r/movingabroad

Hey guys, I’ve come on here to seek genuine, honest advice from anyone who has moved from the UK to France ( the south specifically ) or even a French resident.
My dilemma is that I am an 19 year old girl who has a year to do anything. In this I can either go UCL in London in September, or instead explore other options. As much as I would love to travel, unfortunately i do not have the funds to sustain that for a year. I have roughly £1000 in savings.

After visiting the south a couple of times , specifically nice and Monaco ( I know it’s its own country), I have fallen in love with the country/ cities. I understand that these locations can be quite costly so I don’t plan on moving to these specially, but somewhere close would be nice. Job wise, I understand this will probably be the hardest factor but I am literally willing to work anywhere (serving, tutoring, nannying, office) I would love a job as a waitress or in a cafe but this is quite a dream. I have previous work experience as a server and a barista if that helps my case. I am just seeking a normal job to help pay my rent and daily costs etc. Language wise, I am willing to improve my French by taking lessons over the summer.

Apart from this, it’s genuinely just a dive into a new experiences as I know I always have my parents to come back to in the UK. So asking for genuine / honest advice if you think this move is worth it.

If yes, please let me know of the visa logistics such as fees and how long the process is,( I am British ) and job opportunities. I know I might sound ladi dadi da through this post (lol) but nothings impossible 🤷‍♀️. Also I would love to hear your guys’ experiences. Any advice is appreciated, sorry for the lengthy post.

Thank youuuu

One thing I’ve noticed working around relocation is that the people who adapt best abroad are usually the people who remain curious instead of comparatively.

The faster someone stops expecting everything to function like back home, the smoother the transition tends to become.

I’m at point in life where I’m seriously reconsidering where I actually want to build a base long term.

For context: I’m Mexican, and for the last 4 years I’ve mostly been working remotely for an American company while moving around between Europe, Africa and Latin America as a digital nomad.

I spent a long time in Spain and honestly loved a lot about it: the culture, food, climate, aesthetics, social life, and just feeling culturally connected to people around me. But at the same time, salaries and housing seem pretty brutal unless you have a foreign remote income (that leaves you in this weird legal/tax zone; plus I want to work into getting my EU passport).

Then I moved to Germany for a master’s because I thought it would offer better long-term opportunities and a better salary. But after a year there, I realized the country really wasn’t for me personally.

Now I’m trying to figure out if there’s some kind of middle ground in Europe.

What I’m looking for is something like:

• Decent salaries / professional opportunities
• Cool or pleasant cities (ideally with good aesthetics)
• Food and culture
• Relatively healthy social atmosphere
• Decent weather
• Possibility of building an actual long-term life there as a non-EU citizen

For people who’ve lived around Europe: which countries/cities do you feel currently offer the best balance between quality of life, social atmosphere, and economic opportunity?

Or does everywhere eventually end up having the same problems, just with different aesthetics and weather?

Hace unos meses me propuse mejorar mi inglés porque lo necesito tanto en el trabajo en el supermercado como en el día a día con la escuela de mis hijos, para poder hablar con los maestros y entender bien todo. Me mudé a USA hace un año desde México.

Empecé a probar tutores AI online. La idea me parecía buenísima: practicar cuando tengo un rato libre, sin vergüenza y con feedback inmediato. El problema es que muchos me resultaron tremendamente aburridos.

Por eso pregunto acá, ¿existe algún tutor AI de inglés que de verdad sea más humano, entretenido o fácil de usar en el día a día?

After moving abroad years ago and later working in relocation, I realized something most people don’t talk about: the psychological side of international relocation is way harder than most expect.

Everyone obsesses over picking the “right” country, cost of living, weather, visas, safety, and those perfect YouTube/TikTok relocation reels. However after helping dozens of people actually make the move, I’ve learned the country itself is rarely the hardest part.

It’s the psychological transition of completely rebuilding your life from scratch that catches people off guard.

People consistently underestimate:

1. How long real cultural adaptation actually takes (it’s usually much longer than the “honeymoon phase”)

2. How important building a real community becomes once the novelty wears off

3. How draining bureaucracy and endless paperwork can be on your mental health

4. How different everyday life feels compared to vacation mode

5. How much your new environment shapes your stress levels, habits, relationships, and even your sense of self

I’ve watched people move chasing aesthetics or “the dream” and burn out fast. I’ve also seen people with average resources build genuinely great lives abroad because they moved with realistic expectations and stayed adaptable.

One of the biggest myths is that moving abroad will magically fix your unhappiness. It won’t. You still bring yourself with you. What it can do is completely reshape your relationship with time, lifestyle, priorities, health, and what you consider “normal.”

For me, the hardest part wasn’t visas or logistics. It was realizing I had to rebuild routines, friendships, and a sense of familiarity from zero. One of the strangest things? Becoming weirdly emotionally attached to random things from home that I barely noticed before.

