The Best and Worst Things About Travelling

I wouldn't write a travel blog if I didn't love travelling, but I have to admit that sometimes it can cause some annoyances! 

These are the five things I find worst about travel - and the five best...

The Worst Things About Travelling

Costs

This is the most obvious disadvantage of travel, especially now that we are going through a cost of living crisis. Long-haul flights have always been expensive, but nowadays it's also a lot harder to find cheap short-haul flights than it used to be five or ten years ago.

Additionally, some countries are very expensive destinations in terms of train travel, hotels, restaurants, etc. The UK is certainly one such country, which is frustrating for those of us living here, as we can't even save money by having a holiday here rather than abroad!

Of course, there are always great deals to look out for, but if you've got your heart set on a particular destination at a particular time, generally, you have to be prepared to spend big.

Queuing/Waiting

I'm quite an impatient person, so I don't enjoy having to queue for a long time to get into attractions or waiting around at boarding gates in airports. Fortunately, most of the time, it's worth the wait!

Delays/cancellations

This particular issue is one that can really wreak havoc with your travel plans. Be sure to have travel insurance in order to avoid any extra costs.

Uncomfortable flights/Busy trains

I do think that often the worst thing about travelling is the actual travel part itself. So many modes of transport can be crowded, uncomfortable and unpleasant. 

It's annoying how airlines get away with charging so much for flights and cramming people in like sardines. Train travel in the UK can also be just as bad, with trains regularly filled with people standing in the aisles and corridors.

Often, it's a case of just having to grit your teeth and get through it, in order to be able to arrive at that destination you've been dreaming of for so long.

Crowded destinations

One of the worst things about travel is when you do finally make it your dream destination, but it's too crowded for you to really enjoy it. This has become a bigger problem in recent years, especially since the rise of social media. We all have our bucket lists, and sometimes it's worth putting up with the crowds in order to experience somewhere really special, but other times, it can leave you feeling disappointed. 

In my own experience, Venice, the Vatican City and the Blue Lagoon were places that were a little bit spoilt by the sheer amount of tourists there, though I did enjoy my time in all those places. In big cities with lots of tourists, like London and Paris, it's actually surprisingly easy to find nice, peaceful spots to take in famous landmarks - it's mostly just the museums that get uncomfortably busy. 

So, it's a good idea to combine busy and quiet attractions within a trip, or to alternate between taking trips to popular, touristic places and going to more off-the-beaten-track destinations.

The Best Things About Travelling

Discovering new cultures

One of my favourite things about travelling is visiting countries or regions I haven't been to before, whether that means going to far-flung places on the other side of the world, or simply somewhere new in my own country. I really enjoy experiencing different cultures, cuisines and languages, which is what drove me to study modern languages at university. It's just really exciting, as well as educational, to broaden your horizons through travel.

Seeing beautiful places

Of course, one of the main reasons people love travel is because they love to see beautiful places, from areas of natural beauty, like beaches, mountains, rainforests and waterfalls, to the man-made beauty of grand cities and charming villages. I think that as humans, we're quite aesthetic creatures, and it can really restore the soul to take in beautiful sights when travelling.

Exploring sites of historical and cultural significance

From Machu Picchu to the Colosseum to Avebury, I absolutely love visiting historical wonders. It's really a special experience to find yourself in these places that have such a long and incredible story. They don't even have to be places from hundreds of years ago - I also find it fascinating to visit places from more recent time periods, such as the Cold War era nuclear bunker we recently visited. Physically being in such places can bring their history to life much more than simply reading about it.

Having new experiences

This is something I recently wrote a post about! Whether you're having a go at an adventure sport or simply trying a new cuisine, travel is all about having new experiences, and creating memories that will last a lifetime.

Going on an adventure/escaping from the everyday

Quite possibly, this is the very best thing about travel, in my opinion. Most of us have quite repetitive and often mundane daily routines, even when we are happy with our jobs and lives, and travel is a way to get away from all that and refresh the mind. Of course, it's fantastic to spend several days or even weeks exploring a bucket list destination or relaxing on a beautiful beach, but even a day trip can have a similar effect. In fact, during the pandemic, going on short outings to places around my local area was something that proved to be a huge help to me in getting through what was a very long and tough time.

Overall, I believe the benefits of travel far outweigh its disadvantages! Although there have been times during trips when I've felt stressed or frustrated, travelling is still one of the things I love most in the world. There are definitely things I'd change about the tourism industry if it were up to me, but that doesn't change the fact that there's really nothing like the feeling of being somewhere absolutely incredible! 

