The 24-year-old American moved to Belgium and lives at $ 1132 per month

Colby Gray, aged 24, grew up in a very rural and conservative community in San Louis Obyspo, California. Only when he moved two hours to visit the University of California, Santa Cruz, did he travel so far for the first time.

It was the beginning of a new life for Gray – he still didn’t know it.

“Not many people in my city have had passports. You really didn’t travel a lot and didn’t go to school very far,” Gray says, CNBC tells. “I was one of those who went further, and when I studied abroad, I was one of the first to leave the country.”

Gray lived on the campus at the beginning of his freshman, but the Covid-19 pandemic completely disturbed their time there. Until the second semester, Gray was forced to move home for about a year. It was during this time that in San Luis Obipp Gray examined that he studied abroad.

Gray has been studying in Copenhagen for six months. When that time was drawn, he did not want to go back to Santa Cruz.

“(Denmark) manages the pandemia very well and there was a very high degree of vaccination,” he says. “I fell in love with him and decided I wanted to do more.”

Gray finished the semester in the sea, before he finally returned to California.

“When I returned to Santa Cruz, it was a real shock to me for a reverse culture,” he says. “There is no home left. The city is not really built for students.”

Back to Santa Cruz Gray lived outside the campus in an apartment with two bedrooms with three other roommates and worked as an advisor abroad. Gray’s share of the rent was $ 1340 a month, according to documents reviewed by CNBC, do it.

“I paid more to live in Santa Cruz than I paid to live abroad. I told myself I couldn’t do it anymore,” Gray says. “I knew that after I was done (with subgradations), I would apply for a master’s degree in Belgium.”

Gray says his main motivation to want to leave the United States is that life in cities there has never resonated with him – and he hates to drive.

“It was one of the things I loved to live in Europe. I never felt as if I needed a car to live,” he says.

Gray was also dissatisfied with the quality of education he received at UC Santa Cruz, mainly because of the price. For the school year 2024-2025 average For state students living on the campus, it is $ 44,160. Gray’s classes were canceled for more than half a semester for a year and he still had to pay for the whole thing.

“It just didn’t seem to be getting what I paid even with a ton of federal and state funding,” Gray says. “I knew there should be a better system and a better way to get an education. Through my studies abroad, I realized that I could just get a visa and study as an international student for the sixth of the price.”

“I wanted to continue my education, but I wanted to use it as a way to stay.”

Gray decided to go for his master’s degree and examine programs in the UK, such as the University of Cambridge, the University of Oxford and the University of Edinburg in Scotland, but could not justify the cost.

This brought Gray to Leuven, Belgium, Which looked like the perfect choice. Leuven was built as a “15-minute city”, a concept of urban planning, where most daily needs such as shopping, healthcare and others can be reached within a 15-minute walk or bike ride. The concept is gaining grip in other Belgian cities such as Brussels and Bear and exists in major cities such as Paris, France, Barcelona, ​​Spain and Melbourne, Australia.

In Leuven, cars are banned in the city center and is easy – and is encouraged – to surround themselves on a motor.

“I fell in love with it and loved that Belgium is centrally located, so I can travel,” he says, “There are four different countries around me within a three -hour train trip and that was very unique.”

Ku Leuven University in Belgium offers a program for students seeking a degree called search permit. This permission allows students or researchers to stay for one year and work indefinitely, as long as they receive a master’s degree from a university in the country. This is a one -year program and the training costs are about 3800 euros per year or 4 310 USDs.

“However, as a student, there is no better cost of living. There is nothing better economically than being in Europe. There is no reason to go into debt here, so at this stage it makes sense simply at this stage,” he says.

Gray arrived in Belgium with two checked bags and a backpack and moved to a four -bedroom house with three more. He paid 500 euros or $ 567 a month rent: “It was fantastic. I want to say that I paid a third of the price to get my own room.”

He went immediately to build a life in Leyve.

“When I first got here, it was discouraging. I was aware of the fact that I had no friends here and I was completely alone,” he says. “I think this was the first time I felt like that in my life. I worked very hard to make friends and make a community here.”

Gray ended last summer and moved to about 10 minutes of riding a bike out of town. He pays 420 euros per month of rent, including utilities. His current home also provides some toiletries and some food.

Gray’s additional monthly costs include 236 euros in grocery, EUR 154 in EUR 11 in health insurance and medical visits, EUR 48 in transit, 50 euros for the gym, 30 euros for wellness, 20 euros for visa fees, 20 euros in clothing and 10 euros in subscriptions. Including his rent, Gray’s total monthly expenses are about $ 998 per month or $ 1132.

Gray has been living in Belgium for almost two years and says he loves the balance between the professional and privacy he has been able to find there.

“The community feels so strong here and I have a really great balance between my life life and my home life,” he says. “This is the more slow pace of life and is really beautiful.”

After visiting Europe for the first time in 2021 and moved in 2023, Gray travels to 20 different countries. His family and friends also came to visit.

In 2024, Gray’s family came to Belgium and they took a trip to Tuscany. He returned to the United States for the first time in December.

Gray remains seven months of his search permission and he thinks about his next steps, which may include a second master’s degree and Trainer in Brussels or Portugal.

The only thing Gray knows for sure is that he is not yet ready to return to America.

“Living in the United States, I felt that there was a ticking clock inside me, where I had to get into the workforce, get a house, have a family, and I think now I had a little delayed and smelled a little more a little more,” he says.

The Euro US conversions were made using the Oanda $ 1 to $ 1.13 conversion rate on May 8, 2025. All amounts are rounded to the closer dollar.

Want a new career that is higher paid, more flexible or performing? Get the new CNBC online course How to change your career and be more happily at workS Expert instructors will teach you strategies to connect successfully, update your resume and confident move to your dream career. Start today and use an early bird coupon code for an introductory discount of 30% discount of $ 67 (+taxes and fees) by May 13, 2025.

Plus this, Sign up for CNBC, make your newsletter Get advice and tricks for success, with money and in life.