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I left the US in 2015 and have since lived around the world. Reverse culture shock hit me harder than leaving ever did.

by with No Comment Xpandfy

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Kat Smith, 35, who has lived abroad since 2015. Smith, the founder of Away Abroad, a website for female travelers, currently lives in Trieste, Italy, with her husband. This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

I think people don’t always believe me when I say it, but living abroad has always felt more fun to me. I love the cultural challenges, the language barrier, the different food, and the process of figuring out the day-to-day.

I’m originally from Conyers, a small town just outside Atlanta. In high school, I moved to Athens, Georgia. It was a typical small, suburban place — there weren’t many people traveling internationally. Certainly, no one was moving abroad the way I eventually did.

When I was 18, between graduating from high school and starting at the University of Georgia, my parents basically forced a gap semester on me. They came home from a dinner party one night and were like, “Instead of going to college, you’re going to Guatemala.”

I did not want to go, but hindsight is 20/20.

Going to Guatemala was the best thing that could have happened to me. While I was there, I met a Peace Corps volunteer. Spending time with them and being in the country changed my perception of the world and opened my eyes to what was even possible.

When I got back and started university, I met with an advisor who had also served in the Peace Corps. After talking with him more, it just felt like the right path for me.

Living abroad changed me as a person

In 2013, almost exactly a month after I graduated from university, I joined the Peace Corps and left the US for Ecuador.

At the time I applied, you didn’t really have much say in where you went. I basically said, “Send me anywhere in the world,” and they sent me to Ecuador. During training, they placed me in a community based on my skill set and the community’s needs.

I ended up in Tumbaco for 3 months for training and then in Arenillas, a really small town in the southwestern province of El Oro, where I lived for about two years.

When my service ended, a friend of mine and I hitchhiked through the Peruvian Amazon and ended up working at an eco-lodge in the middle of the rainforest for a few months.


A man sits in a boat, bananas sit on the boat's floor, and a sunset looms in the background.

Smith’s boat ride on the Amazon River.

Courtesy of Kat Smith



Around that time, in 2015, my dad was like, “Okay, you haven’t been home in almost three years. I’m buying you a ticket—you’re coming to visit.” So, begrudgingly, I went back to the US.

I remember feeling reverse culture shock more intensely than I ever felt culture shock. It completely caught me off guard. All of a sudden, the US didn’t feel like home anymore. I felt like I didn’t fit in.

I also knew I wasn’t the same person I’d been when I’d left, which created an internal conflict. I don’t want to be that dramatic, but I had a different mindset, and trying to be the old me was hard.

I’ve traveled and lived all around the world

Over the years, I’ve lived in Panama City, been to Colombia, worked on a yacht in the South of France, and backpacked through Eastern Europe for a couple of months. I also backpacked between Vietnam and Thailand, and taught English in South Korea.


A man and woman, in wedding attire, stand in front of a bright pink wall in Colombia.

Smith and her husband, Rafael Tudela, in Cartagena, Colombia.

Courtesy of Kat Smith



Somewhere in the middle of all of that, I fell in love and got married in Colombia in 2018. Not long after, my husband and I moved to Vietnam, where we stayed for three years while I was teaching English, before leaving in 2021 because of COVID restrictions.

After Vietnam, we went back to the US for a while. We bought a van, converted it, and traveled up and down the West Coast. I loved nature, but after a few months, I was ready to leave again.


A woman sits in the back of an open van, mountains stand before her.

Smith inside of the van she traveled with across the West Coast.

Courtesy of Kat Smith



So we tried Albania next. We stayed for a couple of months, but it didn’t feel like the right long-term fit. Instead, we kept moving and spent time around the Balkans — traveling through Montenegro, Serbia, Bosnia, and Croatia.

My journey hasn’t been perfect

Looking back, I’ve made a few mistakes along the way.

One of the things I cringe about most is how I treated my friends and family back home. I was pretty insensitive about their choices — friends who just wanted to graduate, buy a house 10 minutes from where they grew up, and settle into a typical, structured, no-surprises kind of life. I think I judged that because I felt like what I was doing was so extravagant.

But honestly, I was a bit of a brat about accepting other people’s paths.

