I moved to the US from the UK about 35 years ago. At that time there were significantly better prospects for me here in the US. In the 90's I went back to Europe as a US expat for several years, during which time I lived near London and traveled on business throughout Europe, Scandinavia, the Middle East and South Africa. Additionally a few years ago I contemplated retiring to Ecuador, and visited Cuenca and Quito to evaluate
Some things I've come to learn from these experiences:
- it takes a long time to truly understand a 'new' country
- the 'old' country will not be the same when you go back
- it is very complicated to get a true comparison of cost of living
- living as an expat is not the same as living as a local
- most (if not all) magazine and online articles fail to paint an accurate picture of moving to the 'new'country
- things change over time ... what is an attractive proposition today might not be the best long term choice
- there are long term financial implications (and complications) of changing countries
- living elsewhere provides insight and perspective on myriad topics (e.g. health care)
- nowhere ever seems like 'home' - you are always a 'stranger'
I moved to the US from the UK about 35 years ago. At that time there were significantly better prospects for me here in the US. In the 90's I went back to Europe as a US expat for several years, during which time I lived near London and traveled on business throughout Europe, Scandinavia, the Middle East and South Africa. Additionally a few years ago I contemplated retiring to Ecuador, and visited Cuenca and Quito to evaluate
Some things I've come to learn from these experiences:
- it takes a long time to truly understand a 'new' country
- the 'old' country will not be the same when you go back
- it is very complicated to get a true comparison of cost of living
- living as an expat is not the same as living as a local
- most (if not all) magazine and online articles fail to paint an accurate picture of moving to the 'new'country
- things change over time ... what is an attractive proposition today might not be the best long term choice
- there are long term financial implications (and complications) of changing countries
- living elsewhere provides insight and perspective on myriad topics (e.g. health care)
- nowhere ever seems like 'home' - you are always a 'stranger'
Thanks for the insight. I've been trying to keep the possible cons in mind as I consider this, so this is of great help