Relocation relocation

[cash ninja]

This is a bit long winded so bear with me. I know we have quite an international presence on here so I should (hopefully) be able to canvass opinions from a few different locations.

I am currently UK based and full time employed. I am in the process of working out my notice period of 1 month before I switch to being full time self-employed(ish)

I've done some calculations and I can afford to live (without earning) for about 6 months on the money I have set aside, provided I am really careful.


However, I have managed to secure a couple of sources of income that will bring in a bit of extra cash each month but nothing compared to what my full time income is at the moment. On top of that, I am going to increase my efforts working on my various projects that I have got going with the intention of bringing more income from them.
I've tried to structure it in such a way that I can do the majority of work I will be doing in my new venture on line.


What I am considering doing is relocating somewhere where the cost of living is cheaper than it is here in the UK. That obviously gives me a lot of options, so to narrow it down it would have to be somewhere with good, reliable, affordable internet and communications links (to allow me to continue working). I would like it to be somewhere with decent weather because I am truly sick of the weather in this country. I love scuba diving, so somewhere I can do that would definitely be a plus, especially as I am a qualified DM and could potentially dive for free, if not get paid for it. I am not averse to learning a new language, although this would obviously present additional challenges at first.


Any suggestions from you guys? This idea is still in its nascent stages at the moment and I am just starting to put the feelers out. Kay - I get the impression you might already be doing something similar? I know that you run an expat forum. Is this the kind of thing I could get help with on over there?


I have lived in/travelled to places such as Thailand, most of Southern Africa, OZ, NZ, etc in the past.

I am discounting OZ and NZ because the cost of living is too high. Africa interests me but my concerns there are the communication links.

I'm considering the possibility of southern Europe - I've been to Spain numerous times but don't speak too much Spanish. Is a Brit moving to Spain too much of a cliché though? Perhaps Portugal? Living in the EU would have a number of advantages such as not having to worry about visas, being able to get back to the UK quickly if I needed to but the scuba diving might not be great.


Thoughts? Feelings? (Apart from telling me I've lost the plot of course!)

I forgot to ask, does any one know of any good on line resources where I can find out things like the cost of living in a particular location, the reliability of internet access, etc? I spent a couple of months in Thailand a few years ago and whilst I know it's cheap over there I'm not sure what getting access to internet would be like.

[Clinton]

Great topic for discussion.

I saw your post and had a strange deja vu. But I can't find the previous thread on the subject. Maybe it's in the VIP Lounge. But I did find this one if it's of any use.

[Nidec]

Property in Greece is very cheap at the moment, no surprise there, but there is a slight chance they may leave the Euro, if not the EU

[Bryan]

If there's one thing that I've learnt having lived in quite a few different countries, it's that there is no "one size fits all" and what one person considers a paradise can easily be a complete hole to another one.

What I can do, though, is give you a quick overview of the main positives and negatives of some of the places I've lived in or travelled to a lot - including Cyprus and some Eastern European countries - in comparison to the UK.

I won't do this right now as I need to run out in a moment but will try and remember to come back to the thread in a day or two.

[Chabrenas]

I have long been friends with a couple who live on the Greek island of Karpathos. I've just sent a query to them on LinkedIn asking how good their broadband is. If I get a positive response, I'll introduce you if you're interested.

[TheodoreK]

Property in Greece is very cheap at the moment, no surprise there, but there is a slight chance they may leave the Euro, if not the EU

This is true, property is very cheap right now in GR but the cost of living is steadily increasing (more taxes, increasing gas prices etc) and there is a palpable anti-EU xenophobia in the air.

I would pick Cyprus or Bulgaria over Greece right now. Cypriots have a very positive disposition towards Brittons and Bulgaria is honestly just like GR right now (state corruption et all) but a lot cheaper to live in.

[cash ninja]

thanks for the feedback so far guys. I'm not averse to being nomadic for a while until I find somewhere I like, although that would obviously incur additional travel costs.
I haven't got sufficient budget to be buying property (not initially at least) so I would be renting.
I want to avoid anywhere with too much bureaucracy or dodgy officials because they can make it hard to do business which is why, as much as I would love to go back, I'm not sure whether anywhere in sub-Saharan Africa would be a good idea initially.

