Way Out #10: From High Control Religion to Freedom Abroad With Andie Eggiman
When most people dream of moving abroad, they picture a seamless transition with a neat 10-year plan and a cushy corporate transfer. They definitely don't picture moving a family of seven, losing their housing, surviving a global pandemic in a camper, or completely dismantling the belief systems they spent a decade building.
But Andie Eggimann's journey is a masterclass in resilience, trusting your gut, and realizing that you don't need a perfect plan to completely change your life.
Today, Andie is a trip designer, move-abroad expert, and the creator of the Get Me Out of Here workshop. She lives near Lisbon, Portugal with her husband and five teenagers. But her path to getting there was anything but traditional.
The Trap of High-Control Religion
Growing up in the Atlanta suburbs as an only child, Andie had travel in her blood. Her dad, a fireman with "truck driver blood," took her on massive road trips in a conversion van, normalizing the idea of seeing the world. She even majored in cross-cultural studies in college.
But during college in Washington State, she found herself swept into a high-control religious group. Looking for community and serious about her faith, she accidentally surrendered her autonomy. The church was highly restrictive for women. Andie got married at 22, started having babies immediately, and was discouraged from ever having a career.
She was so bought-in that she even quit a full-ride master's degree program to teach English as a second language because the church told her she needed to focus on her husband and ministry.
"I learned to question myself and the things that I wanted to do," Andie reflects, noting that you don't realize everything that is being stripped from you until you are deep inside the system.
The Wake-Up Call and Breaking Free
It took Andie and her husband nearly a decade to slowly transition out of that environment. Fortunately, they navigated their exit together, prioritizing their partnership and realizing they were terrible at playing the rigid, hierarchical gender roles the church demanded of them.
The ultimate catalyst for completely redesigning their lives came in their mid-thirties when they experienced several tragedies in their circle, including friends facing cancer and one who tragically lost their child.
"We began to ask some of those questions... are we doing what we want to be doing? Life is short," Andie says. They realized they were stuck on the American upward mobility train of "make more, spend more," which didn't align with their true values. They decided to downsize, travel, and pursue Andie's 20-year dream of living abroad.
The "Accidental Nomad" Era
If you think moving a family of seven—including neurodivergent kids and a child with Down syndrome—sounds logistically impossible, Andie will be the first to tell you that absolutely nothing went according to plan.
Their initial plan to transfer to Ireland with her husband's company fell through. Simultaneously, the landlord of the home they were renting sold the house out from under them in May 2019. They began Airbnb-hopping until they landed a four-month house sit in a tiny town in Nova Scotia, taking care of a Shar-Pei for the winter.
They then planned to move to Tbilisi, Georgia, booking tickets for March 19, 2020. That was the exact day Georgia shut down its airspace due to COVID-19.
With no home, no car, and only about $500 a month after losing most of her virtual assistant contracts, the family of seven ended up living in campers in her parents' yard in rural Florida. But instead of giving up, they rebuilt. By the fall of 2020, they secured remote worker visas and finally made it to Tbilisi.
Finding Peace in Portugal
While they loved the bohemian culture of Georgia, the extreme time difference for their US-based work and a devastating Alzheimer's diagnosis for Andie's mother meant they needed to be closer to the United States.
In 2022, they relocated to Portugal. Today, Andie feels more alive and at home with herself than ever before. She notes that life in Portugal is vastly different from the U.S.—it is fundamentally more "humane."
"Just the way that people deal with each other, the stress levels, the ability to take a break, to sit and drink your coffee all the way... People feel like they don't have to produce all the time."
While they make less money now and have to navigate currency fluctuations, essentials like fresh food and medical care are far more accessible, allowing them to live a deeply fulfilling life.
Furthermore, living abroad has given her distance from the American political climate and fears of gun violence that directly threatened her multiracial, disabled, and neurodivergent family.
Andie’s Advice for Wayfinders
If you are dreaming of a life abroad but feeling paralyzed by the logistics, Andie has a few key pieces of advice:
You Only Need the Next Few Steps
You do not need a 10-year plan, and you don't need to burn your entire American life to the ground. "You absolutely can just try a month abroad, see how you like it," Andie advises. "There's a lot more experimentation that can happen than people think".Stop Waiting for the Perfect Moment to Build a Career
Andie used to believe she wasn't built for a career because she couldn't picture herself sitting in a corporate office. By becoming a virtual assistant and eventually an entrepreneur, she realized she could generate income from her laptop while still being present for her five kids. Moving her family through multiple countries gave her the ultimate confidence boost: If I can survive being homeless during a pandemic with five kids, I can do anything.Adopt these Mottos: "Find the Beauty" and "Dare to Live"
Andie’s life philosophy centers on finding the beauty in your current circumstances, even when they are incredibly hard. It is an inside job. Daring to live doesn't just mean moving to Europe; it means being truly present and enjoying the simple act of being alive, no matter where you’re planted.
Follow Andie
If you want to reach out, follow along with her family's travels, or learn more about her move-abroad resources, the best way to get in touch with Andie is on Instagram and Threads at @OneDaringAdventure.
📲 Instagram, YouTube, & Threads
🌎 Get Me Out of Here Workshop — a first step for anyone wondering if life abroad could work for them
Whether you are trying to untangle yourself from restrictive expectations, redesign your career, or simply figure out how to take a one-month test run abroad, Andie's story is a beautiful reminder that you don't need all the answers today. You just need the courage to take the next right step. Keep wandering, Wayfinders!
This post is part of the 101 Ways Out series: stories of people who found the courage to exit the status quo and build a life of purpose, freedom, and joy.
