Student Visas: A New Way to Live In Europe at Any Age!
House Of Peregrine (00:00)
Hello everyone and welcome back to the House of Peregrine podcast. I'm Michele Weber, founder of House of Peregrine. And today we'll be talking about student visas with my guest today, Travis Drews, who is a Move to Europe visa expert and the force behind the Global Citizen Hub, an online community helping people turn someday into a real life abroad. We're talking about the human side of visas, clarity over fear and the small smart steps that you can take today if you would like to live abroad. It might just be more possible than you think.
Welcome, Travis. I'm excited to have you on today.
Travis Drews (00:32)
Me too, I'm so excited to be here.
House Of Peregrine (00:35)
I would really love to start with just quickly where you're from, what your story is a little bit, your Peregrine story, we like to call it, your story of living abroad. And then I want to move into all of your amazing information about student visas.
Travis Drews (00:50)
Awesome, yeah, of course. So I'm from Houston, Texas originally, and then I lived in Austin, Texas for a long time. always loved travel and was obsessed with finding new cultures. So I started traveling a lot in 2018 and then continued traveling most of my time for the next several eventually last year I was like,
would like to settle a little bit more somewhere. And so I've chosen Berlin to settle ⁓ for a bit. And it's been great. I love it. I love being in Europe and I just love how there's so many different cultures and perspectives here and it's a good place for me. So that's kind of my story.
House Of Peregrine (01:38)
Awesome. And when you were traveling around from 2018, did you consider yourself like a digital nomad or a remote worker? That was right before the pandemic. And so how did you see that yourself at that point?
Travis Drews (01:49)
Yeah, so I've done a lot of different things in my time. Like my career path has been kind of crazy. For a good amount of that, I was a digital nomad working at a tech company. But in the beginning, I was working as a DJ. So I would have gigs in the United States or abroad. And it was a good way for me to travel and work at the same time.
That's kind how I'd make those ends meet. But yeah, when the pandemic happened, all of that dried up so fast. ⁓
House Of Peregrine (02:30)
DJing or digital nomads?
Travis Drews (02:31)
digital or sorry, DJing, because, you know, all events, like all live events were gone. Like I knew people who were like 35 and 40 year old DJs that had to like move in with their parents and like, cause really there was nothing. So that's when I transitioned into like having that tech job and then it fit really well because it was like, I wasn't like DJing happens on the weekend and then my tech job happens during the week anyway. So it just kind of.
House Of Peregrine (02:47)
Wow.
Travis Drews (03:00)
worked out.
House Of Peregrine (03:01)
I get it, I was a real estate investor and worked on Sometimes those things go together really nicely and fit both sides of your personality. I.
Travis Drews (03:06)
cool, I didn't know that.
Yes. Yeah. That's so true. There's
multiple sides of my personality, you know, and it's each of them feeds. I totally get you.
House Of Peregrine (03:20)
They feed each other. ⁓ So was that something you always had in you, do you think? Like, did you always have a curiosity for other countries or living abroad? Or when you were young, where do you think that the travel bug or itchy feet, people call it all sorts of things. But did you have that from when you were young?
Travis Drews (03:22)
Mm-hmm.
when I was young, the only thing I understood was that I didn't quite fit in in Texas. I didn't quite like fit into like the path that my family wanted me to go on, which would have been like, you know, buy a house, get married in my twenties and like have like kind of a traditional lifestyle. ⁓ and then I remember in, when I was in college,
I had a friend who went backpacking in Thailand and they were like, you can go and meet people. You can go travel and there'll be people to hang out with and you don't have to be alone. And you can speak English while you're outside the US and you can like find all these awesome cultures and it's less expensive than you think. And I didn't know about any of that. And I was like,
to go try this. So I went backpacking in Southeast Asia and that opened the door for me understanding like what backpacking was in digital nomad and then it really clicked because was like, this is what fits me better than what, ⁓ you know, kind of I was like raised for. Does that make sense?
House Of Peregrine (04:54)
Yeah,
yeah, it does. And I think that we're both American, but we're from different parts of the country. But I think that this notion, because certain parts of the country, the US are very opinionated about what life should look like. And we spoke about this before, we both love our country. both have no interest in, but I have no interest in the downsides of the country or what's going on there, talking about it very much.
