Would you consider leaving the country for a job opportunity?

[rafiki]

.

[Melinda in VT]

Absolutely I'd consider it.

 

I found this web site really helpful when we were considering the Foreign Service. The Real Post Reports were fascinating.

 

(Although it started out as a resource of Foreign Service families, it has expanded to include other expats.)

[LisaKinVA]

YES, we would!

[rafiki]

.

[Happy]

We did!

 

We moved to Belgium several years ago with a fifteen year old and an eight year old. We lived in a small apartment, started homeschooling, and traveled a LOT.

 

One of our top ten decisions!

 

Go for it! Yes, it will be scary, exciting, and overwhelming, but you will survive just fine.

[Tap]

We tossed around the idea once. But, because of dd3 and visitations with her bio-father/mother, we decided it wouldn't be in our future just yet.

[rookie]

we hope that this will be an option for us in the future.

[WTMCassandra]

My biggest priorities would be ensuring that I could still homeschool legally and have internet access. Not being able to homeschool legally would be a deal-breaker for me, and lack of internet access would cause me some VERY serious thought.

[JudoMom]

Only if I had to.

[Impish]

Would completely depend on where, what the job was, etc. I'm glad to live in Canada.

[Crimson Wife]

We would love to go to Europe or Australia (DH's employer has a London office and we're hoping that he can spend a year there at some point). Asia, South America, or the Middle East it would have to be a much sweeter deal to lure us there. Africa I don't think we'd even consider.

[Heather in Neverland]

YES (obviously :D)

 

It was scary and thrilling at the same time and still is over 4 months later but we are SO GLAD we did it. Who knows where we might go next? :tongue_smilie:

[staceyobu]

Yep. Where's the job?

[WiseOwlKnits]

Depending on where, I would jump on it in a heartbeat!!

[Amira]

Yes. We've done it in the past and will go again in the future. And there probably are only a handful of countries we wouldn't go to.

 

Forgot to add, the site Melinda links to is a great one. It is a little skewed toward Foreign Service people (so some of the info won't apply) but it's still useful and lots of fun to read. After that, I just search for expats in the country we're going to to learn more. Depending on what part of the world the job is, you can learn a lot that way. If it's a part of the world without many expats, I suggest using travel books to learn more, even though they won't tell you much about actually living there. But for some countries, that's the best you can do.

Edited November 18, 2009 by Amira

[Kate in Arabia]

I would and I have. I would do a google search for [country name] expats or something similar to try and find people there. I was fortunate that I had visited here before we moved here, so I had some idea what I was getting myself into; so if visiting beforehand is a possibility, that's helpful. Otherwise, the potential employer may have some people (other employees) you could contact before moving -- I have had several calls from people who were hired by dh's employer and they asked all sorts of questions about the move and life here before they came.

 

Also I was able to find someone I knew who knew someone who had a sister... that kind of thing, who already lived here. When I moved she introduced me to a couple of the social groups in Abu Dhabi which was great in getting me and the kids connected to the social scene. So if you can network and find people already there, either through the internet or personal contacts, that would be a big help.

[Guest Cindie2dds]

Yes, we did. We moved to Ottawa for 3 years. It was the first time I had every spent any time outside the US, and it was amazing. Since then we've lived all over the US, but I would move back there for a few years again in a heartbeat if we could. How exciting!

[dangermom]

I would love to!

[Thea]

I would definitely consider, however dh is not open to it at all. He had he opportunity to go to China for a year and wouldn't even talk about it. I was bummed. I think it would have been a great adventure!

[Helen in OH]

For our family, I would love to move to another country.

 

I think my children are definately going to have to look abroad for employment opportunities. I think in the global economy our kids will have to go where the jobs are available.

 

Helen in OH

[Rhonda in TX]

We've talked about it, but we most likely would not be able to homeschool, and that's not an option. It would be very exciting, but it's not for us right now. Maybe when the kids are grown, which is really not that far away.

[TravelingChris]

We have lived overseas and want to do it again. LIke Happy, we were in Belgium for three years and had a great time. I would return there in a heartbeat. DH wants to get a job in London for his next job (as an AF officer) but I am not sure that will work out with our schedule (it might be a mid year move in my youngest's 9th or 10th grade). ANd then there is the fact dh refuses to acknowledge which is we will probably be transferred before then. But when he is retiring, he will have foreign locations on his horizon though with his career, they would probably have to be US Govt jobs only.

[TammyinTN]

As a military family we have lived in Korea for 2 years and Europe for 5. It's been an awesome experience and we've traveled and learned to much. When we retire in a couple of years we are looking for jobs to return to Europe to live again. It's been a very positive experience for our family.

