Not the obvious stuff like missing family or getting used to the weather.

I mean the random everyday things you don’t really think about until you’re actually living somewhere else.

Could be renting, banking, paperwork, making friends, language, healthcare, anything really.

What caught you off guard?

If you had to pick one country to live in for the next 5 years, where are you going?

Not for a holiday either. I mean actually renting somewhere, doing normal day to day life, sorting visas, dealing with the boring stuff etc.

I think my answer would change a lot depending on cost of living, weather and how easy it is to stay long term.

Interested to see what people pick and why.

Say you work remotely, make around £2k/$2.7k a month and have nothing really tying you to one place.

Where would you actually choose to live?
Not looking for the absolute cheapest place. Just somewhere you can get a decent apartment, eat well, have a good social life and generally enjoy day to day life without blowing your whole income.

I’d probably lean towards SE Asia myself, but curious where everyone else would go.
Especially interested if you’ve actually lived in the place you’re recommending.

If you had to choose one of these three to live in for a full year, which would you pick?

Thailand
Vietnam
Malaysia

Not just for a holiday. I mean actually living there day to day.

Which one gives you the best overall balance of cost of living, visas, healthcare, safety, food, housing, transport, weather, nightlife, beaches and quality of life?

I’m especially interested in hearing from people who’ve actually lived in one or more of them rather than just visited.
Which would you choose, and what would be the main reason?

Everyone seems to care about different things when deciding where to move.

For some people it’s cost of living. For others it’s safety, healthcare, weather, taxes, visas, schools, nightlife, beaches, walkability, job opportunities or being close to family.

If you had to choose your top 3 priorities, what would they be?

Interested to see what people value most when they’re actually deciding where to live.

If you’re thinking about moving abroad, where are you looking at right now?

Could be somewhere you’ve already decided on, a few countries or cities you’re comparing, or somewhere you’ve only just started looking into.

Share as much or as little as you want, but things like your budget, nationality, work situation, whether you’re moving alone or with family, and what matters most to you can make the advice a lot more useful.

For example:
Cost of living
Weather
Healthcare
Safety
Taxes
Schools
Nightlife
Beaches
Walkability
Visas

Curious to see where everyone’s considering.