Expat Exchange Community
12 years ago
Moving _from_ 3rd world country
12 years ago
I'm a 27 yr old, single guy.. living in Bosnia (balkans, ex Yugoslavia). I'm
a computer programmer, and I work from home, which means I can do my job
from anywhere I want, as long as I have internet connection. That is partly
the reason I'm thinking of moving away from here, since quality of life, as
you can imagine is not so great here.
I have a income of about $2500 USD monthly, and I don't plan working in
whichever country I move to (local jobs, etc..), i plan keeping my internet
job.
There is a lot of similar topic, but I think mine is quite different, since
I need advice on where to move (below is the list of countries I'm
considering), but keeping in mind that I'm not from Canada, Australia, US,
European Union, rather from a 3rd world country, that is still struggling to
recover from Yugoslavia breakup/war.
I left my country only once in my life, so I'm pretty inexperienced about
other cultures/countries, with exception of Thailand, where I was for a
month.
I'm kinda asocial/social type of person, I love people and love human
interaction, even though I'm a bit ... asocial. So wherever I move too, I
plan to hang around people. Pubs, beer, have a good time... I love it, and the time
I spent in Thailand, I got exactly that. This means that I'm gonna be
spending a lot of money on above mentioned and everything that comes with
that. I don't go to restaurants, I make my own food, ocasionally I visit
fast-food joints. I'm not interested in "static" life, as in do same thing
every day. I play guitar, I listen to Rock/Blues music, I'm an individualist (some
say - rebel), and I was like that when I was 16, and I'm like that 11 years
later. I don't like 'western' mentality, consumerism and materialism in
general, although I'm an atheist, I consider myself as spiritual being. I'm
allergic to organized religions or any other kind of ideologies, although I
studied most of them, and still do.
I'm not used to "buying everything", that's a culture/war thing, because I
didn't have food to eat when I was little, so from building to repairing to
other stuff, my people did everything themselfs, and I still carry that mentality with me.
Here's a rough outline of my expenses:
- Beer, socializing (one beer here is about $2 usd, I spend a lot on it)
- Renting a place (around 50 square meter flat is fine with me, i rent it for $350 in my country in city centre, excluding utilities ($70 more))
- One meal here is about $5 usd, if you make it yourself, it's about $3 usd
- Fuel here is expensive, but I don't plan on driving in wherever I move to, but for example fuel here is $2 usd for 1 litar)
- Burger at a fast food joint is about $2 usd, 250 grams.
So you get the idea from where I'm coming from. Beer being $4 dollars and
food being $10 dollars is not "cheap" for me, as it is for US residents,
therefore my problem. Every resource on internet considers Thailand, Costa
Rica or similar countries as cheap, but it's not cheap for me, even though I
make a lot of money for life standards here in my country. Average pay here
is about $400 usd.
Countries that I'm considering are:
- Thailand (monthly expenses are almost same as in my country, except in tourist places like Khao San Road)
- Costa Rica (have no idea about expenses, read above paragraph about "cheapness and perspective")
- Spain (EU, but I'm not sure since I'm not fond of EU/US)
- Greece (EU again)
- ?
I understand that when I move, I can't expect life standards to be same as
in my country, especially in more developed countries. If I spend 20 to 30
percent more on 'rent,socializing,food,etc', it's no problem, because I'm
looking for a better life(i know this is extremely touchy subject), not cheaper place to live, but if I need to spend
60 perecent more, then that's not an option, because obviously... I can't
afford it. Thailand is an example country where I can afford to live nicely.
Sorry if this post sounds a bit neurotic, I'm in that kind of mood
currently, and I tried giving you guys all relevant information about myself
(including the boring character outline above), but this is a big step for
me, and I need help from someone who is more experienced then I am.
Thank you all.
Alex
a computer programmer, and I work from home, which means I can do my job
from anywhere I want, as long as I have internet connection. That is partly
the reason I'm thinking of moving away from here, since quality of life, as
you can imagine is not so great here.
I have a income of about $2500 USD monthly, and I don't plan working in
whichever country I move to (local jobs, etc..), i plan keeping my internet
job.
There is a lot of similar topic, but I think mine is quite different, since
I need advice on where to move (below is the list of countries I'm
considering), but keeping in mind that I'm not from Canada, Australia, US,
European Union, rather from a 3rd world country, that is still struggling to
recover from Yugoslavia breakup/war.
I left my country only once in my life, so I'm pretty inexperienced about
other cultures/countries, with exception of Thailand, where I was for a
month.
I'm kinda asocial/social type of person, I love people and love human
interaction, even though I'm a bit ... asocial. So wherever I move too, I
plan to hang around people. Pubs, beer, have a good time... I love it, and the time
I spent in Thailand, I got exactly that. This means that I'm gonna be
spending a lot of money on above mentioned and everything that comes with
that. I don't go to restaurants, I make my own food, ocasionally I visit
fast-food joints. I'm not interested in "static" life, as in do same thing
every day. I play guitar, I listen to Rock/Blues music, I'm an individualist (some
say - rebel), and I was like that when I was 16, and I'm like that 11 years
later. I don't like 'western' mentality, consumerism and materialism in
general, although I'm an atheist, I consider myself as spiritual being. I'm
allergic to organized religions or any other kind of ideologies, although I
studied most of them, and still do.
I'm not used to "buying everything", that's a culture/war thing, because I
didn't have food to eat when I was little, so from building to repairing to
other stuff, my people did everything themselfs, and I still carry that mentality with me.
Here's a rough outline of my expenses:
- Beer, socializing (one beer here is about $2 usd, I spend a lot on it)
- Renting a place (around 50 square meter flat is fine with me, i rent it for $350 in my country in city centre, excluding utilities ($70 more))
- One meal here is about $5 usd, if you make it yourself, it's about $3 usd
- Fuel here is expensive, but I don't plan on driving in wherever I move to, but for example fuel here is $2 usd for 1 litar)
- Burger at a fast food joint is about $2 usd, 250 grams.
So you get the idea from where I'm coming from. Beer being $4 dollars and
food being $10 dollars is not "cheap" for me, as it is for US residents,
therefore my problem. Every resource on internet considers Thailand, Costa
Rica or similar countries as cheap, but it's not cheap for me, even though I
make a lot of money for life standards here in my country. Average pay here
is about $400 usd.
Countries that I'm considering are:
- Thailand (monthly expenses are almost same as in my country, except in tourist places like Khao San Road)
- Costa Rica (have no idea about expenses, read above paragraph about "cheapness and perspective")
- Spain (EU, but I'm not sure since I'm not fond of EU/US)
- Greece (EU again)
- ?
I understand that when I move, I can't expect life standards to be same as
in my country, especially in more developed countries. If I spend 20 to 30
percent more on 'rent,socializing,food,etc', it's no problem, because I'm
looking for a better life(i know this is extremely touchy subject), not cheaper place to live, but if I need to spend
60 perecent more, then that's not an option, because obviously... I can't
afford it. Thailand is an example country where I can afford to live nicely.
Sorry if this post sounds a bit neurotic, I'm in that kind of mood
currently, and I tried giving you guys all relevant information about myself
(including the boring character outline above), but this is a big step for
me, and I need help from someone who is more experienced then I am.
Thank you all.
Alex
