As an American, I’m too poor to do things in America… lol. The dollar goes a lot farther elsewhere if you can get a cheap-ish flight. Plus I’m vegan so I’m not adverse to surviving off seeds and nuts like a squirrel.
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Well, I plan to camp the whole way so my travel costs will be limited to food. But yes, traveling in the USA is pricy as hell. I’ve paid $70+ to stay in Motel 6s sleeping in my clothes because the beds looked vile and people seemed to be smoking crack all night in the parking lots.
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Ireland is an excellent place to start, fly to Shannon if you can and hit the south and west coasts for a while, Dublin is great to visit but not too great to stay in, and you’re perfectly placed to head east once you’re ready to move on. Tons to see and do, it’s far from perfect but it’s old and it’s easy to enjoy yourself.
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I’m curious how so many of you manage to move from the U.S. to the E.U.? Isn’t it incredibly hard to immigrate? My understanding is for most host countries you have to have a ton of money to invest in order to legally reside there permanently.
You’ll need to either get a job that will sponsor a visa — the requirements for this vary by country, but tech, medicine, or engineering are the easiest routes — or get married, or have family that makes you eligible for citizenship, or study (and you may or may not be able to stay afterwards, but it’s often easy to move from a degree to a job). Investment visas exist, but they’re not the only path, nor teh accessible one.
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It’s called gentrification.
Yes, thanks for the tips. That was my intention reviewing flights, about half the price as flying to Dublin, then enjoy Limerick for a bit before heading over there. The island is small enough to drive over in half a day… Two hours on a train will get you to Dublin. I have a few Dublin tobacco pipes. The size is crazy relatively to the immensity of some of the natural views, such as huge cliffs on the water’s edge, I hear that castles and old ruins litter the place. You can buy a property there and it’ll casually have a 500 year old ruin on it, they’re not really even protected or anything.
I don’t know, I might be romanticizing it but Ireland seems welcoming and small, self-contained, easy-ish to tackle as a beginner backpacker. I can drink my belly’s worth in Guinness as a beer brewer, I don’t often get to enjoy nitro-beers. I’ve reviewed the whole world and relative to flight prices, I can’t think of a better place to start.
I plan on staying for 2-3 weeks if I go. I don’t want to be rushed. I want to comfortably spend 2 hours staring at something.
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I’m from Limerick and it’s a cool little city, rough around the edges but the people are cool and there’s plenty to do and see, and you’re near Clare and Kerry which are absolutely gorgeous. HMU if you do come & I’ll show you round town!
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Taking the bus in Nijmegen is funny. (I just did). First, the driver doesn’t want me to pay for my daughter, the I see most people say goodbye and thank the driver open and loud when leaving the bus.
I had a very good time living in amsterdam. One thing is not better than the other.
I think for integration in a new city, it is easier to go to a relatively small city
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Currently the northern area but she may move south of valencia in a beach city.
Tech is my experience.
Also been perusing a lot of real estate in Spain. What I notice is mostly all the homes are like townhouses. I got used to a more quiet suburban existence after living in noisy Miami for years. I guess my point is that I like quiet areas where I can shoot into a city in 20 minutes or so. Doesn’t have to be in Spain either.
This is just me sharing my ideal types of living situation, although I fully understand Europe is a bit different in terms of housing. In the US it is a little obscene how convenient things can be, but you still need to drive everywhere which gets old.
I did a deep dive into Malta and it’s not for me. Sounds a lot like Miami - noisy and construction everywhere. There are spots in Miami that are much more chill and relaxed but it’s 1M+ to have a house in those areas.
I want to. My wife is from Bosnia and still has a house in Jajce…but it’s all in disarray after the war and would cost a lot to fix up…would love to move to Europe…Bosnia not so much.
From what I have heard, social security isn’t the best in Spain. Employment rates aren’t either. To me that would be a big factor, as it’s a big part to living an easy life. Countries like Germany and Denmark offer some good stuff in that regard. I think it’s harder to get into the Danish system though.
In Spain there’s been large migration to cities and suburban areas over the past 3 decades or so. The upshot of this is there are a lot of half-empty villages, even farms, which can be had for very cheap cheap. But these are often quite far from urban centres, meaning you would probably need a car. If you can work remotely, you might like the idea. I’ve read a couple of articles of late about the trend of young Spanish families moving back to the countryside, but can’t find them right now. But here’s a link, to some information: https://www.mariscal-abogados.com/why-invest-in-abandoned-villages-in-spain/
I recall that forum member @vasidudu (always comes across as a friendly and helpful guy) lives in provincial Andalusia and moved there from elsewhere in Europe. You might want to send him a PM.
Spanish is relatively easy to learn for native English speakers although there are a lot of dialects, even within Spain. If you’re in Florida, shouldn’t be hard to find a native speaker for lessons. Let us know if you decide to make the move.
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Awesome, I appreciate it. Will be a while before I decide, I am currently just in the exploratory stages and trying to see if it is a plausible option.
I live in the north of Spain. Is different from other areas. I suggest you the coast zones. The people are very friendly and the food is amazing, in the north the weather change a lot, and I love it, because there isn’t very high or low temperatures… If you want to know more, sent me a DM.
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I’m italian and I live near Rome (you can have a big house 30 minutes from Rome and close to the beach, don’t know why someone said you can only live in a small flat).
I’ve lived in London and Barcelona for over a year and I know very well Lisbon and Paris. Each One has pros and cons obv.
It really depends on what you’re looking for, cultural life, nature, public schools… what’s your profession and so on (taxes etc). Just ask.
I’ll likely move to Lisbon in 2024.
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I would like to move from the US to the E-Mu one day.
What is the best housing to look at if you want something quiet and peaceful? I don’t mind a little noise but having lived in cities most of my life with loud neighbors and cars, I quite enjoy my current situation in the US (house a little outside of the city).
You can look for a single house in Tuscany (Viareggio if you want to live by the Sea, or some hilltop town like Massa) or in Emilia Romagna.
Central Italy Is the best compromise between the comfort of Northern Italy and the wheater (and food) of southern Italy.
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Italy may be tough to immigrate to from the U.S. very slow process I read.
Some people are going to Portugal because they made it a little easier to get visas there. I am looking into that. I feel like it may be a nice option but I really have to think about it.