Colby Gray, 24, grew in a very rural and conservative community in San Luis Obispo, California. It wasn’t until he moved two hours to attend the University of California, Santa Cruz, who traveled so far for the first time.
It was the beginning of a new life for Gray, I just didn’t know.
“Not many people in my city had passports. You didn’t really travel much and you didn’t go to school very far,” Gray told CNBC. “I was one of the ones that was further and then, when I studied abroad, I was one of the first to leave the country.”
Gray lived on the campus at the beginning of his first year, but the Covid-19 pandemic completely interrupted his time there. In the second semester, Gray was forced to move home for about a year. It was during this time in San Luis Bishop that Gray explored to study abroad.
Gray studied at Copenhagen for six months. When that moment is over, hey, because returning to Santa Cruz.
“[Denmark] He handled the pandemic very well and had a very high vaccination rate, “he says.” I fell in love with him and decided that he wanted to do more. “
Gray completed a semester at sea before finally going home to California.
“When I return to Santa Cruz, it was a real inverse cultural shock for me,” he says. “There was no housing there. The city is really not built for students.”
Since he visited Europe for the first time in 2021 and moved in 2023, Gray has traveled to 20 different countries.
Colby Gray
Back in Santa Cruz, Gray lived out of the campus in a two bedroom apartment with three other roommates and worked as a study advisor abroad. Gray’s participation in the rent was $ 1,340 for months, according to the documents reviewed by CNBC.
“I was paying more to live in Santa Cruz than I had paid my legs to live abroad. I told myself that I could do it more,” says Gray. “I knew that after having finished [with undergrad] I would request a master’s degree in Belgium. “
Gray says that his main motivation to want to leave the United States is that life in cities there never resonated with him, and hated driving.
“That was one of the things I loved to live in Europe, I never felt that I needed a car to live,” he says.
Gray was also unhappy with the quality of education that resorted to UC Santa Cruz, mainly due to the cost. For the 2024-2025 school year, the average cost for students in the state living in the campus is $ 44,160. Gray’s classes were canceled for more than half a year and still had to pay for everything.
“It simply did not seem that I was getting what I paid even with a lot of federal and state funds,” says Gray. “I knew there had to be a better system and a better way to get an education. Through my study work abroad, I realized that I could get a visa and study an international student for a sixth price.”
“I wanted to continue my education, but I wanted to use it as a path to residence.”
Gray and his friends attended the famous EDM festival, Tomorrowland.
Colby Gray
Gray decided to obtain his mastery and consider programs in the United Kingdom, as at the University of Cambridge, the University of Oxford and the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, but could not have the cost.
That led Gray to Lavaina, Belgium, That seemed the perfect choice. Louven was built to be a “15 -minute city”, a concept of urban planning where most daily needs such as purchases, medical care and more can be reached more than 15 minutes on foot or a bicycle ride. The concept is gaining traction in other Belgian cities such as Brussels and Mechelen and exists in the main cities such as Paris, France, Barcelona, Spain and Melbourne, Australia.
In Loza, cars are prohibited in the city center and is easy, and encouraged, to move by bicycle.
“I fell in love with him and I loved that Belgium was centrally located, so I could also travel,” he says, “there are four different countries around me on a three -hour train trip, and that was very unique.”
The Ku Louven University in Belgium offers a program for titles search students called search permit. This permit allows students or researchers to remain for a year and work without restrictions provided they obtain a mastery of a university in the country. It is a one -year program, and the cost of registration is approximately 3,800 euros per year or $ 4,310 USD.
“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 borrow here, so it only occurs at this stage of my life,” he says.
Gray’s family came to visit him in Belgium and made a trip to Italy together.
Colby Gray
Gray arrived in Belgium with two pictures and a backpack, and moved to a four -bedroom house with three other people. He paid 500 euros or $ 567 for months for rent: “It was fantastic. I mean he was paying a third of the price to get my own room.”
It was immediately proposed to build a life in Leuven.
“When I first arrived, I was discouraging. I was aware of the fact that I had no friends here and I was totally,” he says. “I think it was the first time I felt like this in my life. I worked very hard to make friends and make a community here.”
After graduating from Ku Louven, Gray made a bicycle trip from Andermatt to Basel, Switzerland.
Colby Gray
Gray graduated last summer and moved to a 10 -minute bike ride outside the city. Pay 420 euros to rent, including public service companies. His current home also provides some bathrooms and some food.
Gray’s additional monthly expenses include 236 euros in groceries, 154 euros in eating out, 11 euros in health insurance and medical visits, 48 euros in transit, 50 euros for the gym, 30 euros in well -being, 20 euros in visa rates. 20 euros in clothing and 10 euros. Including its rent, the total monthly expenses of Gray are approximately $ 998 for months or $ 1,132.
Gray has lived in Belgium for almost two years, and says he loves the balance between work and life he has been able to find there.
“The community feels so strong here and I have a great balance between my working life and my home life,” he says. “It’s such a slow rhythm here and it’s really beautiful.”
Gray says he loves the balance between work and life he has been able to find since he left the United States.
Colby Gray
Since he visited Europe for the first time in 2021 and moved in 2023, Gray has traveled to 20 different countries. His family and friends have also come to visit.
In 2024, Gray’s family arrived in Belgium and shot at Tuscany. He returned to the United States for the first time in December.
Gray has seven months in his search permit and is thinking about his next steps, which could include a second master’s degree and practice in Brussels or Portugal.
The only thing Gray knows with certainty is that he is not yet ready to return to the United States.
“Living in the United States, I felt that there was a ticking clock inside me where I had to enter the workforce, get a house, have a family and I think I have now decreased a child or just smelled the roses a little more,” he sings.
Euro to USD conversions were made using Oanda’s conversion rate or 1 euro at 1.13 USD on May 8, 2025. All amounts are rounded to the nearest dollar.
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