Jeffrey Park, 63, hasn't been to the US in 13 years and has no immediate plans to return. Park was born and raised in Baltimore, but his wife Kerstin is from Munich. After starting a family in the US, the duo settled in Germany in 2005.
And Park said he's planning on retiring abroad. Park is an example of an abroad looking for new experiences and job opportunities. While are for retirement, Park said he's certain he's retiring in Germany.
He said the free public healthcare and quality of life are better than in the US. As an undergraduate at the University of Pennsylvania in the early 1980s, Park met Kerstin, who is German and was visiting the US on vacation. Park took a break from college and lived with Kerstin in Munich in 1982 and 1983 before returning to the US to finish his studies.
The two married in Baltimore in 1983. Park transferred to Johns Hopkins University and graduated with bachelor's degrees in English and German in 1986. At that time, Park and Kerstin had their first daughter.
Park worked as a movie theater manager for a few years and then landed a job at Giant Food, a grocery store in the Baltimore area, where he worked for 13 years. In 2002, Park earned his Master's in education from Towson University in Maryland and taught English at a middle school for three years. In 2005, when Park and Kerstin's youngest daughter graduated from high school, they moved to Germany.
Kerstin's family had lived in Munich, and their newly established empty nest made it easier .