Image by Kelly from pexels.com

Westonbirt Arboretum

Time to write about another local trip!

Last weekend, I went off for an outing to Westonbirt Arboretum with my parents, who have a membership there. It was the first time I'd been there since I was a child and I didn't really remember it, so it basically felt like visiting somewhere new.

It's a very big arboretum with a lot to see, but on this visit, we went to the Old Arboretum, as well as the Treetop Walkway.

One of the most fun features of the arboretum is the Gruffalo trail, where you can find six animal characters from the famous children's book. 

Some of the more nature-based highlights for me included the giant Californian trees and the Chilean araucarias.

The Treetop Walkway was also fun to do, and a different and interesting way to see the trees.

And as always, it was great to end the outing with a tasty coffee and cake in the café!

Although I'd say I prefer Batsford Arboretum, as I find it more picturesque and love its Japanese theme, I still had a very nice time visiting Westonbirt. Spending time in nature is always a good idea, and it's a great place to do just that!

My Year of Adventurous Travel

As this blog is called Charlotte's Travel Adventures, it seems only right to write a post about adventurous travel!

Of course, I like going on holiday to relax, and visiting places to see interesting sights...but travel is also about having new and different experiences.

The 15 months that I spent living in Chile were a time when I made an effort to go on some exciting and sometimes a little extreme adventures. Though of course, there were plenty of challenges during that time (which I wrote about in this recent post), I feel like I really made the most of it and had a lot of fun travelling and trying new things across South America.

Here are 5 of my biggest adventures from the year!

Indoor Surfing in Santiago

Though I'd tried windsurfing in 2016, I'd always wanted to have a go at classic surfing. Surprisingly enough, even though Santiago isn't by the sea, you can surf there - Mall Sport offers indoor surfing lessons, and Claudio and I took one in May 2022. 

This experience was actually the most extreme of them all, I'd say! You basically get have to try to stay afloat against powerful jets of water, and if you don't manage it, you get thrown across that big curved area you can see in my pictures. Though we had plenty of bruises and even a couple of scrapes afterwards, we had a lot of fun. 

A Speedboat Ride in the Pacific Ocean

Our weekend in Papudo was one of our most low-key trips away during my time living in Chile, but it was actually one of my favourites. We saw so many beautiful animals there, from adorable pet cats to incredible marine life. Plus, the town and its beaches are absolutely beautiful.

Our time there was mostly very relaxing, with the exception of a boat trip we took to Isla Los Lobos. To my surprise, the boat was actually a dinghy with an engine, and it went incredibly fast - it was fun, though I was slightly scared that either I or my stuff would fall in the sea!

But the sights we saw on that trip were incredible: Humboldt penguins, sea lions and even a beautiful dolphin. We finished off the ride with a jump into the water at a beautiful, secluded beach. It was such a memorable experience!

Ziplining in the Andes

Another extremely memorable experience was going ziplining in the Andes mountains. This was something I'd always wanted to try, and I was really excited about it...until we actually got there and saw it!

The experience took place at Cascada de las Ánimas activity centre in Cajón del Maipo, which is such an enchanting and beautiful place. But the zip-line is suspended 25 metres above the River Maipo and looks pretty daunting! We were both pretty nervous when preparing to set off, but it was such a fun and exhilarating experience!

In fact, we liked it so much that we did it again a few months later at Parque Aventura in Santiago. 

White-Water Rafting in Argentina

White-water rafting was another sport I'd wanted to try for years, and I took the opportunity to try it while renewing my visa in Argentina. Although my day at the activity centre was rather long without a lot to do, the activity itself was so much fun, and the landscapes of the Andes and the Mendoza River were beautiful. I definitely plan to go rafting again at some point!

Backpacking Solo to Machu Picchu

We had several adventurous trips during the 15 months, but the most adventurous was when I went to Peru for a week on my own with just a backpack. 

During my time there I took in the sites in and around Cusco, and travelled around the Sacred Valley of the Incas, before taking the train to Aguas Calientes and hiking up hundreds of stone steps to the famous citadel, Machu Picchu.

It was a trip I'd dreamed of for several years and took quite a lot of organising, but it all turned out really well. I had an amazing time!

In my opinion, trying new experiences and adventures like these are a great way to get out of your comfort zone and create memories that will last forever.

