Hi everyone,

I'm considering moving to Iceland, and I'm really curious to hear from people who've done it—especially if you didn’t speak Icelandic when you arrived.

I'm interested in knowing:

• How is the overall experience of living there? What’s it like in terms of quality of life, culture, and community?
• How challenging is it to find a job as a non-Icelandic speaker? Are there specific industries or types of jobs that are more open to English-speaking foreigners?
• Any advice on learning the language or if it’s possible to get by with English alone, especially at the beginning?
• Any other tips or things you wish you'd known before moving?

Thanks in advance for any insights you can share! 😊

Hi everyone my name is Rich 23y old from India , and ive experienced many horrible incidents in my life , now I want to live my life to the fullest and I want to make my own decisions I love Thai people Thai culture so as a destination I want to move to Bangkok next year , and start a new life there I want to take that risk because I’ve nothing left . But for moving I need money a proper job can anyone help me out with the moving ? I want a remote job so I can enjoy my life without any stress. Any advice tips will be appreciated 🫶🏻

Thankyou

hello all!

ABOUT ME I'm going to have a master's degree at the time of departure. I will have a remote job because autism, so I will not need a job in the country.

I'm asexual and can't have children so I'm not concerned about either of those things.

I eventually want permanent residency and ultimately citizenship.

I honestly hate the cold and don't want to live in a cold place full time (like if I had my way, no temps under 10°C)

A lower COL would be great too! I also don't care about the availability of western products or brands.

Also a serious plus would be walkable, but I can also work with a good public transport system, since unfortunately due to my disability I can't safely drive.

Logistics and such don't matter right now, I only want to get a feel for which countries might be a good fit! Thank you!

Currently traveling through Europe for vacation but also to scope out some places i might want to move to next year (Portugal, Spain, Italy)

I'm 30 yrs old, working a hybrid IT job as a Network Administrator in the USA and looking to settle down in Portugal or Spain and work towards dual citizenship. I have a 100% Permanent disability rating from the VA wanted to know if anyone could guide me or give me advice for grabbing a network support roles that would be 100% remote from anywhere in the world, if I should try to work remotely from the UK if possible or work locally in the EU. I understand the taxes will kill me but I'm willing to make less money in the EU so that I can rely on my VA disability and avoid owing too much to the USA.

*Im unable to go 100% remote and keep my job, I already tried.

All my previous expat jobs I moved to the country I was taking the job at. Now I’m looking at opportunities in Africa and my wife and kids don’t want to move because career, school, etc. It’s a thing to be on a rotation? (6:3 for example)? Would like to hear your experiences. By the way, we are on a 20 year marriage with 2 teens (15 & 14), and we think could work for a couple of years until the kids finish school.

Greetings expat community. My wife and I recently moved from US to France and also just had a child while here in France, like a week ago. I am starting to work through US citizenship, passport, SSN stuff and am curious if anyone who has faced similar has insight into the consular report of birth abroad process. My 2 questions for this item are -

1. does the child need to go for the CRBA or just parents?
2. I listed all my lengths of stay in US which is basically my whole life with some breaks for out of country vacation and moving to different states. Will they actually ask for proof of all my stays date spans??

Also, if anyone has any general info on this process (CRBA, passport, SSN), any is appreciated! It seems a bit daunting and critical.

HI, I am Italian e soon I will move to Spain to work in a research center. They asked me an IBAN with spanish format (24 digits). Is there a way to open a bank account online (e.g. like Revolut) that gives you a spanish iban even if I don’t have residency there yet?

Hey all! My wife, 1.5yr daughter and I will be moving to KL in the next 6mo for work and I have questions surrounding the move.

Is there anyone who made a similar move (US->KL with small kids) that would be willing to answer some questions?

Thanks!!

I’ve moved overseas, by choice, with the intention to experience life in a new country but now I have an overwhelming feeling of regret for my decision to move.

I now I feel a sense of overwhelming grievance for my old life in my home country. I have become so depressed that I don’t want to leave my house because seeing daily life in this new country triggers me and reminds me of the decision I made to live here.

I feel stupid for moving countries and a massive sense of guilt for my partner and I being here.

My question is at what point do you move home? I’ve been here 5 months. Everyone says that it takes roughly 3 years to settle in but am I meant to sit in this feeling of regret and just wait it out.

Any advice on how to deal with what I think is culture shock? How do you make a new country work if you aren’t enjoying it or when do you give up and leave.