I did something similar with my family, too. I didn’t really consider what it meant for them when I left. I was so focused on what it meant for me, and not necessarily on how it was affecting everyone around me.


A group of friends walk down a street in Seoul, Korea.

Smith and friends exploring a neighborhood in Seoul.

Courtesy of Kat Smith



Italy is home — for now

In 2023, we moved to Italy for a job opportunity for my husband. He has an EU Blue Card — basically a work permit for skilled workers — and I’m on a family reunification visa linked to his.

We’ve been living in Trieste for the past 2.5 years. Trieste is fantastic, but it’s also an up-and-coming city that’s gotten really expensive, fast. Even in the short time we’ve been here, we’ve seen a big jump in costs. Our rent, for example, increased by $308 a month, which still feels crazy.

Our apartment is really nice: one bedroom, one bath, open floor plan, and close to everything. I’m really into nature, and we have a beautiful view of the sea and the hills. We were paying $1,423 a month, and now it’s $1,732.


A city view of Trieste.

The view from Smith’s apartment in Trieste.

Courtesy of Kat smith



That rising cost of living is one of the reasons we started looking at other places — just to get more for our money.

We ended up buying an apartment in Belluno for $260,955, and we’ll move in April. Belluno is a much smaller town, kind of a gateway to the Dolomites, and it sits north of Venice. We’re big mountain people, and the Dolomites are genuinely my happy place. Being closer to them means we can hike and snowboard more regularly without a long drive, which was a huge perk for us.

Although we didn’t choose Italy initially and only moved here for my husband’s job, there are a lot of reasons we’ve chosen to stay rather than move on like we typically do after a few years.

Italy has a strategic geographic position. I love living smack dab in the middle of the world. Not only is this exciting adventure-wise, but it’s also meant more people have been able to visit us, including our parents, who aren’t as keen on the long-haul flights.


A woman and her dog stand on a walking trail, sitting high above a city in Montenegro.

Smith and her dog on a hike in Montenegro.

Courtesy of Kat Smith



On top of that, the culture clicks for both of us. As an intercultural couple, we have different triggers, things we look for, and things we want to avoid. Northern Italy has provided the perfect balance for us.

I really hope Italy can be our home base, at least for the foreseeable future. But I also know myself: If, two years from now, it doesn’t feel right, we’ll pivot. I’m not setting a deadline; it’s more about whether it still feels like home. And right now, it does.




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See the list of California’s 200-plus billionaires who could be hit by the proposed wealth tax

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California has a lot of billionaires, more than any other state and more than most countries. So a proposed wealth tax on its billionaires could be a windfall, if they stick around.

Under the Billionaire Tax Act, California residents worth over $1 billion would face a one-time tax totaling 5% of their assets.

If the tax plan receives enough signatures, it will appear on the ballot in November and, if passed, would apply retroactively to billionaires living in the state as of January 1. The tax would be due in 2027, with the option to spread the payment out over five years, with interest.

The idea has drawn sharp reactions from lawmakers and business leaders.

Google cofounders Larry Page and Sergey Brin moved entities tied to them out of the state last month just ahead of the deadline, Business Insider first reported.

Nvidia CEO and billionaire Jensen Huang said he was “perfectly fine” with the tax. Palmer Luckey, the billionaire founder of defense tech startup Anduril, said it would force companies to “immediately pivot into profit obsession over mission or long-term sustainability.”

Critics of the tax have warned it will encourage ultrawealthy residents to flee the state and hurt California’s economy.

As of January 1, there were 214 billionaires in California, according to Forbes data compiled by Americans for Tax Fairness, a group that advocates for higher taxes.

Below is the full list of billionaires in California. Names with asterisks have recently moved at least some of their business entities out of the state.

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Taylor Swift’s ‘The Fate of Ophelia’ is her biggest No. 1 hit ever. Here are all 13 of her songs that topped the chart.

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  • Taylor Swift’s single “The Fate of Ophelia” debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
  • The song has charted at No. 1 for nine weeks, surpassing “Anti-Hero” as her longest-leading hit.
  • The list also includes hits like “Shake It Off,” “Blank Space,” “Cruel Summer,” and “Fortnight.”

