Anyone ever move overseas at some point?

[Chi Town Sox]

It has always been in the back of my mind that at one point I just wanted to live in Europe for 1 or 2 years to be able to hop on a train every few weeks (as I know this cannot be an every week occurrence, but just to experience it for an extended period of time rather than vacationing there for 5 days) and travel somewhere when time and money agrees with us. My g/f and I both have jobs where we have a pretty good chance that we could be able to transfer to company affiliates in the London area (we would probably like to live outside of there as opposed to downtown and prefer to be somewhere that's main language is English), does anyone have any experience with this, whether in UK or anywhere else in Europe? Would you or would you not recommend it? Any tips, stories, etc. would be greatly appreciated.

 

[knightni]

DBAHO is over there. So's OzzieBall.

[NorthSideSox72]

I've been to London on business, once for a nearly month-long stint. Loved London. But I've never technically "lived" there.

 

[ChiSox_Sonix]

I lived in Stuttgart for 2 years as a child. Even at a young age it was a phenomenal experience. I still think about moving to Switzerland or Italy for a year or two now. Doubt I actually ever will but Europe is a nice place. I'd always recommend it to someone if they were thinking about doing that.

[Chi Town Sox]

I've been to London on business, once for a nearly month-long stint. Loved London. But I've never technically "lived" there.

 

Nice, yeah we were just over there for 10 days - 3 in Paris and the remainder in London. We loved it, I have been to Europe a few times before and told my girlfriend that she would want to move there after she has been there to the reply of "Nuh-uh!" Well sure enough, we began talking about it this weekend a little more seriously

[Chi Town Sox]

I lived in Stuttgart for 2 years as a child. Even at a young age it was a phenomenal experience. I still think about moving to Switzerland or Italy for a year or two now. Doubt I actually ever will but Europe is a nice place. I'd always recommend it to someone if they were thinking about doing that.

 

That would be really nice! - Do you speak any German or Italian?

 

[ChiSox_Sonix]

That would be really nice! - Do you speak any German or Italian?

 

I remember some German. Not enough to get by, just a few phrases. I can speak French on a decent level though.

[Chisoxfn]

I lived in Stuttgart for 2 years as a child. Even at a young age it was a phenomenal experience. I still think about moving to Switzerland or Italy for a year or two now. Doubt I actually ever will but Europe is a nice place. I'd always recommend it to someone if they were thinking about doing that.

I'm actually looking into transferring to Switzerland for a year or two in the next year or two. The company I work at has a huge hub there and it is supposed to be a very good career stepping stone to work over there.

 

Outside of that, I don't know much, but like you, I think it would be a very cool and unique experience and could be something that adds a lot of long-term value because the more you see and experience varying cultures and business aspects, I believe the better your potential for overall success can be. In addition, it just seems like it would be a fun thing.

 

England/London are amazing. Never lived there, but the people are incredible.

[SouthsideDon48]

I heard they don't even speak english in England. That's according to Russell Peters, though. :-/

 

[bigruss]

I will be living in the Netherlands for about 3 months then Europe for a few weeks, after New Years

[kapkomet]

Is Toronto overseas?

 

I got a weird feeling I will be working there part time sometime soon.

[Fotop]

Can people who moved to Asia comment?

 

I know f all about Europe, so I'll refrain from commenting on that specifically, but I can say I'd recommend moving abroad for work if the opportunity is worth it. Honestly, it was quite difficult to convince me, especially with a girlfriend back in the states (with whom I am still seeing long-distance) but from a life experience and work experience perspective it's certainly worthwhile. Looking back knowing what I know now, I think the decision would have been much easier.

 

It's not all sunshine and rainbows every day, as you will have your bad days and miss the US, miss your family, and miss your good friends. However, the experiences you'll have will be unique, you'll experience new cultures, and will meet new friends. What you're leaving in the US will basically always be there (except Wrigley, the structural integrity of the place may cause it to turn to dust by the time you return). , you can always go back. Europe to me is a bit easier as well, in a sense that you could get home in case of emergency through an 8-10 hr flight. Asia, not so much. Also this gives you the opportunity to go back to visit on a long weekend rather than having to block out a week plus to take a trip home.

 

I will say that it's been easy for me since there's little to no language barrier here - everyone speaks english. So I can't comment on the effect that may have on you - but if you're living in London, well yeah, same boat. Haha.

 

Ultimately, I'm going to assume you're young since you don't have a wife/kids yet (could be wrong, if so, my apologies). If you don't do something like this now, in all likelihood you won't in the future. So, my advice is to take advantage of it if the opportunity were to arise.

 

Granted, there are plenty of factors that are involved in considering if an opportunity is worth it so I would really analyze the offer in hand before making a decision. Opportunity costs are real and not just made up in economics classes. Haha.

 

But I'm rambling at this point, if you have any specific questions, as silly as they may be (e.g. how the hell am I going to watch the white sox abroad?) feel free to shout.

