left my home country to go backpacking in Asia and Australia in the early 90ies.
Had a plan to stay at least 1 year (that's how long I hoped my savings would last before I had to either earn a living or go back home). And I'm still abroad (not Asia) until this day. Another goal I set for myself is try to economically sustain myself in the host country without relying on a pay-check from a foreign company. (this is really hard and I often fail in this)
After a decade in APAC, and having gotten married to a Japanese flight-attendant working for Singapore airlines, a child on our way, we returned to Europe. We kept this life style as a young family and lived in various countries over here (which was as much excitement for my wife as Asia was to me).
We found that most countries are a great adventure for us except our very own home countries. We agreed to never return back to our own country as a couple because it took away the adventure for one of us and made things hard during the early phases when going through "reverse culture shock". We eventually split up after 20 years of traveling together and having raised 2 kids. Both of us still feel at home anywhere and neither would ever return to their home country. My kids are at university now, speak 3 languages on a native level + 3 foreign languages they had picked up along the way. Best thing I ever did was pack that rucksack.
with countries opening up again I hope to go either back to Asia (by myself) or continue my exploration of South Eastern Europe. A challenge I had set for myself after the break-up because my wife would never go to there (it's a lot harder to survive there using the above "rules/philosophy")
> continue my exploration of South Eastern Europe. A challenge I had set for myself after the break-up because my wife would never go to there (it's a lot harder to survive there using the above "rules/philosophy")
> Another goal I set for myself is try to economically sustain myself in the host country without relying on a pay-check from a foreign company. (this is really hard and I often fail in this)
> Another goal I set for myself is try to economically sustain myself in the host country without relying on a pay-check from a foreign company. (this is really hard and I often fail in this)
This makes sense but how do you sustain yourself if it's hard and you often fail at it? Living extremely frugally?
I can see the excitement in this but I admit this is not for everyone.
I'd be very interested to know what kind of jobs foreigners land in Eastern Europe. Without knowing the language I'd say almost all professions are unavailable
Work remotely for a US/UK firm, or a the local branch of a multinational, e.g. Microsoft's Serbian Subsidiary.
Lot of IBM jobs in Eastern Europe that require English and the local language. If you've got one and enough of the other to hold a conversation you've got a shot.
Yeah, most lucrative being IT and considering the low cost of living in Eastern Europe it could be quite a deal if one is to have a wild experience as people are friendly and such but local authorities are corrupted.
without the language would be very difficult IMO, also having "gambling" money for your own projects can help. what worked for me was try to bring foreign investors to the economy, make deal with start-up incubators, accelerators, etc. Talk to people who already do business there (expat scene is usually small). Connect with professors at local university, start teaching niche subjects you're an expert in. Ultimate goal isn't to make a boatload of money but to learn, not get ripped off, and hope you can exit the situation/business undamaged.
my experience is that ultimately all opportunities will remain hidden until I actually go there.
Had a plan to stay at least 1 year (that's how long I hoped my savings would last before I had to either earn a living or go back home). And I'm still abroad (not Asia) until this day. Another goal I set for myself is try to economically sustain myself in the host country without relying on a pay-check from a foreign company. (this is really hard and I often fail in this)
After a decade in APAC, and having gotten married to a Japanese flight-attendant working for Singapore airlines, a child on our way, we returned to Europe. We kept this life style as a young family and lived in various countries over here (which was as much excitement for my wife as Asia was to me).
We found that most countries are a great adventure for us except our very own home countries. We agreed to never return back to our own country as a couple because it took away the adventure for one of us and made things hard during the early phases when going through "reverse culture shock". We eventually split up after 20 years of traveling together and having raised 2 kids. Both of us still feel at home anywhere and neither would ever return to their home country. My kids are at university now, speak 3 languages on a native level + 3 foreign languages they had picked up along the way. Best thing I ever did was pack that rucksack.
with countries opening up again I hope to go either back to Asia (by myself) or continue my exploration of South Eastern Europe. A challenge I had set for myself after the break-up because my wife would never go to there (it's a lot harder to survive there using the above "rules/philosophy")