Living in Europe?

[NBC]

Originally Posted by GreenLantern

One thing I always wondered about is when you go over seas, what do you do for health care and dental coverage? You can buy travel insurance right, but does that still count after 6 months to a few years?

How long can you live in Europe without having to get a citizenship of some kind in certain countries?

You can get long term medical coverage. It will cost a few $$ though.

You are typically afforded 6 months in the EU if you are on a Canadian passport. This doesn't really mean that much in terms of living there. You don't really need to take up citizenship in a foreign country if you so choose. If you have a right to residency, ie student or work visa, then you can live there for the time specified. If you get a permanent job there, you can work as long as you can keep getting your work permit renewed. No one is going to make you take up their citizenship status if you are going to school or working somewhere. Citizenship can be really difficult to get and it isn't always worth it in the end. It all depends on what you want to do while you are living/working somewhere. Plus some places have mandatory military service for nationals, which can be upwards of 2 years in places.

[LChoy]

Was on exchange for a year in the Netherlands through AIESEC
Travel cuts sold travel and medical insurance and that was a requirement for my Visa
Many places in Europe (and other Countries) have "Working Holiday Visas" which allow you to work in a foreign country to get the $ to travel and stay in that country
For me, it was a work type of exchange, so I was actually working for a Dutch company. The exchange organization hooked me up with a place to stay (with other international students) and I travelled on weekends
Great times, I miss that kind of lifestyle

[enthused]

I lived in France for a semester, and while I hated the town I was living in and the university I went to, it was still a great experience. It's amazing how easy (and cheap!) it is to travel around there, I spent most of my weekends going to different countries since there wasn't much to do in the town I was in.

I think that anyone who has the opportunity to live abroad should jump on it, its a great "personal" test and chances are you'll get to do and see some pretty great things.

I'm already trying to figure out where I want to go once I graduate in December. And I'm hoping to go back to France (a different city this time!) to do my masters in a few years.

[COGENT]

Originally Posted by kevman

You want to experience a new culture? Go somewhere that lives a dramatically different lifestyle.

Europeans do live a dramatically different lifestyle, it's how you react to it that makes the experience. Yeah, if you go to all the tourist pubs, restaurants, museums... it will only be like you said, smaller cars and all that. However, if you take it upon yourself to actually experience the lifestyle you will be blown away by the differences.

[FCAV]

What are the easiest way to get around Europe? Eurorails seem good for short trips, but what about consistent travel for eight months or so?

[enthused]

Originally Posted by Aaron Vickers

What are the easiest way to get around Europe? Eurorails seem good for short trips, but what about consistent travel for eight months or so?

All transportation in Europe is quite easy and efficient for the most part, the only thing that really varies is price.

The rail system is amazing, and goes almost everywhere, as you wait closer to your date of travel to buy your ticket, it becomes more expensive. Even booking ahead of time doesn't always make it super cheap, depending on where you are going and when. I never bought a Eurorail pass, so I'm not sure whether those are a good deal or not. But I did buy a pass called Carte 12-25 in France, and basically if you were between the ages of 12 and 25 you could get some pretty good discounts on train tickets.

The discount airlines like Ryanair and Easyjet can be ridiculously cheap. There are flights offered for 0.01€ that end up being only like 20€ with tax. Pretty amazing. However those flights don't always fly to large cities, sometimes to smaller cities just outside the larger ones so you'd have to take a bus to get in to town.

Anyways, traveling within Europe is really quite easy and efficient, so if you do end up going... definitely take the opportunity to see lots of places!

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by enthused

The discount airlines like Ryanair and Easyjet can be ridiculously cheap. There are flights offered for 0.01€ that end up being only like 20€ with tax. Pretty amazing. However those flights don't always fly to large cities, sometimes to smaller cities just outside the larger ones so you'd have to take a bus to get in to town.

Anyways, traveling within Europe is really quite easy and efficient, so if you do end up going... definitely take the opportunity to see lots of places!

You just have to be careful because they charge separately for baggage. Still pretty cheap and efficient though.

[Bibtin Tex]

Lived there for 7 years, I personally think that it's a better life. By that I mean, the food is better, the sports are better (except for limited hockey ), and I generally think it's more fun and exciting.

This is all my opinion though, someone might like Canada (or basically North America) more, but I guess I just prefer the European lifestyle .

[JohnnyB]

Originally Posted by kevman

And hostels...oh man hostels... so you spend a week in a hostel to experience the culture eh? All I ever experience in hostels is drinking with a Brit, an Aussie, Some French and another token Canadian. How is that experiencing the local culture? I could go to the hostel in downtown Calgary for a week and get the exact same experience!

