Alright now that I shared my awesome new job, I can finally share with you how moving abroad is going.
Currently I'm at "OH GOD OH NO WHERE SHOULD I MOVE TO AND WHAT IF I CHOOSE WRONG AAAH" 😭😭😭😭😭
Also it's nice having an empty house.
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@Gina I lived in Sicily in the 1980s. I loved the place and the people. The food was magnificent. The base I worked at in Comiso is now an airport. There are also airports in Palermo and Catania. They have mountains, beaches and wonderful scenery. I have no idea what tech community is there now. It seemed like the pace was slower there than on the mainland. Also, you're on an island. Island fever is a thing.
@yashpheh have you heard of Belgium's taxes? 💀
@Gina Oh, so you've already started getting rid of furniture etc? Ah, that's why you were so annoyed with online marketplace stuff 😂
@graves501 yeah selling my stuff on Marketplace has been "fun". 🤢
@Gina Passion of the Gina, coming to the cinemas soon. Directed by Mel Gibson.
@Gina if you play an instrument, now is the time to play really loudly! 😄
I'm making this a "move abroad" thread for today. If it gets annoying know that there's an option to mute someone for a few hours or a day :)
Okay so, I'm still not 100% sure whether I'm making the right choice. I always thought I'd end up in a nice farm house in France, but because of tax reasons France is not an option. And because of weather reasons the whole of Northern Europe isn't an option 🌧
So it basically comes down to Spain 🇪🇸 or Italy. 🇮🇹
Edit: I'm staying in Europe to minimise timezone differences.
@Gina is france different than other EU countries tax wise?
@Gina Portugal fits a lot of this too 😁
@Gina Italy for food reasons 😄
@Gina the north of Spain is awesome and feels like the perfect balance in terms of weather and nature
@ryzokuken I'm considering visiting Bilbao and San Sebastian in september. Does it really rain all the time there? 🥲
@Gina The area of "Campo de Turia" is nice, and near Valencia in Spain. Small towns but around 25km from the city and close to the airport
It doesn't help that I'm a snobby little Goldilocks that is searching for a place that feels "just right" based on:
- sunny and coastal
- green nature
- access to outdoor sports
- a tech community around
- an expat community that is not retirees
- generally educated populace around
- indoor sports such as a bouldering hall, crossfit gym and yoga studio
- able to buy a house with a garden for max €500k.
- within 1.5 hrs of an international airport
- mountains would be cool
@Gina What about Berlin/Brandenburg? 😅 except mountains it sounds like Brandenburg. 😎 many lakes around. Something like Spreewald?
@Gina we'd both choose very differently but it's so fun to see a friend with this exciting choice/adventure in front of them 😀 🫶
@Gina that sounds like an interesting optimization problem😉
I would use a map and a drawing compass instead of a spreadsheet to make it fun
@Gina Croatia: Zagreb or Split (or Pula , Rijeka, Zadar)
@Gina
Now, all that is screaming "Australia", but then you mentioned time difference being a thing. Ah well, you're stuck with Europe. I have some sympathy. I had planned to follow some of my in-laws to Australia when I left the Navy. Then life got in the way.
@Gina Try Granada.
@Gina If it weren't for Brexit, I would seriously consider moving back to Wales. Doesn't quite tick all the boxes, but a majority of them.
@Gina Aside from the house prices, Switzerland (I was in Lausanne) ticks those boxes.
Across the lake is still lovely (Evian), but you mentioned France was out.
@Gina Galicia or Basque Country should fit that description for the most part. I'm totally biased but check out A Coruña 😇
@Gina If a lot of us pool our resources, maybe we can start a new tech community somewhere nice 😅
@Gina Slovenia might have some spots that tick these boxes?
Also, it will never suck more than moving houses does, because if it does... You can just move houses again. So the risk of taking the leap is limited.
And who knows? Maybe you'll end up with newfound appreciation of the Netherlands? 😅
A lot of this is contradictory as well.
