Great tips! I've always considered variations of those when deciding on a city, even for tourism. However, I noticed that in the past 5-6 years or so, a trend is emerging where people are choosing cities based on their popularity on social media instead of practicality, which ends up overrunning the said city and causing that city to tighten its policies. It's a vicious circle and all that.
True. I think Lisbon is a good example of a city that became very popular among digital nomads and that got the rents to skyrocket.
I also think that, especially the first time someone moves, might be because of completely different factors. For example, a good friend told you that the university in a city is very good and relevant for what you want to study and you just go. In cases like that you don't really consider green spaces or safety as factors.
Guilty as charged😂, i picked my unis mostly based on brand name recognition and popularity of faculty members and everything else be damned. Luckily my choices didn’t turn out bad overall…
You can see this also in this “romanticising” trend on Instagram and TikTok for living. I have seen the Netherlands and Copenhagen specifically being depicted in extremely sunny and romantic ways and “the New American dream” . Forgetting almost that winter takes 6/7 months. Due to these videos my Spanish friends are applying to jobs in these places without ever having set foot there. You can imagine what does that for housing prices, especially when there is an expat friendly tax. Well… winter is going to be hard for them… 😅
"Without ever having set foot there". That makes a big difference.
I mentioned a couple of times in these posts that if you have friends in the city you are considering, ask them for info; if you can go for a short trip, even better. Going for a week to a new place will not reveal everything you need to know to live there. But you will at least get an idea of how the place is in real life.
You cannot substitute the value of "setting boot on the ground" with influencer videos.
Yeah, I’m seeing it a lot in Asia too, cities such as Bali, Bangkok, Siem Reap, Ho Chi Minh city, et al. It really drives up prices of everything and after some time, displaces the locals, which creates resentment. The influencers really sold the good food, good weather, cheap everything, and friendly local to their followers, and et voila.
I recently visited Chiang Mai, north Thailand, and expats and nomads have practically taken over the city centre at this point…
That is indeed sad. I have to say though that it is not a simple problem to solve. It doesn't make sense to forbid people from moving to a new place. On the other hand, not taking care of your own people also doesn't make sense.
I am not knowledgeable enough in this topic to suggest a solution, but I am pretty sure we can do better than "creating resentment" between expats and locals.
Nature is number 1 for me (as I mentioned in a previous comment) even though I am a townie like you. Great point about human right and inclusion, this is so important for many travellers and we should not take it for granted.
I 'm planning to maybe break down each point and make a separate post for each. The importance of nature was definitely one of the things that got me to think about doing that.
Great post! I think that when it comes to cost there is one thing you miss here and that is the cost of doing the things you like. For example I have a high pleasure in going for a coffee outside. Coffee in Italy costs approximately €1.30/1.50. In Denmark and Sweden you east pay €5/€6 for a coffee, but the wages are not necessarily 4 times as high.
Same for transport costs to visit other places including your family. How expensive is it relatively to your salary to take the train, visit a cinema or a museum.
Maybe these costs are less relevant when you have other free options such as nature closer instead. But for comparing cities I like say Milan vs Copenhagen vs Amsterdam I would take it into account into your salary negotiations 😉
I guess the coffee or the museum examples would fall under the cost of living category. But you are right,it is worth elaborating more. There is too much info to fit in one paragraph per item.
Great List! Definitely hard to pick the most important one for me! I might have to move to a different city in a couple of years and I'll go back to this list to help me decide!
Great tips! I've always considered variations of those when deciding on a city, even for tourism. However, I noticed that in the past 5-6 years or so, a trend is emerging where people are choosing cities based on their popularity on social media instead of practicality, which ends up overrunning the said city and causing that city to tighten its policies. It's a vicious circle and all that.
True. I think Lisbon is a good example of a city that became very popular among digital nomads and that got the rents to skyrocket.
I also think that, especially the first time someone moves, might be because of completely different factors. For example, a good friend told you that the university in a city is very good and relevant for what you want to study and you just go. In cases like that you don't really consider green spaces or safety as factors.
Guilty as charged😂, i picked my unis mostly based on brand name recognition and popularity of faculty members and everything else be damned. Luckily my choices didn’t turn out bad overall…
Haha same here. I do not regret it, but at that point, I did not follow almost anything from this post 😋.
You can see this also in this “romanticising” trend on Instagram and TikTok for living. I have seen the Netherlands and Copenhagen specifically being depicted in extremely sunny and romantic ways and “the New American dream” . Forgetting almost that winter takes 6/7 months. Due to these videos my Spanish friends are applying to jobs in these places without ever having set foot there. You can imagine what does that for housing prices, especially when there is an expat friendly tax. Well… winter is going to be hard for them… 😅
"Without ever having set foot there". That makes a big difference.
I mentioned a couple of times in these posts that if you have friends in the city you are considering, ask them for info; if you can go for a short trip, even better. Going for a week to a new place will not reveal everything you need to know to live there. But you will at least get an idea of how the place is in real life.
You cannot substitute the value of "setting boot on the ground" with influencer videos.
Yeah, I’m seeing it a lot in Asia too, cities such as Bali, Bangkok, Siem Reap, Ho Chi Minh city, et al. It really drives up prices of everything and after some time, displaces the locals, which creates resentment. The influencers really sold the good food, good weather, cheap everything, and friendly local to their followers, and et voila.
I recently visited Chiang Mai, north Thailand, and expats and nomads have practically taken over the city centre at this point…
That is indeed sad. I have to say though that it is not a simple problem to solve. It doesn't make sense to forbid people from moving to a new place. On the other hand, not taking care of your own people also doesn't make sense.
I am not knowledgeable enough in this topic to suggest a solution, but I am pretty sure we can do better than "creating resentment" between expats and locals.
Nature is number 1 for me (as I mentioned in a previous comment) even though I am a townie like you. Great point about human right and inclusion, this is so important for many travellers and we should not take it for granted.
I 'm planning to maybe break down each point and make a separate post for each. The importance of nature was definitely one of the things that got me to think about doing that.
Great idea! I'll be reading!
Thanks for the support!
Great post! I think that when it comes to cost there is one thing you miss here and that is the cost of doing the things you like. For example I have a high pleasure in going for a coffee outside. Coffee in Italy costs approximately €1.30/1.50. In Denmark and Sweden you east pay €5/€6 for a coffee, but the wages are not necessarily 4 times as high.
Same for transport costs to visit other places including your family. How expensive is it relatively to your salary to take the train, visit a cinema or a museum.
Maybe these costs are less relevant when you have other free options such as nature closer instead. But for comparing cities I like say Milan vs Copenhagen vs Amsterdam I would take it into account into your salary negotiations 😉
I guess the coffee or the museum examples would fall under the cost of living category. But you are right,it is worth elaborating more. There is too much info to fit in one paragraph per item.
Great List! Definitely hard to pick the most important one for me! I might have to move to a different city in a couple of years and I'll go back to this list to help me decide!
I would be thrilled if these posts are helpful even to just 1 person! Are there more things you would like to read more about?
I think you have a lot of interesting stories to tell, so just keep doing that! I'd like to read something about your language learning journey too!