Since releasing her first No. 1 album in 2008, Taylor Swift has enjoyed a historic run on the charts, topping the Billboard 200 and Billboard Hot 100 over a dozen times each.

Swift’s collection of No. 1 hits includes both radio-friendly pop singles and understated gems pushed to the top of the chart by passionate fans.

Most recently, “The Fate of Ophelia” joined the ranks while breaking a record for the most streams in a single week on Spotify. Swift is now tied with Michael Jackson and Drake for the fifth-most No. 1 hits in history.

All 13 are listed below in chronological order of their peak dates.

1. “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together”

“We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” hit No. 1 on the chart dated September 1, 2012.


Taylor Swift/YouTube

Weeks at No. 1: Three

Despite writing ubiquitous hits like “You Belong With Me” and “Love Story” earlier in her career (which peaked at No. 2 and No. 4, respectively), “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” was Swift’s first-ever song to top the Hot 100.

The country-pop crossover smash was released as the lead single from Swift’s fourth album, “Red.” It rose from No. 72 to No. 1 in its second week of tracking and remained atop the chart for two more weeks.

2. “Shake It Off”


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“Shake It Off” hit No. 1 on the chart dated September 6, 2014.


Taylor Swift/YouTube

Weeks at No. 1: Four

“Shake It Off” was released as the lead single from Swift’s fifth album, “1989.” It became her first No. 1 debut on the Hot 100.

3. “Blank Space”


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“Blank Space” hit No. 1 on the chart dated November 29, 2014.


Taylor Swift/YouTube

Weeks at No. 1: Seven

“Blank Space,” the second single from “1989,” debuted at No. 18 on the Hot 100.

It rose to No. 13 before soaring to No. 1 in its third week — dethroning “Shake It Off” and making Swift the first woman in history to replace herself in the chart’s top spot.

“Blank Space” went on to become one of Swift’s biggest hits, reigning atop the chart for nearly two months.

4. “Bad Blood” featuring Kendrick Lamar


taylor swift bad blood music video

“Bad Blood” hit No. 1 on the chart dated June 6, 2015.


Taylor Swift/YouTube

Weeks at No. 1: One

On May 17, 2015, a remix of “Bad Blood” featuring Kendrick Lamar was released as the fourth single from “1989.”

It rose from No. 53 to the chart’s top spot after the music video premiered at the 2015 Billboard Music Awards and broke the Vevo record for most views in 24 hours.

5. “Look What You Made Me Do”


taylor swift look what you made me do music video

“Look What You Made Me Do” hit No. 1 on the chart dated September 16, 2017.


Taylor Swift/YouTube

Weeks at No. 1: Three

Despite mixed reactions from critics, Swift’s lead single from “Reputation” rose to No. 1 after its first full week of tracking, breaking the weekly streaming record for a song by a woman.

Once again, Swift’s music video broke the record for most views within 24 hours, racking up 43.2 million views in its first day.

6. “Cardigan”


taylor swift cardigan music video

“Cardigan” hit No. 1 on the chart dated August 8, 2020.


Taylor Swift/YouTube

Weeks at No. 1: One

Swift announced the arrival of her eighth album, “Folklore,” just one day in advance. The second track, “Cardigan,” was released at the same time as the album and promoted with a whimsical music video.

“Folklore” debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 while “Cardigan” simultaneously debuted at No. 1 on the Hot 100, making Swift the first artist in history to open atop both charts in the same week.

7. “Willow”


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“Willow” hit No. 1 on the chart dated December 26, 2020.


Taylor Swift/YouTube

Weeks at No. 1: One

Just five months after “Folklore,” Swift repeated her pandemic-era strategy and surprise-released her ninth album, “Evermore,” alongside its lead single.

Again, “Willow” debuted at No. 1 on the Hot 100 while “Evermore” simultaneously debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200.

8. “All Too Well (Taylor’s Version)”


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“All Too Well” hit No. 1 on the chart dated November 27, 2021.


Taylor Swift/YouTube

Weeks at No. 1: One

“Red (Taylor’s Version)” was the second rerecorded album Swift released. It was accompanied by the long-awaited 10-minute version of “All Too Well,” a fan-favorite track from the original album.

