About Borderless Living
“Leaving the US 3 months ago was among the best decisions I’ve ever made.”
A reader wrote that. It’s the sentence most people who land on this page hope to write one day.
You already know what you want. Mornings that belong to you. A long lunch on a Tuesday. A second home that feels like home, a guest room the grandkids actually use, and a way back to the US that stays open whether you ever take it or not.
That life is real, and I’ve sat in it. Two years ago my wife and I ate a porterhouse the size of a frisbee at Ristorante Boccadama in Florence, with a good Chianti, for about $40 a head. The distance between that table and your kitchen is some paperwork and a decision.
A life like that used to belong to the few. It’s open to you now, and nobody has to hand you permission. The choice is yours to make.
What Borderless Living is
Borderless Living is about building the life you want abroad without wrecking the life you’ve built.
I won’t tell you it’s easier than you think. The life in the brochure exists, but you rarely get it the way the brochure says. You get it by making a handful of decisions in the right order: residency, tax, money, property and health care, each one settled before the next can undo it. I call that the Sequence, and it covers the move itself and the first years after it.
Readers usually arrive saying what one couple told me: “We have money, but not enough to survive a massive mistake.” They’re right to care. In one plan I worked on, the mistake we caught was worth $22 million. Almost every one of those mistakes is a mistake of order, not of country, which means it can be planned around.
Done in order, the move gets quieter. You know which decision comes next and why. Your spouse sees the whole plan instead of a pile of open tabs. The lease gets signed after the tax residency is settled. And then the life arrives.
Why I write it
I’m Bryan Del Monte, and I’m building the same second base. My household is working through an Italy, Ireland and US part-year plan toward two homes, and my own Italian citizenship-by-descent claim is on hold behind the Tajani decree. I’m a few steps ahead of you, not above you, and I write about my own missteps as I make them.
Before this I was a DoD policy official during the Global War on Terror, and I’ve spent my career on risk: what breaks, in what order, and how to see it coming. My analysis has appeared on NBC and the BBC and in The Washington Post and Forbes. Now I plan these moves for families, and I sell nothing else. No commissions, no residency programs, no real estate. When I tell you a plan holds, nobody is paying me to say so.
What paid subscribers get
A paid piece every week that settles one step of the Sequence: what to decide, what it depends on, and what to leave alone until it’s done.
Once a month, a piece for readers who’ve already moved: the first year of tax residency, the US accounts that close on Americans abroad, health care as you age, the estate across two countries.
The monthly live Q&A, plus the archive of every past session.
The members’ Discord, where readers who are planning and readers who’ve landed compare notes.
A growing library of BSI country profiles, 16 countries now, with more added every month.
Annual subscribers also get The Long Memo, my publication on what’s really happening to America and what it means for you, at no extra cost.
What free subscribers get
One piece a week on a part of the life abroad: how it works, and how to get it right the first time. The Sequence itself lives in the paid pieces.
Patrons
Borderless Living is reader-funded and conflict-free. No commissions, no residency programs, no ads. Patrons pay for the work nobody else funds, the country profiles, the Sequence and the live Q&A, so it stays independent. Patron membership is $1,000 a year, billed annually. Everything in paid comes with it, plus a quarterly letter to Patrons and, if you’d like, your name on the annual list of Patrons.
What readers say
“Deeply valuable to those of us who are SERIOUSLY considering leaving and have consulted attorneys but do not know all the pieces to leave legally, successfully and with dignity.” (Erica Baravik-Munsell)
“I like to think that I’m a reasonably capable person but have found this task daunting, especially on what’s likely a short timeline, and I appreciate any tidbits I can glean from your publications.” (Karen)
“My wife and I want to continue our journey to seriously consider options for emigrating in 2027 or 2029.” (Walter)
“Experienced insight and suggestions are extremely valuable. These, here on Borderless Living, may be the best I’ve come across.” (Evan)
A note on advice
Nothing here is individual legal or tax advice. It’s the order of operations and the tradeoffs, so you walk into your lawyer’s and accountant’s offices knowing what to ask.
If you’ve decided you want an option abroad, this is where you build it, in the right order.
