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So you’ve decided to take the plunge and emigrate. Congratulations! Your next question should be how are you going to make your move a success?
Many people decide to emigrate in order to provide a better quality of life for themselves and their family – the thought of year-round sunshine, more time with loved ones, different leisure opportunities. But whatever your motivations, it is crucial you put yourself in the best financial position possible if you are to get off to a good start in your new country. And to do that, you need to give serious thought and planning to the issue of currency exchange.
OK, so it may not seem as fun as researching all about the sun, sea and sand you can look forward to enjoying. But getting a good currency exchange rate can make a huge difference to the success of your move. And if it helps maximise the budget you have to spend on your dream home abroad that has to be time well spent.
Getting the biggest bang for your buck
For some people, currency exchange may be a key factor in their choice of destination. For instance, countries in Asia, Africa and Eastern Europe with relatively weak currencies can offer great opportunities to make your savings go further.
Alternatively, among those soon-to-be-expats who have already picked their dream location, the issue will be more a matter of how to get the most from your money.
Take buying property abroad. For many expats it means exchanging your savings into the local currency of the country to where you are moving. Exchanging large amounts can be an expensive exercise though, and isn’t to be taken lightly. Therefore, many expats employ a foreign exchange broker to guide them through the process. Others simply bide their time, research the currency market, and exchange when the rate is particularly favourable.
Money matters
Foreign exchange rates are a huge factor when moving abroad – so make sure you address it as soon as possible in the decision making process.
The best advice is to do your research thoroughly. If you want help, consider using a foreign exchange broker. And if not, ensure you shop around to get the best exchange rate possible.
Tags: Abroad, Africa, Asia, broker, budget, buy, country, currencies, currency, destination, emigrate, Europe, exchange, expat, family, financial, Foreign, home, leisure, life, location, love, market, money, move, moving, property, quality, rate, saving, success, sun
If you’re considering moving abroad then you want to do it right from the off. Your happiness depends on it. And that means making sure you head for a destination that best meets all YOUR requirements.
So here are some of the key issues to contemplate when deciding where to live:
1) Education
For any parents, the quality of education available to their children – whether in the local state system, a private institution or at an international school – has to be a crucial factor.
If a country’s educational options are poor, think again. Your child’s future is too important.
2) Language
Which languages do you speak? Where in the world will you find it easiest to integrate, and feel most comfortable living, as a result? Which languages will prove most beneficial to your prospects going forward?
At the gates of my daughter’s school here in Britain I hear many foreign accents. One big attraction for these parents of raising their children in the UK is the English fluency they are achieving. As the world’s dominant business language at present that will stand them in good stead in the years to come.
3) Quality of life
Definitions of quality of life vary from person-to-person. But common considerations include the location’s relative cost of living, the climate, career opportunities and earning potential, access to leisure activities, the country’s political freedoms and cultural mores.
For instance, the UK is renowned for its high cost of living and poor weather. However, HSBC’s latest Expat Explorer Survey[1] ranked it the top country for entertainment, and reported that it is an easy place for expats to integrate.
The important thing is to determine which quality of life factors matter most to you.
4) Social network
It is great to have family support and contact. Yet for many people living abroad often means having to do without that.
In such situations, it is important to be in a location where there are plenty of opportunities to develop a strong circle of friends who can offer emotional support, and with whom you can share the good times.
5) Future prospects
Looking ahead, what sort of life will your location offer?
Does it hold out the prospect of attractive career opportunities, for you and any children you may have?
If you are considering retirement there, is it affordable? What sort of social life can you expect? How do the healthcare system, and healthcare costs, stack up?
Answer these crucial questions before you leave home and you have a much better chance of finding happiness and contentment when you arrive.
