WWYD: If you had to move countries, where would you go?

[aus.templar]

So basically guys, Australia is headed downhill fast and we'll soon be full-blown Orwell's 1984.

I've got two years left on a Bachelor of Commerce, majoring in international business and I'm thinking about getting out of Australia. Where would you move if you could go anywhere in the world?

Let's consider a few main points:
-Economic (stability, job availability, growth, etc)
-Political (stability, freedom)
-Security (stability, safe from crime or invasion)
-Culture (Open views on all things "dangerous". Sociable. Polite. Community spirit)
and anything else you may consider relevant that I've forgotten to list.

I'm writing this late at night, I'm tired and frustrated. I've got work in the morning and I'm going to bed now but I will check back tomorrow after work for any suggestions.


Ready, set, go...

[wee drop o' bush]

The first place that Springs to mind is Germany...it's practically the only Eurozone country not in immediate financial difficulty.

Up until 4/5 years ago I'd have said Eire as it ticks all the requirements (mostly) & is tolerant of idiosyncrasies. But it's in financial difficulties.

India's economy is strong so that's a possibility...its Cities are probably as tolerant as you need them to be.

Nordic countries are a good possibility too if their economies are strong enough.

Of all the places I've mentioned I'd go for Denmark, Sweden or Norway

Good luck

[the_alias]

This is kinda funny - a lot of people would consider moving to Australia because the economy is pretty strong. Heck I was looking at it.

I don't think it matters too much where you live - the world is so globalized that system shocks to the global economy will affect you no matter where you are. They key is to be somewhere you can build a resilient community that can try to withstand such impact.

Based on your Orwell comment I wouldn't recommend America (NDAA...)

[bigmattdaddywack]

Check Republic
Switzerland
Finland

Anywhere Northern. More liberal gun laws.
So I must really go for
Finland, Norway, and Sweden.

Or I could just move to Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, or Alaska.

[mad scientist]

short list for consideration. final choice will be made by the individual, and it's unlikely there's a perfect country for everyone.

USA (certain states only)
Switzerland
Germany
Canada
Austrailia
Uruguay
Assorted Nordic countries

[velojym]

I'd like to visit the Isle of Man. I met a fellow from there once, and the way he described it was pretty appealing.

[bigmattdaddywack]

One problem with Sweden and Norway is the culture clashes between the natives and middle east immigrants. Sometimes it gets really really, nasty. That seems to be much of Northern and Western Europe as well. There have been many LARGE scale rioting in some countries. I remember France had uprisings that went on for weeks

[wee drop o' bush]

I'd like to visit the Isle of Man. I met a fellow from there once, and the way he described it was pretty appealing.

it's lovely, quirky & also absolutely titchy!

[the_alias]

I'd like to visit the Isle of Man. I met a fellow from there once, and the way he described it was pretty appealing.

it's lovely, quirky & also absolutely titchy!

Too few last names

[wee drop o' bush]

I'd like to visit the Isle of Man. I met a fellow from there once, and the way he described it was pretty appealing.

it's lovely, quirky & also absolutely titchy!

Too few last names

Joey Dunlop is a legend there at TT time

[Chase The hero]

Well if i had to move countries, i always figured that Lithuania would look good next to France.


If you decide to move to the US, do some research on the different states and which ones fit what you want the most. then (if possible) take a trip over there and see what the state "feels" like.

[bigmattdaddywack]

I would suggest the USA for you Aus Templar. Just really look at the different states and cities in those states.
We have some big problems economically but so does every other Western World.

[Regular Guy]

Brazil strong oil based economy.
New Zealand
America, Texas, Montana, Carolinas, Florida. (Fuck yeah)
Or look into a off shore floating community,
http://seasteading.org/

[Biggin]

I am in the same quandary with the US. I am watching how things are going as a 21 year old Mechanical Engineering student, and I have never been more motivated to do well in college so I have the option of getting out of this country. I'm not going to get political, though that is somewhat influencing me, but I just feel the US is on the decline in general.


I am looking at Switzerland right now. I think small, neutral, self supporting countries are the way to go.

[bigmattdaddywack]

I am in the same quandary with the US. I am watching how things are going as a 21 year old Mechanical Engineering student, and I have never been more motivated to do well in college so I have the option of getting out of this country. I'm not going to get political, though that is somewhat influencing me, but I just feel the US is on the decline in general.


I am looking at Switzerland right now. I think small, neutral, self supporting countries are the way to go.

The US is in decline most assuredly, but the countries that are on the rise are in mainland Asia. I would not want to live there.

[alptraum]

I'd move to Germany, and I've actually been working/planning on this for the past few months. Berlin specifically. This has less to do with any of the points you mentioned and much more to do with me just loving that city. I'm not really interested in moving to other parts of Germany. I'll try to address your questions in regards to my experiences there.

-Economic (stability, job availability, growth, etc) - Germany as a whole is pretty well known in this regard. It depends where you are though. Berlin for instance tends to have pretty high un-employment and in many fields work may be hard to find. There is typically an IT shortage though (that applies to much of Germany). There are a number of German cities that have much better job markets in general then Berlin. The cost of living in most of Germany is pretty good. And in comparison to other European capitol/large cities Berlin is cheap.

