I currently live in South Africa and well, I want a plan for a place to move to in the next 5 years max. The problem is i can’t decide where to go and as much as I love Australia, it feels too far from the time zones where all my people are.
So I have decided that Europe/UK would be perfect but can’t find a perfect fit. I have a UK passport
I am looking for:
- mild weather. Not too bothered to be honest but not looking for a snow 8 months of the year or rain 8 months of the year. Ideally i just want a place that gets some sunlight, some rain, some cold and some hot days
- low level or low acknowledgment of corruption. I want my taxes to do something -low crime rate
- good work life balance with a decent opportunity for living. Currently working at a Big 4 consultancy so hoping I can have a nice enough lifestyle but not be working 24/7
I really like places like Netherlands, Scotland, Germany but have found various flaws. I also really like the Mediterranean
I don’t really like the UK but prefer something like Scotland. They just apparently get less sun than I’d like
I’m sorry but I did chuckle with the comment about weather, then you mentioned Scotland
Hm, it actually sounds like you’d really like Northern Spain. Amazing food and people, stunning Scotland-like green landscapes, mild weather (but warmer than Scotland), and they just opened it up to high speed rail from Madrid (route to a couple cities in Asturies).
I wonder if you’d benefit from hacking through some of your questions with a GPT like Expatriator. https://chat.openai.com/g/g-99vtlb7LQ-expatriator-gpt
Ok I am definitely going to look into northern Spain. I have gotten a lot of suggestions for that
And you’ll make Spain work on a visa?
So I would have to look into the visas in Spain before I could make a decision but I really like what I’m seeing. Another potential is to go to Ireland for a while as people said and then see if Spain does a nomadic Visa like some other countries do though again, I am not clear on the logistics
Who will you be working for on this digital nomad visa?
Currently working with a big 4 consulting firm so will likely end up trying to transfer to an international firm internally
Ok, but a digital nomad visa won’t be useful for that. You’d need to work elsewhere and then only spend limited periods of time in Spain. You’ll also likely run into strict time limits set by your employer, based on the country where you are employed’s rules on tax residency.
I see, let me maybe ask this. If you were planning to do what I’m doing from my position then what path would you recommend and why? I haven’t gotten to the point of looking at Visas yet so I would really appreciate an early understanding of a route I could go down
Northern Spain is pretty beautiful! Although I’ve only visited for work trips.
I know people were downvoting you for the Scotland/ UK conundrum but I get what you mean, Scottish people generally seem friendlier than English people, it’s a different vibe
Portugal is lovely, but you need at least 3000€ per month to have a decent life. You will always depend from a job abroad as the minimal wage is 800€
As a Saffa that moved to Europe, just accept that “mild” weather here is pretty shitty and it rains quite a bit. We are blessed with great weather in SA.
That being said, Netherlands is your best bet I reckon. Soooo many South Africans here. I have many friends working for the Big 4 in and around Amsterdam, getting a job shouldn’t be tough.
However, there is a housing crisis here and elections are going on at the moment. It basically looks like Netherlands are getting their own Dutch Trump that hates immigrants, so that’s all a bit up in the air at this moment.
Yea I can hopefully transfer through the company internally. I heard politics there arent looking great at the moment though.
I dont mind rain I think I just want some days where the sun shines. Especially for my partner who would probably get really depressed otherwise
In winter I go to work in sub-darkness and leave in complete darkness working a 9-5. It can be extremely tough with no sun. I sometimes go days without sunlight
I saw in your comment history that you have antisemitic views. Does that impact your choice of location?
Maybe southern France?
The oracle has left the building. And the way you act so privileged, but are relying on strangers for your life decisions is laughable. Are you perhaps entry level at Deloitte with no true international business experience apart from consulting for a couple months on projects in other countries? You know the local offices very much follow the local business culture? If you want to continue in your field, consider who your clients would be and where you could actually fit in (fitting in won’t be your call).
lol it’s not that deep? You claim I am acting privileged because I asked people for suggestions? In fact, I asked people for suggestions because I have no clue where I would want to go? It sounds like you probably have some deeper wounds there because I was genuinely asking for help?
I’m actually not entry level at Deloitte for your own information and want to relocate because my country is drowning in corruption? Perhaps I want to move so that I can achieve a better quality of life for me and my family?
You replied to an honest post with a lot of directed criticism without considering the fact that maybe I want to build a relationship with a partnering firm in an international country in order to understand the firm and move there? And in order to do so, I am trying to understand which potential countries I should be looking at?
The only places with good weather would be the Mediterranean. I would say Greece, though there is a high level of corruption, but the people there are very friendly, and speak english well, and the weather is fantastic.
In Southern Europe (Spain, Italy, Portugal…) you’d need to learn the local language or else you won’t really be part of society. Same in France.
Lack of sunshine and overcast, cloudy weather does affect some people more than others, specially if you come from a sunny region.
Also, salaries are much lower in Southern Europe and unemployment is higher. If you work remote and don’t have to rely on local wages and local job market, then you’ll have some interesting options such as Romania, beautiful country, four seasons, affordable…
But if you need to work locally and earn local salaries, then you’d be better off in the UK, Ireland or the Netherlands. The weather is mild in all three but they all lack sunshine for most of the year, though you can take short trips to sunny location as many do. One advantage to living in Europe is how close you’re to tons of interestuig destinations, by land, sea, air…
My pick would be: The Netherlands, UK, Ireland… Housing is an issue in the Netherlands for sure but its infrastructure is far beyond that of Ireland. I just like the vibes in the Netherlands!!!
I’d also take a look at Brussels.
All that being said, I’d recommend the US over Europe! Despite the bad rap it gets, its such a diverse and amazing country with many states and cities to choose from.
Thank you for the advice!
My pleasure!
I’m a saffa that just moved to Ireland, it’s lekker here, weather’s good, people are lekker, foods good, elec is on, crime is low, salaries are lekker
Define weather is good haha! I’ve heard it’s really rainy most of the year
It rains often but not nearly as much as I expected, it’s chilly now but a clear day where I am, no where in eu will be like SA weather
Just gloss over the elephant in the room
Which elephant?
Housing
I mean that’s largely an entire EU problem but yeah housing is an issue
If all those are lekker then SA mustn’t be all that great tbh 😆 (Irish person here)
i would recommend croatia. easy to immigrate, low cost of living, pretty, chill vibe etc.
Do you live in Croatia?
…you don’t sound like you live in Croatia. It is not that easy to immigrate, and cost of living is SKY HIGH right now. The vibe is not chill when you’re a foreigner dealing with the bureaucracy.
What is the politics like in Croatia? Is there a high sense of corruption?
Come to the US. It seems to have worked out for Elon Musk.
I won’t lie I can’t think of anything worse haha. The only city I would consider is Seattle but the time zone difference is really big. I might change my mind but feel uncomfortable about the gun laws and generally general code of ethics
Have you ever actually been to the US? I’ve been to South Africa and there is no comparison to the level of violence found there. Despite what you might read on Reddit, Americans don’t need safe rooms in their homes and jobs are plentiful. There’s a reason millions of people are literally dying to get in.
You dont like rain 8months a year but you like the Netherlands. Well… I have some bad news. We have rain 10 months a year. And 1 month heat and 1 month where it might snow 😂
Hahaha Ill admit, I heard the weather there is more mild than in Scotland but I guess I am very wrong!
This might not be ideal, but China.
There is corruption, but what you get in return is a good salary, good work to life balance, and weather isn’t shit year round
Some parts of Spain? Good quality of life despite lower salaries than other European countries.