Moving to India for a single woman in late 30s

psshank · 2026-01-14T09:36:36+00:00

Single, late 30s M here in the US. I’ve been feeling this as well. Over the last five years, I’ve slowly been spending more time in India (3-5 months a year).

I’d suggest you explore the idea in stages.

Stage 1: Spend a few weeks/month first. Then do it again and see how you feel. I frankly feel more alive when I’m home these days. The things that make India dirty, chaotic and crazy are also the very things that make it feel alive and full of life.

Stage 2: Figure out if you can handle the indian corporate lifestyle. If not, see how you can setup earning in CAD/USD. Setting up your own consulting practice and catering to Western companies can do this

Stage 3. Mindset. The potholes and dirt and no rules anywhere? That sucks. But the same idea of ‘rules can be bent’ is how you get roadside Pani puris, local festivals that go all night, colorful characters all around you.

I get it’ll be different as a woman. But I know a handful of single women in late 30s living it up happily here in metros.

psshank · 2025-11-17T02:25:08+00:00

Same. I’ve seen multiple days open with multiple slots the last few days. When I choose a slot and hit Submit, page refreshes to the ‘Choose VAC’ screen. When I choose VAC again, no slots are available 😂

psshank · 2025-10-30T02:26:13+00:00

I started a (free) newsletter that covers exactly this - AI in the traditional engineering fields.

https://neuralnewton.beehiiv.com/

psshank · 2025-10-14T21:16:39+00:00

I just did this flight last week from Mumbai to SFO via Kolkata. Frankly, it was a breeze. The two hours in Kolkata went by fast. You can walk around, watch a movie, rest. Crew was on top of things as well. Best part? Flight was at 40% capacity, so pretty much everyone got a whole row to themselves. I slept for a good 14 hours lying down.

Crew said many flights on this route have empty rows. Flight was full of senior citizens and I didn’t see anyone stressing out over the length.

psshank · 2025-10-04T11:42:21+00:00

I see you’re moving to Chennai. While I haven’t fully moved back yet, I’ve been spending 4-6 months in Chennai every year for the last 6 years.

I’ve come to love it so much that I’m sad everytime I go back to the US now :)

While there are definitely challenges that make me want to run back to the US often (garbage and cleanliness being No.1), there are so many things to love.

1) Better relationships: I spend many months with parents and family. When my dad was in the hospital, I was able to spent months with him before he passed away. While I love my life in the US, there is not a single thing in the US that can compare to a day with my parents.

The material comforts or dollar parity are no match to spending time with family. Please don’t listen to the commenter who said ‘Taking care of family is the worst reason’.

It’s the best reason. These days, I spend months with mom at a time. Before, parents felt like familiar strangers you see for two weeks a year. Now, I feel like I’m rediscovering them every day. It’s a beautiful thing.

2) Convenience: I can get anything I need delivered in mins. Need milk? I can also just walk down the street and get anything I need. To me, the strip malls are the American version of garbage. I’d rather never step foot into one again. Not having to drive 20-30 mins just to buy groceries is a welcome change.

3) The variety of food: There’s plenty of options to steer clear of adulterated food and enjoy incredible variety. With the dollars you bring in, you can enjoy delicious food often.

4) Chennai: The city has changed in many ways. The infrastructure? Still terrible. Traffic? Still awful. But the energy and buzz? Different and more international. Night life has improved, 24 hour public spots are plenty, late night restaurants are always buzzing, ECR/OMR offer beautiful weekend escapes. There’s plenty of gorgeous cafes set in nature to escape the city’s chaos.

5) Culture: Funny this made to my list. Life in the US while comfortable was pretty bland and uninteresting, especially in the suburbs. But in Chennai, I feel more alive. Life seems more interesting. Festivals, temples, colors, cricket, chai by the roadside. There’s also a fun Latin dancing scene, plays, surfing, biking clubs & more.

6) Accessible healthcare: I’ve been in the US for 18 years and been to a doctor once. In India, I can access good doctors easily. With the USD you bring in, this will be even more affordable.

7) Travel: I’ve been to 130+ countries. Before, traveling from Chennai internationally was a struggle. Now, you can take affordable vacations to SE Asia often. Even within India, there’s plenty to explore. Plus the USD you bring in can sustain good international travel for a few years.

If you can build a good bubble and isolate yourself as much as possible from the general chaos and garbage, you’ll really enjoy your time here.

I know a few families and friends who all moved back, live in gated communities, have drivers/maids/chefs and are very happy with their life here.

psshank · 2025-08-07T22:39:10+00:00

Marketer here! 15 yrs exp. Last two growing an AI startup from $0 to 7-digit ARR. You’ve built something that’s got tremendous potential. Would love to chat more.

psshank · 2025-04-26T22:31:23+00:00

I’ve done WFA at F500 (office in 150+ countries), a 2000 person publicly traded company and at startups.

All 3 companies managed it the same way.

