Emigration...
Comments
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ddraver wrote:
The trouble with moving to USA is that I'm too used to having more than 2 weeks holiday a year now. If I went it would be as an Ex-pat with a european company.
I get 5 weeks of holiday a year, plus every Friday afternoon off. Vacation packages can suck over here in the states, but everything is up for negotiation.0 -
Me & Mrs V are working on our plan to live in Murcia, Spain in about 2-3 years ( after the RWC 2015 ) not on the costa's but inland on a small 'smallholding'. Not looking to be self suficient as in the good life, but grow some veg/fruit etc chickens for a few eggs - that kind of thing. Def not going to be part of the brit-pack, also not going to be reclusive.
We have a little Spanish under our belts but will learn more once there to get by.
We've been for a look around and seen places on the net that look promising, just needs more time to look further.0 -
ddraver wrote:To actually answer the question, and being realistic about my industry (wherever there is oil) my options could be:-
*London
*Aberdeen (hells no!)
*Norway
*Vienna (1 company)
*Houston
*Paris/Pau (couple of options)
*Perth/West Oz
The option that I think I'd definitely take is Vancouver, just the best possible place for Mountain Biking in the summer and Skiing in the winter - but unfortunately everyone knows that and the Canadian Oil Industry is not what it once was
I'm thinking London or Norway...
There's always Trinidad too, I spent a few years there. Not a bad place to have an office job when there's a tropical beach to relax on at the weekends. Cycling was pretty good too.0 -
what about west africa sure theres plenty of oil still to be discovered there. downtime lagos or abuja on a firday night, lovely!0
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the playing mantis wrote:what about west africa sure theres plenty of oil still to be discovered there. downtime lagos or abuja on a firday night, lovely!
Sort of, I've had a few friends who've spent time there and had a 'great' time and others who will never go back. The difference was the one's who liked it made local friends and got into the local culture and scene, and the ones who hated it stayed within the expat community and moaned about the lack of good pizza.
Personnally Nigeria's not in my top 100 list of places to move to.0 -
I used to work as a musician on cruise ships. Went literally all round the world, visited most places many times and got a feel for them. After say a nine month contract, friends back home would ask where my favourite place in the world was. I would always say, "Mallorca." They would always then laugh and say, "No, Where is it really?"
We moved to Mallorca 9 years ago. Still here, no plans to move back to the UK.
My Spanish, (Castillano,
) is ...erm... WAY better than tourist Spanish, Way better than most of our friends, but a jump below fluent. I have no talent at languages, and we live in Palmanova, so all the Spanish people here want to practice their English... But all of those things are excuses. My Spanish is OK, but should be better. It was funny initially to see how fast some Spanish people learned English. I had done a linguafone course before we came here. Sometimes, say setting up an account for our business with a local supermarket, I would say to the manager, "¿Hablas Inglés?" and get the response, "NO!" Then I would say, slowly, "Vale, Necesitamos grand facturas, porque tememos.." Realising he was going to be there all day listening to my bad Spanish, he would say, "Ah, you have a business and you need to get proper receipts for the tax. No problem." 
the point is, If I had spoken no Spanish at all, we would never have got past, "Do you speak English?" "NO!"
Much of the expat community, which has some of our best friends in it, does make the mistake of the Little England Mentality. They say, "Nothing ever happens here in the winter." Palma is 6 miles away and is Buzzing. Classic example, Tomorrow there is an event for Three Kings day, sponsored by the local newspaper. It is from 10.00-14.00, has bands, magicians, tower builders, (Or, F*****g Lunatics as we call them,http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8Z5OXjFZaY ) Free meat to put on the free barbecue pits, unlimited free soft drinks, water and Beer. Total cost of entry, .50cents! You almost never see any Brits there, 'cos they don't advertise it in British papers....
It's not perfect here. Nowhere is. The bureaucracy is stifling, (this is so close to the truth as to be almost not funny:- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wtbQUaC9mE) The local government is incompetent and corrupt, it IS hot in Summer, but my day job is in an aircon office, and my other job, playing drums in a rock band in Magaluf...well, you're supposed to sweat if you're a rock drummer!
This is balanced out by the pros. It's sunny and 12 degrees now, this is probably the coldest it's been this year. As someone who cycles for fun and exercise around 50 miles a week, there are plenty of well maintained cycle paths, and car drivers respect you. I love the local food, and there are plenty of places to get good meals really cheaply. The whole place is relatively crime free, (I've always left my radio in my car, I would never do that in the UK.) You feel safe walking down the street, (even in Magaluf, whatever Stacey Dooley says. ) The locals are friendly, especially if you make some attempt to speak their language. Overall, it has everything. I always say, The Maldives may have better beaches, but they have no cities or mountains. New York may be a better city, but there's no beaches that you can sunbathe on 9 months of the year. The Himalayas are more impressive mountains, but you aint going scuba diving anywhere near there.
On the rare occasions we go back to our old haunts, we see the same people, sat in the same seats in the pub... In Mallorca, We've danced in the fire with the Demons and Beasties.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4Tm5vzL ... e=youtu.be http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YI1FMcviIc
Andy0
