I’ve always wanted to live abroad and there are several cities around the world I’d love to try living in, but my number one has always been London. I’ve visited several times and also travelled around the UK extensively, I even did a semester abroad in the UK during my studies, yet I still want to go back.

But I’ve come to realize that after brexit it’s become nearly impossible to move there. Currently I live in New York and it was easier for me (as a European) to get a job here than in London. I think the only possible route for me at this point is applying for a permanent position at the foreign ministry of my country after which I would be able to apply for a posting at the London embassy at some point. But it would be a big career decision cause the pay is shit compared to the private sector and it would probably take me years to even have a chance to get sent there.

First I’d have to apply and get accepted for the program and I know for a fact that many people apply for years without getting in. Then I’d have to go through a year of training and after that work in my home country for 3-4 years to build experience or take a posting in some small mission in a developing and/or war-torn country because it’s virtually impossible to get sent to a European destination unless you first work in a “less-desireable” place for a few years. And even then it’s pretty much up to luck. I’m in my late 20s now which would mean I’d be well into my 30s before even getting a chance and I’m just wondering is it worth the risk when there’s possibly not even a reward at the end? But then again the only other way of getting there with my educational background and skillset would be to marry a British guy and the chances of that happening are pretty much non-existent so…

My guestion is, do you have a dream destination where you’d like to move? And how much work and time would you be willing to put into getting there? Or if you’ve managed to move to your dream country/city how long did it take you to get there?

  • triscuitsrule@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    Yes, and my wife and I are currently amid the plan.

    My wife is a teacher and we always wanted to live abroad and eventually settle in Europe. As a teacher there’s plenty of opportunities to teach abroad, but they’re not without competition.

    With little to no experience one can easily teach ESL at say a Korean hagwon. With some experience one can be a subject teacher at an international school in a less developed area of the world (SE Asia, LatAm, Middle East, rural China, etc.), and with international experience one may be able to break into the European international schools.

    That being said though, the European international schools are some of the best schools in the world. So, to start off my wife got her first international teaching job in Peru at one of the best schools in the country to obtain international experience. We’re on year 2/4 in this country. The hope is that after 4 years she will be able to get a job somewhere in Europe that’s less competitive, like Spain or Italy. But the big goal is the Netherlands after either 4 years here or a couple more years elsewhere in Europe.

    So, would we pursue a multi-year globe-trotting plan to achieve our pipe dreams of living in Europe? Absolutely.

    And, for what it’s worth, my background is public policy and I seriously considered trying to join the US State Dept Foreign Service or UN for us to live abroad, but we decided that going through her career and the choice of where to live was a better option— so I feel you with the struggle of trying to join a service where they may place you, as an American diplomat once told me she was, “in a shipping container in Afghanistan”. It’s a real roll of the dice, and single people I’ve been told get the shittier posts until they get some seniority. It’s by no means an easy decision to make.