While we don’t have a choice over the country we’re born in, these days we often do have control over whether or not we choose to stay.
There are 195 countries in the world today, which presents almost endless possibilities for those wishing to live overseas. And when it comes to setting up your life in a new country, most nations are very welcoming!
People move abroad for many different reasons; for business, study, wanderlust, or simply to seek better life opportunities. Either way, to experience life as part of a new culture and have the chance to discover an exotic new land is a romantic adventure quite a lot of people entertain.
If you’re considering moving abroad but haven’t yet figured out where you want to go, the following are the best countries to live in as an expat, as well as important things you need to know!
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To live in a different country is a rich and rewarding experience, but moving abroad can (at first) definitely feel disruptive; it changes your daily life, throws you into the unknown, and you may have given up all of your creature comforts from home.
It’s very common for some people to find their first months abroad a bit sad, and a bit nostalgic, but when you feel that way, it’s the perfect moment to tackle new challenges.
We’re jumping in with a list of 5 things you shouldn’t be afraid to try when living away from your home country.
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Having a career that allows you to work remotely is the dream for most travelers these days. And luckily, there are a lot of ways to work remotely in today’s age.
Technological advancements in recent years have completely changed the way people do business, and as a result, many careers now allow for location independence.
If you’ve dreamed of pursuing a career which allows you to work remotely, while traveling, one of the following career paths could be perfect for you!
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Many people dream of moving abroad; to experience life as part of a new culture and have the chance to discover an exotic new land.
But whether it be for socio-economic circumstance, ambition, or even wanderlust, the complexity of immigration may mean you consider hiring a specialist lawyer.
The logistics, red tape and paperwork involved in immigrating overseas will vary from country to country though if you find yourself overwhelmed and not able to tackle the legalities yourself, the following information should help.
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Getting distracted from work is easy. Getting distracted from work as a digital nomad is nearly impossible to avoid.
As a full-time traveler and remote worker, you need to keep your income flowing in order to maintain your lifestyle. Avoiding all the new places, people, and food, though (at least long enough to get some work done), is tough.
Staying productive as a digital nomad is one of the most important things to be mindful of while on the road. Even though you might rather be out exploring your new location, without spending quality time with your laptop, clients, or business, you’ll be on the next flight home before you know it.
Follow these steps to get productive — and stay that way — as a remote worker. Your long-term travel lifestyle depends on it!
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Living your life on the road is the stuff dreams are made of, but at some point reality has to catch up.
Where does the money come from to keep paying the bills, and how can you ensure a regular cash flow so you never find yourself in a sticky situation?
There are a number of cheap travel hacks to help you get the most out of your money while traveling. However, even living the frugal lifestyle won’t keep you sustained forever.
Finding a job that is as flexible and transportable as you are is important, meaning you have the luxury to take it up whenever funds start to run dry.
Here we take a look at a few of the options open to you, which can help you get the spare cash you need.
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I didn’t exactly know when or where I was going to find my forever partner, but I never could have predicted it would involve a man who lived 15,000km away from me.
Having successfully navigated the 1am phone calls, the miscommunications, the extreme highs of seeing each other after so long, followed by the extreme lows of being kept in immigration limbo, we have compiled our experiences and advice into the ultimate ‘how-to’ guide.
Our ultimate goal with publishing this book? To offer other long distance couples the tools, knowledge, and the hope that your long distance relationship can be just as successful as our own.
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Almost every traveler packs their phone these days; when you have a GPS, a translator, an entertainment system and a camera all rolled up into one device, your phone becomes an essential part of the travel experience that you can’t afford to lose (with the prices of new phones lately, it’s often literally something you can’t afford to lose).
But every year thousands of smart phones are lost, stolen, or damaged while on vacation. In Australia alone, the AMTA reports more than 100,000 mobile phones are lost or stolen every year. That’s 2,000 each week or one mobile phone handset every six minutes.
And that’s not even considering the phones which are damaged, or hacked as part of cyber-theft.
Considering the expense of phones these days, the inconvenience of losing your boarding passes, photos, and contacts, and the security risks of having your personal data and information available for hack, it’s imperative to protect your phone when you travel overseas.
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If your first language is English, it can be easy to take advantage of the world dominance of the language. In many countries we can get by okay, and with some accompanying hand gestures generally make ourselves understood.
