30-year-old who quit her job and moved to Budapest now works remotely 25 hours a week: ‘It’s a beautiful life’

At 23, Denae McGaha had a choice: She could spend her entire savings moving to New York City, or she could take a teaching job halfway across the world. 

It was 2017, and McGaha, who graduated college just one year earlier, had about $4,000 in her bank account. “It was the most money I’d ever had in my life,” she says. 

McGaha spent the summer after she graduated backpacking through Europe. Then she moved in with her mom on Whidbey Island in Washington and got a job as a barista at a local coffee shop. 

She saved “every dollar from every shift” to move to New York, where she hoped to pursue a career in marketing — but without a firm job offer and hardly enough savings to cover rent and groceries, the move seemed fruitless.

“I felt like such an imposter,” McGaha recalls. “Everyone I knew was applying to grad school or landing job offers in big cities, and I was just tired and lost …. I had no idea what to do with myself, but I knew I wanted to keep traveling.” 

One of her friends suggested she look at teaching jobs in Budapest, Hungary, noting the teacher shortage there and the short visa processing timeline.

Within weeks of submitting her application, McGaha landed a job teaching English to kindergarteners. In August 2017, she quit her barista gig and moved to Budapest. Seven years later, she’s still there. “It’s a beautiful life,” she says.

Consumer51, though based in the U.S., prides itself on being a remote-first international company. So working from Europe “was never an issue,” McGaha says.

If you want to land a remote job at a U.S. company and work abroad, McGaha recommends targeting organizations that brand themselves as “work from anywhere” or “global remote” employers. Or, stress the advantages of having a remote employee in a different time zone.

“With me in Budapest, and my colleagues in other European cities, we’re able to be available to our clients 24/7, and also network with more potential clients abroad,” she says. 

The time zone difference helps her be more productive. “My American colleagues log on later than me, so my mornings aren’t bogged down by emails or meetings — I can focus and finish more graphic design or copywriting projects in less time,” says McGaha.

Budapest has one of the lowest costs of living compared to other European capitals and large U.S. cities. 

She now works about 20 hours per week as a digital marketing strategist with Consumer 51 and spends a few more hours each week — typically five or six — working on her blog or freelance travel writing assignments.

In 2023, McGaha earned about $37,731 from her marketing job and freelance gigs, which she says has been “more than enough” to cover her monthly expenses and still save money to travel and dine out with friends. 

After paying rent and utilities, McGaha says she aims to spend no more than $150 a week.

“I’m grateful that living here has given me so many more options for how to spend and save,” McGaha adds. “If I lived in Seattle on my current salary, for example, I wouldn’t be able to enjoy the financial freedom I have now or the peace of mind.”

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