Because when I was growing up and I'm a little older than you, it was very sure of itself that you were already in the right place. You didn't need to go somewhere else. And so making a home right here seemed like an obvious thing to do. But if you don't fit in that, or you don't feel like you fit in, then that becomes a little bit problematic or a challenge. And so for you, it really was seeing others who were doing it.
Travis Drews (05:50)
Yeah, no, I had one one particular friend who like opened the door for me. And then I also was like happy to be like I went to a very international college and I had like an international friend group. And so it was like ⁓ really, you know, it made sense with like where I was in life. But it's funny you mentioned about the idea of like thinking that you're already like in the number one place in the world. Like when I started traveling, my community was like
House Of Peregrine (06:00)
Hmm.
Travis Drews (06:19)
or like my family and my community was like, why would you ever leave the US? Why would you ever want to leave the US? And to me, it was like, so obvious, like there's, because there's other things, because, you know, it's like, ⁓ like, the US is great in its own ways. And then there also is great things about other places in the world, you know, and I can't, I couldn't live a whole life not experiencing that. And then I
came to find that I really like it. Than I thought, you
House Of Peregrine (06:50)
Yeah.
Yeah. And right now you're in Berlin. I don't think we said that. Do I have that right? Yeah. And when we spoke before, you were telling me that Austin and Berlin aren't so dissimilar.
Travis Drews (06:57)
Yeah, that's right.
It's so true. Yeah. It's almost like ⁓ when I chose to like settle here a little bit more. It kind of felt like it almost wasn't foreign enough. is not true. It's still certainly foreign and it's certainly German. ⁓ it's like the similarities are that both cities have gone through a huge population boom. were like art artist cities and now like those artists are getting like
priced out because of gentrification. And like in the past 10 years, just the prices of a lot of things have shot up and it's just like really dramatic. ⁓ So yeah, it was funny. was like, I wanted a different set of problems. And then a lot of the problems are the same you know.
House Of Peregrine (07:54)
Yeah, and that, do you think that the similarity might be you as well? And how you approach it?
Travis Drews (07:59)
Yeah, definitely.
mean, part of the reason why I came here was because I knew I would fit in. I had been coming to Berlin for a few years before I decided to get an apartment here. And ⁓ yeah, certainly the similarity is me. It was an easy transition.
House Of Peregrine (08:23)
Yeah. And so also you, sounds like you did a big transition during COVID. And so tell me how that shaped you and how you are living your life today.
Travis Drews (08:36)
That's a really good question. That's a really good question. So I always enjoyed business. Like I have a master of business administration. like, you know, in, in being a DJ, being a musician is entrepreneurial. Like it's basically like starting a business, like in having started the global citizen hub, it's like, it really feels like a similar vibe of creativity from making music and doing the global citizen hub.
But yeah, I got a job which I really loved. It was like a remote tech job and I like really enjoyed doing it. But there was always this kind of like disconnect that I didn't enjoy, which was kind of like, there's a lot of BS in corporate. There's like a lot of BS and I'm a person who I just want to like.
be straight with you and tell you how it is. And I don't want to have to like play the politics game. Like, just want like, if you tell me what job to do, I'll do the job, give you a great product. And that's like what I want. it became more than that. And then eventually, like the company started to like, not be super honest with us as employees and not be super honest with its customers and...
That kind of made me like, just have a really bad taste in my mouth about corporate, which sucks because I had been in corporate for four or five, I'd been in five years total. And the first four years was beautiful. And it allowed me to travel the world and have like good money and work from anywhere. And it was great. And I had a, you know, a good situation. And then like that quickly, it turned bad. So
It made me realize that I'm so much more happy now, being my own boss and having my own business. just fits me so much better.
House Of Peregrine (10:39)
found that there's a myth of having a corporate job and it being secure and that being safety. And I think that is in many places of the world actually a thing, a story people tell themselves that there is security in a stable job and a stable life. But you realize that there's different ways of finding safety. And that sounds like you made that journey and had that experience.
Travis Drews (10:58)
Mm-hmm.
I 100 % agree with you. especially nowadays, ⁓ it's like corporate is not stable anymore. And I was happy that I got out at the time that I did because like, it's never been a better time to be your own boss. And I think I'm like at...
the perfect moment of having a business and not having to rely on worrying about getting replaced by AI. So yeah, 100%, I agree with you.
