'It's not viable': An expat who lived in France shared 'biggest' reason she wanted to leave

"The biggest reason [I left] is predominately economic," Regan Shorter stated on her YouTube channel.

She told others considering a move that they may not have as many opportunities to make money than at home, and she struggled financially despite living in a "cheap" part of France.

Regan added she could only work as a freelancer based on her visa type and found that job prospects were not as good as in her native United States.

She continued: "Living in France was not economically viable for the long term. On a freelance English teacher's salary, I was supporting two people and barely making minimum wage.

"In the United States, both I and my boyfriend have more job opportunities, can make higher wages, and have more flexibility in the work we do.

"While France has more social programs offered by the government than we do in the US, we weren't taking advantage of many of them because of the arduous paperwork involved and because we're both young and healthy."

The expat also spoke about what she found to be one of the most difficult things to get used to in the country.

“My number one pet peeve about living in France is the French’s lack of awareness for personal space,” she said.

“Take for example going to the grocery store. People spin their carts everywhere, they’ll hit you with their cart. Don’t go to the grocery store on a busy Saturday, [it’s] the most annoying thing ever.”

Regan mentioned missing her family and friends as another reason she was keen to leave the European country.

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She added: "The second reason we left France was to be closer to our friends and family. Even if you try hard to maintain a relationship, the distance makes it difficult.

"Time differences make it hard to spontaneously chat or keep up with others from home. And the physical distance is difficult when birthdays or other big occasions roll around.

"We made a ton of really, really good friends in France that it is hard to leave behind as well. This one is a catch-22."