I'm an English-speaking native living in France. Even though I have been speaking French for a few years now, I still do all my thinking in English. Even something as simple as "I need to buy milk".
Hey people living in London , UK,
How has life in London changed compared to 2 years ago? Mainly in terms of cost of living, housing prices/rent, and overall quality of life.
I lived in London for 9 years, then moved back home to Sofia, Bulgaria about 2 years ago. While it’s nice being close to family again, I honestly still can’t get used to some things here: the mess and rubbish everywhere, the general Balkan grumpiness, casual homophobia, and the feeling that quality of life is slipping.
Real inflation here feels more like 15-25% since I came back, and with the euro adoption coming, things don’t seem like they’ll improve anytime soon.
Naturally, I’ve started reconsidering moving back to London. I still have friends there and, most importantly, my brother. Career-wise I’m not too worried. I used to work in hospitality as a GM and Operations Manager, and now I manage a well-known international fashion brand.
For those living in London now:
-Has quality of life improved or worsened recently?
-How bad is the housing situation really?-
Does London still feel worth it despite the costs?
I used to live in warehouse spaces around Manor House and Hackney Wick, so I know the reality of London living pretty well. 😄
That said, I’m probably not looking to go back to that lifestyle anymore. I’d more likely rent a place with friends or with my brother.
Curious to hear honest opinions from people actually living there now.
Where can I get an international driving license here in PH? My home country DL has expired and I’ve tried to swap it here but too much process and waiting time every time I visit LTO. Kindly advise…
I am a UK citizen and have lived in the US for over 20 years. I have UK personal pension that I want to withdraw. Since the personal pension withdrawal is taxed at source in the UK, and all income for US residents are taxed regardless of the source. I will be expecting to get double taxed.
I submitted the DT-US individual 2002 to HMRC as there is tax treaty between UK and US, including the form 6166 from the IRS to prove that I am a US tax payer.
But the application was rejected by HMRC because the DT-US Individual form has a section requiring an IRS stamp. But I cannot find any sources on how to get this form stamp by the IRS.
Has anyone run into to this issue?
TIA
Hi
Little backstory.
About 3 months ago I (25 male) moved from New Zealand to Queensland (Australia) thinking it was the place where I wanted to stay for a few years to build some cash and live for a bit. I previously travelled here last year to check it out, however upon moving I’ve realised I absolutely hate it here. The people are rude and up themselves (not saying everyone however the standard group of people on the gc aren’t the best. I’ve found the work is terrible (I’m a carpenter and the work is to a low standard and unsafe).
Before coming I couldn’t decide if I move to London or to Australia, the long term plan for me is to own my own construction company back in NZ so I wanted to set myself up for that. I chose Australia because it was similar building to nz and better pay which would be helpful in the long run. Part of me is still thinking about London for the life experiences despite not making too much money while over there.
This move overseas has absolutely drained me and made me regret everything. I’ve noticed I’ve become quite sad and can’t seem to enjoy the life I pictured I’d have here. At the same time I feel like a loser if I pack up and go home after such a short stint. I’m trying to find the positives.
Is 3 months too short of time to get a feel for a place? I’ve already worked with three different companies and have noticed the work environment for carpentry seems to be this poor everywhere. The trade shortage is starting to make sense.
I don’t mean to offend any Australians, however my personal experiences haven’t been pleasant.
I know there isn’t a definitive answer here, but just some words of encouragement or discussion of people who have been in the same position would be really appreciated.
Im originally from Australia and have my dual citizenship for Aus and Canada, so a few years ago I figured, why not. Quit my job I was at for almost 10 years, sold everything and moved to Canada.
Over the past few years I have moved from Ottawa to Calgary to Edmonton and now to Vancouver. After about 6 or 7 months I eventually start feeling the same emptiness and the city I am living in just starts to become too familiar. What do I do? Its like the only time I enjoy where I am living is when its fresh and new.
It is completely unrealistic to keep living in diffferent cities. Is it possible Canada just isnt for me and I should go home to Aus?
It’s been a year since I moved to Dubai, and honestly, I think about that decision a lot.
