This American took 13 months with his family in Taiwan

Have you ever dreamed of taking a vacation from your career and travel around the world?

Jason Lee and his wife Katie did this when, in July 2024, they transferred themselves and their son from Columbus, Ohio, to Taipei, Taiwan.

Jason and Katie, 34, reached the idea after they brought Forest, 6, to visit his parental grandparents in Taiwan when he was a baby.

They spent eight weeks together while Jason took the paternity leave and saw how much his parents had to associate with their grandson.

Jason tells that CNBC makes it the matter that during their farewell to tears at the airport at the end of the flight, “I have thought about myself, if I can happen something in which we (my father) can give the amount of time that they can spend with this child, what is the special moment.”

Initially think Find a method Let’s transfer his career to Taiwan, until he realized that he does not want to deal with him Student of work culture.

Therefore, the couple decided to save up to a Real job break So they can spend time with the family in Taiwan without having to work.

Jason and Katie sets numbers and Set a goal to save $ 60,000 for this step.

Jason says he saw that the goal is like any family that would provide a home renewal project, and they used a budget application to track their savings.

They put themselves until their expenses in the United States were small while they were in Taiwan. Each of their car, and mortgage is paid at the novice home she bought in 2016 is $ 1,200 per month. Jason says that a friend rents the house from them to cover his mortgage and rent a car while staying.

As for their stay, they rented an apartment and spent months preparing their papers. Jason used his Taiwanese passport (he was born there and moved to the United States when he was 9), Forest obtained his Taiwan passport, and Katie obtained a marital visa.

By the summer of 2024, Jason left his sales function, and Katie left her work in a non -profit organization.

He says that his career break has given him time and energy to focus on his physical and mental health, such as going to the gym, meditation, healthy eating and working with a psychiatrist for the first time, thanks to Taiwan Comprehensive healthcare system.

With more mental clarity, Jason says he turned his attention to what he wants from his career. Before his break, he says he puts a lot of pressure on himself to get a high -performance sales year; When he did not come out, he affected his sense of self.

“During the past ten years, I have dictated the steps of my next career not based on what I want, but based on what the world tells me or LinkedIn that I should want it,” says Jason.

I realize that he felt pressed to continue climbing companies ladder to earn higher titles and more money. “I just realized how much I put me for you because he is unhappy, when I am not priority to myself or what I want.”

By March, he sat with Katie with great awareness that as soon as they returned to the United States, they were fine with the same not chasing the same salaries that they had before.

“I realized that our family does not need to make a lot or more of what we had done before in order to be happy,” says Jason. “We are very happy now, we are happy as a family, and we live our lives less than we had before.”

The couple discussed having their second child during their vacation, given Taiwan High quality to Birth and postpartum birth nursing For families.

Katie gave birth to their daughter, Ruby, in early July, so a four -person family will return to the states in October when she has a passport and able to travel.

Jason and Katie says their job -related priority is that one of them is to secure a job in the United States as soon as possible to make sure that their family has health insurance coverage. Jason says he will consider assuming a lesser -fee job that provides more flexibility, as is the case with the company that makes it easy to work summer from a distance in Taiwan.

At the same time, Katie spent her plans to formulate Tabiti Selling machine work A play café for children and their parents or care providers, and hopes to continue to build these ideas in the United States

For their trip yet, “it was just a conversion to the family,” he says.

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