How to Decide Where to Move Abroad

The pandemic has made a lot of people think about where they want to live long term. So many of us are eagre to travel again and some want to go away for even longer. If moving abroad is something you’ve thought about, it’s likely come up a lot in the last year. But here’s the big question: Where should you move abroad?

Deciding where to move abroad isn’t easy, and there’s no one right answer for everyone. It really depends on what you’re looking for and why you’re moving. Below I’m sharing 10 factors to consider when deciding where you want to move abroad!

Visa situation

The first thing you need to consider when deciding where to move abroad is the visa situation. This will determine whether you actually can move abroad and what places will be easiest for you to move to. I’ve seen so many posts in travel groups where people declare they want to move to Italy or Australia (usually from the US) but have no idea how or if they can do that. So if that’s you, it’s time to do some research!

When we moved to Prague, we moved on Youth Mobility Visas (or working holiday visas), convenient one-year visas for people between 18 and 35 from one of the partner countries. Canada has partnerships with 30+ countries, so this is a great option if you’re Canadian and under 35. Other popular visas to obtain are student visas for studying abroad, sponsored visas where a workplace sponsors you to move abroad, or visas obtained through family lineage (e.g. if your grandmother is from Italy). You could also get a visa as a freelancer or a visa through marriage.

There’s also the option of moving abroad simply on a tourist visa. This is a bit more complicated as you’re often unable to work and will be required to leave the country or region regularly to restart your visa.

Bottom line: Do your research! Before you worry about exactly where to move abroad, do a lot of research on how you’ll be able to live and work abroad. Every country has their own visa options and requirements, and every person’s situation is unique. Be prepared for visas to be costly and expensive if you don’t slot into an easy visa option.

Work opportunities

Another huge factor to think about when deciding where to move abroad is the work opportunities available to you. Again, this will depend a lot on your work situation. Are you being sponsored by a local company that is bringing you over? Are you transferring to an international office with your current company? Do you work remotely and plan to continue online work when you move? Or are you going to try and get a new job upon arrival?

Obviously, it’s a lot easier if you already have a job lined up. Many expats move because of a job – the work itself bringing them to a new international destination. When we moved to Prague, I continued working with clients online, like I had been doing in Vancouver. My clients were located in North America, so it was simply a matter of moving around some meeting times.

But Colin, on the other hand, left behind his x-ray tech job in Vancouver and had plans to get a new job in Prague. Unfortunately, we knew he wouldn’t be able to continue in his x-ray career as he didn’t speak Czech. So we did our research and learned that there were a number of English-speaking companies, like Amazon and Expedia, based in Prague. There were also jobs in hospitality and tourism that hired English-only speakers. And that’s how Colin wound up working as a hotel concierge (which he quit three months later!).

So if you’re in the same boat as Colin, planning to find a new local job, do your research. Will you be able to work in your current field? Do you need additional qualifications or language abilities? What kind of jobs are available? Are jobs easy to come by?

Cost of living

This is one of the biggest considerations when you decide where to move abroad as it will affect every part of your life. Luckily, it’s easy to find cost of living information online and most travellers have a general idea of what places are expensive (like Scandinavia and Australia) and what places are cheap (like Southeast Asia and Mexico). The other good news is that even expensive places can be lived in on a budget with some lifestyle changes.

But even if you plan to live frugally, it’s good to have an idea of what things cost ahead of time. This will help you determine your budget, how far your savings will stretch, what kind of job you’ll need to get and what kind of activities you can enjoy. It’s particularly helpful to know the cost of housing, so you can begin your house search with an idea of what your ideal place will cost.

Lucky for us, we were moving abroad from Vancouver, one of the most expensive places in the world, so most of the places we considered were much cheaper. We were also planning for me to keep my current clients, meaning I would be paid the same wage I had been getting in Vancouver. The cost of living in Prague ended up being about half of what we paid to live in Vancouver, which was how we were able to live there on one income!

Closeness to home

This may not be a factor for everyone but for some soon-to-be expats, closeness to home is a big part of where they choose to move abroad. Perhaps you have plans to return home regularly for weddings or holidays, or maybe you even need to fly home for work every now and then. And in the event of an emergency, you may want to be as close to home as possible.

Of course, on the other hand, you may be trying to get as far from home as you can. Perhaps this is your only opportunity to live abroad and you want to choose somewhere far away and completely different. Maybe you’re after a specific location, culture, climate or job that just happens to be on the other side of the world. Maybe for a fresh start, and to have a good excuse to stay away for a while, you’re purposefully choosing somewhere far away.

