Jai Essence felt she was working hard but getting nowhere. So, she packed up and moved to Rwanda.
She thought she did everything she was taught to do by graduating from college and getting a great job, but even with her accomplishments, she couldn’t get ahead.
“Things were just not working in the U.S. for me and I couldn’t figure out why because I was getting good jobs,” she told Travel Noire. “I felt like I was in the same cycle of frustration trying to make things work.”
Essence was in the mindset of saving for retirement and having enough to support herself and her aging parents. Fearing that she would end up struggling to make ends meet years later in retirement, she began making a game plan to save money, which involved moving abroad to make her income stretch a bit further.
She moved to Dubai after landing a job as an administrator in education. That allowed her to check off her first goal of paying down debt.
“I went to Dubai for two years and that’s where I saved to pay off debt,” she said. “It is not easy to pay off your debt on American soil.”
While in Dubai, she started to hear more about African countries, including Rwanda.
“I was hearing that Rwanda has a visa for people who are retired, people were buying businesses, purchasing land, and even how safe it is. It’s one of the safest countries in the world. With all the growth and development, I kept thinking about how this is what I want my life to be.”
After applying for a job, she made her dream to live in Africa happen. Now, she lives in Rwanda where she purchased a farm – a purchase she didn’t think she could afford in the U.S., let alone Rwanda.
“I was broke and broken in America,” said Essence. “I literally could not make my money meet for the next month. I felt there was always a situation and never breathing room. I was frustrated because I was doing all the financial guidelines from groups I was in, budgeting— everything felt like to gain more I had to restrict myself more. I was tired of the conversation about you have to do more to get more, including seven side hustles.”
Essence’s advice for anyone considering a move abroad is to just trust your instincts.
“If the word ‘consider’ in your vocabulary that means it is something in your spirit and your gut. That means there’s going to be a time down the line, where you’re either going to have a regret that you did do it or you didn’t,” she said. “If you’re considering it, then what’s wrong with following that train of thought? For me, I was broken. My love for life and hope was dying, and I couldn’t see a way out. I left America and found those things again.”
You can follow Essence's journey on YouTube or Instagram.