House Of Peregrine (11:40)
Yeah. And so when you made this transition, ⁓ it sounds like you needed to find a way to be able to live the life you wanted to, which sounds like you are settling, you wanted to settle a little bit more. So you had traveled since 2018, traveled for a few years. Then what happened in your story? Besides COVID, which happened in everyone's story, but how did that affect you?
Travis Drews (11:58)
Mm-hmm.
I, my, my problem is I want it all. That's my problem. So I want to, you know, be able to visit my friends and family in United States a lot. I want to not have to be based in the United States. I want to continue to travel a lot and see new places all the time. And so, ⁓ I've been fortunate enough to be able to accomplish all these things.
for example, I had been traveling most of my time, coming back to the States, working and then going out to travel again. And now I've made it like a very smooth transition into being based in Europe more. And ⁓ it's just a really, I don't know. I think it would be so hard. I'm always so impressed with the people that I work with who leave their entire life and
move to a new place and like leave all their family and friends and don't go as often I think that's So brave, know like so brave and I'm lucky to where I've had I've been able to like spread it out a little bit more and make the whole Transition like slower over time, which is I love I love that
House Of Peregrine (13:22)
Yeah, makes it a little less traumatic.
Travis Drews (13:25)
Yeah, can't, wow. It's just I love my family and my friends back in Texas so much. I would be devastated if I didn't see them as much. So it's hard, it's very difficult. It's a very hard thing to do.
House Of Peregrine (13:40)
Yeah, would you say, so I've spoken to a lot of people about this and would you consider yourself living more bilocally, like between two places or, you're based, your adult life is based here but you still have a emotional base back in Texas.
Travis Drews (13:58)
Yes, exactly. That's exactly how it is. And that's one thing where it's like, I must have remote work. Otherwise, I couldn't have any of this. And the fact that I can work wherever is really, really helpful. you know what I mean? So yeah, I would say that it's like, local. I'm definitely visiting the US a lot.
House Of Peregrine (14:19)
Yeah.
Yeah. And so when you started, what was the spark that helped you begin the work you're doing now, which started with this incredible resource of student visas. That's where this kind of all started. Do I have that right? And so how did that get started? Like what was the spark for that? I think there was something about a cousin that I remember in our conversation.
Travis Drews (14:38)
Mm-hmm. That's right.
That's right. That's right. So yeah, I was done with corporate and I was like back to DJing. And ⁓ I remember I had my cousin who lives in okay, for let me tell you about my family. I have the best family in the world. ⁓ I have about 20 like family members that live in a small town in Wisconsin. That is like classic.
Leave It to Beaver, that 70s show, Small Town America, which is, my God, I'm so, I spend a lot of time there with my family and we're very loving, very accepting of each other, beautiful family. ⁓ So I had a cousin who has like three kids under the age of 10 went around January, messaged me and was like, hey, can you help me leave the US? Because I'm worried about the future.
And I was just someone, I didn't have a business or anything. I was just someone who was international. And I came to realize, I was like, wow, if my cousin has this feeling who has lived in this town her entire life and my rest of my family have lived in the same small town their entire life is feeling this thing, then that's powerful. And that's something that I can help people with. So it started out for Americans to move to Europe.
But this wave, this thing of people wanting to move to Europe was so powerful that already it's quickly grown beyond America. And I'm very happy that I'm not just focusing on America and what's going on there. I'm allowed to just focus purely on positively helping people legally move to Europe. So that's kind of how it started.
and I'm just happy that it's gone so well.
House Of Peregrine (16:43)
Yeah. And so in that you were able to find something that very few people know and more people are learning now, but that Europe really is supportive of language learning as a way of supporting a visa. That's something that they see. It used to be, I think most people have it in their head, at least I did, that it's really hard to move abroad or you need to have a corporate job move you or some story, right? Or you come with a backpack as a single person. There's only two ways to do it.
Travis Drews (17:04)
Please.
House Of Peregrine (17:12)
This, I think what you're offering shows people that at any age, at any income level, you can get a visa to legally come to Europe at least for a year or two.
Travis Drews (17:23)
Yeah, it's like, I try to stay away from like framing it in terms of hard or easy. Because what does that mean? I think like, I think moving abroad is challenging, but not necessarily because of visa stuff. Like it's challenging because of stuff we talked about before, having to say goodbye to people or just
you know, having to navigate a different healthcare system than you're used to or whatever, right? ⁓ But that's one thing that it's like people, there's so many options that people don't know about. you said, a lot of people think that you need to have a job lined up. A lot of countries have job seeker visas where basically you just have to have some university education and work experience and you can come look for a job.
