30-year-old left the U.S. for Budapest—pays $560/month for a 1-bedroom
A near-death experience inspired Denae McGaha to move halfway across the world.
In 2011, when McGaha was 16 years old, a deadly tornado ripped through her parents’ house in Harvest, Alabama while she, her brother, mother and father were inside. McGaha’s father, Ronnie, threw himself on top of his daughter to protect her from the wind and debris. He was killed while shielding McGaha from the storm.
The last Christmas her father was alive, he gifted her a travel guidebook to Europe. “I always had the travel bug,” McGaha, 30, says. “With that gift, it felt like all of my dreams [to see the world] were supported and confirmed.”
McGaha started plotting her move abroad as soon as she turned 18. In college, she spent two semesters studying in London and Copenhagen, respectively, and backpacked through Europe the summer after she graduated.
“Travel started as a coping mechanism for me to stay excited about life and heal after surviving such a horrific experience and losing my dad,” McGaha says.
“It cracked my world right open, and I wanted to experience everything that was out there. It also showed me I could build a new, beautiful life even after losing so much.”
After returning home from her trip, McGaha moved in with her mom on Whidbey Island in Washington and got a job as a barista at a coffee shop.
“I felt like such an imposter,” she recalls. “Everyone I knew was applying to grad school or landing job offers in big cities, and I was just tired and lost … I had no idea what to do with myself, but I knew I wanted to keep traveling.”
One of her friends suggested she look at teaching jobs in Budapest, Hungary, noting the teacher shortage there and the short visa processing timeline.
Within weeks of submitting her application, McGaha landed a job teaching English to kindergarteners and, in 2017, moved to Budapest — the same city she still calls home seven years later.
“I don’t see myself living here forever, but I don’t see an immediate reason why I would leave,” she says. “There’s still so much love I have for this city.”
Moving to Europe with $4,000 and a single suitcase
McGaha spent $800 for a new life outside the United States — and that was just on the one-way plane ticket.
“I think I brought one suitcase with me,” she says. All in all, she saved about $4,000 for her relocation.
Her teaching contract included a furnished one-bedroom apartment in Budapest, with a monthly stipend to help cover rent and utilities. The job paid about $7,800 a year.
Navigating her new career in Budapest didn’t involve much of a language barrier, McGaha says, as many Hungarians speak English, and she became proficient in Hungarian after working in the school for a year.
“I learned a lot working with the kindergarteners because the kids speak very simple and repetitive Hungarian,” McGaha explains.
She quickly made friends with other teachers, expats she met through Instagram and staff at the businesses in her neighborhood — from outdoor farmers markets to…
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