[1] Expat Experience is the second of three reports from HSBC’s 2010 Expat Explorer research series,
http://www.offshore.hsbc.com/1/2/international/expat/expat-survey/expat-experience-report-2010
Tags: Abroad, Britain, business, career, child, climate, comfort, cost, country, destination, earn, Education, English, entertainment, expat, explore, Foreign, freedom, friend, happiness, health, home, HSBC, integrate, Language, leisure, live, living, location, moving, parent, politic, prospect, quality, Retirement, School, survey, UK, weather, world
I have just started reading Andre Agassi’s autobiography, Open.
The book starts with Agassi playing his last tournament before retiring, the 2006 US Open.
He is in New York with his wife, tennis superstar Steffi Graf, and their two young children. For the duration of the tournament the family stay in a suite at the Four Seasons hotel in Manhattan. A “lovely suite,” he says, yet it remains another of those places that are what he terms “Not Home.”
Rather, home is Las Vegas. For all the evident pain of his childhood, the constant pushing of his father and resulting hatred of his profession, Agassi remains wedded to the city where he was born and raised.
Relocating for love
As a result, it is Germany’s Steffi Graf who has made the move abroad.
Like any relationship where the partners hail from different countries, one or other has to give up their homeland. For some that may be a welcome move. For others, a painful sacrifice. Yet if they are to survive as a unit there is no other option.
I’m no trained relationship counsellor, so I’m not trying to be an Agony Uncle on this. But over the years I have seen a lot of couples wrestle with this location issue, with varying degrees of success. Some have continued happy and strong. Others, unfortunately, have not.
So what lessons can these sporting idols offer?
1) Knowing the lingo
Graf has perfect English, which is a huge benefit.
Knowing or learning the local language is crucial when moving abroad. But it is even more important when moving to a partner’s country. Seeing as they will be jabbering away with extended family and friends in that tongue, you must be able to join in if you don’t want to get isolated socially.
2) Partner’s understanding
The home country native also has responsibilities, not least to ensure they include their partner.
That means taking them places, introducing them to friends, giving them the freedom and opportunity to make their own social circle and interact with it, supporting them through any bouts of loneliness and homesickness. Understanding and support will be critical to prevent/repair any divisions.
3) Affirm the decision
Why did Agassi and Graf settle in Las Vegas, rather than Germany or somewhere else?
Both partners need to be clear about why they have picked that particular location, rather than another.
You need to decide why, on balance, your choice of town/country offers the best quality of life for all concerned. Why does it have to be that person’s home, rather than the other way round?
If you aren’t both in agreement on this point, resentment and subsequent rupture can easily result.
4) Love-all
It’s a book, so there is always potential for the writer to put a gloss on things. Nevertheless, what comes through in Agassi’s autobiography is evidence of a couple that adore each other.
Staying together in a long-term relationship is hard enough as it is. Trying to do it as an expat is next to impossible unless there are strong bonds of love, respect and friendship.
Ultimately, it is the love you have for each other that will keep you focused on what matters most, and get you through the inevitable difficulties arise.
Tags: Abroad, Agassi, Children, city, countries, country, couple, English, expat, family, freedom, friend, Germany, Graf, home, homesick, Language, Las Vegas, life, location, loneliness, love, Manhattan, move, moving, New York, partner, profession, quality, relationship, social, tennis, US
Do animals get grumpy?
Are there certain days when your cat or dog is more irritable than others? Do creatures in the wild go through mood swings? Or is it just humans?
I ask because I read this week about Cathal Morrow, an author living in Madrid. Back in June he embarked on a quest to live for a year without unhappiness, in an attempt to prove happiness is merely a state of mind.
As he writes on his blog, http://imhappyandiknowit.com/:
“What I’m attempting to live is my belief that happiness is entirely independent of the highs and lows of my little life, that it’s far bigger than me. That happiness is a permanent state for us all, if only we allow it to be.”
Being happy. We’re all looking for it, aren’t we?
Yet that appears to be the root of the problem. We’re searching for it, as if happiness is a destination that will be reached once we’ve got X, Y and Z in place.
Thanksgiving
It’s an important issue, brought into focus by this week’s Thanksgiving celebrations in the United States.
While it began as a festival giving thanks for the year’s harvest, Thanksgiving has since developed into a more general expression of gratitude.