And then also, like you said, language learning is a great one. Like for example, in France, you can go study French and that's your visa. And all you have to have is, you know, clean criminal record, a passport, and you want to learn French, you know?
House Of Peregrine (18:40)
Yeah, and you have to enroll in a class, obviously. Duolingo doesn't count, but these are, again, not big corporate jobs that are hard to get. Like you said, the visa shouldn't be the hard part of your move because there's other hard parts. ⁓ And I think what I would like to say is it goes from impossible for someone like your cousin who has three kids under 10, feels like there's not a way.
Travis Drews (18:43)
Yeah. Yeah, yeah.
House Of Peregrine (19:06)
or maybe a retiree who maybe thinks there is in a way, someone who isn't the typical person we think of, which is like a young 20 something single or maybe partnered, they can move abroad. But this opens up pathways for other people at other income brackets ⁓ and also a legal path to potential longer stays.
Travis Drews (19:22)
Yeah.
Yeah, totally. Yeah. So I recommend student visas, ⁓ all very often because, ⁓ it does open the pathway to longer stays. Like for example, here's an example in the U S the average student takes out $40,000 worth of student loans and they carry that debt with them years and years and years. And I know people who they have a very difficult time paying off all this debt.
Whereas on the other hand, you could choose to study in Europe and ⁓ Germany, for example, all public German universities are free tuition, even for foreigners. So that already is very attractive, right? But besides that, like even if you don't have free tuition or you go to a country that doesn't have free tuition, it certainly is not going to be 40,000.
House Of Peregrine (20:20)
Yeah.
Travis Drews (20:29)
Like that's a lot, you So there's pathways, you can do that. Also, if you go and study like universities, a lot of the time, part of the program is to help you get a job, right? So like I went to business school, I went to like a master of business administration and basically like most of the point of it was networking, you know? And so that's such a good way to transfer into long-term.
House Of Peregrine (20:54)
Mm-hmm.
Travis Drews (20:58)
residency and then eventually citizenship, right? Is like, a very, very good path, like student visa, job seeker visa, job, citizenship.
House Of Peregrine (21:10)
And so to a university is one way, even before that, let's say the university is not an English that you want to go to, you could even start with a language program.
do that for a year or two, then move to university. So this is just giving you years to spend in this country legally building pathways to citizenship if you want or permanent residency or all the funny things we have to deal with as international people because visas are a thing. But it gives, there's just so, so many and this is what your program shows and your ⁓ resources.
Travis Drews (21:42)
Mm-hmm.
House Of Peregrine (21:50)
is that there's so, so many more ways than we think to legally start that pathway or to give a country a try or to learn a language, get another degree. That's just the start. There's more that you're uncovering all the time that people can access. And so that's kind of where what started for you as a resource library, it sounds like has turned into something
Travis Drews (21:50)
Yes.
House Of Peregrine (22:18)
more and tell me tell me why you think community matters so much in these sorts of ⁓ in moving abroad and moving to a new country.
Travis Drews (22:26)
Yeah.
Yeah. So like I went out to, I had this idea and I was like, I can help people with this. Right. And so then the question was like, how do I help? Right. So I started out making eBooks and visa guides for, well, that's not true. I started out by making like an in-depth video course about a specific visa, the German opportunity card, which is a job seeker visa here in Germany. And
Then I was like, okay, that took me a long time to make all that. How can I like, ⁓ help people who like in like, how can I get more information out more quickly? So I started making like eBooks and visa guides, and those started to do well. Because I think a lot of people out there are know they want to move abroad, but don't know all these options. So they need something that's like pretty accessible to like parse through all of this.
information that's out there, just like the whole world of information is like, you know, like people don't know these options because they're just buried in all this information. So I started doing that. And those started doing well and like helping people. And so then I came to this, I started to see that a lot of people were interested in study abroad and scholarships. And I had that idea of like, why do people have to take out $40,000 of student loans? That is
just ridiculous, like it does not have to be this way. So I was like, what if I make a product where I compile all of these different university programs and scholarship programs in Europe into a database, and then you can sort through that database by your major that you're looking for, or the country that you're looking for, or even the city that you're looking to move to, and have the application link right there and be ready to apply.
