Daydreaming about moving abroad - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

Swift · 07-30-2018, 09:06 PM

Lately, my wife and I have been mulling over moving to Europe. It literally is just daydreaming at this stage. Might never happen.

Has anyone else moved their family to another country without it being through a work placement? Or to a foreign country without knowing the language? Spain is on our minds lately. I'm an EU citizen as is my 9 year old. My wife is Canadian but under EU rules, she's entitled to live and work there as my spouse.

I made a move already in my life, moving from Ireland to Canada at 25, but there was little thought put into it. I had a Canadian girlfriend (so had somewhere to live), spoke the language obviously and didn't give much thought to finding a job. No fears whatsoever, but obviously moving as a family in our 40s is a whole other deal.

Not really looking for input on my particular situation, but I'd like to hear from people who've made the jump successfully or otherwise.

boogerz · 07-30-2018, 09:43 PM

Born and raised Calgarian, but after seeing a couple of friends successfully move overseas the past couple years, my wife and I have been contemplating moving to Germany before we get too old

nik- · 07-30-2018, 09:45 PM

Spain is a beautiful place, but not exactly a bastion of good employment levels right now.

Ozy_Flame · 07-30-2018, 10:13 PM

If you can continue your career a) as a consultant/contractor/freelancer and b) able to do it remotely, I don't see what the issue is moving to any country you want. Just incorporate in the country you want to be incorporated in (doesn't have to be Spain or even Canada) and go for it. Lots of people make a living from their laptop and are location independent. I say go for it. If nothing else at least you tried.

ma-skis.com · 07-30-2018, 10:15 PM

I did it back when my son was 4 and we moved to Sweden for two years. My (now ex-wife) went to do her masters, and I got lucky and just happened to land a job shortly after we arrived. Housing was the big issue, but it was unique to stockholm. Otherwise, great experience overall. I was pretty sure we'd end up coming back, but I was never closed to staying forever.

Language wasn't a huge issue, but I did end up picking up some bits and pieces.

Let me know if you want to know more.

bizaro86 · 07-30-2018, 11:14 PM

Can your wife work in any EU country? We're the opposite, my wife is dual irish/canadian citizenship. I thought I as the tag along spouse could live/work in Ireland and live anywhere in the EU but not necessarily work.

csnarpy · 07-30-2018, 11:23 PM

If I could I would do it in a heartbeat. I lived in Germany for 3 years while in the CAF and never wanted to leave. But our government had other plans and shut down our base.

My side of the family is from England so I could get my dual pretty much anytime but my wife won't go for it and thus that dream ends.

I love European laws, lifestyle, schooling and health system. One day... one day...

driveway · 07-30-2018, 11:23 PM

I moved to Taiwan from Canada at 31 years old. No family or kids, but it was to pursue a new career.

Didn’t speak any Chinese, knew one person - a friend from University. I managed the career change quite well and have completely fallen in love with both the country and the expat lifestyle.

I can offer a fair bit of insight into international schools, if that’s the route you’d be thinking of going with your kids, but I can say that it’s been the best decision of my life and the only moment I regretted anything about it was when an infant niece was hospitalized in Canada (she’s fine now) for several weeks and I wasn’t able to be there to support my Brother and Sister-in-Law.

Taiwan is a bit unique, it was recently judged by Forbes or Bloomberg or one of the other business publication as the 2nd best country in the world for expats and the best in Asia. You may not find Spain as welcoming, comfortable, easy, and safe as I’ve found Taiwan.

However, the living-abroad life is tremendous. It offers really unique opportunities ESPECIALLY for your kids.

One thing I realized recently was that, paradoxically, living abroad has allowed me to maintain friendships that otherwise could easily have drifted away. I have a group of about five friends in Calgary who I remain close with and see all of whenever I’m back. They, however, have all drifted apart and many of them haven’t seen each other in years, or only see each other when I’m in town. Most of my expat friends report similar experiences.

If you have specific questions about the expat life, schools, or anything else about living abroad, feel free to ask.

FlamingHomer · 07-31-2018, 05:47 AM

We retired and moved from Calgary to Panama about 4 years ago. Didn't know any Spanish. No family here of course. Every day was a challenge in the beginning. It took 9 days to get our driver's licenses because of the language barrier and not knowing our way around Panama City.

It gets easier as time goes by and you start to gradually fit in. We both have picked up enough Spanish to survive but still no where near where it should be for conversation.

Everything would have been much easier and more familiar if we were still in Canada but we didn't want to just wait to die there. So many expats here have lived in multiple countries and are extremely fascinating to talk with.

If you have a chance to live in a different country for a while, do it. Make sure you don't buy there though. If you rent you can try different districts in the same country easier. We made that mistake.

