re: Working abroad: Anybody done it, and where are the best spots?

I asked about languages not because of the employment angle, but rather the daily life thing. English only with no plans to acquire functional language skills can make for a miserable (or at least needlessly difficult) time if living in a place where English isn’t a second language for most of the population. How will you communicate with your landlord? With a plumber for a backed up drain? With your next door neighbor, or the butcher at the shop down the street? It’s easy enough to find English speakers for the major stuff (doctor, lawyer, etc)....but you will miss out on the genuine daily interactions of a place.

HK or Ireland are fine for an English only speaker. I’d pick Ireland any day over HK—that incredibly dense living is not for me. I can’t live in a high-rise.

You don’t mention weather as a consideration.....some ppl just can’t take a Northern European winter (gray skies, limited daylight). If I were picking, it would be Mediterranean. English is an official language of Malta; it’s a ferry ride from Sicily, Tunisia, mainland Italy.....