Until my freshman year of college, I had never traveled abroad. Today, living abroad at some point in my life is a very real possibility and something that my wife and I have discussed from time-to-time. The biggest reason Americans head to other countries is to study, volunteer, or work. Since I am past the college stage, it would be to work or volunteer. Since I am not fond of the idea of raising funds, it would most likely be to work.
Which brings me to today’s question: what would it take for you to move abroad for work?
I’ve been a big fan of the tv show House Hunter’s International and love seeing the different styles of houses in the various countries across the globe, the range of cost of living between each city and country, and the reasons that the individuals, couples, and families have for moving abroad.
Most of the time on the show people move because of work.
HGTV also has another show called Living Abroad. The series premiered last Thursday and I caught part of it. One thing they highlighted was that some companies give generous pay and benefits to people who are willing to relocate overseas for work. Drivers, nannies, maids, etc. are sometimes included, not to mention a housing stipend enough to buy an above-average home. Also highlighted on the show was cultural and language barriers that the people living abroad experienced. It takes a time to get used to the different cultural norms.
One thing that can be helpful in any situation is a list of pros and cons. I brainstormed a few of the advantages and disadvantages of working abroad:
Advantages of Working Abroad
- Opportunity to experience a different culture
- Potentially lower cost of living (this totally depends on the city/country)
- Potentially generous pay/benefit package
- Provides a new and different perspective
- No regrets later on…”If only we had done that when we had the chance”
- Exposure to new opportunities
Disadvantages of Working Abroad
- Located far away from family and friends
- Unfamiliar culture and customs
- Potential language barrier
- Forced to uproot your current life
- If something bad happens back home, will be costly to fly back
- Resentment from family members for moving so far away from them
- Living/Working abroad is not what you envisioned
- Additional adjustment period when you return home
Like anything in life, there are a lot of pros and cons when it comes to living and working abroad. While my list is a generic list for working abroad, the list would change quite a bit depending where in the world you are looking at moving to. Moving to London is going to be different than moving to Tokyo, which both are going to be different than moving to Turkey.
If I was going to move abroad for work, I would require a few things. First, both my wife and me would need to be able to work in some capacity (thankfully the internet makes that fairly simple). Second, I would want us to make slightly more than we currently do to make up for the increased cost of travel (and potentially emergency flights home). Third, it would have to be a place that we were both excited about moving to.
Would you work abroad if given the opportunity? Why or why not? What would be your requirements?
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Photo by Carles Tomás Martí
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Although I don’t mind travel, I don’t think I could ever work abroad. I like where we live, and I know my family does too. In order for me to do it, not only would my family have to be completely on board with the idea, but the compensation would also have to be pretty ridiculous!
@MyMoneyDesign Haha I am in the same boat as far as family must be on board and compensation would have to be high, tho probably not as high as you are thinking.
I don’t have any desire to work abroad. It isn’t for me at all. I’m very happy where I am. My nephew’s, wife’s sister (got that?) left in March 2012 to teach for one year in China, returning in March of 2013. This is her second trip and I wouldn’t be surprised if she ultimately lived in China for the long term. She loves it there!
@RobertaRenstromNyquist Good for her! And I agree it isn’t for everyone, tho I think some people are very happy here but still desire to work abroad ;)
I would definitely move abroad for work, however, my work would never entail that. I would love to retire young and travel!
@SenseofCents Traveling is great! Would love to travel more some day, but would prefer it to be sooner rather than later (so I agree…retiring YOUNG would be nice).
I have worked abroad, and it’s the best thing that’s happened to me. I even got a huge job offer after a year..but if you’re with a s/o you’ll need to both be game for it. If I go back there, or anywhere else, it would either be temporarily (6 months – year), or a place that my boyfriend would be willing to follow me too (or vice versa).
@thetightwadtale That’s cool, how long were you abroad?? 6 months to a year sounds ideal.
@DC @ Young Adult Money Just for a year!
We have some teacher friends who went to Korea this year to work. The pay and benefits make you think. I believe we are too set in our ways to move that far away, but who knows? Might be fun.
@Eyesonthedollar How much are they making? My wife would love to teach abroad.