There are still several other adventurous experiences I want to try, such as surfing at a beach, paragliding, and maybe even scuba diving.

Perhaps there will be more extreme adventures to come on this blog!

Travel Tips: The Best Destinations to Live in - Part Two

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...

London (or the surrounding area), UK

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

- Close to mainland Europe - France, Belgium and the Netherlands are only a train ride away

- 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.

France (especially Paris)

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!

Australia

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

- 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!

Canada

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!

Travel Tips: The Best Destinations to Live in - Part One

So far on this blog, and particularly with my Travel Tips series, I've written a lot about the best destinations to visit from a tourism perspective. But in this post and my next one, I want to write about something a bit different - the best destinations to actually live in!

The best destinations to visit on holiday are not always the best places to live, and vice versa. And while it's easy enough to find somewhere great for a trip away, there are a lot more factors that go into choosing somewhere to live, particularly if you're planning to settle there permanently.

This is a topic I've been thinking about a lot lately, as my partner Claudio and I have been deciding where we'd like to settle down, and have finally come to something of a decision over the last few months.

So far in my life, I've been lucky enough to have lived in several different places and even in a few different countries, each with their own pros and cons! And in this post, I'll be writing about my experiences in each of these places.

Later on, I'll also be writing about my dream places to live, and looking at the cities that have been selected as the most liveable in the world. 

Let's dive in!

Places I've Lived

A small village in Wiltshire, UK

(By the way, the picture is Easton Grey - not the village where I actually live, but close by and also in Wiltshire!)

Pros

- Scenic, located in the middle of the countryside
- Quiet and peaceful
- Close to picturesque areas like the Cotswolds and Avebury
- Conveniently located right between London and Cardiff

Cons

- A lack of facilities/things to do
- Little to no public transport - you really have to be able to drive and have your own car if you want an independent life
- You have to travel at least 10 or 15 minutes by car to buy anything (to be fair, there's now a little community shop in my village, but it's not open every day, and when I was growing up, there were no shops at all.)

My Experiences Living Here

I've lived in the same village the vast majority of my life, but not really by choice! My parents moved here in the 80s, and so I grew up here and didn't leave until I went to university. After university, I moved back in order to get the next stage of my life sorted out, but just when I was preparing to move out again, the pandemic hit, and I ended up stuck here for another two years. I then lived in other places for the best part of two years, but moved back here after Christmas, in order to again, try to get the next stage of my life sorted out. Hopefully, I'll be moving out for good in the very near future!

To be honest, while I do like being here in the short term, I don't especially like living here in the long term. During the times when I was living in not-so-nice accommodation in Nottingham and Bristol, coming here for weekends and holidays felt like coming to a fairytale village, but I always found that after a month here, I'd get fed up with the lack of freedom and feel ready to go again.

Generally, I haven't had access to a car while living here, which has made things much more difficult. But overall, I definitely feel that I'm a city person at heart, despite growing up in the country, and I don't ever see myself living somewhere so remote by choice.

Would I Recommend It?

If you like quiet places and don't mind having to drive everywhere, then living somewhere like this is a good choice. Otherwise, it isn't.

Nottingham/Beeston, UK

Pros

- Cheaper than cities in the south of the UK

- Convenient central location within England

- Some very nice green spaces, including the university campus (pictured above) and Wollaton Park

- Pretty good public transport

- Student lifestyle

Cons

- Student lifestyle (could be negative or positive!)

- Not the most beautiful city

- Permanently crowded city centre, even on weekdays

My Experiences Living Here

I lived here for three years while I was at university, though if you take away the long university holidays (which I mostly spent at home) it was probably slightly less then two years in total.

During my first year, I lived in catered halls on the university campus.

When I'd visited the university on an open day, I'd been shown student halls that looked like something out of Harry Potter, but the one I ended up getting placed in was an ugly 1960s or 1970s building that was certainly no Hogwarts! My room was on the lower ground floor and felt a bit like a basement, and the food could be a bit grim. On the whole, I didn't especially enjoy the experience.

In my second year, I moved into a shared house in the Dunkirk neighbourhood of the city. This was my first experience of sharing accommodation, and while I was fortunate enough that the house itself was alright, I really did not have a good time there. I've realised that I'm the sort of person who can't properly relax and feel at home in a place if I'm living with people who aren't either my partner or my family. I did try to make the best of things, but I quickly got frustrated, as I found that 9 times out of 10, I was the one who was taking the bins out, or I'd buy communal things like kitchen roll, and find that everyone else was happy to use it but would never bother replacing it. And while I wouldn't call myself a neat freak, I do like to keep things clean and tidy, which can cause issues in shared accommodation.

