• In May 2023, Jennifer Kusch relocated to Dubai for a job opportunity.
• Her teen sons were initially against the move and said she was "ruining" their lives.
• But she says the experience of living abroad has brought them closer together.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Jennifer Kusch, 47, who works in talent acquisition. Kusch moved from Idaho to Dubai with her kids in 2023. The following has been edited for length and clarity.

Early last year, my company approached me about a job opportunity in Dubai.

At first, I said no. I had just bought a house in Idaho, where I was raising three kids. As a single mom, moving to the Middle East sounded hard, so I declined. But my boss at the time encouraged me to apply, and I thought, "Fine, why not?"

I got the job and was set to start in 30 days. My daughter was 18 then, and my sons were 15 and 13. When they came home from school, I read them the book "Oh, the Places You'll Go!" by Dr. Seuss and then said, "Guys, we're moving to Dubai."

My daughter was about to graduate from high school but was excited about an adventure. My 15-year-old, on the other hand, said, "You're ruining my life. My people are here. This is where I belong." And my 13-year-old echoed his brother.

The job commitment was for two years. I said, "We're going to go for two years. We're going to see what happens."

I remember crying in my bedroom after thinking, "Oh my gosh, I'm doing this selfishly. I want to do this for my career. Am I ruining my kids' lives?"

But then I thought about how many other teenagers must have said the same thing to their parents.

And so I had another discussion with my children a week later and said, "I hope that you can look at this as an adventure."

It was a big move for all of us

I had traveled outside the US but never lived abroad or been to Dubai. I traveled to the city alone last April while my kids were finishing the academic year.

When I arrived in Dubai, I tested out the public transportation so I could teach my kids how to ride the bus, hop on the metro, or take a taxi.

I found a townhouse-style villa away from downtown Dubai and spent six weeks furnishing the place so that all the kids would have to do was unpack their suitcases. My company provided an allowance to "settle in." While it didn't cover rent, it helped me set up a home for my family. They also covered the flights and most of my kids' school fees.

When I was done, I flew back for my daughter's graduation. I decided to sell everything I owned — apart from my house — as I didn't want to have to pay loads of money for storage.

Although my initial commitment was for two years, I was on a local contract and could stay in Dubai as long as I had a job. It was a calculated risk, selling everything and anticipating my love for living abroad.

In May 2023, I flew with my kids to Dubai. We arrived at the beginning of summer when many expats tend to leave the city because of the heat. The high temperatures in Dubai between May and August range from around 100 to 105 °F.

That summer, my kids didn't have any friends. However, they had one another. I was grateful for that.

Before I went to work, I said, "While I'm gone, I want you guys to make your bucket list of things you would like to do in Dubai."

When I got home, our wall was full of sticky notes with things to do. We planned fun outings, like visiting Warner Bros. World in Abu Dhabi and having an Emirati dinner. When we were done, we would move the sticky notes on the wall from "to do" to "done."

So, instead of sulking and being sad inside, we were excited about what we could discover.

My kids have benefited from living in Dubai

My sons now attend a school with an American curriculum, but they are the only American students. It has allowed them to meet people from all over the world.

They also have independence here that they never had in the US. My 14-year-old son will get in a taxi and go wherever he wants. There's freedom and safety that they have not experienced before.

This has all contributed to why they now love Dubai. On Thanksgiving last year, my older son said, "I'm so grateful that you moved us here." That was music to my ears because I've watched them grow up a lot.

Nothing is the same here. But they've navigated it with resilience, agility, and grace.

The experience brought us closer together

It can be lonely to be an expat in a new place.

But having to rely on each other and experiencing new things together have made us closer. My kids enjoy my company, and I am so grateful for that.

I miss my family and friends, and I know they would like us to come home. At this point, however, I love Dubai and our quality of life here.

My daughter has since returned to the US for work, and my sons will soon leave the nest as well.

I don't know what the future holds, but for now, Dubai is home.

• When Monique Doughty got pregnant, she was excited about being a mom.
• After she realized she would be a single mother, her excitement turned to worry.
• A conversation with another pregnant single mom on a beach in Costa Rica changed her thinking.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Monique Doughty, a registered nurse, influencer, and wellness teacher. It has been edited for length and clarity.

Before moving to Costa Rica in 2021, I was based in Los Angeles. I lived in Hollywood Hills, was fully debt-free, and purchased a brand-new BMW. In many ways, I felt like I'd "made it" there, but I wasn't happy.

