- March 18, 2017
- Business , News , Travel
- Comments : 0
By Eric Reed, The Street
Every expat community has its unofficial watering hole. When I lived in Siem Reap, it was a great little bar called The Warehouse. In Bangkok, an outdoor spot called Cheap Charlie’s has held down the fort for a generation of foreigners. Americans in Paris gather in and around the Shakespeare and Company book shop and its nearby Latin Quarter pubs.
Although expatriates are an adventurous lot, language and cultural barriers can still make life pretty difficult sometimes. Yes, figuring out how to adapt to your new home is part of the thrill of moving overseas, but sometimes you don’t want casual conversation to be thrilling. You’d rather not politely nod through complicated vocabulary, and having to translate everything in your head can feel like living life on a time delay.
5. Singapore
“The place to go,” according to InterNations, “for those in search political stability and personal safety.”
“There are so many different reasons, and it’s so individual,” said Nuri Katz, the CEO of Apex Capital Partners who specializes in helping expatriates find new homes. “Some people love France, and just love the way it is there. Some people love America and the way it is there. And some people feel that there are more opportunities in different countries.”
4. Canada
Here’s the thing about Canada: it’s boring.
But boring? That’s just a Twit-worthy way of saying that the trains run on time and the financial system doesn’t crash. Those infrastructure issues can be critically important.
3. Australia
Not long ago I discovered an undeservedly-buried gem on Netflix calledDreamland. An Australian workplace comedy, it made me think of two things: First, this is so much better than most of The Office. Second, Australia looks terrific.
Well, it appears that the expat community agrees with that second point at least.
“Expats in general consider missing their personal support network (friends and family) the biggest problem,” Zeeck said. Half of American respondents say that this is something they are struggling with, which is on par with the global average.
2. New Zealand
One of the most beautiful corners of the world, still surprisingly untouched thanks to its remote location, New Zealand is second place overall for best Anglophone expat spots, but it takes top billing in an odd category. This appears to be the best country to work in.
“Language is a funny thing,” said Katz. “If you were moving to China and you didn’t speak Chinese, it would be a disaster for you to be able to get a job. How difficult is it to buy milk if you can’t speak Chinese? Just think about going to the supermarket and saying, ‘Where is the milk in English.’ You’re not going to find it, and that’s not even counting professional language.”
1. Malta
Quickly, find Malta on a map. We’ll wait.
As a warm, Mediterranean island layered with architecture and culture from the Greeks to the Crusaders to the Venetians, it shouldn’t surprise anyone that Malta is a beautiful place to live. What might surprise potential expats, though, is that it’s a surprisingly affordable one. In fact, this little island is often rated as having one of the lowest costs of living in the entire European Union.