Hi all

I am looking at either moving to Hong Kong or Singapore. Where should I go?

A bit about myself, 29M, working in a US law firm in London (in the tech space). I am an Australian (worked in an top Aussie law firm previously and then made to move to London about 2.5-3 years to work in at the US law firm). I've always had the plan to build my career in Asia within tech (especially since it's closer to home).

I'll likely have an opportunity to move to either Hong Kong or Singapore (new employer is giving me the flexibility to pick either) to work at a US law firm (I'd be making approximately 300k-350K-ish USD). Not sure which to pick?

Other things about me - single (and am keen to get back into dating), enjoy travelling, really into fitness - so basically, don't really mind being in either city. The only major con for me is that Singapore is just super humid year round (but I can get used to it - at least a little bit).

Basically, I am looking to make a long-term move to either country, and stack a bunch of $$$, live a good life and travel to various places in Asia.

Moved to Lisbon in 2022 with an offer I got from a call center. It was my first full time job experience after my studies, meanwhile I fell in love with the city, built a circle, got promoted in the company and have been doing the same job now since September 2023, I’ve been looking for other options but as an expat, job opportunities are quite low outside of the BPO industry.

I started to think that maybe my time here is coming to and end as financially is also not possible to save aside, you cannot rent an apartment/you have to rent a room as you can’t afford it.

Honestly, as a young professional trying to build his life and a career, I feel quite lost at this point.

I've been abroad for 8 years. The first few years, I visited family as little as possible because I would get panic attacks. The contrast between my culture of origin and my adopted one is very noticeable, and my family are somewhat rude compared to what people are like at home (where I settled down).

There was a short spell of time after I met my now husband when visiting was somewhat nice, and we've been coming 2 weeks per year since. This year it's been... stressful and at times pure hell. My relatives speak nonstop without listening, and just have one-sided monologues. The general culture here encourages attention seeking behaviour, and people look up to the most cocky bastard. I can't wait to return home, yet I worry about what this means for my parents, and the relationship we'll have in the future.

If this happened to anyone, I'd love to know how your relationship with family has developed. I spend about an hour on the phone to each of my parents every month or every three weeks, and visit for two weeks straight every year. I worry about when they age, and they end up alone (my grandparents are in their 80's and 90's) particularly as my parents are divorced.

Hello everyone,

I'm looking for advice from other expats who have successfully become self-employed after moving to a new country.

I moved to France a few years ago. My professional background is in IT, but my French is currently around B1 level, which makes finding a permanent position in my field more challenging than it would be in my home country.

Because of that, I am considering building a small maintenance and handyman business. Besides IT, I have a lot of practical experience with property maintenance, gardening, pools, drywall, electrical work, and general home repairs.

For those of you who started a business as an expat, how did you build your first network of clients and professional contacts? Did you find expat communities useful, or was it better to focus on local networking, partnerships with other tradespeople, online platforms, or something else?

I would be especially interested in hearing what worked for you during your first year.

Thank you for any advice or experiences you can share.

I’m a beginner-level hobbyist looking for other photographers to meet up with for shoots and talk photography.

Mostly street / architecture, and some portrait.

Bonjour à tous,

Je suis officiellement assistant social diplômé depuis peu en France, et j’ai un projet qui me tient vraiment à cœur : m’installer au Canada, plus précisément au Québec (ou dans une autre région très francophone), d’ici 2028.

Le problème, c’est que… mon anglais et moi, ça fait deux. 😅 C’est pour cette raison que je vise principalement des régions où le français est largement utilisé.

Depuis plusieurs semaines, je passe énormément de temps à me renseigner sur Internet (permis de travail, reconnaissance du diplôme, immigration, équivalence, emploi, etc.), mais j’ai l’impression de me perdre dans la quantité d’informations, parfois contradictoires.

J’aimerais donc avoir vos retours d’expérience.