[Murphy101]

As long as we could home school, Internet access, reasonable medical care (dh can get his insulin and IF I got pregnant a reasonably safe environment to deliver in), income above poverty level, then yes we would go without much hesitation.

 

I'll go so far as to say we'd probably have less hesitation about that than about moving just to another state!

[momtoboys]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

 

But that's just me. . .

 

Then again, if the salary were high enough. . . ;) (nope, still not worth it)

[sgilli3]

Yes, this is our 2nd move- both times to the UAE.

 

It has been a wonderful, enriching experience for us all.

We have been blessed to have been able to travel to places we would never have visited, due to distance and cost from Australia.

 

We are planning to return home to Australia next year, but I would be willing to give another international move a go.

[Danestress]

Right now, I couldn't do that to my parents and to MIL. I feel like even though my immediate family is a priority in theory, in practice, the needs of that older generation are very real and increasingly I see that DH and I are going to have to adjust to taking their needs into account when we make decisions.

 

When I was younger, I lived abroad for a year and I traveled a fair amount. I'm so glad I did! DH and I also felt free to move to request a move to California, and we loved living there even though family was far away.

 

But now I just don't think I could make that decision unless we were in dire circumstances and just were absolutely sure we had to.

 

For me, I am part of a bigger family than just me and my kids, and while I would follow DH anywhere if he had to go, I am not going to suggest he go out looking for it. He would agree with this, though. He adores his mother and feels the same sense of commitment to taking her (and my parents') needs into account as I do.

[Ravin]

Yes, though I'd want it to be for very limited duration if we weren't going to be able to hs (for example, I'd do a year in Germany as an expat, but probably not more; a year for DD in a German school would not, imo, be completely unreasonable). I actually would have joined the Peace Corps. after college if there'd been a way to take DD with me.

[Laura Corin]

I spent most of my adult life in Asia, Calvin moved abroad when he was six months old, Hobbes was born in Hong Kong. I think that the whole experience was enormously valuable.

 

I wouldn't do it now unless forced, but only because I am very much enjoying living in my home country again. Husband is still living overseas - we come from different countries, so one of us is always going to be living abroad.

 

Laura

[Laura Corin]

We've talked about it, but we most likely would not be able to homeschool, and that's not an option.

 

Homeschooling rules vary very much by country.

 

Laura

[Mrs Mungo]

We lived in Germany for 5 years, two of my kids were born there (in German hospitals).

[Laura Corin]

Safety of country?

Schooling?

Health care facilities?

Income vs. expenses in the country?

Housing - do they provide it or subsidise it?

Paid trips home?

Contract length and what happens if it is terminated early for any reason?

Moving expenses (both ways)?

Guaranteed job on return?

Health insurance including evacuation if necessary?

Taxes - do they equalise taxes for you, plus pay for someone to do your tax returns in each country?

Immunisations (need to start those early if required)

Visas - can you work in country if you want to?

 

I might think of more later

 

Laura

[KrissiK]

For a limited duration. I lived in Sao Paulo, Brazil for 2 years teaching. This is when I was single, however. I would love to go overseas again, it is the greatest thing, what an adventure. Dh's company is based in the UK, so it's always a possibility. I keep bugging him about going over there for a while. However, I also am a homebody and my roots here go deep, so I wouldn't go if it were an indefinite thing, or super long term. I do know that a lot of the ex-pats I got to know had a much higher standard of living down there than they ever had in the States, i.e. household staff, drivers, etc.

[Nan in Mass]

We were talking about this just last week. We always said we would go if we had a chance, but now we have suddenly realized that we can't, at least for a bit. We have two children in college, and they have needed just enough rescueing that I know I don't want to be across the ocean from them. And our lives are becoming more and more entwined with my parents. I also have promised my mil that when she moves to a nursing home, I will visit at least a few times a week. So for a bit, we are stuck here. Not that I mind here GRIN.

-Nan

[Rhonda in TX]

It would be there, or somewhere else in Europe. I told DH I'd move to England, but I don't know of any other European countries (is England considered a European country?) where it's legal. Well, I know it's legal in France, but don't you have to use the state curriculum?

[Laura Corin]

I told DH I'd move to England, but I don't know of any other European countries (is England considered a European country?) where it's legal.

 

The United Kingdom is both part of the continent of Europe and part of the European Union. Home education is legal in England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland.

 

There are links on the HSLDA website for other European countries. I wouldn't trust the info on the website itself (the UK page is incomplete, for example, as it only refers to England and Wales, omitting to mention separate legislation in N. Ireland and Scotland) but the links to in-country organisations should help you research.

