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Your Moving Abroad Location Checklist

December 15, 2010 in Expat Locations, Moving Abroad Tips by Paul Allen | 1 comment

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

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Expats Top Concerns When Moving Abroad

November 16, 2010 in Integrating Abroad, Moving Abroad Tips by Paul Allen | 1 comment

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

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European Quality of Life Advantages Called Into Question

October 18, 2010 in Expat Advantages, Expat Locations, France, Living Abroad Pros and Cons by Paul Allen | No comments

So France has the best quality of life in Europe. Or at least that was the finding of a recent study by consumer comparison service uSwitch.com, as I highlighted in a recent posting[1].

I imagine the residents of France may be thinking something different as this week’s round of strikes and protests gets underway.

News reports say the strikes are set to widen to include a range of sectors, including road transport, energy, posts, telecommunications and public service. The industrial action has brought fears of fuel shortages as workers at oil refineries walk out, and rail chaos as train staff join in, threatening to bring the country to a standstill.

The protest has been spurred by moves to raise the minimum retirement age from 60 to 62, and the full retirement age from 65 to 67 years – a change that rather undercuts one of the advantages of French life highlighted by the uSwitch.com survey. The government claims it is needed to prevent the country’s pension deficit from spiralling out of control and threatening the system as a whole.

In total, Nicolas Sarkozy’s government has announced plans to cut spending by €45bn over the next three years in a bid to meet its budget deficit target.

 

Meanwhile Spain, which came second in the uSwitch.com quality of life rankings, has seen unemployment more than double (to about 20%) since 2007. In a bid to curb its budget deficit, the government is raising the top level of income tax and introducing a range of austerity measures for 2011 designed to cut spending by 8%.

Of course, the UK faces its own economic difficulties – as, for that matter, does the United States. But if you’re aiming to escape your home country’s problems and find a better quality of life by moving abroad, it’s important to remember the grass is not always greener on the other side.

[1] http://expatliving101.com/living-in-spain/what-quality-of-life-can-you-expect-abroad/

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What Quality of Life Can You Expect Abroad?

October 8, 2010 in Expat Advantages, Expat Locations, France, Living Abroad Pros and Cons, Living in Britain, Living in Spain by Paul Allen | 4 comments

We’ve long suspected it, and now it appears to be true – the French, those lucky blighters, have the best quality of life in Europe.

Or, at least, so says a new study by consumer comparison service uSwitch.com[1].

Its research examined 16 quality of life factors – such as net income, food and fuel costs, life expectancy and working conditions – across 10 European countries to see how they stacked up.

France emerged with the best overall score, followed by Spain. The UK came ninth, with Ireland propping up the bottom of the table.

The reason for the UK’s poor score, said uSwitch, included its high living costs, below average government spending on health and education, shortage of holiday entitlements, high retirement age and lack of sunshine.

France, by contrast, was found to have the lowest retirement age, the longest life expectancy and the highest healthcare spend.

Meanwhile, Spain benefited from low living costs (especially for alcohol and cigarettes!), the highest number of holidays (at 43 days per year) and most sunshine hours.

The firm went on to note that three in ten people in the UK believe now is a good time to emigrate[2]. Given the low quality of life it seems they can expect to enjoy, is it any wonder?

The Full Picture

Yet before everyone starts packing their bags for France and Spain, it is important to remember that while such surveys make for attention-grabbing headlines, they don’t show the full picture.

For instance, the uSwitch report gives no consideration to the countries’ current or expected economic growth rates. Or what about the 20% unemployment rate afflicting Spain?

It gives no weighting either to the burdensome red tape that is so often cited as a feature of life in France and Italy.

The percentage of GDP spent on health is a blunt tool too by which to measure and compare the efficacy of countries’ systems. The United States, for one, spends a considerably higher percentage of its GDP on health, yet millions of its citizens remain without adequate, or indeed any, health cover.

The uSwitch survey also takes it as given that the greater the hours of sunshine the better. Yet the impressive sunshine quota seen in southern Europe – as well as places such as California and parts of Australia – bring with it high summer temperatures that frequently provoke raging forest fires, water shortages, pest infestations and crop failures.

In addition, the summer heat may force residents, especially the elderly, to spend weeks of the year trapped indoors, and can even lead to spiking death rates (as seen in Europe during the 2003 heatwave).

In short, these types of reports and surveys – a plethora of which are produced around the world each year – can give some helpful indication of the life you can expect to find when moving abroad. But to get a real picture, don’t forget to consider all the elements, the pros and the cons, and what they mean specifically to you.

[1] UK and Ireland Trailing the Rest of Europe for Quality of Life, uSwitch.com, 22 September 2010, http://www.uswitch.com/press-room/press-releases/uk-and-ireland-trailing-the-rest-of-europe-for-quality-of-life-1769.pdf.

[2] uSwitch.com Consumer Opinion Panel, May 2010, amongst a sample of 3,640 adults.

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Moving Abroad for Love

July 23, 2010 in Living Abroad Pros and Cons, Moving Abroad Tips by Paul Allen | No comments

There was a documentary on British TV last week called Living with Brucie[1].

