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

I think living in Italy would be amazing. I know a guy with AP that moved his family to rural Italy a few years ago. They seem to be loving it.

What's cool about the two places you mentioned already is you can travel anywhere in their region for $100.

I think that's something to consider wherever you go.

My parents lived in the outskirts of Madrid, Getafe, for 18 months. They were maybe 5 metro stops from the center of the city.

Leaving behind a high school senior, my sister, and a college sophomore, was tough, but they loved it. That said, we grew up in a military family and it was the norm to be out of your comfort zone for awhile. I recommend it. It was an amazing way to grow up as a kid, it was an amazing place to visit as a young adult, and my parents loved it as professionals.

I only speak English and that's why South China Post is so intriguing because it's the English newspaper of record dating back to Colonial England days.


I would probably prefer Ireland, obviously because of the language and that's half my gentic heritage, but Hong Kong, for some reason, has really intrigued me recently.

I'm really looking into it now much mores seriously. I'm also looking at eastern Europe: Hungary, Croatia in particular, but the English speaking centric jobs in my field are not near as plentiful there.

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.....

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I think living in Italy would be amazing.

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Italy has some serious economic and quality-of-life issues. I know a lot of Americans consider it to be the quintessential European experience, but the truth is that Italy isn't doing so well. If not for Milan it would have the GDP of a third world country.

I've worked in Europe for 4 years now, but with a company, not as a freelancer. Language is the biggest factor. I speak enough now to get along, but it is still frustrating. My kids are now fluent, which is helpful . We travel a ton and have found the whole experience to be well worth it.
I'll be here for at least another year, but may try a new country for a shorter period before heading back while my kids are still young enough.

I worked in Luxembourg for a while. It made it easy to do some traveling around Europe.