Talk to me about moving to Middle East or other "exotic" but well paid location.

[MmeLindor.]

We are thinking about our next move and are very tempted by the tales of expats who have lived somewhere for 3 - 5 years and earned enough to buy a house back home in that time.

I have been an expat all my adult life, but in Germany/Switzerland. DH has been here in CH with me for 3 years.

He may be moved back to Germany (or elsewhere) within the next year and we have been talking about trying something completely different. There are options in his company to do this, or he would consider moving to a different job. He is in finance.

We are both able to cope with being away from family and friends, like travelling and seeing new places. The DC are pretty open to new ideas. They are trilingual English/German/French.

I would be willing to go anywhere that is not dangerous. I am aware that there is no guarantee, but obviously some countries are more stable than others.

Any ideas?

Mme Lindor - you can PM me, but I don't live in Shanghai (although have some friends there). I live in Nanjing which is about 3 hours by car from Shanghai.

CH stands for Conferation Helvetica - which is the official name for Switzerland and chosen because there are 4 official languages. To prevent wrangling, they went for the Latin name

Shanghai
Will pm you anyway, if you don't mind

Latemater we are also off to KL in the next few months. Hubby starts in September with us following as soon as school places are sorted would love to pm you as know no one there at the moment

Hi tasmin I have PMed you.

Interesting thread. DH is interviewing for expat jobs at the moment. Works in construction and Ireland is bust.

Currently interviewing for Doha or Jakarta. Wildly different but similiar packages. We were going to just let him head out and back every three months, and both companies cover that but they are keen for us to join him after six months, pay schooling etc.

My head is melted!! I have a decent job in finance and not sure if I want to give up working.

Anyone experience in either locations?

I'm in the UAE and love it

There are still plenty of jobs with good packages to be had, especially in banking. The lifestyle is fab - kids live in the pool, I have all the help I need, lots of amazing local travel.

Cost of living is high, but balances out compared to the UK, imo. Only downside is that housing has to be paid a year in advance but all decent companies offer that as standard.

DH doesn't ever want to leave.

TheQueenOfDenial and anyone else in banking, apart from being head-hunted, which are the best routes for finding something? Hope you don't mind me asking. Please feel free to PM. I can't believe I'm asking - always said never ever and now we are thinking about a short sharp stint! Thanks.

Castles I'm not in banking, nor is DH - just lots of friends in that area. Recruitment agents in UAE are pretty good and can always give a fair indication of prospects.

castles
we are a couple of weeks ahead of you, will PM you

Thanks both of you.

Can I join? We're looking at totally different sectors though, DH is looking at maritime/defence work in the next year or so when he leaves the forces after 22 years. Bahrain seems popular for his type of work.

So much to think about!

i know Bahrain. what sort of work is he in redumbdancy

still forces atm, but it will most likely be some sort of maritime/defence/oil work.

Interesting watching this thread. Like redumbdancy my DH is due out of the Forces and will be looking for engineering work. We are open minded to him working overseas but not sure if we would all go with him. Might try and look for something unaccompanied where he can get home regularly.

We can't decide whether to go with him or not either. I'd quite like to go I think, with his pension and gratuity we have a safety net should I want to come home.

I can't imagine we'd be able to go as DD2 has a statement of SEN and complex health needs so education and medical care could be very very difficult.

Might have to send him away for work and just stay in the UK spending saving his wage!

Hmm didn't think about that, DS is going through assessments at school for his issues, it's looking likely that he'll get a statement.

How long has DH got left Sidge?

Just under 2 years Redumbdancy, what about your DH? What does he do now?

It'll come round quickly, and DH doesn't really want to leave; it's all he's ever known!

sidge re SEN provisions depend where you are but here in UAE there are some amazing schools. I have friends with an autistic son who have postponed their return to Oz because the standard of care here is so much better.

Thanks Queen, that's interesting to know. It's all just idle speculation at the moment but it's good to know that it might not be totally impossible. We'd have to weigh up all the pros and cons.

Just under 2 years here too. DH also panicking, perhaps not as much as me though! Really hoping he's on the next CPO signal and will do an extra year to buy us time!