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 20: The Secret Fear No One Admits About Moving Abroad Alone
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No one talks about it openly, but almost every woman thinks about it late at night: "What if I move abroad... and end up completely alone?"
For many Black women over 40, loneliness isn't just about being single—it's the profound vulnerability of starting over in a new country without a safety net, an established social network, or familiarity with the local culture. It is one of the single biggest, unspoken fears that keeps brilliant women stuck in comfortable ruts instead of stepping into the lives they actually want.
In this episode of The Bougie Expat Podcast, Sable pulls back the curtain on the conversation most relocation advice completely ignores. She explores why living alone in a foreign country feels fundamentally different than living alone in the U.S., and why cultivating community is just as critical to your success as securing your visa or setting your budget.
Sable dives deep into why intentional connection must be built into your relocation strategy from day one—not treated as an afterthought. She also shares a fresh vision for living abroad that prioritizes safety, shared resources, and meaningful connection over isolation. Moving overseas isn't just about escaping the noise or finding cheap rent; it’s about intentionally designing a life rich in ease, belonging, and genuine support.
This episode is for Black women over 40 who are ready to face the fear of isolation, discover how community can safeguard their well-being and wealth, and build a vibrant second act surrounded by like-minded women.
In This Episode
- Confronting the hidden fear of loneliness and isolation before moving abroad
- Why living alone in a foreign country requires a different approach than living alone in the U.S.
- Why community and connection are essential components of a complete relocation strategy
- How intentional living environments reduce anxiety and accelerate your confidence
- Leveraging community to support your long-term health, safety, and wealth goals
- Shifting from standard solo expat life to community-centered lifestyle design
- Why building a support network is one of the highest-return investments you can make
- Creating a life abroad that honors the woman you are actively becoming
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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Do we really need to be alone, especially living in another country? Should we not consider how we can have intentional community around us? 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. And their biggest fear is around loneliness. Will I be lonely in this new place that I'm moving to? And that is a very, very real concern. The majority of the people who are relocating right now are black women. Single black women. So who is going to be your social network? Who is going to be your support system? And so that question of will I end up lonely? What would happen to me is very, very real. And if I think about it in my own life, there's only one country I moved to with a family. Most of the time I moved by myself. And so, yeah, being lonely could be very, very real. And I made friends everywhere I went. But there is a time where perhaps maybe those friends are not available because you're not in their inner circle. Especially when you think about how language is different, culture is different, systems are different where you're going, there may not be that opportunity for you to have that deep relationship with someone where they're going to also check on you in every situation. I think about situations where I had to celebrate by myself. I recall being in a training. I was doing a training at a different part of the country, Ethiopia. And when I was there, I walked in in the morning at 8:30 and I met this huge celebration. They had lined up a cake for me. They had brought gifts for me. They were singing and dancing. There was music. It was awesome. Not only did my class buy me a cake and gifts, the hotel bought me a cake. So now I had two birthday cakes. But what I didn't have was someone to eat those cakes with. Because when that class was over, everybody went home. The hotel gave me a cake, but they didn't come and celebrate with me. So I went having birthday dinner by myself. And I'm sure I was in a different part of the region. But that can be a very real part of what happens when we move someplace and we don't know anyone. We don't have anyone to celebrate with. We don't have anyone to have those deep connections with. And remember, culture is totally different. So we don't really understand the nuances of some of the places that we're moving to and we're learning that. And all of those things are what help build community. When we understand the language, when we understand culture, we understand the systems of what's important. And so without that familiarity, sometimes we could find ourselves in a place of loneliness. And so having that concern is very real. But something I have learned along the way is that we don't have to be alone. Now I know society has really taught us, and especially, I don't know how this has crept into even the black community, is that if you really are successful, you got your own place. You got your own money, your own car, your own house. But yeah, at one state in our life, that should be how we want to, maybe could be way how we want to measure ourselves. But at this state, is that really true? Do we really need to be alone, especially living in another country? Should we not consider how we can have intentional community around us? And so when I say intentional community, imagine that your new home, wherever it is, whatever country you're sharing your life with, someone else. That you have space in a place where now you are sharing a home and beautifying it with someone else. You have someone to have dinner with every single night. You have someone to explore this whole country with all the time. Hey, you're going to the grocery store and you have someone to do that with together. You have someone to celebrate your birthday, whether you have one or two cakes, you're not going to do it alone. You got someone checking for you. I think about it. If I fell out today on this floor, who would know? Who would come checking for me? How long would it take for someone to discover that I'm not around? These are very real things we need to be thinking about. But if you have community, you may answer that question by sharing your space with someone else. Now, sharing your space with someone else is not just a good idea because of community. It could be the way you build wealth, it could be your very wealth strategy. Just think about this. Not only are you sharing expenses, right? So your expenses reduce, but what you could do with that extra money, you can invest it, you can travel with it, you could uh buy more properties with it. Because what do you do with all those empty rooms? Not many people really moved into another one bedroom. They kind of usually have two. Heck, I have a lot of rooms here. But why? Because we're so used to space. But what if I use that space to generate income? What if I use that space to host other people who are coming into the country and just give them a soft landing for some time? What if I use this space to create a reoccurring income and just shared one of those rooms? So not only am I having community, but I'm having income. These are all the benefits of having shared living. So if I didn't say in the beginning, that's what I'm talking to you about. Shared living, having spaces where you're sharing intentionally with other people, sharing your resources. And you're doing it because it gives you opportunities and options for other things. Now I know this is not for everyone, but some people are very interested in how they could do it with other people. I know some people are like, absolutely not. I'm not trying to share my space. I have done that. I want to not do that. But could you imagine if you had lived in a six, six-bedroom, six bath home with living rooms that both of you guys came together for communal living, with launch kitchens where you cook together with other women? What would that look like? You'll still have your private bath, you'll still have your place for your morning coffee all by yourself, but you also have a place where you can share dinner with other people. You have a place that you can have weekend trips with other people, someone who can pick you up from the airport if you needed to, someone would help you navigate the healthcare system because they're right there to hear what's going on with you, somewhere where you can learn culture together. That's the possibility in shared living spaces. And so I want you to think about that as you're thinking about moving, how you can have shared community. And again, it's not for everyone, but it is for women who value community, who value connection, who don't mind sharing, who want an intentional lifestyle that also could give them an environment of safety. It would create some work and creating structure and guidelines, but it's absolutely doable. So I want you to think about in this next phase of your life, how you can do it together, how you can do it with other women, how you can share space and actually give yourself the gift of community and not do it alone. Going abroad is not about this lifestyle of I'm all by myself, I'm having independence. It's about building a rich life. And part of that is having rich relationships, rich friendships, of course, in peace, because but also done on purpose. I want you to think about that because wealth is not always just about what's in your bank account, it's about what's surrounding you. Who is surrounding you? And so, one of the things we're going to be doing, we're having conversations this week. I cannot wait to hear what these women are saying who are interested in co-living. I want you to think about it. What would you consider a good reason for co-living? What would you think about that you can live in somewhere luxurious and share it with other people? And what would you need to say yes to sharing your life on purpose in community with other women? It could be your next and best move for living abroad. I'm Sabra, your bougie girlfriend. I want you to live an elevated life. Share living could be your path. That's a wrap. And if this episode resonated with you, go ahead and follow the podcast and share it with another woman who's ready for her next chapter. And if you're ready to move beyond thinking and start building your exit strategy, I invite you to join me inside my live experience, the Elevated Exit Masterclass. You'll find the link in the show notes. Until next time, make your next move a bougie one.