Many people in this sub aren’t running away from life, they’re intentionally trying to build one that feels more aligned. Living abroad didn’t magically solve every problem in my life. However it absolutely changed my perspective on what kind of life I wanted to build moving forward.

I am 27F from India and have a humanities background. I don't see much opportunities in my field in the country. I have never lived alone nor studied alone but I want to study abroad and change fields if possible. I need genuine opinions on to atleast start the step. I would really appreciate it.

My husband and I have been planning a move abroad and currently the decision is between Italy and Portugal. For context: I am a dual US/German citizen, so we are not worried about visa issues. I will be working remotely and my husband will also be self-employed, so jobs are not a consideration either.

My question is: which country has less challenging bureaucracies to navigate? I would love to hear from people who've lived both places because people living in Italy say its worse there, and people living in Portugal say Italian bureaucracy's got nothing on theirs. Who to believe? And, can you give specific examples of what is challenging? Regardless, we know there will be bureaucracy challenges in either place and we are up for the challenge, but we want to go into it with open eyes.

33f. Became a lawyer more than a decade ago, stopped actively working before 2.5 yrs. always lived with family, somewhat privileged, overprotected..
Now feeling stuck in life and want to start afresh, maybe a new field
Thinking of going abroad and maybe study masters in a different field and then work there..

Please help!

my_qualifications

Im 28, decent savings with a job thats unfortunately rooted here. No family reunification, limited savings (enough to live in any country not enough for a golden visa) and no degree. Im not entirely sure how to leave but i REALLY want to. When this all started i asked an AI for its top picks. NZ was first but i realized without a job in a necessary field it wasnt going to be easy for me. So i had my eyes set on moving to portugal. I visited, got a portuguese tutor and thought i could use rental income as passive income but apprently i had to prove it wouldnt run out.

Spain and ireland were also options for me but i havent figured out a way for any of these without going to school there. My concerns are the fact that i havent been in school for 10, and i dont want to have to move to an area i dont enjoy just for the college and im truly at a loss here. Any help, advice, direction would be wonderful. Im ready to go, willing to learn a language, put in the effort 100%, i just need help figuring all this out.

My husband and I live in the middle east, we are thinking about starting over in a new country and would love some advice from people with experience living abroad. We’re open to pretty much anywhere and haven’t narrowed it down yet. Some things we care about:

1- Ease of getting a visa/residency.
2- Cost of living.
3- Quality of life (safety, healthcare, community).
4- English friendly or easy language to pick up.

Has anyone made a big move like this? What country did you choose and would you recommend it? What do you wish you knew before going? Any advice is welcome! the good, the bad and the ugly.
Thank you in advance. 💖

Hi everyone,

I’m from Europe and thinking about moving to South Korea for my master’s degree and maybe long term after that. My reasons honestly aren’t K-pop or K-dramas related, I just want to experience life outside Europe and Korea caught my interest.

I work fully as a graphic designer already and make decent money, but it’s freelance work, not corporate, so I honestly don’t know if that would help me at all with finding a job there since I keep hearing the job market is brutal even for locals.

I’m learning Korean and planning a trip later this year, but I really need a reality check from people who actually live there.

How hard is it realistically for foreigners?
Is it possible to find work?
How are foreigners treated socially?
How bad is the culture shock coming from Europe?

Also maybe a weird question, but how much do beauty standards affect daily life there? I’m 173 cm, blonde, and skinny-ish by European standards but I genuinely have no idea if I’d stand out in a bad way there 😭

Would also love recommendations for cities besides Seoul.

I’d appreciate honest answers, good or bad.

For those who moved abroad — for work, family, study, lifestyle, or a fresh start — what do you wish you had validated before committing to the move?

I’m not asking about packing or shipping logistics. I’m more curious about the decision stage before the move became real.

Things like:

• visa or residency assumptions
• job market realism
• whether your income/package was actually enough
• housing availability and cost
• school or childcare timing, if relevant
• spouse/partner career impact
• healthcare access
• tax, payroll, or social-security surprises
• language barriers
• support system / loneliness
• first 3–6 months after arrival
• what would have made you pause, delay, or choose differently

Did anything look manageable before the move but become a major issue afterward?

And if you were making the decision again, what would you pressure-test before saying yes?

I’m researching relocation decision-making and how people validate major assumptions before moving. Mainly trying to understand what people wish they had checked earlier.

So I am planning on moving out of the US in the next 3 to 4 months possibly sooner I am struggling with deciding which country to move to. I speak a little Arabic. I speak alittle Spanish. Obvs fluent in English so the country doesn’t really matter, but with the war and everything, would it be wise to move to Dubai or would that be foolish which country would you move to. And why not I’m really having some confusion on this.

I work remotely so I would just work from my laptop.