For anyone who hasn’t heard of him, Bruce Forsyth is a showbiz legend in the UK, a mainstay on Saturday prime time TV for the last 40-odd years.

And for the last 27 of those, Bruce has been married to Wilnelia, a Puerto Rican former Miss World who is 30 years his junior.

For me, what was interesting was the story of two people from different countries and cultures coming together to forge a life, and what it takes to make it a success.

Despite her fame on the Caribbean island, and the family and friends she has there, it is Winnie who has given up her homeland to be with her husband. OK, so she now lives in a mansion on the Wentworth golf estate in Surrey, with all the trappings that come from being married to a multimillionaire entertainer. But still, it must be a sacrifice.

Expat love

And it is a common tale. A survey earlier this year by health insurer Bupa International and expat web resource Expatica found one in five respondents had moved abroad for love[2]. It was a bigger reason for relocating than lifestyle choice (cited by 8% of expats), retirement (4%), weather and culture (1% each). 

There is a suggestion it may be a growing trend as well. According to the survey, only 14% of expats who moved abroad 10 years ago did it for love, whereas the figure was 22% for those who relocated in the last five years.

 

In these situations, one member of the couple will always have to be away from home and all it embodies: family and friends, familiar landscapes, its customs and culture.

Homesickness may strike, but – short of breaking up the family – one person will have to live with the consequences.

So how do you cope?

If anyone has any personal experiences from moving abroad for love, or tips and strategies on how to make it work I’d love to hear them.

[1] Living with Brucie, Channel 4, http://www.channel4.com/programmes/living-with-brucie

[2] One in five expats moves abroad for love, expatica.com, 11 February 2010, http://www.expatica.com/be/news/community_focus/One-in-five-expats-moves-abroad-for-love.html

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10 Reasons To Move To Spain

May 15, 2008 in Living in Spain by Paul Allen | No comments

According to a study by Currencies Direct, Spain continues to top the list of retirement hotspots for Brits who actually want to enjoy some sun in their sunset years. And it’s not hard to see why.

 

But Spain’s allure is not limited to pensioners. Rather, it consistently ranks as the second most popular destination for British émigrés of all stripes. So here are 10 reasons why you might want to consider it too.

 

1)      Sunshine

Let’s face it, a plentiful supply of sunshine is always more appealing than endless days of rain (unless you’re an Australian farmer). And Spain, by and large, receives a bountiful supply of those golden rays throughout the year. Plus you won’t even have to leave home for your summer holidays anymore.

 

2)      Outdoor Activities

Sunshine and warmth – perfect ingredients for enjoying the Great Outdoors, whatever your interests: sailing, cycling, golf, painting, or simply paddling around at the beach. And in the winter there’s decent skiing in the Sierra Nevadas in the south, or the Pyrenees in the north.

 

3)      Natural Beauty

Unfortunately Spain has become synonymous with overdevelopment and tawdry beach resorts. But for those that want them there are still plenty of low-key towns and unspoilt stretches of coast to be found.

 

And once away from the Mediterranean there is a surprising diversity of landscapes: from the wilds of Galicia, to the lush forests of the Basque country, and the majestic Picos de Europa or Aigüestortes national parks.

 

4)      Cost of Living

Spain has become noticeably more expensive, especially since the euro came into effect. Nevertheless, prices for food, alcohol, petrol and property – to name just a few items – are still lower than in the UK.

 

5)      Food and Drink

Spain may not be a gourmet capital like France or Italy, but its cuisine is not restricted to paella and tortilla either. And if you doubt it, take a visit to the Basque region, where the food has a deservedly high reputation. As for the wine …!

 

6)      Pace of Life

While the pace may be picking up in big cities, Spain in general continues to adopt a more relaxed approach to the clock. Siestas remain commonplace too. Great if you have time to go with the flow!

 

7)      Health Care

Spain’s health care system was rated seventh in the world by the World Health Organization when it compiled a report on the subject back in 2000. And in my experience (having had two children here, one with severe allergies) its reputation is deserved: the staff are well-trained, and facilities are modern, well-equipped and clean.

 

8)       Family Life

Spanish families tend to be close knit, with plenty of contact across the generations. They are also children oriented, with kids the centre of attention for doting family members and strangers alike (which is great if you happen to have some yourself).

 

9)      Fiestas

Fiestas are a central feature of Spanish life. Famous ones like the bull-running in Pamplona (San Fermín) or Sevilla’s Semana Santa are well worth a visit if you can get there. But each village, town and city has its own catalogue of saints’ days and feast days too, which can be just as entertaining and intoxicating (in every sense).

 

10)  Cultural Riches

Spain’s glory days as a world force may be long gone, but it carries with it a wealth of history and culture: from the magnificent art galleries of Madrid and Barcelona to architectural jewels such as the Alhambra in Granada, the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela and Bilbão’s Guggenheim museum. Or you can simply soak up the atmosphere with a stroll around one of its many beautiful cities: Salamanca, Toledo, León, Girona, Sevilla …

 

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