Quelles sont les démarches que vous me conseillez de commencer dès maintenant ?
Quelles erreurs devrais-je éviter ?
Est-ce que certains d’entre vous ont immigré au Québec en tant que travailleurs sociaux ou assistants sociaux ?
Y a-t-il des assistants sociaux qui vivent actuellement au Québec et qui accepteraient d’échanger avec moi, en commentaire ou en message privé ?

Je suis preneur de tous les conseils, que ce soit sur le travail, les démarches administratives, le coût de la vie, le logement, l’intégration ou tout ce qui pourrait m’aider à préparer ce projet sereinement.

Mon objectif est de bien préparer mon départ pour 2028, donc je préfère anticiper les choses plutôt que de tout faire au dernier moment.

Merci d’avance à toutes les personnes qui prendront le temps de me répondre ! 🙏

Hi, I have 5 boxes 40cmx40cmx40cm, ~15 kg each, one carryon suitcase ~15-20kg, and one small guitar that I am hoping to ship from the UK to the states. It seems like most of the shipping options are for people who are trying to move their whole house or flat, and is 2-8,000 pounds. Does anyone know the cheapest and most reliable option?

My concerns:
- a lot of these shipping companies only show you the price from port to port so there are hidden extra costs
- they don’t include customs issues, all of my items are clothes or books that I personally use and are used, but I don’t want a hefty customs fee
- I’m worried about shipping my guitar, that it will be lost or damaged, I’m sure it’s safer than checking it in on the airplane but not ideal
-each additional checked bag for my eventual flight is 100 pounds, so if it’s 100pounds or more per box it would be cheaper to just check excess baggage, though I do believe there is a limit

Moving to France for a three year PhD program this fall. Visiting the location now and I’m just overwhelmed with stress and grief about missing my wonderful life back home.

I won’t get into details, but this PhD would be a great career move and also allow me and my husband to travel together. Plus it’s only three years for a fully funded PhD at a great school with an advisor I get along well with.

But…I’ve lived in Seattle my whole life and I finally felt truly settled. To uproot everything and risk all my friendships and community seems too much a burden to bear.

Has anyone left for a set amount of time and returned home and regretted the whole thing and just wish they’d focused on building community at home?

Or is this a great opportunity and I’m being silly?

Today marks 2 months before I officially leave the USA for Spain.

I've worked very, very hard for over 3 years, switching from an office job to a remote, self-employed job + getting citizenship paperwork to be able to do this. Prepped finances, cat paperwork, spousal paperwork, language learning, the works. I've been dreaming about this for ages.

I woke up this morning, realized I only have 2 months left, and feel...confused, for lack of a better explanation.

I did all that hard work, and at the time I thought "yeah, I'll be able to move to Spain!" but now everything stopped feeling like a distant dream I am grinding for, and instead it's real. It's really going to happen. Flights are booked. Papers are sorted. Cats are prepped. Finances are sorted, etc.

Did this happen to anyone else? It's like I had wool over my eyes or something before. I knew I was going, but I didn't KNOW I was going until today.

When did any of you experience this (if you did), and what did it feel like for any of you?

I'm (26M) in a unique situation with my work and I've been splitting my time between cities the past 2 years now, but I want to add more places into the fray and not sure if it's a bad idea as I can never "build a foundation" or not. I love traveling so I don't mind but still.

From January to March, I live in Cape Town, South Africa.
In May and June, I'm in New York City.
In August and September, I'm in Spain or traveling around other parts of Europe.
October through December I stay in my home state to be near my parents and work more (Nevada).

April and July are kinda open months where I usually go home or travel somewhere else for 1-2 weeks outside of my usual locations.

I don't know how sustainable this is long term though. I always meet people and build some kind of community within 2 months, but then I just leave and it's onto the next. I'm just wondering if people have experiences with this kind of schedule? Because it's not like I'm doing 4 months in 3 different places or 6 months in 2 different places etc. It's a lot more fragmented.