I agree with this. Hostels are great places to meet people who you can have adventures with, but they're also places where you're going to meet lots of other people like you. I spent about 6 weeks living in a hostel in Shanghai between my apartment contract running out and my new job in another city starting. Spent lots of time listening to ridiculous conversations held by people who seemed to be living in a fantasy land that was their experience of China. It was like listening to fairy tales, and someone who'd been around for a couple weeks longer could tell you all about 'them' and what 'they' (Chinese people) do. I suppose it's a phase people go through in experiencing a culture, but it would not have been a cultural experience of China to live there for any newcomer.

I'd say, if you want to have a deeper experience, go with a homestay. Do that, and find a job that isn't the sort just available to foreigners. You'll have a more difficult and interesting life.

[icarus]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

Pff...One you go Outback, you never come back.

Just ask Ol' Yeller!

Pretty good advice in this thread, I've got nothing to add just yet.

[Ozy_Flame]

Originally Posted by kevman

And hostels...oh man hostels... so you spend a week in a hostel to experience the culture eh? All I ever experience in hostels is drinking with a Brit, an Aussie, Some French and another token Canadian. How is that experiencing the local culture? I could go to the hostel in downtown Calgary for a week and get the exact same experience!

I love how the only (decent) hostel in Calgary is located next to the Drop-in Centre and in the East Village. You couldn't ask for a ruder location if you're an incoming backpacker who is easily impressionable about cities haha...

[Byrns]

I lived in London for a year, and while I'd go back for a visit the the daily rush hour tube rides were brutal. And I thought the trains in Tokyo were crowded...

[Ozy_Flame]

^^
||

I could live in Tokyo no question, and I was considering it a while ago....Lots to do, extremely safe and in close proximity to pretty much anywhere else in Japan. Far and away the best metropolis I've ever been to, and I'd say better than New York or London. But it's definitely not for everybody.

[habernac]

Didn't live in Europe (I'd love to go sometime) but I did a 4 month work term in Virginia that was unforgettable. Visited Washington DC a number of times, attended a few ballgames, visited Jamestown (first English settlement in North America), Civil War sites, Arlington Cemetary..... great, great experience.

[Byrns]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

^^
||

I could live in Tokyo no question, and I was considering it a while ago....Lots to do, extremely safe and in close proximity to pretty much anywhere else in Japan. Far and away the best metropolis I've ever been to, and I'd say better than New York or London. But it's definitely not for everybody.

Tokyo is awesome, I'd even "settle" for Osaka.

[NBC]

Originally Posted by Bibtin Tex

the sports are better (except for limited hockey )

I think the only great sport they play in parts of Europe that gets decent coverage is rugby. Soccer has become a hobby-horse for mega-rich Russian oligarchs and Arab sheikhs. It is too bad, because I think that before this influx of ridiculous sums of money, soccer used to be a decent and affordable sport to watch.

[rockstar]

I'm in Berlin right now. It is fantastic.

I've seen a lot of the German countryside in the last two weeks and it is contantly blowing my mind. What a beautiful and interesting place.

I'm not sure about living here, as I am only touring, but I don't know if I would ever stay in another hotel or hostel again. Maybe if I were in a pinch. I've yet to stay in one so far this trip, and I intend to keep it that way.

I have been staying only with locals, in their homes, through an online community called "Couchsurfing." It has been a real privilege and nothing but amazing experiences so far. At this moment, I'm on Fischerinsel, an island in the dead centre of Berlin, looking out the window of an 8th story flat out to the east towards Kreuzberg. My host has taken me in, shown me around all her favourite places, given me a map, and is taking me to a secret underground party tomorrow night.

No hostel, hotel or otherwise would give me any of the above opportunities.

I read somewhere once that Couchsurfing was "the best thing to happen to travel since the airplane." I laughed at the time and thought it amusing yet a bit of a stretch.

I have no choice but to wholeheartedly agree now, after two weeks of it. I am seeing the "real" Germany and, while it does certainly have its similarities to North America, this is a very different place. And it's indescribable.

BTW, HELLO CP. I miss you guys.

[FlamesAddiction]

If you're travelling from place-to-place, I recommend staying in private rooms (zimmer, sobe, b and b's, ect...).

You can save a lot of money and I found that they are quite often cheaper than hostels plus you can escape the loud ###### bags who quite often seem to stay at hostels.

[troutman]

Originally Posted by rockstar

My host is taking me to a secret underground party tomorrow night.

That is the best thing about Berlin. Be prepared - it might get weird.

Is there still a pub/bar called M.A.K. in East Berlin?

[burn_baby_burn]

This couchsurfing site that rockstar mentioned is an awesome idea. I'll have to consider that the next time I travel to Europe. They would be no better way to experience the local culture than by staying in someones home and having a local to show you around or make suggestions on what you should see.