When Cara West thinks about why she is raising a child abroad on the Cycladic island of Syros, the answer she returns to most often is not the sun or the lower cost of living. It is a school shooting in Texas.
West, 35, was living in Houston with her husband and their daughter, then around three months old, when gunman Salvador Ramos entered Robb Elementary School in Uvalde on 24 May 2022. He killed 19 students and two teachers, making it the deadliest shooting at a Texas public school on record, according to the Texas Tribune. Nearly 400 law enforcement officers responded to the scene but waited 74 minutes before confronting the gunman, drawing widespread condemnation, as documented by EBSCO Research.
‘That, honestly, for me, was the biggest catalyst,’ West told Business Insider. ‘I was like, okay, we really do need to look into what it would be like to live abroad, especially somewhere where gun laws are much more restrictive.’
Greece fits that description. Firearm possession is generally prohibited without a permit, and applicants must hold a clean criminal record, pass psychiatric and general medical evaluations, and provide a valid reason for ownership. A 2020 amendment tightened the process further, and permits are valid for only five years, according to eKathimerini. On Syros, West says, life feels ‘incredibly safe.’
The Realities of Raising a Child Abroad
The family’s path to Greece was gradual. After West became a mother in 2022, concerns about US living costs, a lack of community in Houston, and the quality of local schooling pushed her to consider a different approach. In 2023, the family spent a few months in Lisbon testing the idea. ‘After two weeks in Portugal, we knew we’d made the right decision and were ready for bigger changes,’ she said.
In 2024, they settled permanently on Syros, a small island west of Mykonos. West works as a travel blogger; her husband is a stay-at-home dad. This month, they signed a new lease and renewed their visas. Their daughter, now four, is preparing to start kindergarten.
Community was one of the first things West noticed she had been missing. In Houston, she barely knew her neighbours. On Syros, the island’s scale changes daily life in simple, concrete ways.
‘We bump into each other in the streets, you know, and may go, “oh, let’s go play tomorrow, or let’s meet up for coffee,”‘ she said. ‘It’s much easier to make plans and for us to be in community with people.’
Travel is another dividend of the European base. This month alone, the family visited Lisbon, Venice, and Paris. West’s daughter has now visited her 20th country at the age of four, encountering the Call to Prayer in Turkey and the northern lights in Iceland along the way.
‘She’s being exposed to customs, cultures, foods, and experiences before she even reads about them in a textbook,’ West said.
Language, Family Ties, and the Trade-offs
Raising a child abroad is not without friction. Language sits near the top of the list. West and her husband want their daughter to feel connected to Greek culture rather than like an outsider, and they have been encouraging her to speak with locals, watch Greek television, and read Greek books. This year she starts at a private school where teachers will conduct lessons primarily in Greek, with translation available for English-speaking pupils.
‘I worry that as she gets settled into school, speaking Greek will be really difficult for her, but at the same time, I’m grateful that we’re starting it at such a young age because I do think that she’ll adapt way faster,’ West said.
A related concern has since emerged among English-speaking families on the island: as children grow more comfortable in Greek, their English can start to slip. ‘We’ve been really focused on our kids feeling comfortable and confident speaking Greek, but now we’re like, “Maybe they’re forgetting English,”‘ West said.
Distance from family is harder to manage. West’s daughter is an only child, and West worries she may not grow as close to cousins and other relatives back in the United States. The family counters this with regular video calls and at least one trip home per year.
‘We just make sure that’s a regular cadence for her, so she doesn’t feel that disconnect when she sees them in person,’ West said.
For now, the kindergarten enrolment this autumn will be the clearest test of how well the move is working. How quickly a four-year-old absorbs Greek in a classroom setting will tell the family more than any prior trial run could.