So it was a total relief to move into my own studio flat in my fourth and final year at university.

It was a more expensive option, but so worth it. Just to be able to come home after a long day of classes and to have a space all to myself, and to not have to share a kitchen or a bathroom, made such a difference. It was small - the bathroom was basically an airplane bathroom - but I'd choose the tiniest studio flat over sharing a big house with acquaintances/strangers any day.

The studio flat was located in a private student residence in the small town of Beeston, which is very close to the university. Beeston is not the most beautiful town and has this sort of vibe of being stuck in the 1970s, but for some reason, I actually liked it quite a lot. 

I also liked the student residence much more than I'd liked the university hall I'd lived in during first year. There was quite a lot to get involved with - during my first semester there, I attended a free weekly singing group, and during my second semester, I went to a free salsa dancing course every Thursday. Often free food would be given out, and I remember that for Chinese New Year, they put on a special event with a Chinese buffet and traditional dances performed by students of Chinese heritage, which was a really nice experience.

Overall, despite the fact that my workload in final year was absolutely insane, it was definitely the year that I was the happiest, and I think having that little flat had a lot to do with that.

Would I Recommend It?

A lot of people, including a lot of my peers from Nottingham, absolutely fall in love with their university city and say that their student years were the best years of their life. That wasn't really the case for me. While I was delighted to get into the University of Nottingham, I was a very socially anxious person at the time, and I felt quite overwhelmed by the sheer amount of new people I was meeting and the fact that I was living away from home for the first time. Although I did make an effort to get out of my comfort zone, socialise and get involved with different societies, nothing really worked out that well.

On top of that, my course (Spanish, French and German ab initio) had far more contact hours and a much heavier workload than the average degree, and I struggled to maintain a work-life balance. While I really enjoyed most of my classes, and actually loved studying, I hated essays and exams. (I actually find being in full-time work much less stressful than being a student.)

Having said that, I now feel some nostalgia for certain aspects of my life there, and would really like to go back for a visit sometime soon. I think I was unlucky to not have such an amazing time there, and I'd say that overall, it's probably a pretty good place to be a student.

Feldkirchen in Kärnten, Austria

Pros

- A beautiful part of the world filled with lakes, mountains and castles
- High standard of living

- Good public transport
- Easy to travel to several other countries by train

- Austria is said to have a nice combination of the efficiency and punctuality of Germany with the more relaxed attitude of Italy

Cons

- High cost of living (but higher salaries too)
- Feldkirchen is a fairly sleepy, quiet sort of place, and the region of Kärnten is quite rural with no big cities
- Very cold in winter (but snowy, which is nice!)

- Landlocked, so no beaches (though places like Italy, Slovenia and Croatia are only a train ride away)

My Experience Living Here

They say that your life begins at university, but for me, it began with my Year Abroad! I spent four months of the year teaching English at two secondary schools in Feldkirchen, and had a great time. I travelled so much, both around Austria and to nearby countries, and I still miss being able to travel abroad with such ease.

I lived in a little apartment on the top floor of a house owned by a friend of one of the teachers at the school and her husband. There were also two lovely cats living there, who liked to pop upstairs to visit me (though sadly one of them died on the road). I was paying a great price for renting the apartment (even paying twice as much would still have been a pretty good deal) and my earnings were actually not much lower than what I'm earning now after tax - despite the fact that I was only working in the schools four mornings a week and doing some lesson prep outside of those hours. Honestly, I've never been better off financially, and possibly never will be again.

Would I Recommend It?

Absolutely! While I don't see myself ever living somewhere like Feldkirchen in the long-term - I'd prefer a big, international city like Vienna - I think Austria is undoubtedly one of the best countries in the world to live in.