When I was still in Bombay and talking about moving, most people had opinions.
“You’re too old to start fresh.”
“This is the age to get married.”
“Why take such a big risk now?”
I wasn’t unhappy back home, but I wasn’t at peace either. Something felt unfinished. So I applied, interviewed, packed up, and moved with more anxiety than confidence, if I’m being honest. This year hasn’t been glamorous. It’s been survival mode at times. New job pressure, money stress, missing home, questioning myself more than I’d like to admit. Starting from zero in a new country messes with your ego. You’re constantly proving yourself to others and to yourself!!
I don’t know if this move will “pay off” the way people measure success. I don’t know what the next year looks like. But I do know this staying back would’ve eaten at me more than leaving ever did.
If you’re in your 30s and feeling like you’re running out of time, you’re not. There’s no deadline on choosing yourself.
I (26F, Canadian) am looking for advice on how to have a difficult conversation with my mom about my future.
For years, my mom has emphasized the importance of being independent. She has always told me, "I want you to be able to stand on your own two feet because one day I won't be here, and I need to know you’ll be okay." I have taken that to heart.
For the last three years, I’ve been quietly building a path toward a life and career in Japan. I lived there for 3 months in 2023, and that experience proved to me that I can handle myself. I am currently saving my own money and using funds that were already set aside for my education. I am not asking for any financial support; I am doing this entirely on my own.
My goal is to share my roadmap with her so she knows I have a solid, well-thought-out plan. My mom isn't being protective in a way that holds me back; she’s always valued independence and wants to know that I’m capable of handling my own life, so this is just me showing her that I’ve reached that point.
My question: How do I frame this conversation so she understands that this move is the direct result of the values she taught me? How do I reassure her that my independence is a sign that she succeeded as a parent, rather than something for her to fear?
I’m a black woman, I turn 21 in June and I’d like to move sometime early next year. So, in around 6-9 months. I’d love a place that feels safe for my race and gender as I’d be moving solo.
Financially, I bring in 4k a month untaxed without a job so I do have a reliable and stable income. And I’d also be trying to get a remote job before going.
I like to live in quiet areas with beautiful and historic views. But, still live close enough where I can go shopping and enjoy the nightlife. I’d like something affordable! I’d like to live nice. Currently in the states I live in a really nice place so I’d hope to move into the same.
I looked into Thailand heavily but I’d really like to explore all of my options. I’d like to stay in the country I’m in for 1 year and either move again or come back to the US.
Thank you for all the help🫶🏾
Currently my job gives me $1500 every month as housing stipend. It doesn’t matter if I use it to pay for rent or my mortgage should I buy a property here. I’m now toying with the idea of buying the apartment I currently live in.
Background: I’m in a gulf country in the Middle East. I’ve been here for a few years and I like it here very much.
Pro:
\- residency for me and my family
\- no property tax
\- turn housing stipend into my income
\- even when I leave, my company can keep renting it from me to put staff in
\- a base for retirement
Con:
\- slow economic growth. I don’t expect property to appreciate in value. In fact, my landlord has lost money
\- high maintenance fee for this property, around $3500 per year
\- potential political instability, although the country I’m in is famously stable
Should I take advantage of the housing stipend to buy a property? Or should I just keep investing? My partner and I have no property in our investment portfolio and we are already doing quite well in stock and precious metal.
Last thing: I’m not in Dubai.
Would appreciate your thoughts.
So, I’m Italian and I’ve been living in the UK for eight and a half years now.
Unfortunately, I still can’t figure out what to do with my life and I’m turning 39 this year. I live with my partner and our cat, a former stray who joined us here a few years ago.
Lately, I feel completely stuck between two worlds and would love to hear from anyone in a similar position.
What I love about the UK:
The System: Bureaucracy is fast and clear, generally speaking, I feel like there’s a real effort here to help citizens and make life smoother.
The job market is flexible and our work-life balance is actually quite good.
The People & Nature: People are very polite and affable and I love the green spaces and the general respect for nature.