Hey all! I've just been asked for an interview at Doha British School! This is my first job interview outside of the UK but I'm wondering if there are any interview questions they might ask and some tips anyone can give me?

hi, i'm from the US, i've been living in China since 2017 and to be frank, I'm just exhausted, I don't know if it's just because I've been teaching and just need a few months break or what, But I just feel like wanting to leave. But I don't want to go back home, I don't want to deal with the TSA, NHS, NSA, IRS and all those fuckers at the gate of Houston or whatever. I want to just get away from everything and just relax for a few months and not work, but i'm not sure what to do and where to go.

I’m in search of a place to move into, I won’t be having a job right now, I would be starting my freelancing gig, I have good stock market trading experience to support on the side, cost effective, good quality of life, good healthcare(must), any recommendations and service providers if applicable would be really helpful I have about 9 years of IT service industry experience

Wife and I are looking to be fully retired in a few years. We are in our mid-40s and looking to move from the US to retiring overseas.

I see that retirement visas can be renewed over and over. And some countries (such as Portugal) offer a path to residency after some set amount of years.

In general, is it preferential to keep renewing a non-lucrative visa? Or to try to become a resident? This would be under the assumption that neither I nor her want to work again (I understand most NLVs don't allow us to work, which would be fine).

I'm starting to research tax implications and it SEEMS like once you become a resident, any tax breaks you had under a NLV would likely go away from your passive income, pensions, etc.

I’m flying with Etihad from Sydney to Dublin and to add an extra bag (30kg) it’s about $400 AUD, just wondering if anyone knows of any cheaper ways? I looked into send my bag and it was even more expensive

For those who moved around a bit, have you found it difficult to meet someone serious? I live in Asia but I have strong “western” views (F36) and I don’t want to have kids. Gone single for a decade, most men end it after any attempts at exclusivity talk. Mostly due to the work situation I wasn’t able to move elsewhere, but does anyone else find it impossible to date as a western woman in Asia? After so many years I started seriously thinking of relocating just to find a partner but it would be risky as I’d lose my income and a new work visa elsewhere will be really hard to get. *Not a UK/USA/EU/Aus etc passport holder (weak passport)

The problem with dating expat men is that they either won’t commit or only in Asia to date Asian women.

Anyone in a similar situation, thoughts?

I moved from the USA to Mexico City just a few months ago so I’m struggling right now with a little homesickness. Would love to hear the pros and cons from fellow expats. Including if you had to do your experience over again, what advice would you give? What should I take advantage of while I’m here in Mexico City and what should I avoid? Thank you!!

I'm looking into options for moving abroad, likely the UK, preferably Scotland or Wales.

I've just started researching the process and am very concerned about finding a job.

I currently work remotely for a US company, but I know that won't help me, unfortunately. (And understandably)

I'm married with a child. How hard was it to make the move?

So I was born in Yerevan, Armenia and lived there for almost 6 years. Then I emigrated with my family to Dortmund in Germany and lived there for 11 years. Then I moved to Zurich, Switzerland where I have been living since the last 2 years.

I have no interest of going back to Armenia as I don't like the geopolitical situation there besides the fact that I would feel culturally and economically and possibly also politically left behind and crippled there in comparison to here in Western Europe.

I have also no interest of going back to Germany as I am fed up with the majority of the german people and their indifference to inhumane beaureaucracy, corruption from the judicial, legislative and executive powers.

Switzerland has been great with its direct democratical political system, the reasonable wages and taxes, functioning public transport, overall good education as opposed to Germany. The only two negative aspects of living in Switzerland for me are the weather, which is a little bit better than in nothern Germany but still no comparison to the sunny weather I was used to as a kid and the lack of openmindedness of people. People here do not welcome newcomers with open arms and altough I have a ton of young student friends that like me and accept me, the population in Switzerland feels very conservative in the sense that it frowns upon cultural innovation. The stability and financial and political freedom that Switzerland provides me with is incredible. However I miss the big city life and the cosmopolitan athmosphere that comes with that.

I like places where innovation takes place. May it be the invention of new political theories, breakthroughs in astrophysics, music, literature, architecture, paintings, anything related to science and art really.

Putting the job and visa aspect aside, which place would suit me more; the US or France?

More specifically I was thinking about staying in Los Angeles and Paris for a couple of months to get a feel for each location and its distinct culture and way of life respectively. I know there is a strong music and film scene in LA. But I have also heard that Paris has the most cinemas worldwide. And after all, there must be some truth to the saying that regards Paris as the cultural center of mainland Europe. You have public transport, which makes a car obsolete. LA doesn't have that but it has better weather on the other side. Which Paris doesn't have. Taxes are higher in France, lower in the US.

I guess what I am asking is, based on my preferences, what do you, as preferrably someone who lived in either of those places, propose, will suit me better; France or the United States?