I.e. wanting green nature around while having debilitating hay fever. Wanting a tech community around while not wanting to live in a big city. Able to buy a house with a garden for max €500k while close to an international airport 🤦🏼♀️
Basically I want Bern without winter and hay fever, but it also has to be affordable. Sigh.
You know what else doesn't help? Italy 🇮🇹 being beautiful, but every Italian expat in Amsterdam that I've ever met saying they hate it and that they would never recommend anyone to move there 🥲
On the other hand, Spain 🇪🇸 is awesome but has an insane housing crisis atm. Also unbearably hot in most places.
Well, I'm not helping by saying that Sofia ticks all of these. 😁
But also:
- rather smoggy during winter;
- currently has pro-russian government, Radev is like Orban from Temu;
- not very bike friendly;
- the house with the garden won't really be in the town
- coastal is 300km away (closest in Thessaloniki, Burgas is 360km away);
- 2k high inactive volcano bordering the city, but still a mountain. :)
@Gina Ik zou gaan voor Scheveningen ;)
@Gina What about Greece? TZ shouldn't be thaaaat bad.
Oh oh. Croatia coast?
@Gina Valencia or Málaga tick all the boxes.
@Gina Know thyself 😜
@Gina Well, that fits perfectly for #luxembourg !
The coastal part can be arranged, the problem is the 500k house with garden....That's the price tag for a decent 90m2 appartement. But hey, its Luxembourg ! 🙈😀
@Gina I think that only exists in virtual reality.
In real life, sunny & coastal places with all those requirements are going to be hyperexpensive and still burning down every third year, have two months of drought alternating with floods or get wiped out by the increasingly angry oceans before they get a chance to sink under them.
You might have to compromise. A lot :)
@Gina As a retiree bound for Spain after nearly 2 years of research, this actually seems do-able.
FWIW, the advice I keep getting is emphatically "Learn to speak Spanish as quickly as possible"
@Gina this is how i imagine greece. (:
@Gina haven't lived in either, just have my tourist experiences where I always go Italy over Spain. Then again, that is mostly cities, if you had a farmhouse in mind you would propably go more rural. And while I always fall for the charm of Italy, the difference in temperament to me feels like 'pittig' vs 'lief'.
I did a railroad trip with my son a couple of years ago, Milan, Rome and Lugano. Was pleasantly surprised with the atmosphere in Milan. Also love Rome but it is farther away.
@Gina if you can afford to leave most of your things in a warehouse I would go mobile for a year and stay 2 or 3 months on each country and if possible on different cities. In Spain changing province can feel like changing country social and climate-wise.
If it’s for timezone I would also explore options from Egypt to Morocco. The Atlantic coast is amazing.
Also Spain and Italy have heatwave issues, I would look for northern mountain areas. Ivrea is delightful.
@itorres I have two cats to haul around 🥲 So I kind of just want to find the place and move once.
@Gina what about Portugal or Croatia?
@kattekrab both solid options, more Croatia than Portugal.
@Gina is it the rain or also darkness that you’re trying to avoid? Cause Stockholm is quite sunny and with quite little rain tbh :)
@deach if Stockholm didn't have endless dark winters I'd move there in a heartbeat. In fact I almost moved there during my 2nd year of Uni in Amsterdam. Beautiful city.
For Spain beware of past (and present) corruption that led to building construction on top of seasonal streams, that often run dry for years until they don’t, slamming everything on their path with a 5-meter tsunami wave. We call them “riera” (plural “rieres”), also “barranc” (or “barranco” in Spanish).
If you are looking for a place with good food, proximity to both mountains and sea, and many sunny days, the city of Girona (and nearby towns) is hard to beat. Likewise but with less sun, and directly on the coast, Donosti.
@albertcardona I'm going to Girona this Friday!! 😁
Edit: I'm viewing houses around Girona, in Platja D'Aro and outside of Barcelona. Barcelona itself is way too big and busy for me (plus I don't want to contribute to the insane housing crisis there), so hopefully Girona is nice.
@Gina
Moving southwards should be easy, most of the population is moving north to escape the heat 🫣
@koehntopp and the wildfires.
@Gina
