Regular reminder that Cape Town is English-speaking, same Mediterranean climate as southern Europe, and way cheaper. And if you’re up for remote work, we have a new digital nomad visa that covers the first few years.
Europe without the AMOC wouldn’t be so great, either.
I do appreciate the South Africa suggestion as I wouldn’t have likely thought of it otherwise. It’s still in the running (and has a lot of positives) but I think the distance from everything is a big barrier. This is a very American/Eurocentric view, but I’m not thinking that it would allow similar travel opportunities as living in Europe. Undoubtedly southern Africa has some cool people and some great stuff to see, but the infrastructure/safety/etc would definitely be issues, whereas if I live in Spain or somewhere else in Europe like perhaps Greece I’d have more than enough easy, cheap, and amazing travel opportunities for the rest of my life.
Latest projections on the AMOC is that it’s not going to collapse until at least 2100. So… yay?
Adjusting to climate change is actually a big point in Europe’s favor – both in that the climate is relatively resistant to the effects relative to the tropics and because they have the will, money, and infrastructure to be able to handle it without collapsing. Things will get worse there, too, but probably by a lot less than the rest of the world.
And then, there’s this:
Thanks for bringing that to my attention. Somehow even though I have been heavily researching portugal and spain I didn’t see this. To be fair, it’s pretty recent, but none of the sites I was looking at mentioned that it was in the process of being passed.
At this point there’s no advantage to Portugal over Spain that I can see. Portugal’s income requirement is much lower, but from what I understand Spain basically just requires you to have around $32k USD in the bank or in passive income or any combination thereof for the first year. That seems quite generous to me – you don’t even need passive income for the non-lucrative visa. The first renewal after a year of residency is actually twice that because you’re renewing for 2 years.
I should consult a spanish immigration lawyer soon. Several discussion board posts confirm that this is how it works, and all the sites that discuss the visa say “a combination of passive income and savings”, but I’d like to see an actual official document somewhere say that the requirement can mix and match passive income and savings, because I haven’t been able to find that.
Those considering Portugal might be interested in a long piece in this Saturday’s Guardian magazine about the increasing concern in Lisbon about the social and economic consequences of the influx of remote-working foreigners and the “bubbles” they create around them, particularly as property prices and other costs of living go up.
Sadly, it’s not actually on the Guardian website (yet?) and the only link I can find is paywalled on PressReader, which looks like a parasite to me. But nevertheless here it it is:
Just an update on the Cape Town front - it’s the best city in the world this year. Well, according to Time Out.
And the Telegraph, I guess.
Western Cape is gorgeous and there are lots of lovely small towns. Spent a number of Canadian winters in the area. Highly recommended and safe.
Has Cape Town solved its water crisis? That’s where I learned the concept of “zero day”'.
We haven’t had restrictions since.
Cairns is very nice to retire to and luckily it is home for us. Me for 15 years and partner for 30.
You do need money even tho the gradient US to Aus dollar is favourable for y’all.
My son came back to the states a few months ago after living in Phnom Penh for about 9 months (long story). According to him it’s actually a pretty modernized / Westernized city, with malls and restaurants both Asian and Western-style. He attended the opening of a Little Caesar’s Pizza place in the city, and was happy that he could point to a map on the wall of where in the world Little Caesar’s was founded, on the opposite side of the Earth, and say “that’s where I’m from!” (the greater Detroit area). He was able to live like a king for less than $1000 a month total expenses, living in an apartment with maid service and a pool on the roof.
There ware drawbacks of course-- he didn’t pick up much of the Khmer language, and few Cambodians speak English. He had to do a lot of phone translation stuff to make himself understood much at all. He got very bad food poisoning from his favorite takeout place and had to be hospitalized. The medical care was dirt-cheap, at least.
SEA is a special place for travelers, loaded with interesting foods and fascinating people it’s still scary and far enough to keep most westerners away. I hope more get to see it all before Little Caesar’s takes over and it becomes like every other tourist trap.
All of SEA is a wild adventure, but Cambodia leads the charge.
Though probably not of interest to @SenorBeef , I’m surprised Uruguay hasn’t been mentioned in this thread. I have in-law relatives there and it seems to be a laid-back, accepting, society – though perhaps a bit dull & slow-paced for people looking for a more glamorous urban European vibe. The word is that you can get by with English in Montevideo, not so much in the countryside.
ETA: forgot to add this link
I know a recently-retired American couple that relocated to Albania this year. They were always Italiaphiles, traveling there often, language & cooking lessons. I unfortunately wasn’t able to catch up with them before they left to discuss the Albania vs Italy decision but I doubt there were any surprising reasons, mostly easier residency & longer dollars.
We spent two weeks in Albania in the spring. Neat place, super underrated destination, but we got the impression it would be really difficult to live there as an expat. Good luck to the couple.
They’re quite sophisticated and were previously my local experts on Italian things. I know they’d also visited Croatia with relocation in mind so it was well researched. I was surprised to learn they were heading to ALB and quite regret not getting to chat about it.