 

ETA: further research suggests that HE is legal in Ireland.

 

Best wishes

 

Laura

Edited November 24, 2009 by Laura Corin

[Kate in Arabia]

Husband is still living overseas - we come from different countries, so one of us is always going to be living abroad.

This is always going to be an issue for us as well. Even though dh is a US citizen, he's the only one in his entire family who is. We will always be in a position of being physically closer to my family or closer to his family, unless we choose to live in a place that's equidistant (which puts us either on the west coast of Africa or perhaps Japan?).

[Laura Corin]

This is always going to be an issue for us as well. Even though dh is a US citizen, he's the only one in his entire family who is. We will always be in a position of being physically closer to my family or closer to his family, unless we choose to live in a place that's equidistant (which puts us either on the west coast of Africa or perhaps Japan?).

 

He's happy living here but misses old friends in America. My mother-in-law died on Sunday, so he's on a plane back to the US as I type.

 

In January his only brother is being transferred to London for a few years. At that point, there will temporarily be more of his close family in the UK than in the US. Not that we get down to London much.

 

Laura

[Cammie]

This is always going to be an issue for us as well. Even though dh is a US citizen, he's the only one in his entire family who is. We will always be in a position of being physically closer to my family or closer to his family, unless we choose to live in a place that's equidistant (which puts us either on the west coast of Africa or perhaps Japan?).

 

 

Same for us! DH was in the US for 15 years and always felt like an outsider. Now we are in India for a few years. We did it, in part, because he had better chances of moving up quickly in his company from India than from the US. It has been great for our family. The only downside is that it wasn't the financial boon we hoped for - it is not cheap to live a "westernized" life in India. Kids want foods that have been flown over (apparently first class!) from the US. DH wants to live in a neighborhood that looks like a S.Cal. suburb. All in all, we are happy we did it!

[jld]

We're in India, too, a couple of hours from Cammie (hi, neighbor!:)). It sure was hard this last year. But I'm glad we did it. We're different people because of it. My cleaning lady took some wilted cilantro out of my garbage can today and said she was taking it home to use. How's that for a lesson in poverty?

 

We're using the money we've saved to remodel our house in America. That wouldn't have been possible without big loans if we hadn't been here this last year. And next week dd14 and ds7 are going to France to visit their grandparents -- without terrible jet lag (that's a first!).

 

Now, there are plenty of downsides -- no decent libraries, frequent power outages (ds7 and ds4 actually "play" power outage), occasionally a lack of water and the ever-present difficulty of communicating with servants and the locals, even the ones who assure me they do speak English. We've been hit by mosquitoes, fire ants, and one zoo-size snake. And worst of all, ds10 was diagnosed in June with leukemia. We went through the whole treatment here in India -- not easy with the communication issues.

 

But all in all, yes, this whole last year taught us an awful lot, and we are better, deeper people for it. I love going to America now, even more than when we were living in France. America, and Europe, too, are so clean. So very, very clean, and orderly, and well-provisioned (at least with the provisions I want!). And I miss them so much. But dh's job is here, so I am making peace with that. I took so much for granted in America.

 

Just to end on an upper . . . the best thing about India for me is the food. I love, love, love eating here. I love sambhar and dosai and uttapam and basically anything I've tried. I love Indian sweets, too -- can't get enough of them! The cooks here must sprinkle some magic in their pots, because everything is delicious!:)

[stripe]

Just to end on an upper . . . the best thing about India for me is the food. I love, love, love eating here. I love sambhar and dosai and uttapam and basically anything I've tried. I love Indian sweets, too -- can't get enough of them! The cooks here must sprinkle some magic in their pots, because everything is delicious!:)

I think there's a quality factor in American food. So many things are grown in large factories (and this includes dairy and meat products), or vegetables/fruit grown for ease in shipping rather than taste. There is a big emphasis on cheap to the point that tastiness and healthfulness are not so important. To be in a different environment makes one realize this.

[Kate in Arabia]

 

I love Indian sweets, too -- can't get enough of them!

I like most Indian food, but I really can't handle the sweets -- much too sweet for me! And when we got married, everywhere we went people were literally putting sweets into my mouth (it's a tradition), so I couldn't escape, lol! I do like fresh, hot jalebis, but that's about as much as I can do.

[hsbaby]

Nope...never. We have a fabulous, full life here. I am surrounded by an awesome family and wonderful friends. That's what's most important to me in life:) I like to travel, but LOVE my home!