An entire media meme is “I moved abroad” stories. These are a formulaic article – typically featuring a young individual, usually female, often a freelance writer – who has moved to Europe (80% are about moving to Europe).
They make it sound like everyone is moving to Europe for a better life, because America is awful.
- But in reality, just 1.3% (estimated) of Americans live abroad (other estimates are 1.6% or 2%) and just 20+/-% of Americans who live abroad live in Europe, the UK or Ireland.
- Up to 40% of Americans who live abroad are in Mexico or Canada – but these stories account for 4% of the “I moved abroad” genre.
- Compare to the 80% of stories about moving to Europe!
These biased stores are basically fiction – and are why trust in the media is non-existent.
(Written with the assistance of Duck AI and Microsoft co-pilot and my editing and additions)
The writer pipeline: who produces these stories
The “I moved abroad” genre is overwhelmingly produced by:
- young
- college‑educated
- freelance or early‑career writers
- disproportionately women
- disproportionately from humanities/journalism programs
- disproportionately from families with European ancestry
- disproportionately from families with the wealth to study abroad
This matters because:
Writers write what they know.
If a 26‑year‑old freelance writer is living in Lisbon, Valencia, Florence, or Berlin on a digital‑nomad visa, that’s the story she pitches.
European ancestry → easier visas
This is a huge but under‑discussed factor.
Right‑of‑descent citizenship is available in:
- Italy (very generous)
- Ireland
- Germany and Austria (for descendants of those persecuted under the Nazis)
- Poland
- Portugal (Sephardic descent, though recently tightened)
- Greece
- Spain (for ibero-Americans and others from certain Spanish speaking or formerly Spanish speaking nations)
- Lithuania
- Most countries offer citizenship if one parent was a citizen.
This creates a pipeline effect:
European‑ancestry Americans → easier EU residency → more young writers living in Europe → more Europe‑based stories.
An estimated 42% of those living in the United States in 2025 are either foreign born (15+%) or have at least one parent who is foreign born. This rises to up to 60% if we include at least one grandparent that is foreign born. For some of the countries above, a U.S. citizen can obtain residency or citizenship via their right-of-descent ancestry, which for many traces back to a European country.
Study abroad as a feeder system
Journalism and creative‑writing majors are among the highest study‑abroad participants.
- While 16% of college students study abroad, an estimated 25-35% of those in the humanities fields will study abroad and are more likely to have taken language courses.
- 35-40% of journalism majors study abroad.
- 35-40% of literature and writing majors will study abroad.
- 10-15% of science majors (like biology, chemistry, physics) study abroad
- 5-8% of engineering majors study abroad.
Why this disparity?
- Curricular flexibility
Humanities and journalism majors have more elective space than STEM majors.
- Program availability
Humanities majors have more faculty‑led, short‑term, and major‑specific programs. - Student self‑selection
Students in these majors tend to have:
- higher global curiosity
- higher interest in languages
- higher socioeconomic backgrounds (on average)
- higher study abroad intent (NSSE‑based research)
And where do they go?
- Italy
- Spain
- France
- UK
- Ireland
This creates a cultural familiarity and nostalgia that later becomes content – about Europe.
Editorial incentives: Europe is “safe” and marketable
Editors at Business Insider, HuffPost, CNN Travel, and the lifestyle verticals of major newspapers know what performs.
Europe is:
- aesthetically familiar
- culturally proximate
- politically uncontroversial
- aspirational but not alien
- photogenic
- easy to romanticize
A story about moving to Portugal is “light lifestyle content.”
A story about moving to the Philippines to care for aging parents is “heavy,” “niche,” or “too ethnic” for mainstream lifestyle editors.
A story about moving to India for work raises questions about class, race, and global inequality — which lifestyle desks avoid.
Europe becomes the default narrative template.
This bias is reminiscent of the National Geographic’s admission that for decades, it was a racist, biased purveyor of geography stories about life abroad, intentionally making many foreign societies look primitive to “sex up” the stories (see National Geographic spent decades as a racist reporter of life – and that is their own conclusion).
As a side note, if the media can be so biased on a seemingly benign topic like travel and moving abroad, imagine how much bias they must have with political stories?
Audience bias: Europe is the fantasy Americans already have
Americans with passports (~48% of the population) skew:
- higher income
- more educated
- more coastal
- more white
This audience already imagines Europe as:
- cultured
- safe
- walkable
- romantic
- “where life is slower”
So editors feed the fantasy.
Stories about moving to Mexico or the Philippines trigger:
- safety anxieties
- class anxieties
- racialized stereotypes
Stories about moving to Europe trigger:
- envy
- aspiration
- nostalgia
Platform incentives: Instagram/TikTok aesthetics
Europe is optimized for:
- pastel color palettes
- cobblestone streets
- wine glasses
- beaches
- medieval architecture
- “digital nomad” imagery
This makes Europe the perfect backdrop for:
- thumbnails
- reels
- TikTok montages
- Instagram carousels
India, the Philippines, or Mexico can be stunning — but they don’t fit the Western fantasy that lifestyle media relies on.
The “Eat, Pray, Love” narrative template
The genre follows this narrative:
- Burnout in the U.S.
- Move to Europe
- Discover slower living
- Find self‑care, community, or romance
- Conclude with “I’m never going back”
- And if female, fall in love and marry a foreigner – the ultimate romance story. (Based on my own assessment of about 400 “I Moved Abroad” stories – 40% involved an American woman marrying a foreigner and just 2% involved an American man marrying a foreigner.)
This narrative is so entrenched that editors actively seek stories that fit this model.
So what’s the real reason Europe dominates?
The people who write these stories are disproportionately young American women with European ancestry, European study‑abroad experience, and easier access to European visas … and money.
The full explanation is:
- writer demographics
- editorial incentives
- audience preferences
- platform aesthetics
- narrative templates
All of these converge to make Europe/UK/Ireland appear as the “default” destination — even though only 20% (+/-) of Americans abroad actually live there.
Sex/Gender, Race of I Moved Abroad Stories
40% of stories feature a principal character that is a single white female (at the time she moved to the destination country). About 50% of all stories feature a single female (white or BIPOC). Males are about 8% of stories – indeed, gay and lesbian characters make up 10% of the stories, more than the % of stories involving single males.
This bias skew occurs because most freelance writers are young women and they write about their own experience. A side effect is that travel media and “I Moved Abroad” stores are heavily biased.
The data is from an analysis of over 400 “I moved abroad” stories. Because of difficulties determining race/ethnicity, and choices of how to classify some persons, and potential errors in counting, the actual values may be slightly different than those shown in the chart. There may also be sampling problems as notes were taken as stories were seen online – and that might not be a representative sample.