If you're an expat (outside the UK), where do you live?

[Dinoswearunderpants]

I am dreaming of moving to somewhere safer. It seems to be getting worse and worse locally (outskirts of London) so I'd love to hear from people who live abroad.

What do you like, dislike, miss about UK. I'd love to hear it all!

We moved from London to Montreal. Was always on the cards we would leave the UK and Canada was our best option (DH is French Canadian and I was able to get a visa in my own right).

I love Canada. How have you found the cold? Do you just get used to it. I bet the outdoors life is fantastic though. My dear friend lived In Quebec for a while and loved it too.

I moved to Mallorca several years ago. I love the peace and the air quality, plus the beaches and the range of people I’ve met since being here as there are lots of different nationalities living here. It’s not the cheapest, but my quality of life is a lot better. I do miss British supermarkets and eavesdropping on conversations in English!! I love England but can’t imagine moving back. It’s only a couple of hours away anyway, and we have a constant stream of visitors. Getting a visa was a bloody nightmare though.

How has life been since Brexit? I know that caused a lot of issues with people relocating to Europe.

May I ask what you do for work please?

Don't you mean ' immigrant'?

Oh dear didn't take long. Expat/immigrant it's all the same terminology. No need to reply if you haven't lived abroad.

It's not actually. An expat is a person who lives abroad for a short or defined period of time.
I have been one in Hong Kong and Bangkok, but a long time ago.

Ok so why have you assumed I'd be an immigrant vs expat. I might choose to move around.

If you want to be constructive then feel free to explain what life was like in Hong Kong and why did you leave.

We moved to the UAE earlier this year.

Like - VERY safe, family friendly, loads to do, tax-free income, great schools, warm weather, everything is so easy and convenient, great expat community

Dislike - no one walks to places here… all cars!

Miss - friends and family, National Trust properties, London China Town for food

Hong Kong was great- safe, lively, cosmopolitan- but very expensive for housing, medical care, schools. i left because my work contract came to an end. Bangkok also fantastic and great for travel in the region, but I found the traffic and heat hard. Left again because my work contract came to an end, as did DHs, and if we lived there, would realistically have to learn Thai to integrate and progress. Not the easiest of languages.

These days I am told it's much harder to move to SE Asia as the days of generous expat packages have gone and countries- quite rightly- don't give visas easily. What are your skills?

I've been looking at Dubai. Can I ask what sector you work in please? I'm finance and my husband is healthcare. Were you able to obtain a package (accommodation/school fees) for your employment?

Thanks for the info.

I work in finance and my husband works in health care. Both mid level so not looking for senior roles or anything.

Ha I love Majorca, that’s my retirement place of choice. When we lived in Copenhagen one of the things I missed was exactly what you have said ‘eavesdropping’ I could get by day to day perfectly ok in English but I did miss overhearing a juicy conversation in bars, bus stops, supermarkets, cafes etc- lol!!!

Switzerland. It is amazing. Miss very little about the UK other than family and a shared sense of humour.

Came here to say exactly this!

DH works in aviation and we got a great package - moving costs, school fees, annual flights, housing and transport allowance.

It really depends on the sector and how badly they want you.

I’m also in Finance but I’m self-employed.

You could get a good contract in higher finance management but not as an accountant for example.

I second HK. It was the best place I've ever lived, but this was in the days when the handover was still fairly recent and things were much more aligned to the "two systems" approach. I would be more cautious these days.

Expat = expatriated worker, which usually means that you / your DH are being moved by an employer for a set number of years - and they'll often pay all your costs, international school fees, visas for spouses etc. I have a lot of friends who've been expatriated to various parts of the world and it's a completely different life to just choosing to up sticks and live somewhere else - it's pampered in one way, and very restrictive in others. I had one French friend whose DH worked for an American company: she was effectively an expat in her own country as the company sent him to work in France for years, and she loved it - living 'at home' but all her bills / school fees paid by her employer, and she didn't need to work.

DH and I migrated first to NZ then to France 17 years ago. If you need to seek work, you'll need good French and even then it wont be easy to find anything decent. If you are retired and have a decent income, then as long as you can sort out visas a lot of people seem to like it. We'll probably retire here, it's got lots of good points. I don't miss the UK at all but I am increasingly aware of the distance between us and our rapidly ageing parents and I miss my sister!

It's not the same though.
British people call themselves ex pats when they live abroad because it sounds better and then they create their own British communities , but they call people coming to the UK immigrants and complain that they don't integrate.

Talking from UK physical point, since op is in UK shouldn't it be "emigrant" as in "if you emigrated from UK" 😁
Friend is an immigrant in Switzerland. Loves it. Not the paperwork, but overall loves it for her and her family. They are very outdoorsy.
I was expat in ME. Loved the experience (I did not live in some little same people conclave) and travel around, but things like property laws and the summer heat meant I didn't make it a permanent home.

Lived lots of places. Everywhere has pros and cons. There's places I'd go back to once the kids are grown, places I probably wouldn't go back to (even though they're generally nice), and the place I live now I am only here because the education is great (and I've picked up some lovely friends who I would miss) - because the weather sucks, and because it's a small place, I don't have the variety of 'stuff' available to me that I'd have in a bigger country.

You've got to look at what your needs are - kids, education, walkable, weather, food etc. and pick a place.

As an adult, with my own business, if I didn't have the kids, I think I'd consider Singapore again for instance - it's so straightforward to do all your life admin, weather is good, day to day life is clean and safe etc.

I would say I was an expat in all the countries I was just staying in for a little bit, and an immigrant where I am now, since I intend to stay long-term, have pension, applying for citizenship etc.

Quite happy calling myself a migrant and I hang out with people from lots of nationalities including the Spanish! I was also a migrant in NZ for a long time. Moving to Europe post brexit is a pain in the arse and very expensive unless you have an EU passport. I’m semi retired now but I do website and marketing work for my partner. He’s a day trader which can be done anywhere in the world.

Work in Spain pays badly and I honestly don’t know how the locals afford to live here.

Cayman Islands though they are cracking down on immigration so worth considering before you make the move.

It's not the same at all. Expat implies temporary.