[ChiSox_Sonix]

I'm actually looking into transferring to Switzerland for a year or two in the next year or two. The company I work at has a huge hub there and it is supposed to be a very good career stepping stone to work over there.

 

Outside of that, I don't know much, but like you, I think it would be a very cool and unique experience and could be something that adds a lot of long-term value because the more you see and experience varying cultures and business aspects, I believe the better your potential for overall success can be. In addition, it just seems like it would be a fun thing.

 

England/London are amazing. Never lived there, but the people are incredible.

 

I'd love if my company had a branch in Switzerland. I've just always loved that country. I've visited a few times and it's beautiful and people there are great. Lots of people know English there and I know how to speak one of their main languages anyways already. Plus, it's in the middle of Europe and taking trips from there is very easy. Just something I've been thinking about over the past year or so.

[Milkman delivers]

Can people who moved to Asia comment?

 

I know f all about Europe, so I'll refrain from commenting on that specifically, but I can say I'd recommend moving abroad for work if the opportunity is worth it. Honestly, it was quite difficult to convince me, especially with a girlfriend back in the states (with whom I am still seeing long-distance) but from a life experience and work experience perspective it's certainly worthwhile. Looking back knowing what I know now, I think the decision would have been much easier.

 

It's not all sunshine and rainbows every day, as you will have your bad days and miss the US, miss your family, and miss your good friends. However, the experiences you'll have will be unique, you'll experience new cultures, and will meet new friends. What you're leaving in the US will basically always be there (except Wrigley, the structural integrity of the place may cause it to turn to dust by the time you return). , you can always go back. Europe to me is a bit easier as well, in a sense that you could get home in case of emergency through an 8-10 hr flight. Asia, not so much. Also this gives you the opportunity to go back to visit on a long weekend rather than having to block out a week plus to take a trip home.

 

I will say that it's been easy for me since there's little to no language barrier here - everyone speaks english. So I can't comment on the effect that may have on you - but if you're living in London, well yeah, same boat. Haha.

 

Ultimately, I'm going to assume you're young since you don't have a wife/kids yet (could be wrong, if so, my apologies). If you don't do something like this now, in all likelihood you won't in the future. So, my advice is to take advantage of it if the opportunity were to arise.

 

Granted, there are plenty of factors that are involved in considering if an opportunity is worth it so I would really analyze the offer in hand before making a decision. Opportunity costs are real and not just made up in economics classes. Haha.

 

But I'm rambling at this point, if you have any specific questions, as silly as they may be (e.g. how the hell am I going to watch the white sox abroad?) feel free to shout.

 

Where exactly do you live now?

[Fotop]

Where exactly do you live now?

 

Singapore.

[DBAHO]

Yeah as knightni said, I'm in London and been here for bout 3 and a half months now.

 

It's been really good, obviously it being summer and all helps.

 

There are certain parts of London which aren't very nice though, East London for example (where I live) they basically call it working class but the area as a whole isn't that great.

 

But if you love drinking (and you'll see Brits drinking at pubs at anytime of the day whether it's 10AM on a work day for example) you'll fit right in.

 

For me, I'm probably gonna stay another year and then look at my options (moving elsewhere in Europe, trying to get a job in the States or to move back home).

 

But the travel opportunities are amazing. Visited Stockholm 3 weeks back and that was 2 hours away on a flight.

[Chi Town Sox]

Yeah as knightni said, I'm in London and been here for bout 3 and a half months now.

 

It's been really good, obviously it being summer and all helps.

 

There are certain parts of London which aren't very nice though, East London for example (where I live) they basically call it working class but the area as a whole isn't that great.

 

But if you love drinking (and you'll see Brits drinking at pubs at anytime of the day whether it's 10AM on a work day for example) you'll fit right in.

 

For me, I'm probably gonna stay another year and then look at my options (moving elsewhere in Europe, trying to get a job in the States or to move back home).

 

But the travel opportunities are amazing. Visited Stockholm 3 weeks back and that was 2 hours away on a flight.

 

Yes, London is a great town - if you don't mind me asking, did you move there BECAUSE of business? Or did you move as personal preference and then found a job or something like that? It is just blind luck that I am hoping that I could get transferred but I have a lot of contacts in a type of business that is all over the UK, so just wondering if you were able to find a job when you got there if that is the case

 

[DBAHO]

Yes, London is a great town - if you don't mind me asking, did you move there BECAUSE of business? Or did you move as personal preference and then found a job or something like that? It is just blind luck that I am hoping that I could get transferred but I have a lot of contacts in a type of business that is all over the UK, so just wondering if you were able to find a job when you got there if that is the case

I returned home to Melbourne after New York, and basically the job market down there wasn't very good, ended up doing casual / part time at a couple of different places.

 

Moved to London and got work here after 3 weeks. If you have international experience and do well in interviews, you should be able to get a job here (just get in touch with recruiters straight away). You won't get anything permanent in finance ATM though, it'll all be 6 / 12 month contracts with the view of going permanent afterwards if all goes well.

[Balta1701]

Not a specific comment but worth noting...U.S. to issue travel alert for Americans in Europe.