I am an American, with an American passport.

What are the positives or is there any negatives?
I am moving abroad for the first time away from everyone I know. I was going to do it with my ex-partner and now we have broken up. We are both going ahead with the move but separately. I’m scared but I want to know how it was like for other people - did you grow as a person? Did things get worse for you?

Greetings Reddit,

I hate America.

I'm a 25 yr old man born and raised in Southern California by Russian parents.

After spending my entire life in America, I've started to really understand America, its' people, society, potential, and future.

To be honest, I never liked Russia because of my parents' mindset which they based off of living in the Soviet Union their whole lives. I also never wanted to even travel out of state, let alone of the country. I thought I was perfectly fine where I was because "everybody wants to move to America, "everybody wants to move to California". Well, I certainly don't feel the same.

I'm beyond disgusted with the "new norms" the progressiveness, the liberalism, the modern western life. No, it's not just a "you're in liberal California- move to a conservative state" issue. The problems go very deep within; like I said, the entire "west".
If I were to live in the west, I think the 50's would've been peak western life.

Since I was a subject of being raised in the woke California lifestyle, I tried to become it and live like the modern man they want you to be. Chasing money, fancy lifestyle, women- the "red pill". And even that, being the red pill, and not the blue normie pill, I still find too absurd in my personal beliefs.

Ideally, I would like to move somewhere more old school, very natural, perhaps even "soviet" design and style. From the research and intel I have gathered so far, I believe Belarus would be my best choice as of now. I would go to Russia since I'm sure I'd be able to find what I am looking for there, and I speak Russian; but, they're at war. And from what I've seen and heard, even if I got into Russia, there's a high chance I would be grabbed and thrown to fight in the war. So the plan is to move to somewhere near Russia where I would enjoy and be happy, and maybe even stay instead of moving to Russia later on.

I plan on making the move sometime this year, hopefully by August 2026. I plan on only taking necessities which will fit in a backpack and maybe a dufflebag. I will also only bring a few thousand dollars. I do not know how I will be able to use/get a bank account, phone service, stuff like that there, and how/if it's even possible to link any of that with my American systems.

I heavily romanticize living in a little village house (which I would own), having a nice old school car like a Lada, meeting a pure untainted traditional woman, and raising a family. Unfortunately I cannot sustain that since I don't have the financial means to. So, I would definitely somehow need to find any sort of income whether it's near my residency, or a bit of a travel (if it makes financial sense). Surely being an American, having professional work experience as high-end security/body-guarding, doing social media content with large brands like Lamborghini, Ducati, McLaren, etc. would be useful in someway or another... I don't think I would prefer to live in a big city, especially since I'd imagine it'd be much more expensive; but, if that makes the most financial, and future sense, I don't mind sacrificing until I can get what I truly want.

I was also thinking of potentially vlogging/filming my journey from the U.S. to Eastern Europe, maybe gathering a following of interest and potentially doing that as a job or hobby to help pay for my life there. Especially since I have so much experience within social media.

As I said, I've never really traveled, so I have no idea what/if I need anything to legally travel- like visas? Would I even be allowed to permanently stay? All I know is, I have a U.S. Passport.

If you don't have anything useful to say, please refrain from commenting.

If you'd like to ask me questions to better assist me, please do so. Or if you know anyone in that region who may be able to assist me in any way, I'd really appreciate any and all useful insight and travel suggestions and destinations for my case.

P.S. if you know someone who somehow wants to do the same thing, or just travel to the same area as me, it'd be amazing to have a friend or companion join me in this journey and help each other out.

Thank you!!

I (26F) have moved around for most of my adult life, and as a result have never really felt full settled anywhere.

I love living abroad and I am always getting itchy feet, but I am aware that the grass is always greener. I spent two years in my early 20s in Germany and in China, before returning to the UK in 2024 to do a masters degree. Fastforward to now, I'm in the same city and bored to death of it. All my pals from my masters left a year ago, and I've made some new friends through the job I started about 8 months ago, but I still feel like I don't have a community here.

I have been offered a job in China again, a much better one than the one I worked when I was last there (not teaching). I am keen to leave the city I'm in as it's not the best place for late 20s professionals, it's a student city mostly, but I'm not sure if this is the Move.

Pros are I'm bored, it would be great for my career and feelings of stagnation

Cons are: I will need to disrupt my life to move again, and I don't see myself living there for longer than 1-2 years, even though I would love to go. I currently live with my bf who lived in China with me before and liked it, but does not want to go back, and is happier settled here in the UK. He is v close with family and would prefer not to move. I love him and I don't want this to end our relationship.

I am very torn as to what to do. I know you don't know me and there may be an obvious option to you guys, but I am interested in hearing what you would do in my potion, especially if you are directionless career-wise as I am, or if you are 10-20 years my senior and have wisdom to offer!