“All Too Well (Taylor’s Version)” was promoted with a self-directed short film and plenty of theories about the song’s most likely muse.

It debuted at No. 1 on the Hot 100, becoming the longest song in history to top the chart. The record was previously held by Don McLean’s “American Pie (Parts I & II)” at 8 minutes and 37 seconds.

9. “Anti-Hero”


taylor swift anti-hero music video

“Anti-Hero” hit No. 1 on the chart dated November 5, 2022.


Taylor Swift/YouTube

Weeks at No. 1: Eight

“Anti-Hero” was released alongside Swift’s 10th album, “Midnights,” and promoted as the lead single.

It dominated the Hot 100 for eight weeks, surpassing the high-water mark set by “Blank Space.”

The same week that “Anti-Hero” debuted at No. 1, Swift became the first and only artist in history to occupy the entire top 10 on the Hot 100. The hit single was flanked by “Lavender Haze” (No. 2), “Maroon” (No. 3), “Snow on the Beach” (No. 4), “Midnight Rain” (No. 5), “Bejeweled” (No. 6), “Question…?” (No. 7), “You’re On Your Own, Kid” (No. 8), “Karma” (No. 9), and “Vigilante Shit” (No. 10).

10. “Cruel Summer”


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“Cruel Summer” hit No. 1 on the chart dated October 28, 2023.

John Shearer/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management

Weeks at No. 1: Four

“Cruel Summer” was originally released as the second track on Swift’s 2019 album “Lover.”

Although it was identified early as a fan favorite, the song was never promoted as a single and debuted modestly at No. 29 on the Hot 100.

Four years later, Swift transformed “Cruel Summer” into a showstopping spectacle on the Eras Tour. Streams of the song began to surge, and it reigned atop Billboard’s Pop Airplay chart for two months. Swift’s label sent the song to pop radio in June 2023.

Finally, following the release of “The Cruelest Summer” EP — which includes a live version of the song and a remix by LP Giobbi — the song reached No. 1 on the Hot 100, marking Swift’s milestone 10th chart-topper.

11. “Is It Over Now?”


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“Is It Over Now?” hit No. 1 on the chart dated November 11, 2023.

Kevin Winter/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management

Weeks at No. 1: One

“Is It Over Now?” was released as the final vault track on “1989 (Taylor’s Version),” a rerecording of her beloved fifth album.

Although it wasn’t initially slated as a single, its enthusiastic reception from fans pushed Swift’s team to serve the song to pop radio.

“Is It Over Now?” debuted at No. 1 on the Hot 100, dethroning “Cruel Summer.” Swift remains the only woman in history to replace herself in the top spot, a feat she’s now achieved twice.

12. “Fortnight” featuring Post Malone


taylor swift fortnight music video

“Fortnight” hit No. 1 on the chart dated May 4, 2024.


Taylor Swift/YouTube

Weeks at No. 1: Two

“Fortnight,” a duet with Post Malone, was released alongside “The Tortured Poets Department” and promoted as the album’s lead single.

The song debuted at No. 1 on the Hot 100 while “Poets” simultaneously debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200.

For the second time in her career, Swift managed to occupy the entire top 10 of the Hot 100. In fact, the top 14 positions on the chart were occupied by “Poets” tracks, including “Down Bad” (No. 2) and “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart” (No. 3), all the way through to “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived” (No. 14).

“Fortnight” returned to No. 1 on the Hot 100 for a second consecutive week.

13. “The Fate of Ophelia”


Taylor Swift in the music video for

“The Fate of Ophelia” hit No. 1 on the chart dated October 18, 2025.


Taylor Swift/YouTube

Weeks at No. 1: Nine

“The Fate of Ophelia” was released alongside Swift’s 12th studio album, “The Life of a Showgirl,” and promoted as the lead single.

The Shakespeare-inspired pop song debuted at No. 1 on the Hot 100, while “Showgirl” simultaneously debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, breaking a record for the biggest sales week of all time.

All 12 tracks on the album debuted within the Hot 100’s top 12 spots, making Swift the first and only artist to dominate the chart’s top 10 on three separate occasions. “The Fate of Ophelia” was joined in the top five by “Opalite” (No. 2), “Elizabeth Taylor” (No. 3), “Father Figure” (No. 4), and “Wood” (No. 5).