For us, we had always planned to spend our year abroad in Europe. Mainland Europe is about 10 hours from Vancouver on the fastest option (a direct flight from Paris to Vancouver). We felt that Prague was far enough that we were getting a new experience and yet close enough that we could get back home within a day if need be. It was also close enough for our family to come and visit us!

Language

Language was a big factor of where we chose to move abroad. As two English-only speakers, we wanted to be in a place where we could get by in English. We knew Prague was a big city with enough tourists visiting that English would be pretty widely spoken. We also based ourselves in a pretty central and expat-heavy neighbourhood, where English was heard more often.

That being said, English certainly wasn’t the primary language. A lot of people we ran into only spoke Czech. We struggled through many conversations with hand signals, phone translations and the few words of Czech we learned. Unfortunately, Czech is a pretty difficult language, so we didn’t pick much up in our 10 months in Prague. And because it’s only spoken in the Czech Republic, it’s unlikely we’ll learn it again.

Like us, you may want to choose a place where you can just get by on English. Or you may be more comfortable in a place where English is the main language – allowing you to more easily make friends, get a job and get around. Or on the other hand, you may prefer a place where you can work on or use a second language. I love the idea of moving to a place where you speak the language or are learning the language as a way to encourage fluency.

While I’m very happy we lived in Prague, it would have been cool to live somewhere in France or Spain where we could work on our French or Spanish, languages we’re more familiar with. I doubt we’d be fluent but I’m sure we would’ve learned a lot in a year abroad. Plus, we’d be able to use these languages more around the world.

Climate

Does climate factor into where you move abroad? For some, the weather isn’t an issue. And for others, it’s the main issue. I’ve heard of many travellers who prefer to chase summer around the world, who I’m sure would be very unhappy living in Finland in the winter. Others believe there is no bad weather, just bad clothing choices.

For us, we wanted to be somewhere mild. We didn’t want anything too hot or too cold, as living in Vancouver has made us unable to stand high heat or frigid cold. We didn’t want to have to buy new winter wardrobes or spend months sweating and putting on sunscreen. If you’re sensitive to extreme climates, you may also need to look into the housing options in your desired area. Do they have insulated walls and central heating or air conditioning?

Prague worked out well for us. The summer was hot, as summer 2019 was a scorcher in central Europe, but we survived with a few standing fans in our apartment. Winter was chilly, but we only had a few days of snow and it never stuck to the ground. It rained some, but not as much as we were used to in Vancouver.

Population & city size

You probably don’t need to know the exact population numbers of every city you’re considering moving to, but a general idea of the size of the cities is helpful. This will tell you a lot about the amenities available and what daily life will look like for you.

I knew I wanted us to live in a fairly big city. I grew up in downtown Toronto, Canada’s biggest city, so am not put off by big metropolises. I count London and Tokyo amongst my favourite cities in the world. I knew I would get bored in a small town. I also knew a small town would mean less English speakers, fewer shops and stores, and little chance of me getting good Asian food!

I also knew a bigger city would mean more crowds, more noise and higher prices. For me, that was worth it for the amenities and ease of living in a city. But for you, you may choose differently.

Access to things that are important to you

Along with city size, you’ll want to look at access to important things when deciding where to move abroad. Does your city have things you need and want?

For example, our biggest goal in moving to Prague for a year was to travel Europe. We wanted to take advantage of having all of Europe on our doorstep. So easy access to travel was very important to us. The fact that we were a 10 minute walk from Prague’s main train station and a 40 minute transit to the international airport was a huge win for us.

If travel is important to you, I definitely suggest basing yourself near easy travel routes, like train stations and airports. Or depending on your hobbies and interests, maybe you need access to yoga studios, farmers’ markets, churches, movie theatres, shopping malls, tennis courts, etc. Whatever your thing is, make sure your international destination has it.

Getting around

How will you get around in your new city? Will you walk, drive or take transit? Is a boat involved? What does daily transportation look like?

We knew we wanted to be somewhere with great public transit, as we had no desire to buy or rent a car in order to get around. Luckily, Prague is well known for its efficient and affordable transit system. We also wanted to base ourselves in a neighbourhood where we could easily walk to shops, restaurants, parks and grocery stores, which we did in Vinohrady.

If you are planning to drive, make sure you look into licence requirements. We obtained an international licence for renting cars for trips, which you may need to get before you go. You’ll also have to research how to buy/lease a car, car insurance, associated costs and figure out parking in your housing search.

Expat community

An expat community can be a huge part of your choice in where to move abroad, and was definitely a factor in our decision to pick Prague. We knew we wanted to move to a city that while not overridden with expats, was at least expat-friendly.

