Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Holidays

Use our Travel forum for recommendations on everything from day trips to the best family-friendly holiday destinations.

Holidays/Travel

1 reply

anon990 · 27/04/2025 12:03

I’m 25 and a single mum to a nearly 2 year old. He’s travelled to 3 countries with me on holidays. I’m currently away and home tomorrow and I just don’t want to go home :( it’s so bleak and boring and the weather is always so bad there’s no quality of life compared to overseas the endless things for kids to do. What I’m asking is has anyone ever felt like this and what did they do . I don’t want to stay in Ireland forever not a chance. I earn good money at home as I’m qualified so I can take that with me to another country. I would love to explore south east Asia and live somewhere peaceful with nice weather most of the time

OP posts:
samarrange · 27/04/2025 17:17

If you have an Irish passport you can move to anywhere within the EU/EEA and start work tomorrow. Also your professional qualifications will mostly be recognised.

But while the quality of life in a country where you can live outdoors most of the time (Spain, Greece, etc, in the EU; south-east Asia, as you say) might be higher, wages are a lot lower, and prices are often not lower in the same proportion, depending on what you spend your money on.

Your idea can be done but you need to be realistic about going about it. Currently you have a support network, which might or might not include a number of close friends, but also includes to some extent everyone to whom you might speak on a day-to-day basis because they also speak English. What tends to happen when people move to countries where English isn't the main language is that they form little expat groups, which are fun for a while but can easily turn into goldfish bowls. (Source: First-hand experience of more than 30 years living outside the UK.)

It also includes the fact that currently you know how everything works. When you move to another country, especially one with a radically different culture (Spain already requires some adjustments; moving to Thailand would need far, far more), you have to learn a lot, very fast, while looking after the needs of a small child every day.

So sit down with someone who doesn't think it's a good idea, or even who is strictly neutral, and let them challenge you. For example, they might ask, "Are you sure it's not just because when you're abroad everything is nicer because you're on holiday?".

New posts on this thread. Refresh page