Why thinking to leave:
Loneliness: Despite people being friendly, I’ve made zero real friends here (even among expats), only acquaintances. It’s incredibly isolating.
Housing & Environment: We are priced out of buying a home, stuck renting with NFH and dreaming of the countryside (pretty out of reach). Plus, I deeply miss the Mediterranean light and not a fan of the constant grey skies.
Aging Parents: Our parents are getting older in Italy and we miss them.
I deeply miss the idea of having a future in Italy, because I still consider it home (hopefully, maybe it’s just the memory of it?). My partner handles this limbo situation better than I do, but honestly, if Italy were a better country, I would have gone back years ago.
I dream of moving back to the Italian countryside but I’m terrified. I’m scared of the toxic work culture, the broken economy and making a minor bureaucratic mistake that wipes out our tiny savings.
Ideally, the perfect solution would be to spend a few months a year here and a few months there, but that feels almost impossible.
Is anyone else living through a similar situation? Any advice or shared experiences would really help.
Thank you ☺️
I'm a UK national now living in France.
My husband is most likely being offered a job in Hong Kong, they’re waiting for one last reference check and will send an offer letter.
Essentially my husband will be moving towards all the excitement as he’ll have a new job, his extended family there and he speaks the language. I will be leaving my established job, friends and family. I also do not speak any Chinese.
I’ve visited HK and his family multiple times and even on our last trip I said “hmm I think I could live here” but now that it’s almost a reality I’ve shed a lot of tears, have a lot of anxiety and feel like there’s just a lot of things to think about.
Please share your experiences as a trailing partner.
A lot of successful relocations happen quietly.
Not because people are wealthy or fearless, but because they approached the move patiently, stayed adaptable, asked questions, and allowed themselves time to transition realistically instead of expecting perfection immediately.
I’m 42, British, married to a Spanish lady and we have one son. We moved to Spain (Madrid) in late 2019 quite soon after the birth of our son. My wife was on maternity leave, at home alone during the day while I went to work, and I’m guessing she started to get homesick because her mum and sister started sending her job adverts back in Madrid. The whole Brexit debacle was playing out at the time which she says made her feel uncomfortable in the UK, and the company I was working for was potentially being put up for sale leading to redundancies, so we discussed a potential move to Madrid in the summer of 2019. She’s in quite a niche technical field and after interviewing for a couple of positions over Zoom, she found a job very quickly with a decent pay rise over her UK salary.
We landed in Madrid in November 2019 without me finding a job first and then within a few months, Covid hit. Since then, it’s been one stress after another. It took us nearly 9 months to find our own flat, which due to the cost of housing in Madrid is half the size of what we had in the UK, and we’re outside of the city in one of the satellite cities where there isn’t an international community. I managed to find a job in an English academy a year later (October 2020), but I was earning less than €1,000 a month for essentially full-time work. The year after that I still hadn’t found a decent job so worked for another English academy which turned out to be the worst place I have ever worked for – very “culty” atmosphere, unfriendly coworkers, six days a week schedule, barely breaking €1,000 again.
Finally, after that I found something related to my sector (communications) and worked for that company for two and a half years, but it was a very dodgy Spanish SME that did a lot of illegal things, with an owner-boss who was a nightmare to work for (example – he locked one of the younger female members of staff in his office while he was arguing with her after she confronted him about his behaviour). I was eventually dismissed from that company after pushing back too many times, although I managed to win a case for unfair dismissal through SMAC. I’ve now been unemployed for 16 months, and haven’t even had an interview with any companies in Spain in that time. I hear long-term unemployment in the country is very common.
As you can tell, I’ve had a rough time living in Madrid while my wife has pulled ahead in her career. Naturally, we’ve had a lot of marriage problems since moving here, problems that didn’t exist before the move. I actually had to start some online counselling post-Covid because I was feeling very lonely and depressed living in Madrid and started to regret the move after a year. My wife would spend all her time with her mum and we rarely had any quality time together. After a few months the counsellor I was seeing told me that she thought my issue was related to our family dynamic changing and told me that she thought couples counselling was what we needed. We tried that here in Madrid but my wife just didn’t engage with it. She would cry through the sessions (which suggested she knew there were issue) but we never got anywhere. She said that her “red line” was that she would move anywhere within Madrid, but would never leave Madrid again. I told her that I am happy to live in Madrid, but I need a job and purpose here, like I had back in the UK. Unfortunately moving here, I have ended up as a trailing spouse.
