For you to live as an ex-pat in another country? Has another every done this? What countries would you be interested in? What would it take (compensation agreement) to live in an uncommon place for 1-2 years? (Think Sri Lanka or Indonesia vs Europe)
Post by alleinesein on May 21, 2015 2:24:54 GMT -5
For you to live as an ex-pat in another country? A job or marrying someone from another country Has anyone ever done this? I've temporarily relocated overseas to India for work and for fun (9 months total) What countries would you be interested in? I'd move back to India in a heartbeat if I found a decent paying job. I'd be open to go anywhere but I prefer cities to being out in the middle of nowhere What would it take (compensation agreement) to live in an uncommon place for 1-2 years? (Think Sri Lanka or Indonesia vs Europe) Considering that I moved to Bangalore for 3 months to do unpaid volunteer work it wont take much to get me to relocate! I'm single with no kids and nothing to really worry about so I'd be up for anything that pays at least USD $50K and also covers housing expenses and transportation.
I lived in Cape Town, South Africa. It was a great experience. I worked for a non-profit organization, so I didn't get to negotiate any fancy perks. The only perk we all got as ex-pats was a free flight back to the U.S. every year.
I don't have much interest in living in Europe in general, but have interest in and would happily live in several African countries if I was compensated fairly and was able to visit the U.S. yearly. I often look up jobs overseas at some of my favorite non-profits, just to see what's out there for the (somewhat distant) future.
My H would need to change jobs or get job assistance in the new country. My firm is global and the only thing that has prevented us from going abroad is he has a career that he doesn't want to derail right now. Damn men and their "career ambitions!"
I compensate for it by spending a week a year in some of my favorite OUS offices.
Post by MixedBerryJam on May 21, 2015 6:05:11 GMT -5
We lived overseas for 4+ years, but I don't think we were expats (at least, we didn't consider ourselves so) because we intended from day one to come back. But our decision was pretty much $$-based: free housing, no taxes AND an annual bonus for living offsite. I'm glad we did it and I'd do it again in a hot second. In fact, the final deciding factor to come home is that the offsite bonus stopped at 4 years. We were in a very, very remote location.
We lived overseas for 4+ years, but I don't think we were expats (at least, we didn't consider ourselves so) because we intended from day one to come back. But our decision was pretty much $$-based: free housing, no taxes AND an annual bonus for living offsite. I'm glad we did it and I'd do it again in a hot second. In fact, the final deciding factor to come home is that the offsite bonus stopped at 4 years. We were in a very, very remote location.
A livable income and the opportunity for DH and my cats to go with me as well.
I had the chance to do a lot of temporary overseas job assignments a couple years ago, but DH couldn't come and it would have been a very transient lifestyle. I would much prefer to just live overseas for awhile, but I definitely thought about it.
An income that is slightly more than what we currently make together, a housing stipend to accommodate higher housing costs (in most major cities), and probably relocation assistance. I own a home and don't have much incentive to leave. Some kind of bonus benefit, like flying back to the US twice a year, would sweeten the deal, too.
When my husband worked overseas, before we met, flying back to the U.S. Was part of his contract, along with his laptop and a few other things. But as a single guy, he had fewer needs than we would now, and basically just wanted the opportunity to live in NZ.
I'd love to live in Europe for a few years. I'd want the compensation to with include a couple trips back to the states or be enough that we could afford the trips out of pocket. My husband is a teacher so he would probably be able to find a job pretty easily... We know several people who teach overseas and would tap them as resources.
I wouldn't want to live in the Middle East, but I could be persuaded to go most other places. My husband would be the harder sell.
A decent relocation package, assistance in finding me a job, and school tuition for my boys.
One of our good friends and her husband just relocated to Australia. They've been there 5 months and are absolutely loving the experience. It's a two year assignment, with the ability to stay longer.
Money and relocation assistance. I wouldn't be able to do my job if we moved overseas so we would need enough to make up my salary plus any COL increases. If that happened, I'd be gone in a hot second. ESPECIALLY if it was somewhere in Scandinavia... I would kill to live in Norway or Denmark.
With my life right now, I don't think I could go. There's no way that MH can leave FIL behind, and now that my dad is gone I wouldn't want to leave my mom. Plus, all our friends and family live within about an hour from us, so we're not used to traveling to see anyone or missing them for long periods of time. At this point I don't even want to ever leave New Jersey.
There have been times where I thought it would be neat to live in London or Montreal.
The furthest I've ever gotten with serious thought is that if my marriage ever ended, maybe I'd move to Chicago or Boston and start over. Obviously those aren't ex-pat scenarios but it goes to show you just how little thought I've given it.
I had always said I was open to international relocation prior to this year and having a kid. Jobs in my company were generally short term opportunities.