I love physical affection, whether that's a hug or snuggling, and the pandemic was tough for me. By 2021, I was done being in the heart of LA during a pandemic alone with no family or partner.

I decided to take a quick trip to Costa Rica and ended up moving

A friend of mine was already living in Costa Rica at the time. We would FaceTime often, and one day, he said, "Just come out here for a few days."

When my friend was driving me to the airport to head to Costa Rica, she asked if I thought there was something deeper between us. I said I was open to it, but things had always been platonic in our three years of friendship.

When we were in Costa Rica together, it was the first time we were single at the same time. It may sound corny, but I remember the first time we hugged each other. It felt like there was a spark and clear connection.

When our friendship turned romantic, we tried to have a baby

I arrived in Costa Rica in January 2021, thinking I would be there for a few days. But after hearing about the capital being stormed on January 6, I felt like the entire US was in chaos. I wanted to stay put for a while.

At the same time, our romantic relationship was progressing fast, and we decided to try to have a baby. At 32, I was ready to become a mom. We were successful pretty quickly. By February, I was pregnant. We planned my son and really wanted him. What followed with the relationship between my child's father and me was not expected, though.

When I was pregnant, and even while we were still friends, I sometimes felt as though he was exhibiting controlling behavior that I didn't like in a partner. We argued often and had a particularly huge fight just three months in that prompted me to end the relationship.

I was devastated, but I didn't want to leave Costa Rica. Despite what I was going through, I felt like my life was more peaceful there than in the US, and I had built a strong community of friends.

A friend shifted my perspective on single motherhood

A few days later, I found myself on Playa Punta Uva beach sobbing and ran into my friend Helen from the UK. I met Helen a few weeks earlier through a mutual friend who knew we were both pregnant and single and felt we could be good friends. We got along, but it wasn't until our second meeting at the beach that we really hit it off.

When I ran into her on the beach, she asked, "How are things?" I told her about my relationship with my child's father.

She said, "Oh, darling. You need to pull it together because your baby is feeling all that." She reminded me that I needed to focus on my health, to have a healthy pregnancy. I'd heard it before, but hearing it from her on the beach was the first time it landed for me because she was also having a similar experience. It also sparked the beginning of our very close friendship.

We were only six weeks apart, and she was also away from family, pregnant, doing it on her own, yet was beautiful and radiant. After that, we really supported each other during our pregnancies. We went to buy comfortable mattresses together, shopped for health insurance in Costa Rica, and even spent Mother's Day together.

After I had my baby, Helen and I co-parented together in Costa Rica. We were in a small town called Puerto Viejo de Talamanca. Anytime we had visitors from the States or the UK, they'd bring all the clothes, toys, particular brands of peanut butter, and other things that were hard to access there.

My relationship with my son's father is still distant now, as we often found ourselves running into the same problems whenever we tried to co-parent. However, I want my son to spend some time with his dad. We're planning to visit him in Costa Rica this March.

I returned to the US and remembered what I learned in Costa Rica

I returned to the US in February of 2023 and moved to Philly, where I'm from. As a Black woman, I felt a lot of societal pressure to choose a partner quickly so my son could have a father figure. I did not want to fall into the stereotype of a Black mom to a son without a present father. I found myself in an ultimately toxic relationship, trying to fill a gap that was not there.

I returned to what Helen showed me was possible on the beach in Costa Rica. My mindset shifted to understanding that if I rush to pick the wrong partner, it impacts how I will show up as a mom to my son. I'm on a journey of de-centering men and focusing on my relationship with my child and myself. Many women feel robbed of their motherhood experience because they're single moms, and I really want to change that narrative. Single motherhood can still be joyous and fun.

• Jennifer Lopez plays the mother of NCAA wrestler Anthony Robles in 'Unstoppable.'
• Jennifer Lopez said she asked herself if she was enough for her kids when she was a single mom.
• She shares two kids from her previous marriage with Marc Anthony, which ended in 2014.

Jennifer Lopez said she wondered if she was enough for her kids.

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly published on Monday, the actor opened up about being a single mom.

"I've been a single mom at times in my life and [I've asked], 'Am I enough for them?'" said Lopez. "And the truth is, all you need is really one good parent to love you."

