Jwaltz

I have been to GOA in India..definately good place to live...

phil01

Hi
NEW ZEALAND! No question has everything a family could want.
Deb

Pasty Scot

This has been very interesting reading for me. I will look in to Dubai and Chile a bit more. Hadn't considered those before.
I too am looking to escape the uk, for a little while at least. The problem is where is the best place to go? I am a single parent, with one 11 year old and a cat who will soon have his own passport.
I would like to stay somewhere coastal, with low crime (so I believe that rules out the Spanish Costas). Not too worried about money, or making too much of a living to begin with. Must be warmer than the north of Scotland, which shouldn't be difficult. Would like British/International schools though.
A big shopping list. Can anyone make any suggestions?

happynz

Montevideo, Uruguay or Waimea, Big Island Hawai'i. How's that?

The Weezer

I would have to agree, although I've only travelled there but never
lived. Quite the most stunning places. And surprisingly clean and
safe. And very open to outsiders.

From reading the posts in other forums, people also seem enjoy life in Australia. Depends what you're looking for.

Here are some statistics on expatriates throughout the world
from the OECD. It can give you an idea of how many people leave
each country to find a better life, or more job opportunities.

I currently live in New Zealand and do not recommend it, except like
any other place in world, for a vacation. The cost of living is high,
and the wages low. And it does not compare to the
southern parts of Chile or Argentina for sheer beauty and variety of
landscapes. And, you might be surprised by this, is not as clean
as you'd think. The OECD statistics reveal that many New Zealanders
leave home to look for a better life.

http://www.oecd.org/document/51/0,23..._1_1_1,00.html

Pasty Scot

Thanks for your replies. I will need to do a lot of research I think. Sorry to hear NZ is not going well. Have a friend in Mount Maunganui who loves it.

terie

For enjoying life with the kids I found no better place than the Philippines.
First we were able to buy a house with a huge garden, I mean so huge that we needed two cows to graze the 10.000 sq.m lawn, for a bargain. I was an expat in the Middle east before and everything, especially labour, was so cheap in the Philippines. I loved building things there!

First thing we did was build a pool, where the children could splash to cool off. With so many house helpers, the only time you have with the children is quality time.
As a result we are very close to our children.

For schooling, however, we preferred New Zealand and so we moved on after 8 years. Our house in Cebu is now for rent for expats.

The children have grown up now, our son is still in University and our daughter is adventuring in Sweden...

qwerty007

Malaysia is fairly easy to get into and housing quite cheap, but fearful humidity, and some of the coast os polluted. Beautiful place though. Cyprus is quite nice if you don't mind an island. Plenty of expats, but housing is probably gooing up since I was there. I would avoid the north. Turkey has some cheap housing an good climate. Turks can be a little tricky sometimes ...haggling is a way of life. Belize and Panama both offer incentives for retirees, and Costa Rica is a favourite with Americans. Here's a link to a country guide http://www.expatfocus.com/expatriate-country-guides

Karenwhe

Wow, so many countries and places.

I personally have lived in the UK 4 years, Australia (Melbourne) 1, Israel 10, Romania, Czech Republic 1 year, been in South Africa in 1996 and then returned to live here in 2003.

Out of all the places I have lived in (visited more), the Czech Republic was the best. I think there are some 120,000 foreign residents living there that don't want to leave. I know someone from the UK that set up a company in Prague and is doing extremely well - she never wants to leave. She gets the best of worlds, cheap living, good business and the possibility to visit friends and family often.

Trade with the EU is easy, travel in Europe is easy, cheap and close, lots of customers, living expenses great at that time (2002).

The down side is school fees for English international school, they are expensive for the average salary. I work in IT so it was doable.

Australia is great, only one minor problem, very difficult to find jobs if you are not Australian, no matter how qualified. Heard of many sad stories around this issue, far less good stories.

I live now in South Africa and though I don't have what many call the “Fairy Land City” - Prague), the life style is great and if you know where to live - it is safe and if you don't get involved in politics (which I never do anyway) then everything is perfect.

In the job sector in SA you have to be an entrepreneur if you really want to have it great. Jobs are not a good sectors in SA for foreigners that are not relocated with a company directly to SA. For people that corporate career and a job is important, SA might be difficult.

However as opposed to Australia in South Africa there opportunities for business are huge (emerging markets). Without even fore planning or intention I opened 3 companies in 4 years all doing great. It is not expensive to do business in SA and you have to go with blinkers around to stop looking at opportunities, there are just too many.

qwerty007

I think the whole question of where is the best place to live is pretty subjective. The hardest thing to do is make a judgement based on a few criteria, and then pack your bags and move lock, stock and barrel to a place you have no connection to, other than stories you've heard. This life style is for adventurers, or the perennial traveller, or people who either need change, or are unsatiably curious, or perhaps are unsettled within themselves. If you are none of these, then following a 'connection' is the best route ...a job offer, a relative or friend, or cultural links. I was pilloried by a fellow countryman for suggesting that the UK was actually a good place to live. I felt justified in saying that, since I had left the UK and was able to make the comparison with other countries, but apparently, "...the country has gone to the dogs", which seems curious because my grandfather was always saying that.

Unless you really are a refugee, then it sometimes boils down to a making a change in your life to rekindle what many of us seem to lose in life ...interest, motivation, and adventure. So another way to look at this whole issue may be to cast aside the question about where is the best place to live (because there really isn't anywhere), and focus on the 'experience' factor. What could you gain from the experience of living is such and such a place? That will open new horizons. It doesn't have to be your sole driving force, but it helps get around the inevitable 'comparisons' scenario.

Pasty Scot

Hi all
I have kind of agreed with qwerty007. I have decided just to make a move within the UK for the time being (probably Edinburgh) and go on a few trips to reccie other areas. Thats the problem when the world is your oyster - too many places to go!
Perhaps its just a slight change of scene thats needed to shake things up a bit. Got too caught up in the rat race, too scared to make a change, but I now refuse to be a prisoner to my mortgage. I'm off.

qwerty007

Good for you Patsy and Good Luck!

BigWilly

So where have you decided to go.......?

willyontour

This is an incredibly interesting thread. I've also lived in a few places - England, Australia and Israel. And I've backpacked all over the world. My wife and I are now looking at moving from Melbourne to somewhere in Africa. I notice there's no mention of Africa (other than South Africa) anywhere on this thread. Is that due to safety and health issues?

I appreciate the living somewhere and traveling somewhere are very different propositions but we fell in love with Africa - it's people, colour, soul, passion, energy, animals and nature. There are english speaking countries all across Africa.

Does anyone have any opinion on emigrating to a developing African country?

We don't have any kids at the mo but things may change in a couple of years...

uk+kiwi

I agree. I love Africa, having lived there as a child and now having been back as an adult. I just can't describe the feeling I have for it, but your use of the word 'soul' was spot on. My last trip, about 10 years ago now though, was to Namibia.

Can't help with living there now though. Not sure I would consider raising children there (schools? but then again, it really depends what kind of upbringing you would like them to have and what's important) but I do wish I'd tried to live there for a while when I was still in my 20's, pre children, for the experience again.

Good luck. Let us know how it goes.