But if you are travelling for new experiences, sticking with your mother tongue will mean you are missing out on opportunities to learn about and truly appreciate other cultures.
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Humans have always been a nomadic species. Our adventurous spirit has long seen us travel the world in search of new lands and experiences. Even today we yearn to escape the confines of our regular lives in search of new cities and countries.
While travelling to a destination allows you a glimpse into a different culture and way of life, choosing to live abroad takes the experience to a whole other level. You’re able to fully immerse yourself into a destination, and gain a behind the scenes look at what a country is really like; the experience opens your mind to new ideas, helps you grow as a person, and gives you a greater sense of self confidence.
Whether you choose to backpack across Europe for 12 months or migrate to another country permanently, you become what is known as an expatriate (expat for short); a person temporarily or permanently residing in a country other than their own.
To live abroad is something everyone should experience at some point in their lives, but you do have certain responsibilities as an expat. And one of those is staying on top of tax.
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As I travel around the world, it never ceases to amaze me just how many people are fluent in more than one language. Granted, I am blessed that the only language I can speak is spoken nearly everywhere to at least some degree. Though this isn’t always true once you start travelling off the beaten path, and it is a sign of respect when visiting someone else’s country that you at least attempt to speak in their native tongue.
I am well aware that I should be the one to learn other languages. I don’t expect other cultures to conform to my native language, and I do actually enjoy discovering destinations that haven’t adopted English as an alternate or additional language. Like many frequent travellers though, I don’t have the aptitude to learn16 different languages, but I still want to communicate effectively wherever I go.
Last year I wrote an article about using MESAY, which is a portable language translator that you speak into, and it spits out translations in real time. Though the company has recently developed an upgrade, and will soon be launching MESAY 2.0.
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If you didn’t have to worry about working for a living, what would you want to do with your life? Many people say that they would spend their time helping others. Many more say that they would travel and see more of the world.
But what if you could combine these two things, and make them part of your working life? It sounds like a dream come true, doesn’t it?
The following careers allow you to combine international travel with helping local communities. You just have to be willing to put the work in to acquire the necessary skills.
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As of March 2018, the Australian Government introduced a new work visa in replacement of the 457 visa – the Subclass 482 Temporary Skill Shortage (TSS) visa.
The Government’s March visa changes have been highly anticipated since its announcement in April last year that they would be replacing the 457 visa in order to address Australia’s skills shortages and to prioritise Australian workers.
Brisbane based migration agents, Results Migration have agreed to take us through the changes.
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Being a travel blogger, much like any profession, can have its ups and downs.
On the one hand, you get to explore new places and have experiences that most other people in the world will never get to have. On the other hand, it’s work and oftentimes isn’t glamorous.
Living out of your suitcase, going from hostel to hostel, doing your laundry in errant sinks along the way – these are just some of the tribulations you’ll face when constantly on the road.
Then there’s the process of being a travel writer, the one which requires set-up and maintenance with regards to building your travel site, as well as lugging around all the gear you need to successfully document your experiences.
Luckily, with the right equipment, this burden is drastically reduced.
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As the world becomes more connected through the internet, being in a specific physical location to do work has become less and less necessary. People from anywhere can do work everywhere and often do. No office. No store. This has given rise to the term digital nomad.
Digital nomads are a type of people who use telecommunications technologies to earn a living and, more generally, conduct their life in a nomadic manner. Such workers often work remotely from foreign countries, coffee shops, public libraries, co-working spaces, or recreational vehicles.
This phenomenon is catching on by workers and businesses globally. Here are 5 ways to make money as a digital nomad.
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While there are many careers that will not afford you a care-free lifestyle, or give you the option to work from the comfort of a hammock, in Bali – there are plenty that do (cue the ‘OH. MY. GOSH, no WAY!’)
Check out our list, and maybe quit your job to follow your dreams in 2018!
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Whether your reasons are for business, study, wanderlust, or to be closer to family and friends, you’ve made the decision to move overseas and become a fully-fledged expat. Congrats!
Many people dream of moving abroad; to experience life as part of a new culture and have the chance to discover an exotic new land. And of the many things to consider, one of the biggest things to think about is what to pack.
Of course there will be many items readily available for you once you arrive in your new home, as you wait for your luggage to be shipped to you (this removal company ships internationally), but there are a number of things you should keep with you.
