Where is the best country for a traveller to settle in ?
 

Let's be honest. Who doesn't travel and then dream of settling down somewhere. In their own paradise. Some of my trips have been based in fact finding for finding somewhere that I finally want to settle in.

I've got a short list.

What's yours ?

I suspect that I will end up in France at some point - travelling back home (UK) to see kids as required whilst being able to go around continental Europe and further afield as I want. Eastern Europe - the Balkans spring to mind - has some advantages in that I would be able to save a significant amount of time on the first leg of trips.

One of the things to take into consideration is how easy it is to get regulatory approval to stay. Some countries make that easy, others don't. Some require large investments or deposits, others don't. Some have special "retirement visa" regimes, others don't. It's definitely doable - just requires a bit of research.

I always assumed this would happen. That as I explored the world I would find my happy spot, a community I love, perhaps a person that became more important than travel.

Turns out travel is my paradise.

Ten years and counting.

The only thing that surprised me was changing to travel without a motorcycle. Traveling by motorcycle has a special place in my heart as this is how I began, but it is the travel I love. Moving through the world, my only possessions those I carry with me. This is my home, my paradise.

Though I have plans in the works to return to motorbike travel.

That was always my plan, but plans change & i ended up in Australia.

Mezo.

A good question Ted and one I have thought about quite a lot, the place that has stood out as somewhere I would like to live is the Central California coast, a moderate climate that allows year round riding, some great scenery and access to a geographically diverse country. For obvious reasons such as visa requirements and the cost of living, especially healthcare that is not going to happen so I have to content myself with visits when I can manage them.
I do enjoy living in this corner of the UK but try to spend as much of the winter as possible somewhere warmer which is something I have managed for most of the last 15 years, except the last two of course, India being a popular choice for my winter getaway, I don't see me ever emigrating but hope to get back to winters somewhere warmer next year.

The fundamental problem is that wherever you move, you're bringing with yourself the things that you moved away from.

That said, New Zealand has come the closest for me so far.

Im far away from settling down. But I imagine it will be with an Asian wife in a country like Vietnam, Thailand or The Philippines (somewhere in SEA).

Nothing keeping you in the UK (or the part of it you currently live in anyway) Ted?

I wrote a huge long ramble of a post looking at why I would and wouldn't move to certain areas but then deleted it as boring, but I see others have mentioned many of the same places. So, in the interests of brevity here's the short version -

1. I like where I currently live (Oxfordshire)
2. Nowhere further north - can't stand winters any more. That cuts out much of the UK and (sadly) Sweden where we have friends and family.
3. I'm a Med climate sort of person. Arid but not Sahara arid. However - the actual Med = too crowded. California = a cultural wasteland. South Africa = never been but doesn't tick many of the other boxes.
4 Rest of Europe - language issues vs old dog = no new tricks is a hurdle and I don't want to live in an expat ghetto.
5. North America - After travelling around much of the area fantasy house move had us ticking New Mexico (Santa Fe area) and Quebec (winter again) but there are bits of the east coast below NY (so not New England = winter) that work well for us.
6. Far east - friends experiences living in Thailand (with a Thai wife), Hong Kong and China suggest we'd find it culturally tricky living there now. Oz could be the perfect place (friends in Brisbane give us an insiders view) but it falls down on the next bit.

Biggest problem though is the ties that bind. Both of us have psychological reasons for our base remaining in the UK so our escape has been to buy a small place in the French Alps 15yrs ago. It's too small to move to permanently but it does refresh your soul when the sun streams in over the mountain tops in the morning.

During my trip I was able to get a superficial picture of guys who did start a new life far away.

I did meet many lonely wolfes during my journeys. Who did start their retirees live early in their 50ties - in cheaper countrys.

Many, or say better most of them was in a situation who just looks good in the first view. They life somewhere, where others are doing holidays. But everywhere where I did stay some weeks - those view change quickly.

Alcohol or drug abuse, bitterness, not able to deep dive into local culture, womens who just join them because of money, lonelyness.. The locals didnt have any respect pretty quickly, if you are regulary drunk. Those wolfes did try to stay with tourists, to get accompany - what ends with party and shallow talks, who dont makes them happy.

Those who seams to have a good life, they was married, kids and did was involved in a local busines, means they had something to do, they had a mission.

Guess that is not different to living at home. To be unemployed extended - most of us can not handle well.