And therein lies Mr Morrow’s secret to happiness – a determination to see the everyday brightness in life and be happy for it.
Seeking a better life
Which brings me to moving abroad.
Why is it so many people around the world – including millions of citizens in some of the most prosperous countries on the planet – want to relocate elsewhere?
For most people the interest is spurred by a desire to find a “better life,” whatever their definition may be.
Many are stirred by the potential benefits they hope to find by relocating – better weather, more leisure opportunities, lower living costs, attractive employment openings. Others see moving abroad as an escape from the unfulfilled lives they are living in their current location.
Finding Happiness
However, this desire for movement is not necessarily the path to happiness.
Yes, moving abroad can lead to a healthier, happier, richer life. But switching one country for another won’t by itself be enough. Ultimately it is an internal shift, rather than the external one, that leads to happiness and fulfilment.
Hence the importance of gratitude.
Rather than think about the things that are wrong with our lives, we should devote more attention to the things that are right.
It could be your health, or the health of your partner or children, the love of family, laughter with friends, the joy of a sunrise or waves on the beach, thanks for the food you have to eat.
Which isn’t to say you shouldn’t want to improve your current situation. It is human nature, one of the driving forces of evolution. But by stopping to give conscious thanks for those daily blessings we too often take for granted, the chances are you will be a happier person, wherever in the world you happen to find yourself.
Who could ask for a better life than that?
Tags: beach, Children, citizen, countries, country, destination, employment, family, festival, Food, friend, gratitude, happier, happiness, happy, harvest, health, leisure, life, living, location, Madrid, Moving Abroad, planet, relocate, sun, thank, Thanksgiving, United States, weather, world
What are your biggest worries about moving abroad?
Is it finding or settling in to a new job? Making your retirement savings stretch far enough to provide a decent quality of life? Having a healthcare system that is up to scratch? Getting your children into good schools?
According to Expat Experience[1], the latest report in HSBC’s Expat Explorer series, the top concerns keeping expats awake at night prior to relocating are:
- Being able to re-establish a social life (41%)
- Feeling lonely, and missing friends and family (34%)
The survey also found these worries affected female expats significantly more than men.
Meanwhile, missing family and friends is a particularly big concern for expats based in Australia (49%) and Canada (46%) – not surprising, since the majority were from the UK originally, and so the distances involved make regular face-to-face contact difficult.
Overcoming concerns
Such emotive issues have an obvious link – if you are worried about establishing a social life in your new destination then you are more likely to miss the existing network of family and friends you have back home.
On the flip side, if you can form strong friendships and develop a bustling (and satisfying) social life once you move abroad then you are less likely to be lonely and dwell on what you have left behind.
In short, once you land in your new location you have to make a concerted effort to get out, meet people, make friends and take advantage of whatever exciting lifestyle opportunities the country has to offer.
It’s not always easy to do. Sometimes you may have to force yourself to step out of your comfort zones. But the success of your expat venture depends on it.
[1] Expat Experience is the second of three reports from HSBC’s 2010 Expat Explorer research series,
http://www.offshore.hsbc.com/1/2/international/expat/expat-survey/expat-experience-report-2010
Tags: Abroad, Australia, Canada, Children, country, destination, expat, Expat Experience, Expat Explorer, family, female, friend, healthcare, home, HSBC, job, lifestyle, location, lonely, men, move, moving, quality of life, Retirement, School, social, survey, UK, worries
For any parent contemplating a move abroad, picking a location that offers their children a better quality of life now, and good opportunities for the future, will be a prime consideration.
On those criteria, the UK government’s newly-announced plan to increase university tuition fees has to be a black mark.
Under the policy, universities in England can charge as much as £9,000 per year in tuition fees – a steep rise from the £3,290 at present.
With the government having slashed funding for universities in its October Spending Review, it means many students are set to bear most of the cost of their courses. And that is in addition to the living expenses they already have to pay.