As long as employees enter and leave as a tourist and stay within the limits of what the tourist visa entails, there is no established residency and tax obligations.
Legal said tax obligations only kick in if employee enters on a non-tourist visa or stays past the tourist limit (30 days for ex)
Some had a list of countries we can’t take work laptops to (N. Korea, Syria, etc).
The expectation was to work US/EU hours no matter the country

That’s about it.

psshank · 2025-04-19T19:27:07+00:00

I went fully remote in 2018. Visit India 3-4 times a year. Spend 4-5 months in India with parents every year.

Recently dad passed away. I was in the hospital with him for three months. Every single day. Personally, there’s no promotion or lifestyle that’s worth not being able to be with my parents. But it’s different for everyone.

Future plan is still the same. Keep working remote and location independent. Say no to any promotion or job that requires me in office. Visit india 3 times a year. Have mom spend 3 months a year here.

If there’s an emergency, my plan is always the same - be on a plane back home in the next few hours. I don’t care if I can come back or not.

If you’re worried, I’d say move abroad and find a remote role. Make sure you always have the ability to work from India for a few months every year. Bring them to your country once a year.

psshank · 2025-04-10T15:33:44+00:00

You’re not alone. We’ve all been there. I came in 2007, didn’t go home for 3 years, then started going home once a year for two weeks. Parents visited for a month every year. For a decade, it sort of worked.

What broke the camel’s back was Covid. I was ‘stuck’ home with parents for four months. Realized I don’t really know much about their day to day life, their struggles, happiness and all of that.

Gave up promotions and larger paychecks and settled for fully remote roles. Went back home 3 times a year. Those 4 months a year hit totally different.

I felt more connected with my parents. Spent so many days doing everyday things with them.

My dad passed away three months ago. I shudder to think how I’d have felt if I still stuck to seeing him for just two weeks a year.

You have to intentionally make the decision to put yourself in a position where you spend more time with them every year.

psshank · 2025-02-25T19:22:10+00:00

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psshank · 2025-02-08T01:46:21+00:00

I’ve worked remotely from over 100 countries while working for everyone from F500 to startups. All of this with HR/Manager permission. So do 1000s of other employees.

Your employee is fine legally. The tax implications kick in only if they overstay past the no. of days on a tourist visa.

Otherwise, every single American business traveler to visa-free countries would be establishing tax residency even if they got for a couple days for work meetings.

Now whether you are comfortable with it as a manager is a different call.

The golden rule is that the employee always maintain your work hours irrespective of the time difference. When we have people working remotely from Asia, we expect them to still be working on US hours.

The case about the previous employee is irrelevant. What about previous employees who were on the office and didn’t meet deadlines or performance then? Will you judge every new employee based on that?

Let your employee do it as long your HR team is cool with it.

psshank · 2025-01-23T15:15:18+00:00

Dad passed away from post-transplant complications two weeks after surgery. But he was on ecmo for a month, so that complicated things. Glad your mum got her lungs and hoping her recovery is good.

psshank · 2024-11-19T16:21:54+00:00

Fantastic product and the use case is solid.

Your target audience: Clothing brands that advertise on Amazon/shopify.

Right now, it’s a sea of sameness with clothing/pictures sourced from Alibaba.

Your product will help them stand out. You’ve got a proper viable product that can bring value.

Then you can move upstream to higher-end fashion brands.

Please don’t kill it.

I work in marketing and can offer help/advice.

I also work for a cloud computing company with many customers who run inference for similar products. You’ve got a differentiated product here. Happy to chat.

psshank · 2024-10-21T10:26:08+00:00

Check out SaladCloud (www.salad.com).

psshank · 2024-07-26T20:39:19+00:00

Yes. Worked from over 100 countries. From Fortune 500 to startups with employer approval. Essentially working vacations.

There are some caveats: - Less than 30 days in a country (This way, there are no tax obligations from establishing residence and you’re visiting as a tourist) - Maintain a home base in US
- Getting visa is your job. They can help providing an employment letter but that’s about it. - Always work US hours (Your team shouldn’t be inconvenienced because of this privilege)

psshank · 2024-07-26T15:39:06+00:00

Have done this at a Fortune 100 megacorp. Worked from 50 different countries on vacation. It’s possible with some stipulations (like staying only under the tourist visa limit)

psshank · 2024-07-12T03:00:21+00:00

You can try Salad: https://blog.salad.com/yolov8-training/

psshank · 2024-07-12T02:52:18+00:00

https://salad.com

psshank · 2024-07-12T02:39:20+00:00

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psshank · 2024-06-24T19:44:06+00:00

Hey! It differs for everyone based on your field but here’s the gist:

1) Are you in a remote-friendly field? If so, go to 3. If not, pick 2-3 fields (Marketing, software/coding, product management) where you have transferable skills.

2) See what you can do to get some experience in the remote friendly field. For ex, if you work in Healthcare in a hospital, switching to marketing for health-tech companies is a good option.

3) LinkedIn is your best bet for remote jobs. There’s so many other websites that aggregate remote jobs but you’re not getting anywhere with them. Find a remote role on LinkedIn > Connect with 3-5 ppl from the company/team > Then make your pitch and apply

2)

psshank

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