And that idea came to me and I was like, ⁓ yeah, that's good. That's the one that's going to help people. So I made that it's the ultimate European scholarship database and ⁓ it's helped a ton of people so far start their move to Europe. It's always being updated. So like, you know, things change all the time, but I stay on top of it. I'm like always finding new.
university and scholarship programs and always keeping it updated. like, it's, think, I don't know, I just like that it is really helpful and it's like something that people can use to get started and to like fully make an entirely new life, you know, in Europe.
House Of Peregrine (25:06)
Yeah. And do you think that impulse, for me, I always say that these are the moments that change us. So the moment where that one of your friends told you, my God, you can speak English, you can go abroad, you can meet people. That was a pivotal moment for you. Do you think this comes from you wanting to make those moments for others?
Travis Drews (25:26)
Yeah, 100%. It's so, life is so wild. Like the things that affect your life the most are, happen so quickly like this, right? You know? yeah, I mean, I can't imagine what my life would be if I hadn't found my way this way of, you know, traveling a lot and like seeing the world. Like this is something that...
it just feels right to me and it gives me confidence, like self-confidence, and it has allowed me to like understand the world better and to understand like our past and our collective future. yeah, yeah, I just want, I wanna make it as easy as possible for other people to like be in the same situation to expand their mind and their life, you know?
House Of Peregrine (26:18)
Yeah.
Yeah, I say there's a cult in every culture. And so when you're part of two cultures or more, you learn the differences and you learn the reasons behind those differences. And one of those differences, as you've shown, is Europe really loves languages, loves, has a different priority or something on education or foreign exchange students. And so what would you say is attributed to that difference? Because the US
Obviously is an amazing country, but we have a different mindset. I didn't know you could go to university and not graduate with debt. I didn't know you couldn't pay 2000 a month for healthcare. But when I stepped outside of my country and went to another country, I started seeing the values, the cult in that culture. So what would say about education since that's what you've been kind of looking at? There's pros and cons. There's always pros and cons. What would you say?
Travis Drews (26:53)
I know.
Mm.
House Of Peregrine (27:18)
you've discovered that you didn't know before.
Travis Drews (27:19)
Yeah,
education, I think is in a really critical moment right now. ⁓ Because ⁓ my whole life, I was guided towards education, like college or higher education, because it was a ticket into having jobs, right? It's not because of bettering yourself, really. Like, for example, when I had a corporate job out of business school, I didn't use
House Of Peregrine (27:37)
Hmm.
Mm. Yeah.
Travis Drews (27:49)
like 90 % of what I learned in business school. Like I didn't learn, I didn't use that stuff. It was like, go do this education, get a check mark, and then you can take that certificate and then someone will give you a job. But even that's not true anymore. Even that's not true anymore, right? So that's why there's this like really like crucial moment, you know, happening of like,
House Of Peregrine (28:06)
Yeah. Yeah.
Travis Drews (28:17)
I think that a society should invest in education heavily because that means that the people who participate have a better understanding of the world and you can all together collectively solve your problems better. Whereas it makes me sad to see societies where on education and say education is the place where the things I believe in
accepted. ⁓ And therefore we should not be educated, or we should invest less in education. So I want to participate in a society where people go to school in order to better themselves and just have a better understanding of the world. And that's what education is rather than the other way, which is like, this is only a ticket into having like a job. And I think that's why Germany has chosen to invest
their tax dollars into public universities because they understand that having an educated society is the best way forward. So that's something I agree with.
House Of Peregrine (29:24)
Yeah, and so you wanna do your best to bring that into the world, which is every entrepreneur has their reason. And then when you were moving abroad or when you were trying to move abroad, did you find, this is what I found at least, maybe you've had this experience, that the people that helped me along, whether it was for an hour, a moment, there was even a moment at the visa counter where the woman let,
one form we didn't have slide and that made it so we could move. There's these little micro movements that make a big deal, but what that made me want to do is pay that forward to someone else. so that's why I think community is so important. And I think that's what you're coming to with your community is that when you're in this moment of all these forms and all these decisions and the...
Travis Drews (30:16)
Mm-hmm.
House Of Peregrine (30:18)
the darkness of the unknown, you know you wanna go, you don't know how. That's a really important moment. It's a little bit like being at university or having a baby. There's this thing you're gonna do, but you haven't done it yet and you don't know exactly how it's gonna happen. And so what is the value you've seen in having people around to even just ask that little question or just talk to because no one around you is talking about this. What have you?
