Expats' Europe

Hi Thomas,

I'd really like to know how you became an expat. Are you retired? I've heard that it is difficult to get a job in the EU unless you have a very specialized skill.

I would LOVE to live in Europe again, but the only way I've found do to it so far has been by being a student and studying abroad.

I'm 38 years old, am in law school in the US, and this will likely be my last educational experience where I will be able to do a study abroad program.

I'd really like to figure out how to move to Europe and live...

Also, why did you chose Vienna? Have you lived in other cities in Europe as well?

This year we moved from Australia to Spain. Neither of us is working there and our visa situation does not allow us to anyway. My husband lives there fulltime, I work in central asia and have at this stage only about 3 months a year in Europe, which I am hoping will increase in the coming years. Not an ideal situation but the only one we found that enabled us to live in Europe. Took us years of trying to find a way but once we did and decided on Spain took hardly any time at all!

We also really wanted to leave Australia and have few family ties there - which helps.

Aye, you guys hit the sore spot with this topic!
I have been racking my brain over how I can move to Switzerland. I am a Swiss citizen, but my German is bare bones, definitely not enough to get a decent job. I originally majored in English, and have been employed as a paralegal here in America. I am certain that once I get there, I will pick up the language quickly. But what to do meanwhile? I am scared to use up my savings. My oldest son is an adult, my youngest is 11. Will I ever have the guts to uproot us and move just like this? I've heard the social services in Switzerland are great, especially if one has children. In fact, a relative told me that I could have the same level of living there not working as I have here while working full-time. But I have always earned my living and never accepted any government handouts before - I am afraid I can't do it, emotionally. I have some relatives there, on my late husband's side, but they are not the type who help.So just dreaming now:(

this is a dream of mine as well. Just when I start thinking about the reality I can not see it happening...
but its a dream.....uk or france would suit me fine. I think the UK, London would be easiest transition for me.

I have the dream now just to figure out how

I can only say --and I am sincere about this-- "if I can do it, anyone can." My story is that, much like Rick, I got my start with a classic backpacking trip across Europe in the 1970s when I was still a teenager. I got copletely hooked. After that I traveled back as often as I could. At some point in my 20's I decided I wanted to live here. And I actually taught english in Germany for 2 years. But the need for a Masters Degree and family needs brought me back to the States. Once I landed a "normal" job in the States, I just started building my resume' and applying for jobs in Europe (usually with private U.S. firms, government agencies --U.S. or U.N.-- and non-profits.) I'm not kidding when I say that I must have applied for 100 jobs before I struck gold. So: build your resume' and be very very persistent. I estimate that there are half a million or a million American Expats in Europe. They have jobs in a wide range of areas. Probably yours included.

More: I always direct people to the following web site:

www.internationaljobs.org

I actually found my current job there. In answer to a question... I "chose" Vienna because that is where the job was. It is a wonderful city. I'm fortunate in that I can now spend all my weekends and vacations exploring Europe. There are so many "back doors" and undiscovered spots that you could spend decades exploring and not run out. My kids are now bilingual. What a gift that is. Basically, I'd recommend that you charge ahead and be persistent. Life is too short not to attempt to live your dream. Good luck & many happy trips to you.

In my day-dreams about living in Europe I have to consider places that I could possibly afford. In England it seems that the southwest part of the country has lodging that is much less expensive than London/Bath. In other words, costs seem less away from tourist spots. I stayed in Warwick last year in a nice B&B for 22GBP (single) per night. Hotel and B&B prices in Exeter and Torquay seemed much lower than in Bath. I would look for an apartment in one of these areas and travel by bus around the country. The climate in the Torquay area is supposed to be milder than in the rest of England. I am retired so would not have to worry about working, just living and traveling some. I'm not sure how I would handle medical care; I might have to return to the US annually to take advantage of my med insurance.

Just to comment on the living in UK issue - if you don't have the legal right to live there (via parent or grandparent born there generally) or some extremely valuable skills or a lot of money to invest it is extremely difficult to live there legally for longer than 6 months. As Australia is a member of the Commonwealth there is a common misconception, especially by British people, that we can just go and live there quite freely. We could have applied for long term visas in many parts of continental Europe but no such equivalent visa exists for the UK.

While we spent a long time trying to find a way to live in UK we are now glad it didn't happen - the cost of living all over the UK, coupled with the weather, makes Spain look like a great option.