What country would you move to, if you had the opportunity?

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I read all posts on here and its fascinating how many individuals would be willing to take a risk, to move out to a country with bigger cultural differences. I personally admit that I haven't travelled enough to answer my own question, although I do have some countries in my mind, hopefully in the next few months I'll get a chance to explore them and meet the locals to see what it's like.

Let's keep the thread going, but please do stay on topic and elaborate on why you picked the country in your post. Thanks! :D
 
I never planned to move to Austria, but my summary of pros and cons

Pros:
Very safe. Even areas of Vienna regarded as "dodgy" pale into insignificance when compared with pretty much any rough area in UK cities.
Clean. There is very little litter, graffiti etc
Well maintained. Public ameneties work, green areas are well kept, water dispensers throughout the city function, damaged pavements etc are repaired
Cheap rent. For a capital city, rent here is low. I pay £870 pcm for a brand new, 700sqft 2 bedroom apartment with balcony 10 minutes from the centre by public transport. If I had been patient and waited for a co-op scheme I could have reduced that to about £600. My wife was paying £380 pcm for a 400 sqft studio flat with balcony through a co-op scheme before we moved in together.
Public Transport. 365 Euros per year for all train/tram/bus/underground travel within Vienna city limits. 1100 Euros for annual ticket covering the whole of Austria.
Good Labour Laws. Employees and companies are well protected and each job has its own minimum wage which is agreed between works councils and employers collaboratively. It is illegal to advertise a job without stating the minimum salary.
Childcare. If you want to raise a family in Vienna, childcare is free up to the age of 6 (I think it's 6, 5 or 6 anyway)

Cons:
Tax. The tax rates here are higher, and the bands are harsher - so a lot of what would be 20% rate in the UK is taxed at 35% here.
Market. Online shopping isn't brilliant; Ebay isn't really a thing; heavy focus on bricks & mortar but low competition means poor selection and high prices; Austria actively blocks SMEs outside Austria from shipping into the country, dressed up as "green" packaging regulations
People. The Viennese are not the friendliest, there is a passive aggressive "if you don't like it, bad luck" attitude to many daily interactions. Bleeds into every service interaction, particularly with any public sector stuff.
Bureaucracy. Everything has to be done in person, digital services severely lacking, multiple rubber stamping and authorisations required for even trivial administrative matters.
Costs. It's an expensive country in general. Groceries are expensive, consumer durables are expensive, second hand items of any nature are expensive, motoring is very expensive
Language. You really do need to be able to speak and understand German to survive here, even if you keep to expat circles socially.

There's other stuff but that's a high level summary.
 
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I already did a hemispherical move, and am perfectly happy in my leafy area, still within London zones, but with the countryside spitting distance.
 
I've lived in China (HK), Germany, and briefly the UAE.

Standard of living in Germany is another level to the UK, work life balance, quality of public services and infrastructure, general cleanliness, it's all better. If not for Brexit throwing long term plans into disarray and a sick family member we'd probably still be there.

Scandinavia would probably be the destination if we moved again. Worked in Sweden a lot and really like the vibe there. Norway for the scenery and climbing. Finland for the mad people who are just great fun to be around.
 
Spain for me. Which is something i'm in the process of doing. Not really sure "why" Spain and then more specifically this area. My parents had a holiday home around here since the late 90's, so i guess that's a big factor as i know the area fairly well. But Spain does seem to come with a lot of issues which aren't as common in France/Portugal.

Main drivers for us being the weather. With working remotely we can work anywhere. We also tend to keep to ourselves a lot, and so working from home and then having better weather to enjoy life outside of work together was the biggest thing. Too often in England we would make plans, only for it to rain and ruin them. Along with finishing work and just sitting on a sofa watching TV. Here we'll spend more time outside going for short walks etc.

Similar to @Lopez's findings above. Tax brackets are a lot harsher here and i'll likely pay a chunk more tax than i would in the UK, and i'll be further away from centres so less opportunity to take advantage of public spending. Although there is often a lot of festivals etc that get put on.
Online shopping isn't too bad here. There's Amazon Spain which is very handy, as like in Austria it's still very geared up to local bricks and mortar stores.
 
Not sure, maybe Canada don't fancy down under too man deadly animals and insects for my liking. Outside of any commonwealth countries I wouldn't' mind being a farmer in the south of France or northern Spain.
 
I prefer where I live currently to the UK, but if I had to move anywhere I think I’d go somewhere like West Palm Beach or Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Good weather, relatively low taxes compared to a lot of other countries, property isn’t hugely expensive, things are generally efficient and work well, you’re close to an international airport and petrol is pretty cheap. You’re not far from Miami if you like big cities, and the beach is on your doorstep.

It’s just a shame that getting a visa is so difficult.
 
wez130 said:
Over 5 years i've been here, and i've yet to feel even the slightest shake!
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Really? We were there for the biggest one in Dunedin for a few decades (that was quick though and nothing like some of them). A couple of others while traveling about over a couple of years, luckily not terrible ones.

Fortunately we'd done a trip all up SH1 via Kaikōura before the 7.8 wrecked that part of the south island.

But yeah, it's a good reality check - even the smaller ones make you realise how small you are and how devastating the big quakes and aftershocks must be.
 
robgmun said:
China around 2012, amazing. China today, hell no. It went down the pan when the new leader took over.
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It was interesting, I went in 2004, to work for a Chinese company in Tianjin, and they welcomed me as a foreigner with open arms, importing my 'skills'. By the time I left in 2009, (as an industry) they had learnt what they wanted from me, and I felt there was a growing anti-foreigner sentiment in the country - though not necessarily within the company itself.
 
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China and Russia are going down the path 1930s Germany did.

In the 00s it looked like they would join modern society, then they turned in to dictatorships
 
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