Flamenspiel · 07-31-2018, 09:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cameron Swift

Lately, my wife and I have been mulling over moving to Europe. It literally is just daydreaming at this stage. Might never happen.

Has anyone else moved their family to another country without it being through a work placement? Or to a foreign country without knowing the language? Spain is on our minds lately. I'm an EU citizen as is my 9 year old. My wife is Canadian but under EU rules, she's entitled to live and work there as my spouse.

I made a move already in my life, moving from Ireland to Canada at 25, but there was little thought put into it. I had a Canadian girlfriend (so had somewhere to live), spoke the language obviously and didn't give much thought to finding a job. No fears whatsoever, but obviously moving as a family in our 40s is a whole other deal.

Not really looking for input on my particular situation, but I'd like to hear from people who've made the jump successfully or otherwise.

Spain? Its hard to find and keep a job there. Your 9 year old will get a first class soccer education though, its all subsidized and run by professionals. That was the high level notes i had from a family friend. After a couple of years in Spain they wanted to move to Canada. They ended up moving back home to another part of Europe.

Table 5 · 07-31-2018, 10:23 AM

I moved abroad (although just to the US) in my early 20s for almost a decade. Personally it was one of the best decisions of my life. I still think about doing something like that now and then (although probably to Europe), but with kids and deepening roots, it gets harder to do every year.

The one thing you realize when you move away though, is that how relatively easy it is to live in Canada compared to other places. We're a pretty boring country with a somewhat shallow identity, but we're stable economically, tend not to have crazy environmental disasters, and have a solid mix of social safety nets and free enterprise. There are other places like that in the world of course, but they aren't necessarily always that sexy either.

But still....everytime one of those House Hunter International type shows come on...I start dreaming about the coast of Italy or something.

ClubFlames · 07-31-2018, 10:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Table 5

But still....everytime one of those House Hunter International type shows come on...I start dreaming about the coast of Italy or something.

Ozy_Flame · 07-31-2018, 10:36 AM

Regarding House Hunters International:

I have a friend who was on the show. They basically recreated their "moving experience" for the show, but were already living in the country and had a place. They pretended like they were interested in two other places, but picked the place they already moved into before. Maybe all episodes aren't like that, but there is some phony business going on for sure.

d00little · 07-31-2018, 10:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

Regarding House Hunters International:

I have a friend who was on the show. They basically recreated their "moving experience" for the show, but were already living in the country and had a place. They pretended like they were interested in two other places, but picked the place they already moved into before. Maybe all episodes aren't like that, but there is some phony business going on for sure.

That's what all those RE shows are like (Love It Or List It, Property Virgins, Property Brothers, etc.). The people on the show have already made their decision beforehand and are just recreating (acting) the process for the show.

dobbles · 07-31-2018, 10:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

Regarding House Hunters International:

I have a friend who was on the show. They basically recreated their "moving experience" for the show, but were already living in the country and had a place. They pretended like they were interested in two other places, but picked the place they already moved into before. Maybe all episodes aren't like that, but there is some phony business going on for sure.

Some friends from college were on the American version years back and they said they had a similar experience. That they had already made up their mind/ found the house/moved in, and that the others were just for the show.

Edit: https://www.hgtv.com/shows/house-hun...house-in-texas

nik- · 07-31-2018, 10:54 AM

How much do they get paid for being on the show?

_Q_ · 07-31-2018, 10:54 AM

I moved "abroad" almost 3 years ago. By abroad I mean the US.

Lately I've been day dreaming about moving back to Canada. Or moving somewhere completely different like Abu Dhabi.

direwolf · 07-31-2018, 11:04 AM

I've always daydreamed about moving to Hawaii. I've spent a lot of time there over the years, and I've always been really drawn to it.

Fozzie_DeBear · 07-31-2018, 11:11 AM

Really interested in this topic. I have Irish Grandparents so I think I have a path to Irish citizenship (Which I think might be a path to an EU citizenship as well?)

Would like to hear more about international schools as well. I think our 7 and 10 year old need this experience soon.

Table 5 · 07-31-2018, 11:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

I have a friend who was on the show. They basically recreated their "moving experience" for the show, but were already living in the country and had a place. They pretended like they were interested in two other places, but picked the place they already moved into before. Maybe all episodes aren't like that, but there is some phony business going on for sure.

Yeah I've read that before. While it does take some of the authenticity out of the show, from a viewer perspective, I don't particularly care because it's all a fantasy anyway. I think as long as the properties are realistically represented (as opposed to those house reno shows which never seem to have realistic prices) that's fine with me. The people in the shows are that particularly important anyway, it's all about placing yourself into that situation.