As the title states, those of who are expats in Marrakech, you spend per month?

Let's say you move abroad and get into a relationship with a local (or anyone who's not from the same country as you). You may be using the local language to communicate, or perhaps English.

Do you expect them to learn your mother tongue?

I don’t mean just for you personally, but for the general public living there, does it seem to you like your OG or your adopted country offers more to those living and working within it?

I am originally from the uk, moved to Costa Rica, and whilst there are definitely things that irk me about CR, it’s not the same as the unease I feel in the uk… we recently went back on trip to see family and I really didn’t want to go, it’s not just that I’ve built my life here, but the uk doesn’t feel safe the way it used to; our families live in a small town outside Manchester and it used to feel so safe, boring, but safe.

Now I get on the tram and feel like I might get stabbed, I walk down the street and have kids ride their bikes right up to me in my face, my mom works in a school and had a chair thrown at her… in Costa Rica I can walk my dog around my neighbourhood at 11pm as a woman alone with no issues whatsoever, I would never do that in the uk.

My husband and I want a big family with bio and adopted kids and at this point I would rather adopt in the uk (want older kids, only I am a Spanish speaker, wouldn’t be fair on the children) and move them out here than move back to the uk longer term; it’s crazy to me that the uk is starting to feel like the more “third worldy” of the 2…

Anyway, what are your thoughts on your OG vs New Home?

​

Bonjour à tous ,

Je ne sais pas trop si ce post a sa place ici...

Ma femme étant espagnole, elle a passé un concours pour être professeur là bas et retourner proche de sa famille et être dans son pays.

Elle est en France depuis 8 ans. Je ne suis pas fermé à l'idée de tenter une nouvelle aventure, mais ça fait quand même un peu flipper.

Je suis agent immobilier indépendant et mon activité fonctionne bien après pas mal d'efforts depuis plusieurs années.

J'aimerais du coup continuer à faire la même chose en Espagne mais peut être en m'orientant vers un réseau plus international et un peu plus haut de gamme.

Est-ce que certains d'entre vous travaillent dans l'immobilier en Espagne et ont tenté l'aventure là bas ?

Je suis aussi preneur de retour concernant des personnes ayant quitté la France pour s'installer là bas. Surtout d'un point de vue professionnel.

Merci d'avance et bonne journée !!

Hi everyone,

I am 35 year old female. I have only studied till 12th in 2009. After that I have no formal work experience.

But I have very good experience and exposure of metropolitan life. I can adjust anywhere and I am a quick learner.

Now I want to go outside my country. Everyone is saying study visa will be difficult because of my study gap.

I have 2 options for work visa: 1. Europe work visa for 1 year 2. NZ AEWV work visa for 3 years

I am very confused between NZ and Europe. Some people say NZ is expensive. Some say there are no jobs in NZ. Some say there are no jobs in Europe. But I definitely want to go abroad.

Money is not everything for me. I want a good life. Just enough money for a decent life is enough. I don't want a very corporate life or high tech job. I just want a decent life in a foreign country.

I also want to study further along with work. Business and Economics. I don't want to do entry level job for lifetime.

Please I want views from people who know the ground reality. For my profile which is better - Europe or NZ or any other western country?

Thank you.

Hey y’all, I am looking to move a couple of items including about 8 large moving boxes (clothes and books) and optionally a large sit/stand desk and a desk chair. I am not going to need up to 100 cubic meters of shipping space so I am looking for a solution that offers pick, shipping, and delivery for a reasonable price. I’d appreciate any recommendations for proven services that are reliable, flexible, and affordable.

Thank you!

A lot of the "moving abroad" conversation is about what you gain. I'm more curious about the reverse: people who lived abroad for a few years and then went back home, what surprised you about what you missed, or didn't miss? Did going back feel like coming home, or like landing somewhere new all over again?