Some, inevitably, will be put off from attending university at all. Those that do go will either need affluent parents able to finance their education, or face a pile of debt at graduation.
Spanish Lessons
The comparative cost of university was a hot topic with some English friends we have just seen on a recent trip back to our former home in Spain.
Their daughter is due to finish her baccalaureate next summer, and is now weighing her options. If she were to go to the local university in Spain her parents would only have to pay for her books – approximately €1,000 a year. Back in the UK, by contrast, they could not afford to give their daughter the advantages a university qualification brings.
Mind you, there is a flipside: the countries’ relative job opportunities.
With unemployment soaring to over 20%, there is a big question as to what career prospects she would have in Spain post-graduation.
Tags: career, Children, debt, England, fee, Finance, government, job, location, move abroad, School, Spain, Spanish, student, tuition, UK, unemployment, university
So you’re moving abroad. You are filled with excitement about the prospects it offers, eager to see new places, meet new friends, pursue your dreams.
But what about the loved ones you leave behind? While you have a wealth of new opportunities and experiences to explore, all they will be left with are the memories of your lives together.
Transition Tips
No doubt they will feel your loss. Nevertheless, there are a few things you can do to make the process as painless as possible:
- Once you have decided to move, share it with your family and friends well in advance. It may take time for them to accept you are leaving, and some may try to discourage you. However, a calm approach will help. Tell them your reasons for moving, and explain the advantages you hope to achieve as a result.
- The days before you leave are bound to be hectic. You will get caught up in a whirlwind of shopping, packing, finalising insurance and visa arrangements, getting health checkups and a host of last minute details. As a result, you may not realise how quickly the days are flying. So don’t forget to spend quality time with your loved ones, especially your family, before you go.
- Try to maintain a cheerful environment while you are still at home. Avoid emotional discussions, and reminders that soon you won’t be there.
- The period after you leave home can be tough for both you and your family. Sudden bouts of loneliness may make you feel homesick, and leave them feeling sad at your absence and anxious for your safety. At these times you have to be the strong one, since it was your decision to move. So the moment you arrive, call to let your family know you are well.
- Once you reach your destination, keep yourself occupied. Get involved in your new life and location by settling into your new home, learn about your new environment, and start making friends.
- During your first few months in the country keep in touch with family and friends as often as you can, making sure you share with them all the details about the place and its people. The pleasure and relief on both sides from hearing each other’s voices is priceless. And because international calling is so cheap these days the cost is no longer a worry.
- You can stay connected too by writing emails to friends and family explaining what you did today, or by sending pictures of where you are.
- And for those friends and family back home who are not well-versed with the internet, why not write them a letter or send a postcard? It is sure to make their day.
Tags: cost, country, destination, dream, environment, experience, explore, family, fly, friend, go, health, home, homesick, insurance, international calling, internet, live, location, love, move, Moving Abroad, opportunities, people, place, safety, tip, transition, visa, wealth
A special treat today – I’m joined by fellow expat author Mike Harling, whose wonderfully-funny Postcards From Across the Pond is a must-read for anyone dreaming of a life abroad, wherever you are and wherever you may be going. Mike is finishing up his virtual tour promoting the book, so without further ado I’ll hand over. Mike …
Mike Harling - author of Postcards From Across the Pond
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Tags: Abroad, adventure, Australia, author, book, Britain, Canada, England, expat, Foreign, globe, life, location, Paul, Pond, publisher, Spain, Tenerife, tour, world
For many people Spain epitomizes the moving abroad dream: a country that offers the prospect of year-round sunshine, lower living costs and a more relaxed pace of life.
Not surprising then that year after year Spain has proven to be one of the most popular destinations for expatriates from around the world, with 10% of its 45 million population now made up of foreign nationals.
Yet the beneath the alluring sheen of the Mediterranean sun all is not well.
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Tags: costs, country, culture, currency, economy, euro, expatriates, Food, Foreign, lifestyle, living, location, Mediterranean, move, Moving Abroad, prices, property, recession, Spain, sunshine, unemployment, wine
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