Two 66 year old family members are temporarily residing in Norway for work, but are ineligible for the national healthcare scheme. The employer is paying a hefty amount per month for Cigna global health insurance, but they've added clauses that they don't cover anything that is a direct or indirect consequence of hypertension, cardiovascular disease and diabetes, which effectively makes the policy useless. Their do cover outpatient care for these conditions, but this is something they could easily afford out-of-pocket. What I worry about is the bill in case one of them might develop something urgent and require hospitalization/surgery.

Is there any insurance company which would even consider removing the pre-existing conditions clauses for a higher premium?

I want to ship from the Caribbean to the UK and can find literally nothing else T^T

TIA!

I'm considering becoming a part-time expat and living in my home country , United States, and Germany or Czechia for 3 months at a time. For example, staying in Germany/Czechia for 3 months of the year and staying in the U.S. for 3 or 6 months of the year. I'm somewhat familiar with finding affordable short-term housing abroad and have no worries about it, but in the united states, how could I find affordable short-term housing that has flexible stay times if i decide to stay a bit longer than 3 months. I want to minimize costs from balancing two different accommodations in different countries at the same time, and would prefer paying for accommodation as it is being used. Any suggestions or ideas?

Hi Everyone,

I'm 29 years old, male, single, French citizen.

I have been working in Paris for a US big tech company over the last 3 years, and I'm considering leaving France for multiple reasons :

• Professionally: I like my job and the company I work for, been promoted twice in the last 3 years, but opportunities in the Paris office are starting to get limited,
• Financially: France has very high taxes (I'm almost at a 60% marginal tax/deduction rate between my gross salary and my take-home salary), making it difficult to accumulate capital (and it's getting worse with the current politics),
• Personally: No family in Paris, and a lot of my friends have already left/have plans to leave France.

=> I've been considering applying for a job in SF, sticking with my current employer. I'm thinking about working there for a minimum of 3-5 years, climbing the corporate ladder, gaining some valuable experience and increasing my savings before eventually deciding to stay there or going back to France.

I have some old friends living there to quickly create a social circle and I've lived in the US for 6 months back in 2018, so I know what to expect socially/culturally. I'm also keen for a big change like this one.

The one thing I'm not sure about is the finances. I currently make 80k€/year total comp (gross), save around 1k€/month and just got a raise to 100k€/year TC.

My annual compensation in SF would be the following:

• Base: 140k$/year
• Cash Bonus: 18k$/year
• Stock Grant: 22k$/year

I know that the Bay Area is expensive, do you think that this compensation makes the move from Paris to SF worth my while, i.e. maintaining a comfortable lifestyle while increasing my savings ?

Thank you !

I'm on a series of trips to check out the vibes of different countries, to see where I can imagine myself living.

Every now and then when I'm imagining the perfect place to live I see a picture in my mind. A standalone house in a field with some small hills around and grasses. Something like this: https://www.freepik.com/premium-ai-image/lonely-house-field-grass-mountains_60361156.htm Mountains aren't a must, I feel like this image of a house near a sand dune in Denmark looks very much like what I imagine: https://printler.com/uk/poster/102608/ but the one in my mental image is more inland and not sand dunes but small hills but the grass looks just like this.

I wonder what countries in Europe have similar grasses growing? I think they have them in the Hungarian Puszta but no hills there. My mental image looks more like the prairies in America tbh but I get a feeling it's in Europe. Does it look like something in Europe? I wonder if there are such places in, like Austria, Norway or Sweden?

How do you all find short term apartments outside the US that are not scams or dangerous?

Specifically Malaysia, Vietnam.

And some southern European countries such as Spain, Portugal?

Also for those who have stayed in these countries what other helpful apps should people know of? (such as apps like Uber, DoorDash for American examples)

I currently work remotely for a U.S. company, earning around $125k/year. They’ve approached me about moving into a senior role, which opens up room for salary negotiation. They prefer I work out of their London office, but I’d like to push for their Madrid office due to cost of living and personal preference.

What’s a reasonable salary increase to request for this move? Also, any tips on what to ask for in a relocation package (e.g., housing, moving costs)? And how do European employment contracts typically differ from U.S. “at-will” arrangements?

My mom is an American citizen living abroad. She turned 71 this year and is still working at the moment. She is considering retirement in the next few months. This far, she has not enrolled in any Medicare program.

She worked at least 10 years in the US before moving abroad.

What are her options for Medicare if she usually only spends about a month per year in the US? Will she be penalized for enrolling late in Medicare now even if she has not retired yet?

She is pretty healthy but I worry about her not being covered if there is an emergency while she is in the US. I’ve thought about sitting down with an insurance broker on her next visit but I was not sure how to find someone who specializes in expat situations. Any advice here would also be appreciated.