You can live anywhere East Coast US, Spain or France - which city do you choose?

[Yepper]

We currently live in Switzerland and love the lifestyle and weather. The kids 8 and 10 are now fluent in French. I’m the breadwinner, DH has a small trade-based business which he does pt whilst juggling looking after the children.

I’ve been headhunted for a new role in an industry I’d love to get in to. Whilst the company takes a “remote-first” approach, the role can’t be based anywhere meaning we need to move out of Switzerland.

Out of the list they’ve specified, east coast US, France and Spain are the locations we would go to.

But given it’s a wfh role, we can pick the city. So where do we begin?!?

So ignore things like visas etc for a moment. Based on lifestyle choices, where would you live?? We love skiing in the winter and swimming (lake/sea) in the summer.

Working from home means less opportunities to socialize through work and would be relying on school / kid / hobby stuff.

Lyon could give us a similar lifestyle to now - close to skiing, not far from lakes or even the coast, along with travel opportunities. Toulouse may be similar. Paris is a great city but not sure we’d get the leisure activities there.

Barcelona I’m not sure about Catalan being thrown in the mix, but nice lifestyle. Madrid feels too inland? No idea on other Spanish cities.

US east coast, I wouldn’t know where to start!! Connecticut? NYC? Upstate NY? Florida??? God knows.

Help!!!

Biarritz

Biarritz looks super expensive!!

I'd choose France, but if you want a completely different feel to Switzerland then I'd move to a coastal or inland city. I've never lived in a French city, so I can't recommend one, but Toulouse seems lovely, as does Bordeaux or I'd love to live on the Med, so Nice, Montpellier, don't know much about Marseille. I love Paris and would definitely move there, if the opportunity arose, but for me it won't! The fact that your DC already speak fluent French makes it a no-brainer IMO.

Spanish cities - lovely to visit but wouldn't want to live there.

East coast US - I have lived there and the thing that puts me off is the climate. It's bitterly cold in winter from about Delaware north and it's blisteringly hot and humid in summer, which doesn't matter day-to-day because everywhere is air-conditioned, but it means you live inside a lot in summertime. And the skiing on the east coast is pretty crap if you're used to the Alps. The 'mountains' are more like hills, the weather is often poor and most of the resorts lack any kind of charm - or even centre. They're often a few ski hire shops, a few condos and a couple of restaurants sprawling along the highway.

I live in an area north of NYC called the Hudson Highlands, and we love it here. It's also an easy train trip into NYC.

If we were to move, my first choice would be somewhere around Boston. It's a lovely, historic city with so much to offer, but smaller and more manageable than NYC.

Yes, property costs are high. It's quite posh. But almost any French coastal city would probably be similar for a good area?
Even in the north which is very popular with Parisens for 2nd homes. (Le Touquet, Deauville etc)

Or even Parisiens...

If youre also considering Germany you could look at Rosenheim, Trauenstein and Bad Töltz. They are smaller than the other places suggested here but they would put you closer to what you want than Munich although they may be somewhat lacking international community if that is something you are looking for

Deffo want an international feel so not keen on rural towns really. Especially as I guess I won’t have any colleagues locally. (Actually seems very strange when you think about it to “move for work” when it’s all home-based!)

My eldest has been doing German for a couple of years already so whilst nowhere near fluent, I guess at least there’s a start there. Not sure why we’re not so keen on Germany really, though again we have friends (they are German though) who happily live in Munich. Though I’m leaning towards the idea of international/bilingual schools if we did move, rather than local schools.

Totally agree that France would be the most straightforward transition, despite the ‘lack of adventure’.

This would almost be easier if there was no choice to make and the office was X city, like it or lump it!!

I'd personally go for foothills of the Pyrenees - Perpignan if preferring to be in France or San Sebastian if Spain. Suspect you may want somewhere a bit more cosmopolitan though

How would the time difference work with living on the East Coast?

Nice and Biarritz are full of rich old people so are really boring and conservative as well as being expensive. Fine for retirement!

I've never fancied Germany either despite living on the other side of the rösti graben and being fluent. The cities just don't really grab me. I completely understand your reluctance about the French school system. It could be a bit brutal after Switzerland.

Portugal offers good food and quality of life, but does have the issue that everyone emigrated. I reckon Lithuania would be pretty cool, and it's less corrupt than Hungary or Romania, with fewer people leaving.

I just can’t imagine that a Lithuanian salary will set us up for retirement, or any next steps tbh…

I don't know if A Corūna in northwest Spain would be a runner, or Lyon in France as a pp suggested. Ds went to A Coruna for a language course and it sounded so lovely.

I have some French family and would choose Spain just because I find French social life a bit terrifying.

Romania and Hungary are both incredible and Romania has great skiing. Theyd be an adventure! Double check the salary because if its company based, you can have a great standard of living there and still save.

