Overseas Q

[Marcoose]

So as we all know the beauty of online is not only that you can make nice money by doing relatively little, but also that you are not tied with where you can work.

I have thought about going travelling/spending some time abroad but have never gone for it. It is definitely somthing i'll do in the future. Although I'm not a huge fan of thai women (or women/boys), Thailand looks like such a beautiful (although courrupt) country and was thinking it might be worth a go.

Which of you live abroad, where do you live, and would you recommend it?

 

[KarlM]

A couple of years ago i spent some time in spain over summer.

Rented a apartment and took my laptop.

was good fun but my work rate slowed with all the partying and sunbathing lol.

 

[Admin]

I'm writing to you from a beach front hotel in Florida

It's certainly nicer to listen to the ocean than the sound of the M25!

If you are free of life's usual obligations kids, debts, etc. go for it.

Admin

 

[grantw]

I'm seriously considering it this year. Have absolutely no idea where to go though - cultural, party central or a bit of both! Any ideas?

Grant

 

[Admin]

If anyone is thinking Thailand let me know as I have a good friend who is a property agent with lots of experience. He is UK based but with contacts and family there.

Admin

 

[Edwin]

I lived in Tokyo for 15 years and it was a fantastic experience. And you're quite right about the "portability" - with a laptop or even just a netbook at a pinch, you can work from anywhere in the world...

 

[seanc]

i live in Cyprus.
i moved here about 3 and half years ago with partner and 2 kids.
I wouldnt say its the cheapest place to be, but there are alot of english here, and it kind of makes you feel that little bit safer.

i gone from an income of over 40k a year to nothing..
and i dont regret it.

i go back to UK once a year and cant stand it.
im English till i die, but i hated the way the country was going, so i got out, and ran to the sun! i live in village, right next to the sea

 

[Systreg]

If you're planning on living in Europe, do your homework, this forum has a wealth of information about ex-pats living in France, Spain, Portugal, Italy etc:

http://www.expatforum.com/expats/europe/

 

[JDubya]

I've been in Buenos Aires for over a year now. You can rent a fully furnished flat by the month for $750+.

You get a lot of students/backpackers come for a couple of months, at the uni they offer 12 week spanish courses. You can get by fine without Spanish - depends what area of the city.

A good base to stay while going back and forth over the whole continent.

You can't walk down the street without seeing rats tails, mullets, beaufonts and 80s Bon Jovi perms. Stella is the most popular beer, spicy food doesn't exist.

Once you narrow down possible locations, search for "CITY expat forum".

Australia is a good place also, you have the language and it's somewhere you can move place to place or stay in one place and do trips. The East coast is full of people doing this...

 

[chrisduggan]

I now live in South Australia. Despite the time zone being 10.5 hours ahead of UK this has not stopped me from operating my UK businesses. Though my business partner is in the UK so I guess that helps. I travel around a fair bit, so long as I have an internet connection and access to emails, mobile phone reception I can be anywhere in the world. I use Skype for virtual meetings and email invoices accordingly. However i guess every business model has different approaches, location has not affected me.

 

[seanc]

i recommend

www.angloinfo.com

 

[namdas]

I lived in Vietnam for 4 years and it was wonderful, but I fancied a change so am now back in the UK. Issues like corruption and politics probably won't matter for the first year or so but as you live somewhere longer and see it as your home you do start to take things more personally than when you feel more like a long term tourist, so be ready for that.

Weather of course was fantastic as is the lifestyle you can have if you want - personally I like learning new cultures and living in reality more than expat havens but it is nice to be able to treat yourself on a trip to the beach etc.

Timezone isn't too much of an issue - in fact normally being a late riser I quite liked getting 7 hrs head start on the UK as I could get things done before people were up.

Issues to be aware of tho are things like intermittent electricity supply, lousy internet connections and things like that which can be a real pain if you have a deadline - if not its a great excuse to slack off and go for a swim.

Most annoying I think is people like Paypal and your bank constantly fraud checking you - invest in a VPN before you go and you should be safe but you can't fake your location with an ATM so make sure you've got some credit left on skype

 

[Pred]

brilliant thread guys
must be reading my mind

as a couple said we can work from anywhere thats the beauty, but it's usually everyone and everything else that ties us down

no secret i would go to med tomorrow, ideally greek islands but have 2 kids, one with ex so not as straight forward as my kids are my life, but then i don't want them to be brought up here in uk

i would love to change or think this country can change for the better but we are way past that. it's gutting to see the state of the country

anyway, seanc i will prob send you a pm mate as you're living the dream, you had the bottle and went for it

personally speaking i have always loved the south of france too. i had a place out there and used to spend lots of holidays there every year. great memories. i don't meet too many people here that share same thoughts of living in France funnily enough. although most everyone loves Greece i meet
i love the french culture, language, everything but my partner would not live there. we have discussed

the lack of diversity of property is only one downside in Greece I find. very samey compared to the beauty of french property and is as varied (more even) than our beautiful properties in the uk
also greek property is expensive i think for what you get

so keep this thread going guys, i'm a europe guy at heart, for those of you who have lived elsewhere in europe, where are the best places to live in your opinion?

 

[BREWSTERS]

I could do the Cote D'Azur but I'd want 2 million or more to do it the way I'd want with 4 kids, so just another £1,999,950 to go and the bags are packed!

I like Finland, Sweden and Denmark too but not sure if I'd want to live there full time.

 

[retired_member33]

Lived in Denmark for a while, great place apart from the weather and the fact that life is very expensive compared to the UK.

If you want to know more about living in Copenhagen send me a PM.

 

[wb]

As others have said, great thread and also something I'm interested in doing this year. Not sure where yet, although somewhere in the far east to do some travelling around at the same time looks attractive

One question I have wondered before though is about tax. What are the implications of working outside the UK for few months whilst travelling and not actually moving permanently? Is it just taxed as normal as if you were living in the UK for the full year or do you have to register for tax in the other country still? (Was reading about the agreements the UK has with other countries to make sure you don't get double-taxed).

I would of course check with HMRC first, but would be interested to know from anyone who has done the same.

 

[retired_member33]

Has anyone ever tried houseminding? It seems like a cheap option to live abroad for a while as you don't have to pay rent.

 

[Marcoose]

Ive got a great idea. Would any of you be up for going away together? Would be great to have likeminded people to do this with and there would be so many benefits to doing it this way - ie, we could get a phat villa somewhere and it would work out cheaper.

 

[crabfoot]

Another place to look for ideas/advice - britishexpat.com

 

[wb]

Ive got a great idea. Would any of you be up for going away together? Would be great to have likeminded people to do this with and there would be so many benefits to doing it this way - ie, we could get a phat villa somewhere and it would work out cheaper.

That's actually not a bad idea at all I'm sure others will agree; if my own situation is anything to go by then most people I know haven't got the freedom to go and work whilst abroad.