Welcome to Part Two of Travel Tips: The Best Destinations to Live in!
In my previous post, I wrote about the places I've lived so far, and what I liked and disliked about each of them.
And in this one, I'll be writing about the places where I'd most like to live, and also taking a look at the cities that have been judged to be the most liveable in the world.
To be honest, there are a lot of places around the globe I'd be happy to try living in for a few months or even a year, but when it comes to choosing somewhere to put down roots permanently, it's a much harder decision. Everyone has different preferences, and I'm pretty sure about mine at this stage. I know I'd like to live in a big, global city, preferably somewhere not too remote from other countries. It would also be nice to be located close to the sea, if possible.
Here are six places that I think fit the bill pretty well!
My Dream Places to Live...
Pros
- One of the centres of the world, both in terms of business and culture
- Lots of job opportunities
- A beautiful city, filled with incredible historic landmarks, modern skyscrapers and plenty of green spaces
- So much going on there - West End theatre is what excites me most, but there's something for everyone
- Huge public transport network
- Several airports make it easy to travel abroad
Cons
- Cost of living is the obvious one!
- Crowded and over-touristed
Why I'd Like to Live There
Hopefully, this will be where I live next! If my partner Claudio's visa application is approved, we want to make a go of things in London. We plan to work within the city itself, but we're thinking that we'll probably choose to live either on the outskirts of Greater London or a little further out. Living just outside London is not as expensive as one might imagine, and the extensive public transport network makes it easy to get into the city.
Growing up, I actually always wanted to live in London (and work as a musical theatre performer - that sadly didn't happen!), but then in my later teenage years, I became really interested in the idea of living abroad. And then as I got older, I was lucky enough to have some chances to both live and spend long periods of time in various foreign countries. I've really enjoyed all those experiences, and I hope that I'll have other similar opportunities in the future.
But as a couple from two different countries, it's hard enough bureaucratically for Claudio and I to be able to live together in one of our own countries, let alone in a different one. London is quite a good compromise for me, as it's such a big, exciting, global city, and so different from the rest of the UK, that it kind of feels like being abroad.
Should Claudio's visa application be successful, we'll have 2.5 years in the UK. I hope that by the end of that time period, he'll have an Italian passport and I'll have an Irish one, so we'll have more options open to us. But I think we could potentially end up spending our lives in London - I feel a real excitement about the prospect of living there that I certainly didn't feel before moving to Bristol.
Who knows what the future holds, but we're really looking forward to (hopefully) starting our London adventure very soon!
DACH region (especially Vienna) or Benelux region
Pros
- Better infrastructure and standard of living than in the UK
- Salaries are better aligned with cost of living
- Good work-life balance
- Central position within Europe makes it easy to travel all over the continent
- Lots of beautiful places to visit, from charming cities to lakes and mountains
Cons
- Not the best weather - either the same weather as England or very cold and snowy in winter, depending on the country/region
- Culturally a little less warm and welcoming than other parts of the world, so harder to integrate into
Why I'd Like to Live There
Along with the Nordic countries, the DACH and Benelux regions of Europe are considered to have some of the highest living standards in the world. While the Nordic countries are a bit too cold and dark for me, I think I'd be quite happy living somewhere like Austria or Switzerland. In fact, I did live in Austria before and made it through the winter more easily than I thought - it helps that the milder climate of the Mediterranean is only a train ride away!
Though I lived in a more rural area of Austria before, Vienna would definitely be my first choice of city in this part of the world. Other places that intrigue me are Geneva (speaking French rather than German would make life easier!), Zürich, Munich and Brussels (also French speaking).
However, Claudio is not quite so enamoured with the Germanic parts of Europe as I am. He has felt much more at home visiting the UK and France than visiting Sweden and the Netherlands, for example. So we probably won't end up living in this part of the world in the future, but I still think it's a nice option.
Spain (especially Barcelona)
Photo by AXP Photography from pexels.com
Pros
- Warm, sunny weather most of the year
- Lots of nice beaches
- Good infrastructure
- Lower cost of living than in the UK
- More relaxed lifestyle
Cons
- Lower salaries than in northern Europe
- Very unwilling to hire foreigners
- Heatwaves in summer, which are getting worse due to global warming
- Many cities, including Barcelona, are very over-touristed
Why I'd Like to Live There
People have often suggested that Spain would be a good option for me and Claudio, as it's not far from the UK and it's a Spanish-speaking country, which would suit both of us.
Although I've been to Spain several times in my life (to Menorca, Málaga, Valencia and Madrid) and enjoyed all those trips, I've never loved it the way I have other countries, like Italy, for example. However, I've always felt it would be a good place to live - it's a country that has invested a lot in its infrastructure, so has very good public transport, among other things. Plus, I speak the language, and enjoy the warmer weather.
Though I've never been to Barcelona, it's the city in Spain that appeals to me the most as a place to live. (I did once take a connecting flight there, and saw the W Hotel and Barceloneta Beach (pictured above) while coming in to land at the airport - it looked amazing!) What I like about it is that it's a big, global city with some beautiful neighbourhoods to explore and plenty of great beaches. I really like the idea of living in a city right on the beach, and being able to go swimming and sunbathing after work!
However, although Claudio and I both applied for various jobs in Barcelona, neither of us managed to get even one interview. I actually spoke to a careers advisor about this, and she explained that Spain (followed by France) is probably the European country that is least open to hiring foreigners, particularly in the kinds of industries that we work in (marketing and finance). She said that our best bet would be to get our EU passports (easier said than done) and actually go out there and look for jobs within the country itself. Even then, it would be a challenge, as they would still choose to hire Spanish people in most cases.