The pros of moving to an expat-friendly city is that you have a built in community. All of the friends we made in Prague were fellow expats, who could relate to our situation and easily communicate with us in English. It also meant having resources. We could turn to one of the many online expat groups anytime we had a question or problem. And an expat-friendly city means other people who want to move abroad like you have already tested the locale and given it their stamp of approval.

Of course, the major downside is that it can be hard to meet locals when there are so many expats you can befriend instead. It was way easier for us to hang out with other people who spoke English, who were part of the same online groups that we were, or who worked with Colin at his English-speaking job. We simply didn’t put in the effort to meet and befriend locals. That’s not to say you can’t in an expat city, it’s just harder.

A large expat community can also mean higher prices, as most expat communities end up paying more for housing, groceries, etc. for the ease of the familiar (like rental contracts in English). It can also make your new city feel a little too close to home if you never leave your expat bubble.

Bonus: Pet-friendliness

This won’t be a factor for everyone but pet-friendliness was a big part of how we decided where to move abroad. We knew we’d be bringing our small dog, Ellie, with us and wanted to ensure she’d be happy living abroad too.

We learned that Prague is a very dog-friendly city. There are lots of parks and green spaces, free doggy poop bags on almost every corner, and a general practice of dogs being allowed in restaurants, banks and shops. In fact, I’d say it’s way more dog-friendly than Vancouver!

Another big factor for us was ease of travelling with a dog. We did our research and figured out how to bring a dog to Europe, as well as travel around the continent with her. One of the reasons we actually picked Prague, over our first choice of the UK, was because it would be way easier to bring Ellie to the EU and travel with her.

Ellie ended up being an amazing traveller. She was incredible on her first flight – holding her pee for 14 hours and not whining at all. On subsequent trips, we stuck to trains and cars, and Ellie did a great job of just curling up and going to sleep until we arrived. She was also welcomed in many countries – Germany being the most dog-friendly, in my opinion. So if you’re also planning to travel with your pet while you live abroad, check out travel rules and restrictions.

How do you find this information?

Now that you know what factors should go into your decision of where to move abroad, you can start doing your research. I found expat groups and blogs to be the best source of information. You can find lots of expat groups on Facebook. I joined a handful before we moved to Prague and it helped me learn a lot about daily life, as well as find our apartment ahead of time.

Some of the stats online will likely be out of date, but you can still get a general idea of what life will be like. And the expat groups, if they’re active, should have the most current information. Finding expat blogs (like mine!) and YouTube channels can also be very helpful. I even watched a bunch of House Hunters International episodes set in Prague before we moved, to get a greater sense of what living in the city would look like. (And then things came full circle when we got to be on House Hunters International ourselves!)

How we landed on Prague

Our biggest issue when trying to decide where we wanted to live abroad was that a lot of our criteria directly conflicted with each other. For example, we wanted to be in a main big city with lots of English, great public transportation and easy access to travel – so places like London and Paris fit that bill. But we also wanted a much cheaper cost of living. The problem we kept running into was getting priced out of big cities and then sacrificing language, ease of travel and job opportunities by looking at smaller, more affordable cities.

Prague kind of came up like a unicorn. It was a big city with great transportation, great travel links throughout Europe and great English-speaking job opportunities. It was also very expat and dog-friendly. And, miraculously, it was affordable (well, compared to Vancouver and a lot of Western Europe).

In the end, Prague really ticked all of the boxes for us. But it was still a huge leap of faith. Neither of us had been to Prague or the Czech Republic before. And we had to apply for our visas before arriving, so we were pretty much committing to a year abroad sight unseen. Of course, if things had been really terrible, we always could have applied for visas to a new country, just bounced around on tourist visas, or even returned to Canada.

But Prague turned out to be an amazing fit for us. While I’m so glad we chose Prague and would highly recommend it, I think we would have had a great year abroad in a number of other cities. I don’t believe there’s one right city. We may have missed out on certain things we’d only get in Prague, but maybe this other city would have something that would make up for that.

So if you’re struggling to choose, look at the research, run through the factors above and definitely visit your top contenders if you can. But if you still can’t decide, go with your gut. Odds are there are many cities out there that will work great for you. At the end of the day, Prague was an easy choice for us – it ticked all of our boxes and the idea of Prague excited us. Choosing Prague also meant the end of our decision process, which was a huge motivator in itself.

Hopefully the factors I discussed above help you narrow it down, and your gut can take it from there!

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I’d love to know, where would you move abroad?

 

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