Have you ever moved countries? Best place to live?

[RicoBandito]

I’ve always had this dream about living somewhere else besides for the US, and I’m currently curious about what it’s like to live in another country.
What is it like where you live? Is it expensive? Did you move there from somewhere else?

Backstory a little:
Partner and I started looking online for places to live outside of the US, and the homes/places we saw were so amazing, and seemed like more reasonably priced than the States. We browsed a little in the UK, Scotland, Australia, and Ireland. The cost of living is so high where we are in the US, so the idea of getting more for our money is a priority. Also happiness level! These places seem so beautiful. We love nature and are very connected to it. Ultimate goal would be to live off the grid somewhere. I love to garden and grow my own food, and my partner has hunted before. Places like that in the US are ridiculously expensive.
I would guess we have to get some sort of citizenship to move to these places. We both have jobs that are in the trades category. My partner is a person of many hands on trades including home improvement. I am in the service industry/education of my trade.

I know we would need to visit, boots on the ground vibe first, but I wanted to hear from others their experiences and thoughts!
Please feel free to share! I would love to read!
Edit to add. We also have no children, and do not plan on them. We have friends and family here, but the family live states away and we do not see them often. We moved to where we currently are back about 7 years ago. So leaving family and friends is not an issue. We are the adventurous type, and moved to where we currently are on a whim after visiting here.

[Foxglove]

I've never been to Australia/UK/Scotland unfortunately, but as a US -> Canada transplant I can't particularly recommend Ontario, Canada xD
Living & housing costs are at a dystopian high and the salaries here are very low. My husband and I would each be earning *at least* 3x our salaries if we moved back to my hometown. (We're planning to leave to go back to my hometown within the next 3 years.)

[RicoBandito]

Oh my goodness! I had a friend once that lived in Canada, and she said pretty much the same thing! I looked at apartments up there and was shocked about the prices for some compared to usd! Good luck to you with your move back!

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It’s expensive where we are. We get paid a decent amount, higher than where we were originally from. We don’t quite live paycheck to paycheck, but the cost of living here is ridiculously high. So it’s kinda like we do

[Aero]

My family moves sooooo often people ask me if I'm a military or diplomat kid but I'm not! We have done Europe -> USA -> Singapore -> Canada -> USA (not to mention cities within the US), and since I've been working, I myself have done USA -> Europe -> Canada -> Europe and will be moving back to Canada again shortly but hopefully not for longer than I have to be there...

The hardest thing about moving is getting the visa which you've mentioned. Depending what trades you're in you could check if it's a shortage position (e.g. certain engineering fields are often in shortage in Canada, farming in NZ I believe is another one).

Another thing you should also know is that America has some of the highest salaries, even when compared to living costs, in the developed world. It's why so many people want to emigrate to the USA! As an example, I took a 30% paycut to move to Germany from the US, and I would have taken an equal amount in cuts to move to Canada. This super sucks for Canada because the most desirable cities are also absurdly expensive to live in (read: Vancouver, Toronto). In Europe, depending on which city, this might be OK... for example, if you are currently living in NYC, it can cost 3K+ for a studio-1BR (I do NOT miss living in NYC lol) but for much less you can get a 1BR in Paris even while making 50% less... but in London, you might not get much more for any less, which is kind of awful.

Good luck with your move! Living abroad-- and even moving to a new place-- is so enriching and I recommend everyone try it at least once.

[RicoBandito]

@(you need an account to see links) oh my goodness thank you for the info! Where we live now our home is about 3k a month. So comparable to NYC but it’s a home not an apartment. That’s cool you have lived so many places! Definitely I need to see what our careers are needed and where! Farming is something we could do, and my partner is a general handyman with a lot of skill sets like electrical and plumbing- he knows a little carpentry/general tinkering too. We would be looking for more rural areas vs cities.
You have traveled so much! I’m in awe of that! Did you have a lot of things to move with you? We are thinking we would sell most of everything, including vehicles. I think for us it will be at least 5 years before we can make the jump. I have an older elderly father that lives some states away, but it would be even harder to get back to where he is in case anything happens that I would need to make a quick trip to where he is
Edit to add it looks like our careers are in high demand in all the places we looked, so that’s good!

[infestedvirus]

I have. Best decision ever. If you can work remotely, I recommend cheaper countries to have the -rich- feeling... For me, it was life changing.

[Aero]

@(you need an account to see links) oh my goodness thank you for the info! Where we live now our home is about 3k a month. So comparable to NYC but it’s a home not an apartment. That’s cool you have lived so many places! Definitely I need to see what our careers are needed and where! Farming is something we could do, and my partner is a general handyman with a lot of skill sets like electrical and plumbing- he knows a little carpentry/general tinkering too. We would be looking for more rural areas vs cities.
You have traveled so much! I’m in awe of that! Did you have a lot of things to move with you? We are thinking we would sell most of everything, including vehicles. I think for us it will be at least 5 years before we can make the jump. I have an older elderly father that lives some states away, but it would be even harder to get back to where he is in case anything happens that I would need to make a quick trip to where he is
Edit to add it looks like our careers are in high demand in all the places we looked, so that’s good!

That's great! Having in-demand skills will be really helpful for getting a visa for the emigration process I watched a news piece a few years ago that mentioned that electricians and plumbers are always so in demand!

I'm lucky that I've always mostly rented furnished places, and when I didn't, I was close enough to be able to bring my stuff back to my parents in SoCal via moving truck. I usually move with just my (absurd) amount of clothes and shoes, which take up a small suitcase + 2 check ins! I leave everything I don't use anymore at my parents' lol xD When I was younger, my parents would just sell their stuff and drive the car to the next place, or twice my mum's company paid for moving our furniture. But our furniture is/was kind of crappy, so maybe it's just better to start afresh and decorate a new place!! Wishing you the best of luck with everything-- you'll have to let us know where you end up

[Charmander]

I cannot add too much for this in regards to suggestions other than feeling the pain here in Canada where both my husband and I have very well paying jobs but the cost of loving is just decimating our paycheques We have also been playing they with idea of relocating as well. So I am also enjoying all the feedback here.

We have toyed with potentially England since I have dual citiizenthsip so being able to get a job and relocate would be a bit more simple. But moving to the US is also an option as well. It's hard since we would be moving away from both our families, but on the other hand quality of life could be much improved!

[RicoBandito]

@(you need an account to see links) unfortunately I don’t think the working remotely would work for us, unless I found a different company to work for but that’s an idea!!
@(you need an account to see links)
Your posts have been so helpful! Thank you! I’ll be sure to let you know where we end up! It’ll be a while. My mom who is retired wants to come along with us and that will make the process harder for her to get a citizenship.

[RicoBandito]

@(you need an account to see links)
I wish you luck! I’m glad my thread is helping you too! Canada is so pretty, and really neat, so I see why it would be hard to leave. That and family too. Have you moved away from them before? It was hard at first, but it gets easier! And people love to visit!