What are the stories you've seen?
Travis Drews (30:48)
Yeah, for sure. ⁓ I was very lucky to have ⁓ a close friend and ⁓ like more than one, but some close friends here in Berlin before I moved and ⁓ having that like small bit of community. my God, made it so much better. Starting, I consider myself, I think I'm good at talking to people and like making friends, but like, wow, that's a challenging thing that you have to do.
just make friends and find community when you move somewhere. I didn't have as much support when I was building the life. Well, that's not true. I had a good community of close friends who were worldly and traveling a lot, so I had that support, but I didn't know anybody else really that was going to Germany too much. And that's what...
is like I started to understand after like selling the database and selling these other visa guides, which was like you do it and then you also like there's so many little things like you mentioned the one paper that you had at the visa that if you you mess that up if she didn't choose to give you grace like you could have been delayed by like
four months and then it's like, I'm in the process of selling my house. What am going to do? Like, you know, it's all these little things that pile up. So that's why I started the global citizen hub community. And this is what I always like, like wanted to help people with, which is like giving people a place to ask those little questions of other people who are going through the same thing or have done it before. Right.
House Of Peregrine (32:34)
Yeah, they're
right ahead of you and they know. It's like you become an expert and then you just want to share the knowledge because it is so sometimes so much knowledge you've just gained by just doing it yourself that the generative effect of passing it along almost is more satisfying than it should be.
Travis Drews (32:48)
Yes.
Of course,
of course. Yeah, and it's like, like you just did, like, why should we all have to have these separate experiences that are like super difficult, right? When we could combine forces and share these resources and share these information and it just makes it so, so much easier for everyone. I'd choose that, you know.
House Of Peregrine (33:05)
Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah, and I believe there's a network of people who have this knowledge and they need to be connected. So that's something I'm really passionate about and I'm happy you're passionate as well. ⁓ And so that, I always say Peregrines have more in common with each other, even if they're from different countries than they do with people that they grew up with. And I think in your case, that's true for your global side of your personality and then you have an entire
Travis Drews (33:36)
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
House Of Peregrine (33:45)
connection with people who is your family back home, which I think is really lovely. And it speaks to why you moved the way you moved, because you see some people cut ties altogether. that speaks to their experience. But what I like to see is that you've moved towards something, instead of away, because I think both of us know a lot of people in the US and other, even here in Europe, that are moving away because they're...
Travis Drews (33:55)
Yeah.
Yeah.
House Of Peregrine (34:11)
They don't agree with the politics or they feel unsafe or it's not any longer. We just want an adventure as much.
Travis Drews (34:19)
Right. That's one thing I've come to understand. I came to moving abroad from being a digital nomad. So I was always very comfortable in uncertainty and just I'm happy if I have a bar of soap and my laptop. I'm fine with all that. And ⁓ I came to realize that it's like...
Most people moving abroad aren't like that though. They aren't used to being on the road or traveling. Some people are, but a lot of people, it's not the same thing, right? So, yeah.
House Of Peregrine (34:59)
Not right now. I think when I
moved abroad 10 years ago, that's how we were just with kids. We had traveled, we were digital nomads from like 2006. We were traveling, we were doing lots. And so what I see now at this moment is a lot of people who aren't used to that. And so they need the resources like you're not gonna go, like I people I know who moved abroad when we did or before.
Travis Drews (35:09)
Wow.
House Of Peregrine (35:26)
they were going on like a shoestring, like one tip, then they would go to the next. And that is a different way of living your life. Now, there's a big population of people ⁓ that aren't these wayfinders. They aren't these people who are kinda just going scrap by scrap. They need more information, they need more structure, and they should have the right to move well. And so I think we share a...
Travis Drews (35:33)
Yeah.
House Of Peregrine (35:54)
a conviction around that. But what I also see is if you want to capitalize on the fear and uncertainty that's going on right now, you can make a lot of money. But it is, I think neither of us like that. I think that's worse for the country that they're going to, they're leaving. And so how do you navigate that with people who are moving? Because I really, when people come to me, I really try and encourage them
to move towards something and not be focused on why they're leaving and getting out fast and getting somewhere fast. That for me, it can make a lot more money, but it just doesn't work.