In Spain, Valencia is my favourite city (and where I love now) and is getting more multicultural all the time, has skiing 99 mins away in the winter (although no incredible runs it must be said) and you can swim year round. Has international schools, a French school, and so on. You could also look at somewhere like Sevilla or Granada, or Malaga coast if you want lots of expats.

Toulouse has Airbus so a lot of British living there (I know a couple of families who moved there and love it) and international schools.

Friends lived in Lyon for several years and loved it. They had a great life there.

I’d love to live in Germany for a while. Munich is a fab city, and very close to mountains and lakes. Berlin is properly international, as is Frankfurt, but that feels a bit soulless in comparison.

I’ve got family near Philadelphia and I love the city. Boston is also brilliant. Assuming you’d have the right package.

Anywhere but the US.

I'm not sure I'd move to the US right now (and I live here and love it) but the Boston area would completely fill your requirements. My kids skiied and skated in winter and sailed/swam in summer just from our home. Their school was near a woods so offered snowshoeing during lunch breaks too. A lot of the schools offer ski trips on Friday afternoons. No its not the alps but it is skiing on your doorstep. We are 10 mins walk from a lake with a boat club with paddle boarding, sailing, swimming, kayaking and lessons for kids in all of these. Community boating/sailing on the Charles river offers affordable sailing lessons to everyone.

MA feels far more like a European country than many US states especially the red ones. Gay marriage legalised well before most places in Europe, abortion rights enshrined in the state constitution. People are really friendly so even working from home, your children's schools, public or private, will give you a community to start socialising with. Also a ton of choices for good state schools and excellent private schools, including British and French international schools. Between universities/tech/biotech it feels a very vibrant place to live and work.

I have said I wouldn't move here now so really don't want to get into a debate on guns and abortion etc. I understand people's thoughts. But Boston is a really lovely (if expensive) place to live and rear children. I wouldn't move to Florida (more nightmarey than dreamy - apart from anything else google Florida Man) or Texas - basically any of the states with trigger laws on abortion - tells you all you need to know about the mentality. Tbh I won't even visit them now.

Personally I'd move to Granada, Spain.

I would go for Munich too in that situation.

Catalan is a lovely language, so don’t write Catalonia off. Plus it’s close enough to France that your kids can keep their french up.

If you want an international feel then I'd forget most of the US east coast except NY or DC. Definitely forget Richmond or Charlottesville, my word.

I would also recommend the Hudson Valley outside NY, it's absolutely gorgeous, if you'd be happy with more of a village feel (but on the train line to NYC).

I see what you mean about France being too familiar but actually I think with kids in the mix, that is not a bad thing. They do lose quite a bit of time if they have to adapt to a very different place. Perhaps try something further afield than Lyon? (although that is a great option) Someone mentioned Nantes, it's a lovely city that is fairly international (and has an international school), it has a very Breton character so would be different in that sense.

NYC for me, assuming it’s affordable.

Sigh… The OP is in Switzerland where abortion is only permitted (barring medical emergency) up to the 12th week. The UK is similar. Many states on the US, including the east coast which is where the OP is thinking if going, have far fewer restrictions. New Jersey has no time limit whatsoever. You can have an abortion to to the 40th week. No doctor approval needed. No counseling required. You want one, you can have one. Even Ron DeSantis’ Florida, often seen as an ultra-conservative state, permits abortions up to 15 weeks. My state permits it up to 24 weeks and no doctor approval needed. I find it amusing that Europeans are jumping up and down over this when they live in countries with far more restrictive rules anyway.

OP if the job can really be done anywhere then it’s unlikely to meet the requirements for a US work visa. The employer would need to demonstrate the need for you to be in this country. If the job is already being done remotely and other countries are a posdibility it’s going to be difficult to get that past USCIS.

I also think US is great IF and it's a big if, you have terrific health cover provided , very secure jobs and plenty of money all round. I work in entertainment and know so many who have come back the minute anything went wrong health wise, workwise etc. also not always easy for 'both' to work or get visas. Someone I know with a great job has his wife and kids still in uk because it was clear she couldn't work at anything professional and wasn't prepared to do bugger all or a menial job. However can now be tough too in EU and lots of hoops to jump through in certain countries. One reason I suggested Munich is Germany has a digital nomad visa provided you've got the income and don't need a job in the German economy

France would be the best bet, I’d say. Avignon is a good possibility (really quick access to Mony Ventoux skiing as well as the haute alpes further up). Montpellier is lovely, not sure how far it would be to the slopes. Perpignan would be good too. Lyon is central for everything. I found it beautiful, but slightly rough.

I’d choose Boston out of the East Coast possibilities.

I can only speak about US. Boston. Lots of ex pats there. Lots of universities so vibrant music scene. On the sea and river. Very pretty. Huge medical research/teaching centre. Home of Boston Pops. Good theatres, major airports so easy to get to other parts. Driving distance to mountains for skiing, beaches for swimming, out west/north for amazing fall foliage.
If you move to US the most important thing is to have a great health insurance package.