-Political (stability, freedom) - Pretty good in this regard. On the one hand most of the clichéd jokes about German bureaucracy are true. There are forms and regulations for some ridiculous things. For instance I was in a friends place and he was trying to figure out the square footage of his windows for some form that had something to do with heating bills I think. In general though it's great.

-Security (stability, safe from crime or invasion) - Pretty good. Germany has a pretty low crime rate in general. And the incidence of violent crime compared to most large US cities is much much less. And gun crime is quite rare. Having spent lots of time in cities like DC and Chicago I have to say that even the "bad" areas of Germany seem pretty cute by comparison.

-Culture (Open views on all things "dangerous". Sociable. Polite. Community spirit) - Views on things dangerous? Are you referring to firearms/knives/etc? If so, not so great. Gun (and even knife) laws in Germany are pretty restrictive. Sociable/polite is sort of hard to quantify there. For the most part everybody is very polite. Not many people may seem friendly compared to people from a number of other cultures though. This is mainly a cultural thing. Germans tend to be more direct about things. There was an interesting article I read about this a while back. Two of the people in it were a married couple. Both were scientists and the husband was from the UK and the wife was German. One humorous example they used was when she's "asked" him to get something from the kitchen. Her = "Get me x". She wasn't trying to be mean or anything, just the way many Germans are. How he would have said the same thing = "Could you please get me x".

In general though I've found most of the Germans I've spent time with very polite and friendly. And while it's rare you will sometimes run into some anti foreigner sentiment. One example of that would be when some friends of mine and I were out one night. One friend is from the US and moved there about 2 years ago, the other friend is German. We ended up talking to and hanging out with some random guys at a bar that were at a table next to ours. One of them liked us both at first. Once he discovered she was living there he no longer liked her. He was still fine with me since I was just visiting. While there is an undercurrent of that there, it's very small.

"and anything else you may consider relevant that I've forgotten to list." - If you decide to move to a country that speaks a language other then English you really should learn that language. Even in countries like Germany where most people can speak English knowing the local language is a huge help. Also, once/if you start picking a specific country research it as much as possible. And learn about VISAS/work permits/etc. Some things would apply to anyplace. For instance while I don't know what Australia is like in this regard as a US citizen you MUST pay US income taxes no matter where in the world you earn money. So basically US citizens get taxed twice if they are also paying taxes in another country.

I'd really suggest travelling around and visiting countries you are interested in before you make any decision to move there. Also, most countries have some soft of expat community and many of these have forums.

So to answer your original question of "Where would you move if you could go anywhere in the world? " for me the answer is Berlin. But as I said, that has more to do with my love of the city then most of the stuff you were asking about. It's just an amazing place.

[shrapnel]

Germany, France, or Switzerland, but I'd have to learn German or French or both. And I don't want to. So maybe Canada or the UK, for me.

[skelco]

I'm pretty into fixin what we got here

[raptor]

If you are young and want to prosper in the world financial markets. I would suggest Hong Kong or Singapore.
If you want freedom then certain states in US are good choices.
If you want ease of immigration stick to Commonwealth Countries.

Freedom is an illusion, just as captivity is a state of mind. The only thing that is real, is happiness.

[duodecima]

I'm pretty into fixin what we got here

Yeah, my sentiments also. Bugging out of my country is very far down my list of options.

Moving from country to country, the employment issues can vary by profession as well. It would be easy for me to emigrate to Canada (from the US) with my current credentials and work, or temporarily work in Australia or NZ, but other countries (even the English speaking ones) not so much. This will vary not only by country but by profession.

[skelco]

to get back to the OPs question: Come here to the U.S.A., in spite of what the complainers have to say, this country still has a lot to offer to just about anyone who is willing to work hard. Don't be afraid of California either, this state has a hell of a lot to offer for everyone, (and hey, there's more to life than 30 round clips ).

If you're still in school, look at cities that have businesses where you'd like to work and consider transferring to a nearby stateside college, even if it's just for a short time, and try to get into internship programs. Much easier to make the move with the right visa and a job waiting.

[alptraum]

If you're still in school, look at cities that have businesses where you'd like to work and consider transferring to a nearby stateside college, even if it's just for a short time, and try to get into internship programs. Much easier to make the move with the right visa and a job waiting.

I forgot about the school part. As you have two years left you should look into transferring to a school program in a country you are interested in. Though I think I've seen you mention that you joined the Australian equivalent of the Army National Guard or reserves or some such which could rule that out for you.

[Collie of Doom]

I'm pretty into fixin what we got here

I concur.

But if I had to, probably Germany or Austria. I have spent enough time in German speaking countries, starting out as a US military dependent in the 80s but also as a college student, that I can understand 90 of what I hear in German, probably about 70% of what I read, and I can make myself understood. I know the culture, history, and system to the extent that after a few days it doesn't feel foreign. Also, the economy is better than most. Also also the beer is good. Also also also, I could probably transfer some of my skills to a job there, as long as a couple thousand other people fleeing whatever didn't arrive at the same time (a definite factor to consider in this line of thought.)

Or maybe some place in South America. Cost of living is better and it's further away from Europe if that is where the S chooses to HTF.

[Big B]

Overall I'm pretty happy here in the United States. If my wife and I had to move we would probably go to Germany. This is mainly because we like it there and my wife's family is German (German is her first language). It also helps that they have a strong economy right now.