The child of parents who both served in the U.S. Navy, much of Mikayla McGhee’s early life was spent moving from military base to military base.
McGhee, 30, spent most of her time living abroad in Japan, which she says led her to realize she wanted to build a life for herself outside the United States.
“I was always working towards freedom, so I never knew exactly what I was going to do, but I knew I wanted the freedom to be able to live wherever I wanted to and travel whenever I wanted to,” McGhee tells CNBC Make It.
“Once you’ve experienced growing up abroad and you’re exposed to that, you continue to search for it. So moving back to the States after living in Japan, I always knew I wanted to live outside of the U.S. I just didn’t know how.”
One of McGhee’s amenities is having someone that takes care of the pool and landscaping.
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In 2020, McGhee was living in Atlanta, Georgia, and went to visit her parents in Bahrain, where her dad was stationed at the time. The country is located in the Persian Gulf and is home to the Naval Support Activity, Bahrain, a U.S. military base.
McGhee stayed in the country for three months and says she fell in love with it. As soon as she got back to Atlanta, she started planning a permanent move to Bahrain.
“The culture shock was that, actually, things were better, not worse. Don’t just believe what you’re told or what you see in the media because it’s nothing like that at all,” she says.
“It’s so calm. It’s so peaceful. There was never a time where I didn’t feel like I fit in or I was standing out as an expat. Every culture shock was a positive one.”
McGhee’s house now is close to Bahrain’s capital of Manama.
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In December 2022, McGhee moved to Bahrain and lived in her parents’ three-bedroom home for six months before moving out on her own.
After leaving her parents’ house, McGhee lived in a two-bedroom apartment in a luxury high-rise building. She lived there for over a year.
Now, McGhee lives near the capital of Bahrain, Manama, in a three-bedroom, four-and-a-half-bathroom home with a pool and one-car garage that rents for $2,200 USD a month.
The house also has a laundry room and is fully fenced in. The cost of monthly rent includes what McGhee calls a “watchman,” or someone who comes by the house to clean the pool and take care of the landscaping.
McGhee lives with her partner and she says he pays the majority of their expenses.
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As a licensed realtor in Bahrain, McGhee conducted the housing search on her own and says she chose this one because of its proximity to the city center.
She says she and her partner split expenses, though he pays the majority, while most of her money goes to savings and to the trips the couple take together. The couple signed a one-year lease last year and plan to renew another one-year lease this year too.
McGhee works remotely as a senior performance marketing manager at an IT company, and has a dedicated space to work from home. She earns $140,000 a year, according to documents reviewed by CNBC Make It.
Since McGhee earns her salary in USD, she still pays U.S. taxes. McGhee also uses the health insurance offered by her company, which allows her access to Bahrain’s health-care system.
McGhee’s house has a private pool in the back.
Prakhar Deep Jain for CNBC Make It
When McGhee has free time during the day, she says she likes to work out, shop for groceries and create content. She shares a lot of her life in Bahrain on TikTok to her more than 65,000 followers.
“It is my duty to make sure that Americans know how great this country is,” McGhee says.
Although McGhee isn’t sure if she will stay in Bahrain long-term, she says she knows she wants to buy property around the country as a real estate investment and have a permanent place for herself there, too.
“My life is 10 times better here. My happiness has skyrocketed. Even the weather alone has increased my mood,” she says.
“I will always want to have something that I can come back to, that I could call my home. Bahrain felt like home from the day I got here, so in order for me to leave, another place would need to do the same.”
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