Maybe a digital nomad visa would be a good option, but with our plans to live in London now pretty much set in stone, it's an idea we've put to the side for the time being.
Pros
- France is a beautiful country with many different types of landscapes, from snowy mountains to Mediterranean beaches, and Paris is one of the most beautiful cities in the world
- Known for its good food and cultural influence
- Good infrastructure compared to the UK
- Good work-life balance
- More relaxed lifestyle
Cons
- Not as efficient as countries like Germany (there are often train strikes, for example)
- Very bureaucratic
- Not very willing to hire foreigners
Why I'd Like to Live There
When I first started thinking about living abroad, France was the country at the top of my list. While studying for my GCSE in French, I fell in love with the language and culture, and dreamed of one day living in a cute apartment in Paris or a villa by the sea in the south of France.
Then I went off to study languages at university, and spent time in both the north and the south of the country for my Year Abroad, which I wrote about in my previous post. The French part of my Year Abroad was a bit of a mess - I wasn't able to get a decent work placement through my university, and so had to resort to finding more casual kinds of placement by myself. In summer 2017, I went to work as an au pair in the south of the country, and a year later, I started a placement at a holiday park in the north. For different reasons, both were pretty awful experiences, and I had to leave early. Both times, my mum quickly sorted something out for me using Halsbury Travel (now called Blue Stamp Travel) - in 2017, I did a language course in Montpellier, which I absolutely loved, and in 2018, I did two work experience placements and a language course in Rouen, which I didn't enjoy quite so much. Prior to that, I also spent a week in Paris, unsuccessfully looking for a placement and accommodation.
The chaos of that year, and the fact that it was so difficult to find decent work, did make me a lot less enthusiastic about living there in the future. But then last year I started my current job, in which the work itself is based in France, although I work from the UK, and it made me start thinking again about moving back to France someday. And then in December, we had a wonderful trip to Paris, and I couldn't help dreaming about what it would be like to live there.
Unfortunately, France isn't much better than Spain for hiring foreigners, but I haven't quite given up on the idea just yet!
Photo by Belle Co from pexels.com
Pros
- Great weather
- Beautiful beaches
- Huge country with unique flora and fauna
- Good base for exploring places like Southeast Asia, the South Pacific and New Zealand
- High standard of living
Cons
- Very difficult to emigrate to
- High cost of living (though salaries are also high)
- Very far away from most of the rest of the world
- Danger of climate-related disasters, like wildfires
- Danger of climate-related disasters, like wildfires
- Spiders!
Why I'd Like to Live There
Again, as with Spain, I'm really attracted to the idea of living in a big city by the beach somewhere hot. (Sometimes I wonder why I ended up being born in a rural area in the west of England!) Sydney is the Australian city that appeals to me the most, but I also like the idea of living in Melbourne or Perth. Australia is known as the lifestyle capital of the world, and I definitely have this image in my head of living a really active, outdoorsy kind of lifestyle there and spending lots of time at the beach.
I think, if I hadn't met Claudio, I probably would have gone out there after university, either to travel around for a few months or to do a year's working holiday. In fact, we were thinking about doing a working holiday there together at one point, but unfortunately, Chileans have to be under 30 in order to get a working holiday visa (pretty unfair, given that British people can get one at under 35!). New Zealand would have been an option for us, but it doesn't hold quite the same appeal for us as Australia does, though I know it's a lovely place.
I once applied for a job that was based in London but which also had offices in Sydney, so employees had the opportunity to go and work out there for a few months if they wished. I actually feel that a position like that would really be the dream, perhaps even more so than actually living in Australia permanently. So it would be brilliant to land an opportunity like that sometime in the future!
Image by Nextvoyage from pexels.com
Pros
- High standard of living
- Very friendly and welcoming people
- Lots of amazing areas of natural beauty
Cons
- Very long, cold winters
Why I'd Like to Live There
Though I haven't bothered to get my passport yet, I'm actually a Canadian citizen, because my mum was born there. Funnily enough, she only has an Irish passport now, and we have way more family roots in Ireland than in Canada, yet I don't automatically have Irish citizenship. I used to think it was much more unique and interesting to be Canadian than to be Irish, but since Brexit, I've definitely changed my mind about that!
Having said that though, I know I'm very lucky to have the option to go and live in Canada if I wish, and it is something I've considered. In summer 2010, we went on a family holiday to Toronto, Montréal and the Niagara Falls, and I absolutely loved it. The people there are the friendliest out of every country I've ever been to, and it's such a beautiful place. The only thing that puts me off are the winters!
I do think that if life doesn't work out as planned for me and Claudio in the UK, Canada will most likely be our next destination.
The Most Liveable Cities in 2024
1) Vienna, Austria
2) Copenhagen, Denmark
3) Zürich, Switzerland
4) Melbourne, Australia
5) Calgary, Canada/Geneva, Switzerland
7) Sydney, Australia/Vancouver, Canada
9) Osaka, Japan/Auckland, New Zealand
The 10 cities listed above have been chosen as the most liveable in the world in 2024. It's interesting to see which places are objectively judged to be the best to live in. A lot of them are ones that I've already mentioned in this post, which I suppose makes sense.
But at the end of the day, it's hard to tell how good a place is to live in unless you've actually tried living there yourself. That's why I'm looking forward to moving to the London area and seeing what life is really like there. I'm hoping it will be just as good if not even better than I imagine!
Check out the rest of my travel tips here!