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Globalization has led to an increasing number of people working in foreign lands, often far away from countries they call home. And one factor that connects most expats, no matter where they live, is the need to send money abroad.
The reasons, of course, tend to vary. These may include paying bills, making mortgage payments, or simply sending money to family members or friends.
Sending money from one country to another has evolved considerably over the last two decades, so expats get to choose from different options now. Whether you want to know the best way to send money to India, to Australia, or China, these are your options for sending money overseas.
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The most rewarding travel moments are when you can have an experience that few others achieve.
When it comes to exploring China, visiting popular tourist sites like the Great Wall or eating Peking Duck may satisfy the bucket list, but that makes your experience just like any other tourist.
So when we visited China, we wanted to make our experience unforgettable and uncover the real China that few tourists ever get to see. We decided to teach English in China, and on reflecting back, have the following advice for those looking to achieve an immersive experience.
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One of the biggest challenges when traveling is overcoming barriers to communication, and for someone who frequently travels, it’s highly likely you’ll eventually land in a country where you don’t understand a word.
And this can be quite daunting. I’m sure I’m not the only traveler who’s landed abroad and felt like a mute for being unable to speak the native language. Frankly, it’s embarrassing; so you end up taking some pictures, looking at the scenery, and leaving, without having interacted with anyone.
Though as for learning a new language, the brutal truth is that not many people have the time or energy, or even the mental ability to retain a new language, especially when you’re touring multiple countries and need knowledge of several different dialects.
So if you’re wondering how to overcome barriers of communication, you’e not alone. But you don’t need to worry anymore! There’s a new smart voice translator being released which means you can speak 20 languages in 2 seconds! It’s an incredible device, and may just kill the language barrier for good.
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Whether it be for socio-economic circumstance, ambition, or even wanderlust, you’ve made the decision to settle down abroad and become a fully-fledged expat. Congrats!
Many people dream of moving abroad; to experience life as part of a new culture and have the chance to discover an exotic new land. But as enjoyable as it is to plan and plot where we’d like to go and what we’d like to do, there are some very real considerations to take into account.
Here are 7 things to consider once you’ve decided to settle down overseas.
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The evolution of technology means it’s easier and easier to work full time, online, and many aspiring travelers have taken full advantage of this opportunity, using their status as location independent (not being tied to the one place) to also travel full time.
And before we chose a permanent base, we too were jumping from country to country at an alarming pace. But whether you’ve created a blog (or even looking at a place to start one), write for magazines, or dabble in consultancy, it can often prove difficult to juggle full time travel when you’re also trying to stay on top of a full time workload.
So after 3 years of making money on the road, we’ve put together some of our best tips for balancing both. Because you can’t continue to travel if you’re not earning money. But likewise, you don’t want to be stuck behind a computer desk for the whole time you’re in Taiwan.
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I’ve been avoiding the words “permanent base” for a good two years now. Even though that’s exactly how we’ve been living, I’ve been avoiding the phrase like the plague.
And in a way, it might be because I was ashamed. Ashamed of trading in a life of full time travel when being a digital nomad is all the craze. Worried I wouldn’t be seen as a “real traveler” if we weren’t living the lifestyle every single day. Anxious that we would be judged by pretentious travelers, because we weren’t traveling in the right way.
But there is no right or wrong way to travel, and I reject the notion that we should compare the way we experience the world to other people and worry if it measures up. Travel is a personal journey and an individual experience, and it really doesn’t matter where your travel style falls in the whole tourist vs traveler debate.
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Enjoying a hike in Asia? Kicking back on a beach in the Caribbean? Who has time for taxes? However, reading this can save you thousands of dollars in unwanted penalties and fees.
Being a U.S. citizen or resident alien has its benefits. There is the right to religious freedom, freedom of speech and the right to live permanently in the United States. Those are the positives.
The downside? Well, contrary to what many people believe, U.S. citizens or resident aliens are taxed on their worldwide income regardless of where they live. The typical tax deadline is April 15. However, if you are outside of the country on that date, the IRS will allow a 2-month extension to file your tax return and pay any tax due.
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Travelling is fun but it doesn’t come cheap. If you plan to travel for several months or more, you may need to pick up another job.
Working on the go has never been easier with technology that allows us to communicate from across the globe. Pick up a job that will help you financially and also allow you room to explore.
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