“The Fate of Ophelia” remained atop the Hot 100 for eight straight weeks after its release. After falling to lower positions during the holiday season, it returned to No. 1 for its ninth week, surpassing “Anti-Hero” as Swift’s longest-leading hit to date.




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Elon Musk just hit Sam Altman with an $800 billion counterpunch

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If Elon Musk and Sam Altman like each other, they hide it well.

In the latest turn in the rivalry, the two are battling over the top spot on the list of the world’s most valuable private companies.

While the two cofounded OpenAI together back in 2015, the partnership has frayed spectacularly since.

Musk left OpenAI in 2018 and later founded rival startup, xAI. Musk or his company, xAI, has filed lawsuits against OpenAI.

OpenAI held a secondary share sale in October that valued it at $500 billion, taking the lead from Musk’s SpaceX by a cool $100 billion.

Not one to cede ground to a rival, Musk is now planning his own secondary share sale at SpaceX, according to an internal letter to employees seen by multiple outlets. It would value the company at a whopping $800 billion. If that happens soon, it means Musk would have only let Altman hold the mantle for a couple of months.

Musk also confirmed on X this week that the company is exploring a blockbuster initial public offering, which might be the only way OpenAI can regain its lead as a private company. OpenAI this year restructured its business, which would allow it to also pursue its own eye-watering IPO in the future.

While this valuation battle between the two billionaires is maybe cringeworthy theater for the average earner, it underscores a significant shift: investors are pouring unprecedented money into technologies once viewed as speculative science projects.

SpaceX, which aims to make life multi-planetary and colonize Mars, and OpenAI, which seeks to develop a theoretical AI that can reason like humans, are two of the most visible examples, but they are part of a broader surge in frontier-tech valuations. AI, robotics, and defense tech startups have all notched multibillion-dollar valuations in the past year — bubble be damned.




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SHRM, the world’s largest HR group, has been hit with an $11.5 million verdict in a racial discrimination lawsuit

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A jury on Friday issued an $11.5 million verdict against the world’s largest HR organization over allegations it had racially discriminated and retaliated against a former employee.

The Society for Human Resource Management, known as SHRM, was found liable for racial discrimination and retaliation and hit with a ruling of $1.5 million in compensatory damages and $10 million for punitive damages, according to Ariel DeFazio, a lawyer for the plaintiff.

SHRM said it plans to appeal the decision. “Today’s decision does not reflect the facts, the law, or the truth of how SHRM operates,” the trade group said in a statement. “We have acted with integrity, transparency, and in full alignment with our values and obligations.”

SHRM was sued in 2022 by Rehab Mohamed, who worked at the trade group as an instructional designer from 2016 to 2020. The case was tried over the course of five days in a Colorado federal court.

“The optics are bad because they’ve held themselves out as an authority on best practices,” said Alice K. Jump, an employment attorney and partner at law firm Reavis Page Jump.

Mohamed said in her suit that she was racially discriminated against by a white supervisor and faced retaliation for complaining to management. She said she raised concerns about racial discrimination and retaliation with leadership, including SHRM’s CEO, Johnny C. Taylor Jr., and its head of human resources, throughout the summer of 2020.

While testifying on December 4, Taylor said he wasn’t involved in Mohamed’s termination. A former SHRM employee, Mike Jackson, who said he was responsible for investigating the matter, told the court that Mohamed’s was the only discrimination claim he had ever investigated.

In response to questions from Hunter Swain, another of Mohamed’s lawyers, Jackson said that he left SHRM in 2021 and his title was manager of employee experience. He said he became a certified HR professional while employed there and that he had undergone one training session on HR investigations just a few months before the discriminatory events that Mohamed cited in her lawsuit took place.

When asked by Swain what he learned from the training, Jackson said he couldn’t remember any specifics.

SHRM has consistently denied Mohamed’s claims. In September, SHRM asked the court to bar Mohamed from introducing evidence or argument that the organization is a specialist in HR best practices.

The following month, US District Judge Gordon P. Gallagher denied SHRM’s request, saying its “asserted expertise in human resources is integral to the circumstances of this case and cannot reasonably be excluded.”