Santiago, Chile

Pros

- Big city with some beautiful parks and amazing mountain views
- The Pacific Ocean and the Andes mountains are both short distances away, meaning there are loads of great day trips you can take - in the winter, you can even go skiing!
- Chile is a beautiful country with almost every landscape you can imagine, and it's all either a short flight or a long road trip away
- Long, hot summers and mild winters (though lack of central heating can make winter difficult)
- Low cost of living compared to the UK (though it has greatly increased in recent years)

- Relatively good public transport

Cons

- Low salaries
- Limited job opportunities compared to Europe

- Visas for British citizens are hugely expensive
- High crime rate
- Very unequal society - the difference between the west and the east of the city is extreme
- Much more expensive than other Latin American countries, especially since 2020
- Very bureaucratic - you have to spend entire mornings waiting in line to complete processes that we can easily do online in the UK
- Very difficult to rent a decent apartment if you aren't an employee - I was classed as self-employed during my second time living in Chile, and we had to actually rent our apartment in Claudio's mum's name

My Experiences Living Here

My first time living in Santiago was when I did a semester there as part of my Year Abroad.

I lived in a shared apartment in a student residence located in the city centre - this is one of the few nice places to rent that doesn't require loads of documents, and so there were several other international students from my university living there. I had my own en suite room with a desk and shared with one other girl. Again, sharing was a bit of a challenge at times, as I am not the sort of person who appreciates being woken up at 5am on a weeknight to the sounds of a house party going on outside my door, and then emerging the next morning to find the place trashed!

But it was definitely the biggest and one of the nicest apartments I've ever lived in - I can't imagine ever living somewhere as spacious and modern in the UK. Having said that, I'm not quite sure about the standards to which the building was constructed. At one point, a pipe from my flatmate's bathroom started leaking into my wardrobe, causing a mould problem, which meant that I actually moved to a different apartment in the same building for my last month there.

In terms of the neighbourhood, Santiago Centro is considered to be one of the areas of the city with the highest crime rates, and certain parts of it are very run down, which is a shame, as it's the area with the most historic buildings and monuments. Despite its problems, I actually really liked living there and walking past the old churches, colonial houses and grand palaces on my way to the metro station or the supermarket. But having said that, Santiago Centro is definitely less safe now than it was in 2018, so I wouldn't live there now.

Then in 2022, I moved back to Santiago, this time to work as an English teacher. After about six weeks living in a youth hostel and then with Claudio's family, we moved into our first apartment together in the Ñuñoa area, which is one of the safer parts of the city.

Our apartment was smaller than the ones I'd lived in in Santiago Centro, but just as new and modern - in fact, I think we were the first people to live in it. The building had lots of facilities (the swimming pool was my favourite!) and our apartment had a balcony and walk-in wardrobe, which was really cool! Although it was a little small for us, given that I was always working from home and Claudio was working from home 3 or 4 days a week, I do really miss it. We had to furnish it ourselves, which I loved doing, and we felt very proud of it.

One downside is that it was on a very noisy main road, where construction work was always being done, but the streets further back from that road were quite attractive and peaceful. There were also various nice cafés, restaurants and parks in the vicinity.

But the main downside is the cost of living compared to salaries. Chile has always been one of the more expensive countries in South America, but back in 2018, it was noticeably cheaper than the UK. But since the political crisis in 2019 and then the pandemic, costs have massively risen, and while rent is still much cheaper than in Britain, groceries are now pretty much the same price there as they are here. And it's important to note that salaries are much lower over there: minimum wage is about £400 a month, the average wage is £600, and £1000 is considered a very good amount to earn. 

Personally, I worked for two language schools during my time there, and really did not have a good experience with the first one. They expected me to do a lot of unpaid work outside of classes, so despite working long hours, I was only earning on average around £600 a month. I was topping up my income working on Verbling and Cambly, but eventually got burned out and quit the job. The second language school was a much nicer company to work for - they held lots of fun meet-ups and offered a lot of professional development courses. But unfortunately, they just didn't have much work for me, so I had to rely mostly on Verbling and Cambly, which wasn't bringing in much money.

Fortunately, Claudio found a good job shortly after we arrived in our apartment, so we managed alright after that, though I did dip into my savings at times, just to be able to travel and do nice things together. I definitely spent more money than I earned in the process of getting the visa, travelling out there, setting ourselves up in the apartment and then living there for over a year. But I did see my time there as a Gap Year of sorts and an opportunity to explore more of South America, so I certainly didn't expect to get rich from it, and overall, I felt happy with how things turned out.

Would I Recommend It?

Chile is a beautiful country to visit, and there's a lot to love about the lifestyle in Santiago: sunny weather most of the year, lots of beautiful parks to hang out in, nearby mountains for hiking and skiing, and stunning beaches within a couple of hours. And there's also the food and drink: completos italianos, sopaipillas con pebre, alfajores, mote con huesillos and pisco sour, to name a few!