If you are not happy at home, do you think living in another country will makes things better?

Surfy

The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence, especially by the septic tank. I have met several expats who gave up their citizenship and lived to regret it.

Dare to take the step
 

I do no know about any paradise.
Most people are probably happy where they are.
But is also about to dare taking that step.
To whatever it is.
Long distace travellers have already taken the step out of their know comfort zone. When going travelling. So maybe it is easeir for them/us.

=

Many have remained there in their context and wished that they would have dared to take the step out into the unknown, dare life, but remained there in their context even though they wanted to move on, because the unknown scared and they knew what they had, even though they were tired of it and did not develop. Of course, there are those who remain and are well, it is not those I want to highlight, but those who knew they would have had more to give over there. If they only had taken the step… ..

Then there are those who have dared to take the step out of their comfortable contexts, even though they were afraid when they went out into deep water. But after a while they have realized that they actually fixed the new, that they developed even though it was difficult in the beginning.

The story is in the bible

Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,”They said, and cried out in fear.
But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”
“Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”
“Come,”he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!” Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt. And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down

Thats excactly what I have done. Traveled, fall in love with this country (my paradise), prepared myself for emigrating and settled down here.


Where is the best country? That depends on each traveller. For me it is Iceland, for Backofbeyond and Mark Manley it is definitely not Iceland :)


Erik_G talks about taking that step and he is right: it is a huge step, also depending on ones situation of course.



Grumpy geezer talks about the grass being greener on the other side. That´s true. There is good and bad everywhere, everything has its advantages and disadvantages.


AnTyx said: The fundamental problem is that wherever you move, you're bringing with yourself the things that you moved away from.
And Surfi said: If you are not happy at home, do you think living in another country will makes things better?


I would say to this: yes you take yourself with you but if you can change the things which make you unhappy at home or leave them behind, then you can build up a new live without those problems.
Of course this depends on the kind of problems or the reasons which make you unhappy.


It can also be that one isn´t unhappy but just want to move somewhere else. For me I can say, I had my share of problems and I had to take a big decision, it was hard and it was a lot of work to move, but it turned out well for me. I felt it was not just moving and continue with life, it was building up a new life.


Best regards,
Rögnvaldur

I have no intention of staying anywhere, in the sense of stopping travelling, however I've reached the point where I feel that my current home base is just that - a base from which we'll travel frequently (Covid-19 permitting, which looks a long way off right now).

Colombia has one major advantage over most places - you can change ecosystems/climates very easily. From Bogotá we can be hiking in the páramo in an hour, or be lazing by a pool an hour in a different direction. We can be on the Pacific Coast, the Caribbean Coast, the Amazon or Orinoco, or in the near-perfect climate of the Eje Cafetero within the same country. Bogotá itself has a climate in which you can go out for a walk every day of the year, in comfort - not too hot, not too cold.

That won't stop us from spending weeks, months, or a couple of years in other places - Iceland, Bhutan, Singapore, Japan...

Apart from the weather. Which is my main dislike of the U.K. Endless grey skies, drizzle and short unpredictable summers. As an ourdoor person, it's a MAJOR factor. I hate the cold..

Oh most definitely. I am certainly at a cross-roads in life in quite a few ways.

Great reply :thumbup1:



It's never been a secret. I really don't like the U.K. It's horribly over-populated, insanely expensive, the weather is really SH*T. I also really have a problem with our right-wing, racist, hateful small minded political system too. Which had developed into a real cancer over the last five years too. Brexit was the final nail in the coffin for me really. I feel very out of touch with what it means to be British now. It's a bit of an embarrassment now.

I know A LOT of like minded people who are fleeing the U.K. "Rats jumping ship" as they call it. Many were smarter than me and moved when they were younger or still had a passport that meant anything. Now I feel very much trapped on this crowded cess-pit of greed due to my age and limited passport (wow, well done Brexit)

A very good friend of mine bought some land on the East coast of Costa Rica last year and built himself a beautiful home there. He literally lives in a rainforest paradise a few KM from a deserted beach. It's a quiet, relaxed place with just enough tourism to keep life interesting but it's well off the gringo trail in the West. He did all this for less than I could buy a parking space in the U.K with.

So now I'm 41, no kids and inherited house that I need to sell in the U.K, I'm thinking that it's now or never. My fiancee is onboard so why not eh ?