The Bougie Expats
Welcome to The Bougie Expat Podcast, a show for Black women over 40 who are ready to imagine a different kind of life abroad.
Hosted by Sable, your bougie girlfriend, this podcast speaks to the woman who has spent years showing up for everyone else — family, friends, work, and responsibilities — and is now asking, “What do I want my next season to look like?”
Through honest conversations and lived experience, Sable shares what it really takes to relocate abroad with clarity, confidence, and intention. Having lived and worked in more than seven countries across four continents, she brings real insight into the emotional, financial, and practical side of building a life overseas.
Each episode will cover topics like relocating abroad, planning your money, managing fear, leaving behind familiar routines, building a clear vision, and creating a life where you are thriving instead of simply getting by.
If you have been quietly thinking about moving abroad, starting fresh, or choosing yourself in this next chapter, this podcast is for you.
Subscribe to The Bougie Expat Podcast and join Sable for conversations about freedom, relocation, reinvention, and living abroad with purpose.
The Bougie Expats
Ep 19: Relocation as Reinvention: Bold Living Ahead
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Are you moving toward something extraordinary... or are you simply running away? Relocation is one of the most powerful moves you will ever make, but there is an undeniable truth every prospective expat must face: moving abroad is not an escape—it is an intentional act of reinvention.
In this episode of The Bougie Expat Podcast, Sable delves into the critical difference between the changes that happen to us—such as unexpected career shifts, divorce, loss, or caregiving—and the bold changes we actively choose for ourselves.
Relocation is one of the rare moments in life where you get to pick up the pen and become the undisputed author of your own narrative.
Sable shares how to shift your perspective from fear to intentionality, why trusting your own resilience is the single most important asset you can bring overseas, and how past life transitions have quietly prepared you for this moment. If you are considering moving abroad, retiring overseas, or simply dreaming of a fresh start, this episode is a powerful reminder that your past does not dictate your future—and sometimes, the bravest thing you can do is choose your own plot twist.
This episode is for Black women over 40 who are ready to stop running, step into their power, and intentionally design a life of freedom, peace, and alignment on their own terms.
In This Episode
- Why relocation is a mindset, not just a destination
- How to embrace change instead of fearing it
- The difference between escaping your life and reinventing it
- Why every life transition prepares you for the next one
- How trusting yourself is the most important part of moving abroad
Sometimes the bravest thing you can do is choose your own plot twist.
Thank you for listening to The Bougie Expat Podcast.
If this episode spoke to you, subscribe to the podcast and share it with another Black woman over 40 who has been thinking about relocating abroad, retiring overseas, or designing a new chapter with more freedom, peace, and intention.
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So many things have happened already in our lives, and you have survived. So, girlfriend, what I want you to know is this next change, you are in control. She's done waiting, she's done shrinking, and she's done building empires in rooms that were never designed for her. This is the Bougie Expat, the podcast for black women over 40 who are ready to reinvent their lives, rebuild their income, and relocate with intention. If you're done settling in corporate, tired of environments that no longer feel aligned, or quietly planning your next move, you are in the right place. Hosted by Sable, live from Panama City, Panama. Seven countries, four continents, one move she made in five months flat. Income strategies, exit plans, a life designed to actually fit you without starting over broke. Let's get into it. Let's talk about the big thing that's happening in relocation when we go through our checklist that's normally not there. You. Relocation is more than just moving to a new country and learning a new language and meeting new friends. You are changing your whole perspective. Oh, yeah, the same you is getting on the plane, but you have an opportunity for reinvention, becoming someone that you have never been before, or becoming someone who is screaming and always wanted to get out and become something different. This is your opportunity. So when you think about relocation, I want you to think about it as a reinvention. And this time, plot twists. You are in control. You get to say when, where, how. It's your story that you get to write. Now we have already had so many plot twists, so many changes, so many pivots, and you have survived everywhere from becoming an empty nester, going through an unwanted divorce, or a wanted divorce, or either becoming caregivers, promotions that you were thinking you were going to get, but you didn't get, or perhaps maybe relocations because you had the downsize when you weren't ready. So many things have happened already in our lives, and you have survived. So, girlfriend, what I want you to know is this next change, you are in control. You are sitting in the driver's seat. So there's nothing to be afraid of, or is there? Is the leadership or holding the steering wheel scary? Perhaps, but you're steering it. And I want you to have the confidence that you are going to take yourself in the right place because you have done it. You have survived so many other plot twists and pivots. And I know you're exhausted. You're exhausted of always being in control. You're exhausted of hearing this word that black women are strong. You're exhausted of being resilient. But think about this: this reinvention, you get to do with joy. You get to do on your own terms. You get to do because you have chosen something new for your life. And because of that, it brings a different kind of energy. It's not a struggle energy, it's one of empowerment that you're going to use in this next chapter. I mean, I'm just like you. I find myself in a place where I have to now change my total life. And I've not done this for the last time, and this is not the first time. So losing my job unexpectedly caused me to have to shift. When my 20-something year plus marriage ended unexpectedly, I had to make a shift. When my children decided to leave because, hey, it was time for them to go off to school and start beginning their own lives, I had to shift. Just like you. I'd moved into countries sometimes that was not even of my choice. I didn't know anything about Bulgaria when I was sent there to work. But you know what? I figured it out. I didn't know anything about Ethiopia. I figured it out. First time I landed in South Africa, I didn't know what was happening. But you know what? I figured it out. And so can you. And so will you. Because you have been figuring it out all along. I have confidence in you. I have the confidence that you will absolutely figure out what the right thing is to do for yourself. That as you take this journey, this relocation journey, as you decide to move into a new country and make new friends and create a new lifestyle, what I want to encourage you to do, what I implore you to do is don't read from the same book. Close that book and leave it in the United States. And now begin to write a new chapter of your life. Create a new pen. Get a new pen. Because I want you to write a life that you have never seen before. But you can't do that when you are walking in fear. I want you to walk in boldness. I want you to walk in the confidence of knowing that you are an accrypt woman. Because the one thing that you know for sure is you are a survivor. And so while you may not know the language, you don't know the landscape of the country, you don't have any friends there, you have you. You have you in a history of surviving, a history of coming out on top. And that is what you're carrying with you into this next chapter. That is the part of your bibliography of the book that you're writing, all the footnotes of your survival and your success. And as you take this into this new land, into this new country, into this new chapter, I want you to do it with boldness. I want you to do it with confidence, and I want you to do it with certainty that yes, the risk is there, but you and all that's in you is even greater. Greater is you that's in you. I trust that that's in you. And I want you to trust that as well. So as you go on this new journey, take in and as you explore and see new things, make decisions that align with what your soul is screaming out for. Not what everybody told you you should be doing, but what you want. You now have the freedom of becoming who you've always wanted to be. There's something inside of you that's calling out to you. I want you to answer that. I want you to answer it, and I want you to do it soon. So this delay of 2028, 2029, whatever your plan is, ask yourself why then and why not why now? I don't know why now, and I don't know why then, but you do. Make sure it's because it's a real reason, not because of fear. You are going to survive this, but you can't survive it until you take the step. Take the leap and begin to become who you've always wanted to be. I'm Sable, your bougie girlfriend. I am here to ensure that you live an elevated life. All you have to do is begin to trust yourself. That's your first step. And every step will come after as you begin to see how your confidence is building and becoming the woman you deserve to be. Until the next time.