I hadn't even thought about Cyprus to be honest and someone on another forum mentioned Croatia as a possibility. My concern about Greece is the turmoil there and the risk of the country spiralling into hyperinflation that would make it very difficult to get by.

[Kay]

Any suggestions from you guys? This idea is still in its nascent stages at the moment and I am just starting to put the feelers out. Kay - I get the impression you might already be doing something similar? I know that you run an expat forum. Is this the kind of thing I could get help with on over there?

Yes, that's pretty much what I do. I started a blog about the subject:
http://experienced-people.net/forums...oducing-Plan-B

and

http://experienced-people.net/forums...-Plan-B-person

As I said in the blog postings, there's an awful lot of red tape to go through if you want to live in Thailand. The visa rules are changing all the time too, which makes things even more difficult. I know several people who've just said "Stuff it. It's just got too difficult." They mostly go to Cambodia or Vietnam. Same region, similar climate and similar cost of living depending on what area you're in. I wouldn't recommend Thailand to anyone these days. Sure, there are people who are long-term residents but most of them are guys married to Thai women and they get their visas for being married to a Thai. Malaysia is pretty good but it's much more expensive and it's not easy to get a bacon sarnie.

I don't know if my website would be able to help you or not. Have a look and decide for yourself. Meanwhile, please do read my Plan B blog because it talks about the issues in general terms. Is what you're planning to do doable? Yes. Definitely it is. But you need to go into it with your eyes open, which won't be a problem for someone as smart as you are.

On the subject of being an expat, Malta is one of the most popular destinations for our expat site visitors. It's in the EU (for now) so working isn't an issue. It's a bit cheaper than the UK. The climate is generally better, although it gets cold in the winter. It's in the Med, so there's probably opportunities for diving. There's an over-supply of properties, so renting accommodation should be cheap. I'm not recommending it to you, just saying that it's somewhere worth considering.

[cash ninja]

Thanks Kay. I mentioned Thailand more as an example because of having been there before but I'm not sure that I specifically want to go there. I know a lot of people work there illegally in the dive industry, on tourist visas and do visa runs every couple of months to extend their stays. Not just Thailand either but Indonesia and various other dive locations that rely on Western dive guides and instructors to service the tourist industry.

I'm not necessarily looking to get a job working wherever I go, really what I want to do is reduce my living expenses enough to make the money that I've got put aside go further in combination with the money that I am making online, whilst hopefully increasing that income. If I can also use my various skills (diving, IT, etc) to do a bit of work on top of that and bring in some extra cash, then that's a bonus but I'm aware that it can be a legal minefield. If I can dive for free, then I'd be happy

I know, for example in Botswana (I don't want to go live there) you can get work permits by setting up your own business and making yourself a director of the company - you just have to 'invest' a certain amount of money in order to do that.

I've set out on this road now anyway, having decided to take the plunge and pack in my job. I'm looking at it as a social experiment, if you like with me as the guinea pig. I have two options, I can stay living in the UK, eking out a living on the money I've put aside and the income I manage to pull in, or I can go somewhere cheaper, warmer and with more tropical diseases and do it from there!

[Kay]

Any 'advice' I could possibly give you will inevitably be biased by where I've been and where I know. However, if I were in your position, I would be looking at Phnom Penh (PP). Cambodia is a wonderful country despite its tragic history. And they're not so darned freaky about foreigners working there. I know several people who wouldn't bother with Thailand any more because of all the visa nonsense and they'll quite happily settle into Cambodia. Many have left Thailand and gone to Cambodia. In my experience, the standard of English is better there too. It's more modern than you might expect.

There's diving down in Sihanoukville (I've never been there), and a dive centre - divecambodia .com

It might suit you. Internet isn't a problem at all in PP. I don't know the costs of longer term accommodation, three months upwards but I can easily find out or give you a contact.