I think it's a great place to spend a few months or a semester abroad.

But if you fancy going out there for longer, to teach English for example, I wouldn't recommend it, just because of the sheer costs involved. If you're interested in TEFL, East and Southeast Asia generally offer far better job opportunities - some even pay for your visa and your flights, and set you up in your own apartment. And if you really want to go out to South America, countries like Peru, Ecuador and Colombia offer interesting volunteer opportunities in TEFL and other areas, and have a far lower cost of living then Chile does.

Having said that though, I really did love our life in Chile, and haven't been happier anywhere else!

Malta

Pros

- Sunny and warm most of the year
- Lots of beaches
- Amazing historical cities, buildings and monuments
- Good job opportunities
- Cheaper cost of living than in the UK
- Pay around 17€ to get (mostly) free public transport for life, if you have an address in Malta

Cons

- Heatwaves in summer
- Over populated and over touristed
- Insufficient infrastructure, e.g., near-constant power outages during heatwaves and rubbish not being regularly collected
- Overly built up
- Terrible traffic as the narrow twisty roads are not designed for the volume of vehicles using them
- Buses are generally unreliable and overcrowded, and there is no other public transport

My Experience Living Here

Last summer, I spent three months in Malta completing an internship in digital marketing. The internship was organised by the UK government, which meant that flights, accommodation, travel insurance and a monthly stipend were all provided. I went out there with 11 other interns and we were put up in a rather run-down hostel on the border of the towns of Gżira and Msida.

The swimming pool was definitely the best thing about it! To be honest, I was quite lucky with my room, as I was one of the few of us who didn't have problems with cockroaches. The worst I had to deal with was a persistent mould problem in my bathroom. 

The accommodation wasn't the best, but on the plus side, my internship was the best job I've ever had. I worked for one of the top marketing agencies in the country, and took on a lot of the copywriting tasks, which I really enjoyed. I hope to have a job like that again at some point in the future!

There were definitely things about Malta that made life a pain at times, such as the unreliable and crowded buses, and the heatwaves - there was a week in July where the temperature was passing 40 degrees every day, and the hostel was without power (and therefore air conditioning) for pretty much all of that time, which was not easy to deal with! But there was also a lot that I liked about life there. I got on really well with the other interns, and we spent a lot of evenings hanging out by the pool or in local bars. I also really enjoyed popping into Valletta after work on a regular basis, and spending evenings and weekends visiting beaches and historic sites.

Would I Recommend It?

A big reason that I applied for the internship in Malta is because my mum and uncle lived there as children in the 1960s and absolutely loved it. The idea of living on a Mediterranean island is very enticing, and I wanted to experience it for myself!

However, Malta has changed a lot in the last few decades, and not necessarily for the better. There are plenty of other islands, such as Gozo, which are a lot more unspoilt and peaceful. 

But overall, I had a really memorable and fun time out there, and while I wouldn't choose to live there again, I'd definitely go back there on holiday.

Bristol, UK

Pros

- Some very scenic areas, such as the Clifton Suspension Bridge (pictured above) and the Harbourside
- Near to attractive parts of the UK, like Bath, the Cotswolds and Wales
- Alternative/rave culture, if you're into that kind of thing (I'm really not, haha!)

Cons

- Cost of living is pretty much as expensive as London, but unlike London, Bristol has no real commuter belt, so you can't save money by living further out
- Very poor quality housing
- Very poor public transport for a city of its size
- Lots of drugs and social issues
- Some very grim areas

My Experience Living Here

I only spent three months living in Bristol, but that was more than enough for me. My time there was one of the most depressing periods of my life, and it's definitely my least favourite place that I've lived in.

After my internship in Malta, I'd hoped to be offered a similar role somewhere like Vienna or Barcelona, but I wasn't lucky with my job search. After a few months of job hunting, I was eventually offered my current role and was given the choice of working in London or Bristol. Although I much preferred the idea of living and working in London, the infamous cost of living there scared me a lot, and so I opted for Bristol, naïvely believing that I'd have a much better quality of life there.

I just wish I'd researched the situation better beforehand, because the truth is, it's significantly cheaper to live just on the outskirts or just outside of Greater London then it is to live in Bristol. And of course, London is London, so it's worth paying a bit more to live there! Whereas Bristol has no business being as expensive as it is.