My husband would not be interested international travel let alone relocation. So not something that would happen long term.
It wouldn't take much at all. This is something I would love to do. We may retire to a foreign country. Even if we don't, we plan to spend a year living abroad after we retire. I am most interested in living somewhere in Latin America.
It would take very little. We'd both have to be able to find jobs, I'd want similar compensation when adjusted for cost of living, and I'd want to be somewhere that is relatively safe and isn't isolated (I'd want the opportunity to travel to other places easily). Sorry, Guam. I guess I'd also want my moving expenses and maybe a flight or two home every year covered.
Also, big issue: the kitties would have to be able to come along with no quarantine or anything like that.
For us, it's mostly just the two of us being able to continue growing in our careers. My husband had the choice of a couple of offices but London seemed the easiest (in terms of language, job opportunity for me and me having extended family there). We're not expats and not US citizens (except my son and my siblings who do live in the US). We lived in the US for 16 years on student and then work visas and are now in London. An expat package is lovely but for us in London wasn't necessary (except the travel/accommodation help). If moving to a place with not so great or really expensive schools, tuition assistance would be a most.
We've talked about this a few times since it's an on the fringe possibility for MH. We would want the platinum (or as close to it as possible) ex-pat package. I may be able to work remotely, depending on the location.
The only thing that really holds us back is family as our parents are aging and it's something we aren't sure we can be far away from.
I'd be OK with Europe or even Asia. MH would probably want to stick to Europe but I could convince him of India
I'd want relocation assistance. I'd have to be able to bring my pets with me. Other than that i'm very open. Too bad there isn't much opportunity in my field.
Like a few others said, not much! I'd want relocation and to be able to maintain a similar standard of living. I would go pretty much anywhere that had a major international airport.
We'd do it easily I think. I'd want my job to grant me an open-ended leave of absence so I wouldn't worry about finding something when/if we came back. They might do that I suspect (good people are hard to find). Then I'd ideally want to live someplace warmer with a community of English speakers and ability to live better or at least as well as we do now. DH can do his job from anywhere so we think about it but with kids and my career it would take more money to make it work. Maybe in a few years when we've saved up more.
I would move overseas in a hot minute, however it would need to be for a specified period of time (1 year, two years etc). I would prefer Asia over Europe and my fantasy is that DH gets some gig and i am "forced" to occupy my time exploring and writing.
Honestly, it wouldn't take much for me to say yes. As long as the country was stable (no current military actions occurring on the ground), I'd be game. It seems like a big adventure and I love to travel, so why not? This is assuming that financial compensation would remain at least level with our current situation.
Moving from Canada to the US for a job (originally uncertain if I'd stay in the US long term, until I met a nice guy...). I had some relocation assistance for that job, which included visa assistance.
It's not as hard as being overseas - similar timezones, mostly similar availability of familiar things, not super expensive to fly home to visit my family, etc. And the job opportunities in my field were a whole lot better in the US.
DH and I spent a couple years in Korea, as well, for his job. It was a neat experience. Our time there was made easier by the fact the military provided relocation assistance and housing assistance, along with base access to the commissary and PX where we could get American style groceries when we wanted them. There were aspects that were tough (driving! timezone differential!), but it was still a neat experience. If his job were to offer another overseas assignment, I think we'd jump at the opportunity.
We lived in Denmark for almost 4 months. It was a great professional opportunity for me and I'm glad we did it. But, to do something like that again, I'd want to go somewhere that H also had a job (he worked remotely most of the time and flew back a few times, and it was really isolating for him). I'd also want to go somewhere I was more motivated to learn the language (I tried, but my colleagues there kept (nicely) making fun of me, saying there is really no point in learning Danish--it wouldn't help me ever again in my life--and they all spoke English). I'd also probably want to go to a bigger city. We were a long way from Copenhagen and in our part of Denmark people were friendly but not really looking to make friends, if that makes sense. I feel like if we had been in a more cosmopolitan area there would have been more opportunities to join groups of people looking for friends.
I would totally do it, assuming it was short term (like a couple of years) and we had the funds to be able to fly home AND do some other travel. I wouldn't want to live somewhere that meant I couldn't see my family for years on end.
I am probably more interested in Europe than somewhere with a vastly different culture (like China off the top of my head), though I'd consider just about anywhere. Probably not somewhere in the middle of nowhere but I can't really see any reason why that would ever be an option for me anyway.
I think the biggest barriers for me at this point would actually be my dogs and licensing requirements for my BF's career that may not translate to other countries. If we get married someday we could actually move to Europe, since he's a UK citizen and will keep duel citizenship when he becomes a US citizen, but it sounds like his career training doesn't transfer without a lot of extra hassle so IDK if that's a viable option for us.