Travis Drews (36:29)
Yes.
I totally understand. Like it goes back to my cousin, right? Like my cousin isn't like me, like someone all over different countries all the time. Like she's like has kids like live in the same place her whole life. She didn't ever want like be like, oh, I'm gonna move to a different country, but things happen and you just wanna live in a society that is you feel safe, you know? I started like,
House Of Peregrine (36:54)
⁓ Yeah.
Yep.
Travis Drews (37:05)
I never wanted, know, okay, I started seeing a lot of influencers talking smack about the situation. And I was just like, I want to, it is like, I want to help people experience the joy that I've experienced since even before that these problems kind of got more acute.
House Of Peregrine (37:10)
Yep. Yep.
Travis Drews (37:26)
And so I, I experimented with what type of content would work in my messaging. like in the beginning, like I did try some things that focused on the problem. And I was, I don't know. I'm just like, so blessed. those, those, that content didn't perform as well as stuff where I was just like giving information where I was just like, did you know you could do this? Did you know you could do this? ⁓ and so I still see people who work in the space who do.
House Of Peregrine (37:44)
Mm. Yeah.
Travis Drews (37:55)
a lot of negative, a lot of negative messaging. And I'm just so happy that that wasn't my little corner of the algorithm, that my little corner of the algorithm that performed well ended up being the stuff that was like, look how great life can be. So I'm so happy. I'm so happy that this worked out this way. It's like really unfortunate that things in the world at large are kind of, you
getting a bit dicier, that's very unfortunate, but I just want to, I don't know, like spread the love and show the positive side.
House Of Peregrine (38:32)
Yeah. Well, and I see it as help people actually make a good choice instead of running away because it is a little bit like I see even again, like leaving Europe, people are leaving Europe because there is a lot going on and in other parts of the world too, they're going, they're almost like refugees. And that is a different kind of energy than an immigrant or someone who's adventuring. And so I try and help people even if they are
Travis Drews (38:47)
Yeah, for sure.
Yeah.
House Of Peregrine (39:03)
that was where the impetus of their journey started. I really try and make them focus on or help them to find their why, find what they're coming towards. ⁓ I just think it's, I think it's healthier for the world at large.
Travis Drews (39:18)
Yeah,
it's like, ⁓ it's also healthier for the countries that they're going to be moving to, right? ⁓ Because, like, for example, I don't want to inspire a lot of people to move to a country and not integrate, not speak the language, like, just form their own diaspora communities.
House Of Peregrine (39:25)
Yeah.
Travis Drews (39:45)
And I don't think those countries want that. I don't want that. I think that the fact that we all have different languages and different ways of doing things is beautiful. And I don't want to dilute that. ⁓ So basically, in my messaging, I encourage people to start learning the language ASAP now. ⁓ And before we leave, I'm
House Of Peregrine (40:08)
Yep. Even before you leave, even before you
move.
Travis Drews (40:13)
Exactly. ⁓ cause it'll come in handy for sure. And also just to like, please, please understand that it is not like another version of your country where you came from. It's, it's that country and you have to choose to participate in that country. And at the beginning, yes, at the beginning, you're a guest. It's like being a guest in someone's home, you know, like you can't like, for example, here in Germany, the tradition is you take your shoes off at the door.
House Of Peregrine (40:30)
Yeah, in whatever way you can.
Travis Drews (40:43)
⁓ If you go into someone else's home and you just wear your shoes around, that's not a cool thing to do. So if you're going to relocate to somewhere, you have to like fit in with the rules and the way that things work in that society. So I think that's very, very crucial for people. Like it should be about choosing to participate in a new place rather than like bringing, like I'll never stop being American. I'll always be American. But like when I'm here, I play by the rules and
participate in Germany, you know?
House Of Peregrine (41:14)
Yeah. And to take that a step deeper, what I have found in doing that is you learn again, 10 years in, kind of, I played by the rules. I learned so much about my, the country I was living in myself, my own country, my own values. And then I was, then you're able to be yourself in that place, but yourself changes.
Travis Drews (41:44)
Yeah.
House Of Peregrine (41:45)
And so you adopt some things. You don't adopt things. You learn how to be respectful. But like you said, you're never gonna be German. I'm never gonna be Dutch, but we're not quite ever going to be exactly the same as we were before we moved here. So letting the place change you is what I've come to. So follow the rules at first to be able to let the place change you into the next version of yourself.
