About CyprusWithBabies

Status:

Expatriate  

Gender:

Female

Currently Lives:

Limassol, Cyprus

Citizen Of:

United Kingdom

About CyprusWithBabies

Married, with no children but have 1 stepson who now lives in Sydney, Australia. We moved from near Manchester in UK to live in Cyprus in 2004. I work part time in the online gaming industry, which leaves me with time to concentrate on growing my own business "Cyprus with Babies". We offer quality baby equipment for rent in the Limassol tourist areas & outlying districts and have travel cots, high chairs, car seats etc... My husband works for himself doing general DIY, wooden fencing & pergolas in the Limassol districts and also property management (usually empty properties), when the owners are either permanently out of the country or away on business. We both love our new lives as they are very different than what we did in the UK. I worked in travel & had been in the Civil Service for over 15yrs prior to the travel service industry. Hubby had been a bus driver until a sudden illness put paid to that and later joined the Court Service for the last 10yrs, where he was in charge of a government listed building that had just had £14m spent on it. We are now away from the stress & strain of life in the UK and are still looking forward to our approaching 50's! We still have some way to go before we reach retirement, but we haven't looked back and actually, haven't BEEN back to the UK since we left it.

My Website:

http://http://www.cypruswithbabies.com

Advice for New Expats

Do lots of homework and research before you leave your home country. Then do some more.... It's not always easy to find work abroad before you arrive, so be prepared to possible survive without an income for around 6 months. Ideally, make sure you have enough funds to survive without any income for up to 2yrs. Be aware that the first 12 months will be the most expensive because of setting up costs, purchasing transport if you don't take it with you. If you have school age children, find out what hours the schools operate. Here in Cyprus, they start early at around 07.30hrs and finish around 13.30hrs, so someone may need to pick them up from school. So, of one of you is working the other one may also need transport. Not all public transport systems are the same - here, it is sadly lacking, so it is absolutely necessary to have a car if you do not live on the main seafront or in the tourist areas.

I would love to live in...

in Luxor, Egypt or a pretty Greek Island like Rhodes or Corfu.

Favorite Websites:

http://http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Cyprus4Holidays
http://http://cwstoolbx.moonfruit.com

Favorite Assignment:

Online Casino & Poker live chat support.

Favorite Cuisine:

Westernised Indian curries or anything that's hot & spicy but not with frui

Favorite Museum:

It has to be the Cairo Museum, you can spend days there and still not have

Favorite Movie:

The Mummy (the Brendan Fraser version)

Favorite Book:

I read so many, I can't pin down a particular favourite.

Favorite Sports Team:

I like F1 motorsport so it depends on which driver is with which team.

Some Forum Posts:

Cyprus: MOVING TO CYPRUS ADVICE:

Hi We moved from Manchester area to Cyprus a few years ago and used Britannia removals. I think they use LSA at the Cyprus end and we found both companies were very good. Good luck with your move.

Cyprus: RELOCATING , HELP ADVICE URGENTLY NEEDED:

Hi Terry There used to be a guy in Limassol who ran something similar up until a couple of years ago. He died unfortunately.... But he did run it as a private soccer school, taking reservations and arranging the curriculum. Have you thought about approaching Tui (incorporating Thomson & First Choice) and Olympic Holidays to see if you could work in unison? I know First Choice used to run a swimming school called Swim Kids a few years ago. It may be a way to bring bookings your way to begin with and then you could concentrate on where to start up. There are lots of small football pitches dotted around each town as the lads all tend to play football here when the evenings cool down. So all the pitches are floodlit. It maybe worth getting in touch with the town hall in Limassol and the other tourist towns to decide where best to set up. They may be able to put you in touch with the local pitches. But - you may also very well put the idea into someone else's head and they will start the ball rolling before you can get here! It may be better to contact the Tour Ops and if they seem to like the idea - it's probably worth getting over to set it up personally in Cyprus rather than from UK. Good luck! CwB

Cyprus: Finding work in Cyprus:

Hi, A quite negative reply from simonmcbeth, which in part may be true to an extent... Certainly, you have great skills between you and should you wish to continue using them in a line of employment - you may perhaps be better advised to concentrate on the "offshore" companies around Limassol. Shipping, distribution or insurance type companies - of which there are a number around the centre of Limassol and the New Port area. However, if you have an inclination to change your worklife balance - then now is the time to give it a whirl. For instance - in UK both me and my partner were Civil Servants for a number of years. My husband now works for himself in Cyprus and I do part-time work for an online gaming company. I also started a small business towards the end of last summer and enjoy the combination of both positions. Our lifestyle is much simpler. We don't look for the same salaries as UK and we know it's quite impossible to earn the same salaries for the type of work we do here. However, we don't pay the same tax either - so, the saving on that alone covers the shortfall in salaries. In fact, we manage quite nicely on what was an income for just one of us in the UK. Good luck & most of all - Enjoy!