I have lived and worked in other countries before Spain, including in Asia, but I’ve never felt stress and burnout to the level that I have felt in Madrid. I struggle to see a future in the country because of the perpetually high unemployment here, the housing crisis, and the increasing anti-immigrant sentiment. Things are not perfect back in the UK, but they are better. My wife is pretty clear that she is back home now, with her family support network, and she won’t leave. I feel paralysed though, and doing what we are currently doing isn’t working for me. Finding some sort of remote job seems like the answer but believe me, it feels like an impossible task with so many companies demanding RTO and the competition is fierce. I really don’t know what to do, and would deeply appreciate any advice from fellow travellers who have been through this before.
Hi everyone,
I’ve made the decision to leave the US for good. I can’t take the stress, the politics, or the lack of basic humanity here anymore. Everything requires a fucking bachelors degree and I can't find a job despite finally getting my GED (I have severe mental health issues and had to drop out of High School). I’m done. I’m looking for practical advice on relocating to a developed country with a better quality of life.
I’m a bit confused by all the negativity and gatekeeping I see on this sub. Not everyone has a STEM degree or married a foreigner, but we still deserve a chance at a better life. I’m a friendly, open-minded person with some experience in retail and food service. I’m confident that Japan needs people to run their restaurants or stores.
I have some questions
I’m not asking for a handout, just a fair shot. Surely there’s a process for me who just wants to live peacefully and figure things out while they are young. Everyone makes it sound impossible, but it can’t be that hard if you’re determined. I'm willing to show up with my can-do spirit, that should be enough.
Thanks for any real advice. Please do not comment if you have nothing nice to say.
Hi everyone,
I’m from India and currently working after completing my BCA. Lately I’ve been thinking seriously about moving abroad for better career opportunities, earnings, and overall quality of life, but I honestly don’t have proper knowledge about which country would be best or how the whole process works.
I currently work in IT, but to be frank I’m not extremely strong at coding and I don’t see myself becoming a hardcore developer in the future. I’m open to exploring different kinds of jobs and career paths as long as there’s good earning potential and stability.
I’m also considering going through the study visa route and pursuing a Master’s degree (MCA or similar IT-related course) abroad, then eventually getting a work permit and settling there.
I’d really like suggestions on:
- Which countries are best for Indian students/workers right now
- Countries with good post-study work permits
- Places where getting PR or long-term settlement is realistic
- Countries with less complicated visa issues
- Whether pursuing a Master’s abroad is worth it in my situation
Would appreciate honest advice from people who’ve already moved abroad or are currently studying/working there.
Thanks!
I moved to the US almost 12 years ago, and life has given me better options but I feel lonely, every person I met and tried to connect with them, it fell off and ended up in disappointment. I just don't know how to describe but life is so much easier when it comes to socializing and connection in your homeland than in foreign countries 😔
How do you deal with it?
I don't think I describe myself as an introvert, but I'm too shy/too much overthinking/insecurities because you don't know what to expect? Like in my country I could predict things somewhat easily, but here… Too many worries because you are scared of things you would never know.
So I almost got a study visa in the uk back in 2023 but it fell through at the last minute as I was having trouble with finding housing. I very much regret not going and now I’m thinking of looking at jobs in London. I know the process is easier than it used to be since under the old system a foreigner couldn’t get a work visa unless they already offered the job to a British citizen. Now it requires sponsorship. Is this something you need to get before you apply? Or do you apply, get a job offer and then apply for a visa? I have my masters degree and about 4 years of professional experience so I don’t think it’s impossible. I’m by no means an immigration expert so I’m not too privy on how all of this works.
I hate being turkish and I can't even change it.People are so rude to me because I'm Turkish.
What's wrong with me? I don't like to live like this...
what should I do?