, they can just go into the app, put in the name of the
location and it'll pull up profiles of people. I'm in a ton of
expat communities and travel communities. I just couldn't find
insights about the black experience. You know, because I do think
that how we move through the world is very different. So I'm like
thinking to myself, 'you know what? Since I can't find it, I'll
just create it.' And it was urgent in the sense of, you know, you
have the uproar of people like, you know, like, what they call
Blaxit - leaving the US. Here's an app for that too, to help you
with your Blaxit. I have a whole company now. I mean, obviously,
it's not monetized yet. But the beauty is that I actually had the
time to build that - build something beautiful, and that
investment might have a return on investment that's in the
millions. Whereas if I kept working, it would have had a cap at
Deloitte. And in my mind, I won't just be chasing some dollar
sign anymore. I'm chasing a lifestyle and freedom.