Shortly after I accepted my job, my parents heard about a room becoming available to rent in a flat in the Redlands area, and although I'd vowed never again to live in shared housing, I decided to take it, as Claudio was working in Chile at the time, and I thought it would be a good place for me to get started in the city before finding somewhere we could live together on our own.

But I was miserable there. The flat had a problem with damp and mould (which I now know is very common in Bristol housing), and the kitchen and bathroom were in such a grim state I could hardly bring myself to use them.

Also, in terms of my personal situation, having spent the previous 18 months living abroad, it felt like a bit of a failure to end up in a provincial city so close to where I grew up. 

I'd known when accepting the job in Bristol that it wasn't my dream city, but I expected to like living there a lot more than I did.

Would I Recommend It?

Absolutely not. I know some people love Bristol, but no matter how much you like it, it's just not worth the cost, unless you're earning a very good salary.

Out of all the cities I've lived in, Nottingham is the most obvious comparison, and even though I never exactly loved it, it beats Bristol hands down in pretty much every category: cost of living, quality of housing and public transport.

To sum up, there are plenty of cheaper and nicer places to live in the UK.

Bonuses

I've written about my experiences living in Austria and Chile during my Year Abroad, but as I also spent part of the year in France, I want to write about my experiences there too. The French part of my Year Abroad was a bit chaotic to say the least, and I actually spent my 11 weeks there in 5 different places all over the country. But the vast majority of those weeks were spent in two cities: one in the south and one in the north. I didn't spend long enough in either place to say that I've "lived" there, but as I was either working or studying and staying with host families rather than in hotels, I can't really say I was on holiday either. So I think they deserve their bonus spot on this list!

Montpellier, France

Pros

- Beautiful architecture
- Mediterranean climate
- Very close to the beach
- Good public transport
- Off the mass tourism trail, so not crowded, and has a relaxed vibe
- All of the weather, food and culture of the south of France, without the tackiness and extravagant shows of wealth of the Côte d'Azur
- Unique Occitan culture with a strong Spanish influence

Cons

- Honestly, I'm sure there must be some, but I can't think of any!

My Experience There

I spent a few weeks in Montpellier in summer 2017, doing a French course at a language school in the historic centre, and I stayed with a lovely lady and her adorable cat in a beautiful apartment within walking distance of the school.

Lessons were only in the morning, so I had afternoons to go sightseeing, do activities organised by the school, go jogging in the park, or relax. At the weekends and some afternoons, I also went on several trips to beautiful places around the south of France.

It was definitely one of the best parts of my Year Abroad, and I'd love to go back or even live there someday in the future!

Rouen, France

Pros

- Close to Paris

- Picturesque city with beautiful landmarks like Le Gros-Horloge and the cathedral

- Some interesting places to visit nearby, like Étretat and Dieppe

- Good public transport

Cons

- Same weather as England (I was there in summer, and it was either humid and full of wasps or rainy and cold - just like it is here!)

- Same sorts of landscapes and even similar architecture to England - apart from the language and food, it didn't really feel like being abroad

My Experience There

I hadn't wanted to spend any of my Year Abroad in this area of northern France - Paris and the south were my first choices, but being somewhere like the Alps or Alsace or Flanders or the Loire Valley would have also felt more exotic. I feel like Normandy and Brittany are quite similar to South West England, in that they have lots of farms, rain and cider - so not really a change of scenery for me. 

But things didn't work out with my French Year Abroad placements, and so my parents quickly booked me in for two short work experience placements and a language course in Rouen, so I could tick off my required weeks in France.

To be honest, I wasn't that enthusiastic about spending most of my summer there - I wished I could have stayed on longer in South America, and although I couldn't avoid having to complete the French part of my Year Abroad, I would have much preferred to spend those weeks in Paris or the south.

I was in Rouen for about a month in total, and although I tried to make the best of it, I was relieved when it was over. I was placed with two host families during my time there, and didn't feel as relaxed with either as I had done with the nice lady and her cat in Montpellier. But my work placements and language courses were quite enjoyable on the whole, and I visited lots of nice places around the region, so I definitely got something out of the experience. Plus, my French improved a lot!

It's a nice city in many ways, and I'd say probably a good place to live, but I don't have any real desire to return there.

Looking back at all the places I've lived, none of them have been perfect (nowhere is), but I've liked things about each of them. I'd say the "best" place objectively was Feldkirchen, but the place where I was happiest was Santiago.

Coming next, I'll be writing about my dream destinations to live in!

Check out the rest of my travel tips here!