Cyprus: Done It - in 2004 and still here :-):

I moved here with my husband, 2 cats and 1 dog in March 2004 - just before Cyprus joined the EU. I started working in an Estate Agents / Developers office working 5 days a week 8am - 5pm and my take home pay was Cy£300pm. Later, I started working in online gaming doing Customer Support and the salary was Cy£600pm plus medical insurance and meals for 28hrs per week. Bliss! Unfortunately, there was a change to onling gaming legislation in America and the company sold up in December last year. Since then, I decided to make use of my great experience within UK tour operations and started up by offering the hire of baby equipment for travellers coming on holidays. I offer hire of high chairs, cots, baby walkers etc and in the meantime, whilst I get the business fully operational - I work part time for a UK company doing sales and admin. My husband works for himself and does DIY, wooden fencing and pergolas but also buys & sells Cypriot memorablilia such as stamps and old postcards, collectables etc and we both really enjoy our new lifestyle. We are still in our 40's and have a totally different life than back in UK. If anyone needs any information - you can always ask and we will do our best to answer your questions.

Cyprus: COULD YOU HELP:

Hi JaseUK Good, reliable and honest plumbers are always needed. There are too many ex-pats trying to rip people off that it gets the ex-pats a bad name. But, what you have to keep in mind is that you do not come to live in Cyprus to get rich quick. You will get by, but you will not get rich. People in the right frame of mind come out here for a better, more relaxed lifestyle and be prepared to take much less of an income. It's a simple life and the average salaries for paid employees (without a trade) is between Cy£350 - Cy£500 per month. Best regards CyprusWithBabies! http://cypruswithbabies.blogspot.com

Cyprus: relocation:

It's not all doom and gloom - everyone has different perceptions of what it will be like here. We are still in our 40's and have been here almost 4yrs and have never looked back. We have a great lifestyle and socialize so much more than in UK. We have made many nice friends, Brits and Cypriots and are now relaxed and happy. No more just working to keep a roof over our heads like in UK although we earn half of what we used to. Outgoings are a lot less too - we rent a 3 bed bungalow in one of the suburbs of Limassol and pay £250pm. Our highest expense seems to be for our broadband connection at £32pm including vat. Electricity is on a par with UK prices but we get FREE hot water for around 9 months of the year with the solar panels so electric is mainly for cooking, lighting and possibly the immersion heater in winter.... I am happy to answer any questions. Regards CyprusWithBabies! Limassol since 2004

Cyprus: Moving to Cyprus:

Hi, if you are EU citizens, I would suggest you take a look at this site for more information on moving to Cyprus : http://www.cyprus.gov.cy/portal/portal.nsf/dmlcitizen_en/dmlcitizen_en?OpenDocument And this site for health & medical information: http://cyprus.angloinfo.com/countries/cyprus/healthinsure.asp You would also be advised to thoroughly research the in's and out's of the Turkish Occupied North of the island before considering living or purchasing property in Famagusta, Kyrenia etc. The island has been occupied after the turkish invasion in 1974 and property purchase, particularly proof of ownership of land - is a minefield, to say the least.

Cyprus: Moving to Cyprus:

Yes, you do have to pay for your children to attend English schools and they can be quite expensive. For a young child, it has been proven it's better to send them to the local Greek speaking school. They will soon pick up the language and as they are young, there is no real fear of making friends or feeling out of place by not being able to speak the language as it's only as we get older that this kind of fear sets in. For older children, it is more difficult to adapt and so it may be better to pay privately for an older child. Whatever happens - don't let any property companies tell you it is very cheap for schools and that there are loads of jobs available - as that is not true but it's a ploy they use to get people to purchase property! Do your homework first by researching as much as possible. Come out for lots of visits, see different areas too as not all places are ideal for finding work - particularly those that are mostly tourist locations such as Ayia Napa, Protaras, Paralimni and a number of areas in Paphos. Work is easier to find in Nicosia, Limassol and Larnaca. I am happy to answer any questions. Good luck CyprusWithBabies! In Limassol since 2004

Cyprus: speaking Greek:

Hi Nikki It isn't necessary to speak Greek but a little does help! I took lessons at night school in UK for 8 months before we moved out here in March 2004. Since then, I took some private lessons with a tutor in Erimi for about 6 months. I can read, write and get by in conversation. I've also found a really great language learning site called Before You Know It and you can choose the Lite (free) version. It also allows you to read (and write - if you wish) or you can choose the phonetic version. If you can read the language - you can also pronounce the letters. As almost every letter you see is spoken - it's a great step forward to being able to speak the language. Try it for yourself http://www.byki.com Good luck CyprusWithBabies! Based in Limassol, Cyprus

Date Joined:

9/8/2007

Total Posts:

9

Posts/Day:

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