The Common Optionalist

About.

Who built this, why it exists, and what we're trying to do.

Most people who find this site aren't looking for a lifestyle upgrade. They're looking for a real answer to a question they've been carrying around for a while. Do I actually have options? Is there a door somewhere that's already open for me?

I had that same question. I still do.

I'm not a lawyer, a diplomat, or someone who stumbled into a trust fund. I'm someone who went deep on this topic because I had a reason to — a wife, two boys, and a growing conviction that the information most people need to act on this is out there, it's just never been explained to them plainly.

I've spent years navigating these processes firsthand, talking to attorneys, reading the law, and building tools to make sense of it. What I found is that the gap between what's possible and what most people think is possible is enormous.

This site exists to close that gap.

An open door to possibility
Why this exists

The door was open the whole time.

Garrett S.
A word from Garrett

A Roundabout Path to an Obvious Idea.

I started as a concert pianist. Spent years in finance after that, co-founded an apparel brand, built a career in operations. A regular person who could never sit still with one idea 😂

Then my wife and I made a deliberate decision to stop deferring the life we actually wanted. That shift changed how I spent my time — and eventually led to this.

For now, we split our time between Colorado, Cape Cod, and the Pacific Northwest. We have two boys who will inherit whatever options we manage to build. I think about that a lot.

The full toolkit.

YouTube Channel

Deep-dive video guides on citizenship pathways, country by country. One video per week. Real research, plain English.

Watch the channel →

The Research Desk

Long-form guides on every pathway, country, and legal mechanism. SEO-indexed, always free, no paywalls.

Read the articles →

Wayborne

A citizenship and residency pathway tracker. CRS calculator, document checklists, milestone timelines. Launching soon.

Join the waitlist →

Start with a question.

Pick a country you've been curious about and read the deep dive. That's usually where the door appears.