@DC @ Young Adult Money
I never got a final $$ number, but they both made around $33K here and onlyone of them had to work over there. The other is subbing.They also get free housing, moving expenses and they fly them home twice a year, family of 4. They also get free tuition for two children (30K per year per student) You have to attend an international school job fair to apply. They got Korea International school. It is very tempting to look into, but I couldn’t work there. My license wouIdn’t translate and I speak no Korean. I guess I’d learn to blog really well!
I would definitely work abroad. The job would have to be satisfying and the country would have to be on my list of countries I wouldn’t mind going to. For example, I wouldn’t want to work in a country that has insufferable humidity during the summer. Anything that brings about a lot of discomfort would probably not fit my simple criteria lol. As for money – that’s not really a huge factor. I like to experience new cultures as I’m sure many people do.
@Veronica @ Pelican on Money Well it definitely sounds like you know what your priorities are. I know some people who have worked in Afghanistan for months – year at a time :0 It’s not a fun place to work.
@DC @ Young Adult Money Yikes, Afghanistan – that doesn’t sound like a place I’d like to go to. Yeeesh.
I’d do it in a heartbeat. However, there is another con you didn’t list: in office politics, you’d be “out of sight.” To me that’s a small price to pay, but to people more ambitious, that could be a drawback.
@William_Drop_Dead_Money Hmmm that’s a good point. I like to not think about how being physically present helps you at work because I would rather wfh full time! haha
My wife’s dad had contract positions that allowed her to live for a few years in South Africa and Korea so I know that she would love to live abroad. We spent a month in Europe a few years ago and I was ready to come back to the States so I am not sure I would be able to do it for a long period of time.
@OneSmartDollar What did you like about Europe and what did you not like?
@DC @ Young Adult Money I loved everything about it. Part of it could have been living out of a suitcase, but I was just ready to get back to more americanized things. I would do it again in a heartbeat.
@OneSmartDollar Yeah living out of a suitcase would get old. I wonder how different it would be to live there for 1 month vs. 1 year.
@DC @ Young Adult Money I think if I had everything of mine it might be a lot different.
I think it would have been awesome at one point in my life.. But that ship has sailed long ago. With a wife and kids, there is just too much going on to make this happen… That said, it would be amazing experience.
That said, If my job did offer to send me overseas for a week or less, I would be all over it..
-jefferson
@seedebtrun I think week-long trips abroad are ideal. My dad went to China for a week and a half (maybe two weeks?) and he had a blast. Flew to the Phillipines as well to speak at a conference. His company is very global (despite being based in good ol’ Minnesota) so those opportunities come up from time to time.
This would be interesting. I’d probably do a short term stint of a year or so but I wouldn’t want to move permanently I don’t think. It’d have to be before I have kids or after they’re out of the house though I think, unless I lived on a military base or something like that.
@Money Life and More I think one reason there are decent pay packages for people willing to work abroad are because everyone has pretty high demands and timing has to be right. I’m with you, it would be 100x easier without kids.
One of the things that should be consider before working abroad is the employee benefits and workers compensation. You cannot fair well if the country does not support employees’ welfare that good.
@CimarronConsult Interesting, did not think about that.
@DC @ Young Adult Money Write about that. And send me a message of the link. How about that?
I’d love to! We had to pass up an opportunity not too long ago, because it was really poor timing career-wise for me. I would have had a year off learning Spanish while my spouse had to work :-)
I am very jealous of my friends who are currently living abroad.. hopefully I can at least go visit some of them.
@Ugifter It sounds like it would be a lot of fun, hopefully the timing is right next time you have the opportunity.
I would miss my family since we’re very close, but I wouldn’t mind a short-term stint. My husband will likely be doing a field assignment in 4-5 years (he’s a mechanical engiNERD) in South Africa and they stretch from 1-2 years. I get to go with him, so it will be an exciting experience!
@BudgetForHealth Sounds awesome! I’m very jealous.
First of all, I’m Dutch so please forgive me for my English.
I went to SA after highschool for one year and it was a wonderful experience and I would def do it again. I highly recommend people to go abroad for a couple of months to a year because it will change you in a good way. Currently searching for a job (will graduate in December) and I would love to live abroad again for a while. Maybe the United States ;) And of course when you do not have kids it is much easier but it will be such a benefit for them as well if you take them with you (when there are proper teaching facilities). A friend of mine his father worked for the Dutch embassy in different countries and he speaks fluently French and English, and you can notice that he is very smart in different ways for his age.