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Post by Kimby on Jul 5, 2024 1:34:46 GMT
Thanks Bixa. That’s the kind of thing I was wondering about. Not that I’m going anywhere.
And thanks everyone who spoke up. We’re already on page 2!
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Post by bixaorellana on Jul 5, 2024 2:13:50 GMT
Thank you, Kimby!
Even though you say you're going nowhere, you're asking the kinds of questions people should be asking if they're planning to decamp to another country.
I am on various expats-in-Mexico groups on facebook, so get to see the kinds of things people ask when contemplating a move to this country. Believe me, some of it is quite dispiriting.
Some have apparently never even visited here. Others are all about whether it's cheaper or not and/or whether or not there is an "expat community".
To me, almost all places are fun on vacation, since while vacationing I am fecklessly removed from any ugly politics, or endemic problems. Even so, there is a grain of pragmatism in my fluffy brain. I am eligible for Italian citizenship, which would make me a citizen of the EU. What could be better? Well, the ability to pay for a comfortable life in the EU, for one thing. Another major thing to consider is: how old are you? Ones response to a foreign country is in proportion to how flexible and accepting you can be. Foreign countries are exactly that -- different to what we already are and what we know.
It's one thing to move to France when your mother and grandparents are French and you are only on the brink of adulthood. Or for that matter, to be an intelligent student who is ready for what life might offer, including falling in love with a Frenchman & committing to him and his country. I do not at all dismiss the differentness and the adjustments people in those circumstances have to make. But by the same token, I say that it is far more difficult to make those adjustments if you're 65 and realizing you can't live comfortably on what you have, so it might be nice to move somewhere warm that is fairly close to the US.
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Post by kerouac2 on Jul 5, 2024 2:19:57 GMT
There are so many questions on the forums about moving to places like France, first for retirement and now for being a digital nomad that I often tell people who fell in love with the magnificent French countryside (absolutely nobody expresses the idle fantasy of moving to Paris because it is much too expensive, among other reasons) that they need to spend some time there in January or February to see if it changes their mind.
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Post by onlyMark on Jul 5, 2024 13:45:07 GMT
Too many British (and probably other nationalities) decide to live in Spain and it turns out to be not what they thought and either then are stuck or slip back home as soon as possible. The worst are those that come and start a business, usually a bar, cafe or restaurant.
On a Spanish expat forum I am on from time to time as soon as someone starts asking for advice about moving they are jumped on, but in a friendly way, and advised to rent somewhere for many months and especially in winter to give them a better idea.
I know two couples and two families just from local to me who jumped too soon and lost a lot of money having to move back for various reasons.
Moving country after retirement though is something I've followed and the best option I've found is living in a Thai care home complex, fully serviced with medical care, food and exercise etc for about the same cost as the money received from a normal working person's pension. Roughly.
That'd do me when I lack mobility.
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Post by Kimby on Jul 5, 2024 15:15:04 GMT
A bit off topic, but since it’s my thread…
Talk on here of test-driving a possible new home country before committing to a move to France or Spain is so similar to advice given to folks enamored of the idea of moving to Montana or Florida, my two states.
The scenery is gorgeous and the weather is lovely - during the times vacationers are visiting - but unless you’ve experienced winter in MT (cold and cloudy and dark!) or summer in Florida (oppressively hot and humid), you probably shouldn’t pull up stakes and move there.
Yet thousands do, every year, and COVID plus remote working has accelerated this trend. Many of these refugees end up reconsidering and moving on. Either back home, or to a more benign year-round location like North Carolina.
Or keeping the new house and becoming a “snowbird” like we are trending toward. When we quit skiing, we may spend whole winters in FL. (This behavior exacerbates local housing shortages unfortunately.)
But if you can’t afford two homes, best think the decision through. Especially when there’s the added complication of moving to a different nation. Test drive before you buy!
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Post by fumobici on Jul 5, 2024 22:14:11 GMT
The Italian Senate has 4 seats set aside for expat voters.
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Post by fumobici on Jul 5, 2024 22:17:30 GMT
Laern the language in a serious way before you move is my best advice. If you are sufficiently committed, it's something you'd do automatically.
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Post by kerouac2 on Jul 6, 2024 2:44:16 GMT
The Italian Senate has 4 seats set aside for expat voters. France has 12 Senate seats for overseas French and 11 seats in the National Assembly. While all of the National Assembly is elected by universal suffrage, not only are there too many senators but they are chosen by just 442 consular councils. The world is divided into various zones to see who elects whom. Zone 11 stretches from Ukraine to Australia!
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Post by bjd on Jul 6, 2024 11:23:10 GMT
Ah, thanks Bixa. But it doesn't matter anyway. I'm not planning to vote in any Canadian elections.
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