Lopez, 55, is the mother of 16-year-old twins Emme and Max, whom she shares with her ex-husband, Marc Anthony. The couple married in 2004 and divorced in 2014.

In the film "Unstoppable," Lopez plays Judy Robles, the mother of NCAA wrestler Anthony Robles.

The film, scheduled to stream on Prime Video on January 16, is based on the true story of Robles, who was born with one leg and went on to become a champion wrestler in college.

"You hear it in Anthony's voice, and look what he's been able to accomplish," Lopez continued. "That's what the movie gave me: You are enough."

In May, Lopez discussed raising teenagers on Live with Kelly and Mark. "I'm alone in this in the teenage years," she said, explaining that most of her close friends don't have kids. "So yeah, it's challenging, you know, but I love my kids, and they are so brilliant and lovely and beautiful, and I enjoy it."

Lopez, who is in the middle of a divorce from Ben Affleck, is not the only celebrity to have had questions about parenthood. In October, Hoda Kotb, who adopted two daughters, said she wondered whether she deserved her kids at one point.

"And I thought, 'I'll just work really hard to be really good, because I'm not sure,'" she said.

In April, Ashley Espinoza, who has a daughter, wrote for BI about the loneliness of being a single parent.

"I focus my attention on something I can control, like paying off my student loans, writing a book, and having fun with my daughter every chance I get, assuring her that one parent can be enough," she wrote.

Sheila Hageman, a divorced parent with three kids, wrote last year that she's learned to cut herself some slack.

"I'm giving myself the grace to recognize that the experts aren't living our lives and that I don't have to be a 'perfect' single mom but rather a good-enough mom who loves her family and is willing to be flexible and creative in the face of challenges," she wrote.

A representative for Jennifer Lopez did not immediately respond to a request for comment from BI sent outside regular business hours.

• Teri Hatcher, 59, doesn't enjoy dating at her age.
• Hatcher said unlike what people think, men are not "lining up outside her door."
• She also feels like it would be "too much" to date younger men.

At 59, Teri Hatcher would rather spend time with her cat than date.

During an interview on Wednesday with Sherri Shepherd on the talk show "Sherri," the "Desperate Housewives" star said she doesn't date much anymore.

"I used to date, and you'd look across the table at the guy, and you'd think, 'OK, I wonder if we're going to end up in bed together. And now I look across the table, and I just think, 'When am I going to have to change this guy's diaper?'" she said, adding, "It's just not that fun anymore."

When asked if she would consider dating younger men, Hatcher said it would "just be too much."

"I'd just feel like I'd have to be keeping up. I'd have to, like, 'How do I look in a bikini today?' and I just don't care," she said.

The actor was previously married twice, to Markus Leithold from 1988 to 1989 and to Jon Tenney from 1994 to 2003, whom she shares a daughter with.

Now, people around her say that men must be "lining up out the door," she said. "And I'm like, 'No, no. I open it once in a while, and there's nobody there."

Hatcher, who stars in the holiday movie "How to Fall in Love By Christmas," said she mostly "dates" her cat. When she's on Duolingo learning French, her cat jumps onto her chest and sits there.

"It's better than any date well that you could possibly go on," she said.

In 2019, Hatcher told People that she is content with being single.

"I have been single for a very long time but there is nothing lonely about my life. I want to remove the stigma of that," she said.

A representative for Hatcher did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider sent outside regular business hours.

Dating later in life

After getting out of a long-term relationship, Jennie Young downloaded her first dating app at 50.

She quickly grew frustrated by the pool of potential matches on the app. "There were a lot of bad actors, and the behavior wasn't just annoying; it was deeply problematic," she previously wrote for BI.

Young, a professor of rhetoric and women and gender studies, responded by starting a project called the Burned Haystack Dating Method. This method encourages daters to filter out time wasters and red flags.

Other older women enjoy being able to experiment with dating apps.

Carolina Gonzalez previously told BI that it's "weird to go out with anybody" after being in a long marriage.

"Though there is still a hope you will meet someone and fall in love, but I am probably never going to meet someone and have what I had before," she said.

Still, she enjoys being able to meet different people of all ages. Her life is not shutting down with age, she said, but opening up.

And some prefer to stay single. Bella DePaulo, 70, previously told BI that she has never been in a relationship and doesn't intend to be in one.

"I'm happy and flourishing because I'm single, not in spite of it," she said.