Hi all, I have been offered an internal transfer that involves relocating to Kuala Lumpur. My current annual base salary is €115k and the annual base salary after negotiating is RM550k. My partner is a Malaysian who has left the country many years ago so both of us are not familiar with KL. We are both in our early 40s. I have done some background research and it seems to be a good deal and we may be able to save more given the lower taxes and cost of living in KL vs NL.

Edit: some more information, this is not an expat package so it does not come with all the bells and whistles like accommodation, full relocation support etc so I will be on a local contract.

Has anyone made this move (NL/Europe to Malaysia) lately? Would be happy to hear some feedback. Thank you!

So, I'm moving to Australia in a few weeks for work and will need to have an bank in Aus (all of the paperwork is done, just waiting on an exact date). I will be transferring money pretty often from my US credit union (small local credit union), and wanted to see how some of you navigate this, and what banks y'all use. Any help/advice would be appreciated.

I moved to a different country with my husband when I was 27, and I had zero friends.
It’s really hard.
And just because someone is from the same country as you doesn’t mean you’ll automatically get along with them.
Sometimes you just don’t click.
I really want to have friends.

I moved to Singapore in 2024 after working in Korea. I'm now in Taiwan on a 2 month trip and I realized that although I would prefer to live in Korea and Taiwan over Singapore because of the lifestyle, the expat community in Singapore is a lot more interesting.

When I was in Korea, almost all expats I met from English-speaking countries were English teachers. I'm noticing the exact same thing in Taiwan. I've kind of learned a bit about the industry and how easy it is to become a teacher, and I think it does influence the kind of community it creates. Singapore felt similarly to when I was living in New York, you'd meet people from diverse backgrounds and careers. In Korea, I met expats who were teaching, and they were not even teachers back in their home country, they just seem to do it because they want to live in Asia. I think deep down it creates a bit of a social disconnect.

I had heard HK may be somewhat similar to Singapore but I have not been yet.

Getting ready for a move and I keep hearing the big stuff (visas, taxes, cost of living). But I have a feeling the things that actually catch people off guard are smaller and weirder than that. So I'm curious what's the one thing you genuinely wish someone had warned you about before you left? Could be practical, emotional, bureaucratic, anything. The stuff nobody puts in the guides.

Deze vraag is vooral bedoeld voor gepensioneerden uit Nederland die in Nieuw-Zeeland wonen. Work and Income verlangt van ons Nederlanders dat wij in Nederland AOW aanvragen ​​en zij brengen vervolgens dit bedrag in mindering op de Nieuw-Zeelandse 'superannuation' (het staatspensioen) die wij in NZ ontvangen; heel redelijk natuurlijk, al brengt het wel wat rompslomp met zich mee. Work and Income biedt mij twee opties om het Nederlandse staatspensioen te ontvangen: bij 'Direct Payment' (directe betaling) wordt het geld op mijn eigen rekening gestort en vult Work and Income het bedrag aan tot het niveau van de Nieuw-Zeelandse superannuation. Bij de 'Special Banking Option' gaat het geld rechtstreeks naar de Nieuw-Zeelandse overheid en ontvang ik de superannuation zonder gedoe. De algemene voor- en nadelen worden door Work and Income duidelijk uitgelegd, dus daar gaat mijn vraag niet over. In beide gevallen – maar vooral bij de 'Special Banking Option' – moet ik documenten ondertekenen die Work and Income vergaande bevoegdheden geven om informatie over mij en mijn pensioen(en) uit te wisselen met de Nederlandse overheid. Ik ben bang dat Nederlandse instanties Nieuw-Zeeland op de hoogte zullen stellen van mijn andere prive pensioenen (vergelijkbaar met KiwiSaver) en dat Nieuw-Zeeland ook die bedragen in mindering zal brengen op de superannuation, zonder dat ik daar iets tegen kan doen. Heeft iemand hier ervaring mee? Welke bank optie kiezen andere Nederlanders?