In his testimony, Taylor said SHRM’s work includes advising HR professionals about best practices, including those pertaining to investigating internal complaints of discrimination and retaliation. He said SHRM has a set of curricula around best practices for investigating employment complaints.

The verdict was not surprising given that SHRM promotes itself as an expert in HR, Boston employment lawyer Evan Fray-Witzer told Business Insider. “You’re going to be held to a higher standard,” he said.

In recent years, SHRM has been embroiled in various controversies, as Business Insider recently reported. These include a new attendance policy that penalizes workers who arrive even a minute after 9 a.m.; a memo about a “conservative” dress code that bans sequins; and a companywide meeting in which Taylor said some staffers were “entitled,” “complacent,” and “sloppy.”

During pre-trial discovery for Mohamed’s case, SHRM revealed the existence of two other discrimination complaints from employees. One case, filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in 2018, was settled. The other, filed with a California regulator in 2021, is pending. SHRM also denied wrongdoing in those cases.

“We are very happy that the jury spent a week listening very closely to the evidence and that they decided, as a result, to hold SHRM accountable,” Mohamed’s lawyer, DeFazio, told Business Insider. She said the verdict would “send a message to workplaces in the entire country.”




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Median household wealth for Black Americans is projected to hit $0 by 2053. My estate plan is designed to protect me from that.

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  • I’m working hard to build wealth, and I want to make sure it lasts forever.
  • My estate plan is designed to maintain my assets and ensure I don’t leave any surprise debt behind.
  • This article is part of “My Financial Life,” a series helping people live and spend better.

Estate planning is a fancy way of saying you’re planning for the future — a time when you’ll be unable to manage your health and wealth.

Many people focus on financial planning, but not as many think about the broader picture. However, the process doesn’t need to be complicated — it’s a matter of creating legal documents appointing people to speak and act for you.

I’m an estate-planning attorney, and I’ve seen how important this process is and where some people’s plans fall short.

I want to continue helping others after I’m physically unable to do so. A 2017 study by the Institute for Policy Studies looking at long-term projections for the racial wealth gap found that median Black household wealth could reach zero by 2053. That means my long-term goals need to factor into my estate plan to secure generational wealth.

I want to thrive today and help my future beneficiaries avoid conflicts, excessive taxes, financial burdens, and disputes that could cost time and money.

My financial plan and my estate are intertwined

I considered several questions about my estate when deciding on my financial goals:

  1. When I reflect on the wealth I have — and the wealth I’m building — what do I want done with it when I die?
  2. Who is or will be capable of managing my assets?
  3. What will happen to my digital legacy — my online accounts, digital files, pictures, and investments?
  4. What tax consequences will my choices have now and in the future?
  5. How will I keep my estate plan and financial plan updated as my life changes?

My estate plan consists of a financial power of attorney, an advance directive, a guardian nomination, a will, and a trust. As an estate-planning attorney, I frequently encounter families who created a trust but didn’t understand how it works and don’t have a plan for its upkeep.

My estate plan is designed to support all the assets I leave behind and ensure the financial moves I’m making now stay on track. For example, if I buy a house, I have to make sure there’s a plan so my trust (and the trustees I leave in charge) can continue paying for the house. I’m accounting for a mortgage, maintenance and remodeling costs, and property taxes. In one case I saw property taxes go from $3,000 to $11,000 a year following a property transfer.

I want to minimize the debt my trust will have to pay off

If your estate plan is set up correctly, some debts cannot be collected after death. I’ve chosen to save, invest, and pay down debts to minimize the bills my estate and trust would be responsible for. Considering my estate plan early in life will help me figure out which debts I should pay off first.

When it comes to my plans, the most important part is educating the people around me about my moves and my wishes. It’s easy for your plan to fail when the people you leave in charge don’t know what to do or how to do it. Having financial conversations and being transparent is the best way to ensure my financial and estate plans remain on track.

My goal is to create a comprehensive financial road map that will address my current needs and future aspirations. I’ve thought about my financial stability at every stage of life. I’ve found it helps to think about your long-term goals and values first. Then you can ask yourself the big questions — the who, what, why, and how — and get the ball rolling.

 


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