Ask HN: Good countries for American expats

Post by ThatDarnPat » Mon, Jul 21, 2014, 5:13 PM UTC

stephenr wrote: post #81

mbenjaminsmith wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm always surprised to see Thailand on a list of cheap places to live. I live in Bangkok in the CBD just behind the Four Seasons. While that's admittedly one of the pricier neighborhoods to live in, I've also lived in some of the "artier" lower cost neighborhoods here. Overall, this is what I've found, compared to my place of origin: 1. Rent -- 0.5 - 1.0 what you'll pay in a top-tier US city. 2. Groceries -- anythin…

Thailand is very cheap to live, if you don't try to live a life exactly like you lived in your western home country. I moved from Australia with my girlfriend (now wife) about 20 months ago. 1. I don’t live in Bangkok (about 75km north in Ayutthaya, the old capital), but outside the city in the other cities/large towns (excluding perhaps Pattaya and Phuket CBD which cater to (sex) tourists), renting and buying a 3+ b…

Post by dlayf » Wed, Jul 23, 2014, 1:24 PM UTC

cliveowen wrote: post #94

dlayf wrote: post #34

Not not exactly an Expat, but I spent 6 months living in Rome as a student. This doesn't answer all of your questions but I hope it helps. Pro's: - Great culture, great food. Groceries fresh and reasonably priced. - Coming from english, Italian is a relatively easy language to learn and people are happy to speak it with you. - Pretty good infrastructure. Good train systems to move around the country. Rome has a good…

I'm an Italian living in Rome and I can confirm everything you've said. > Never tried it but starting a business is probably a lot of > paper work. It's not only a bureaucratic nightmare, it's also a losing proposition: we have probably the highest tax rate among the developed contries. > working there may be a challenge It's way more than a challenge, our economy went down the drain since 2008 and there's no sign of…