Travis Drews (42:08)
Yeah, that's all right. That's how you participate, you know?
House Of Peregrine (42:12)
Yeah, because you can't
ever become from that place, luckily. ⁓ But I do think there is something about this really deep exploration of the place that you've just found yourself that's really beautiful and part of the journey. And so I like to encourage that. ⁓ And then just realize it's going to change you forever. You don't really get to go back. That's why we're Peregrines. Yeah. Cool.
Travis Drews (42:18)
Yes.
Uh-huh. That's right.
House Of Peregrine (42:41)
And so now how do people find you? How do people find this database that you're always updating if they want to start their journey and maybe join your community? What is the best place to find you?
Travis Drews (42:54)
So you should go to theglobalcitizenhub.com, www.theglobalcitizenhub.com. That is where you can find all of the digital products that I sell and also join the community. ⁓ If you join the community, ⁓ you have access to all the digital products like in there. And so whatever resources you'll need, you'll be able to like find them and access them. And then each resource, like for example, the scholarship database.
Once you buy that resource and you're in the community, you get a community of people who are specifically looking for scholarships, right? So if you are part of the community and then you buy a resource, you get even more specific and more detailed for each of those things. So www.theglobalsitizenhub.com is where you'd find that. And also I'm active on Instagram and TikTok at the Global Citizen Hub.
House Of Peregrine (43:53)
Okay. And I think your channel is really, really informative, which is why I asked you on. I love that you're providing people enough to do on their own, but as we both know, it's so much deeper than that. And so I love that you can go deeper once you've found that maybe a little idea that's come to you or something you think you can hold onto, then you can go deeper. I think that's so important and a missing part of this. ⁓ Thank you so much for coming on. go ahead.
Travis Drews (44:06)
Mm-hmm.
Yes.
That
I was just going to say like, the alternatives so far are you could like invest in like coaching or lawyer that goes really deep into like what you're doing. ⁓ those things get really expensive. And I, I saw that there was a gap between people who are like, I could do this. I could do this. I don't know what I want to do. And then like getting that detailed. So like, that's why, like,
my offering, like you can be at the very, very beginning of stages, like, I don't know what I want to do. What, what do want to do? And then write it all the way down into like, ⁓ wait, what happens about this document? What is this question on this form? So, ⁓ yeah.
House Of Peregrine (44:56)
Yep.
Yep. Well, and think
what you're saying is really, important. When you go to an immigration lawyer, for instance, or someone, you kind of have to know what you want already. And that's not how everyone operates. And actually, that's not a very beautiful way of immigrating or living your life. For some people, it's a feel your way through, see what's next. And this allows you to start smaller and be less, not serious, but less
Travis Drews (45:15)
Yes, exactly. That's right.
Yeah.
House Of Peregrine (45:34)
I don't know what the right word is. It's how we, you and I have both lived our lives, which is just this one step, then the next step, then the next step. And it's just a series of ways, living, but you don't have exactly where you want to end up. The city you want to live, the house you want to live in, where you want to be a citizen in 10 years. Sometimes you don't want to have that level of detail yet before you've lived it. And so this is a really beautiful way.
Travis Drews (45:42)
Yeah.
Yeah.
C'est la vie. Like that's how it goes, you know, like that that's the way of life. Like things change and things are evolving constantly. I know that's certainly true in my life. I'm sure it's true everyone.
House Of Peregrine (46:12)
Yeah. But honestly,
visa programs change constantly, countries policies change constantly and more and more these days. Even my visa changed mid my visa schedule. And so I think having community, having resources, even if you have your entire tenure plan mapped out, it's going to change. So I think that that's what's so important about what you're doing is it gives people options and availability for to be able to navigate these big changes.
Travis Drews (46:16)
Yeah.
Right.
We got strategy, we got tactics, we got it all.
House Of Peregrine (46:45)
Yeah,
cool. Thank you so much for coming on. I love what you're up to and everyone can check out. put it in the episode description and on the website and check you out. And we'll be maybe have you on again as you grow your community and see what we can do with House of Peregrine to make sure that you're successful.
Travis Drews (47:03)
Awesome. so honored. I'm so honored. Like to be on your podcast. This was so awesome. I love chatting.
House Of Peregrine (47:10)
Yeah, you too. Thanks, Travis. Keep it up