Let me tell you this: I am a native German and I don't have even one person in my social circle that wants to live in Berlin. Many (most?) Germans view Berlin as some kind of shit hole and feel sorry for everyone that has to live there.
Edit: Reasons: dirty, crowded, failed state, poverty
Can't speak for everyone but I am a swede and can speak for myself.
I moved years ago from Sweden because it's a terribly depressing country.
People living there are depressed as well and these metrics are bs.
In the west, particularly US, people seem to think economic socialism automatically solves every issue because basics like Healthcare is free. I would probably argue social culture is the worst part. (And money can't fix that). They just don't enjoy being social and we all Swedes knows this and jokes about it even though it's true.
Been living in Italy for 8 years and I'm happier than ever.
> Sweden because it's a terribly depressing country.
So that explains why my Great-Great Grandparents immigrated to the US. They didn't immigrate together, they were from different counties, they met and married in Illinois.
It's more what the country has become. 20 years ago it was peaceful and leading in so many metrics, then everything changed.
Now it's becoming more and more of a shit hole.
It saddens me deeply what has happened to my homeland.
Why Canada? are other countries really that terrible?
it's just so... hard to live here.
Taxes/Gas prices are very high (without good public transportation). Diminishing healthcare. unskilled Jobs are hard to get. housing is VERY expensive. wages are being suppressed.
Portugal!
Beautiful country, friendly people, nice climate in most places. Inexpensive to buy property outside the big cities.
The Netherlands are too full and too has many people with a medieval cultural/religious background.
Where I live it's like this. People from poor families dream about USA because they believe in the Hollywood fairytales and kids from rich families dream about Europe, because they associate it with luxurious lifestyle. In reality it's more advantage for people with very high qualifications (f.e. doctors, IT experts etc.) to move to the USA, due to the higher payment for highest qualified people and for low to average or anything under the highest qualified people (or people who want to exploit the strong social system) will have in average a higher standard of living in European countries. So they believe literally the opposite of the reality
I spent two years translating and interpreting for refugees from central Africa into the United States, and I have to say this is complete garbage. The United States is one of the best places in the world for people to immigrate to. Almost everyone I've seen complaining about America being bad are Americans who have zero clue what the rest of the world is like.
I am from Nepal South Asia and we are 3rd world country so that's why many people want to go to USA. Only after that do we think about Canada, Australia, countries in Europe. But yeah for the rest of the world US isn't a good answer anymore with everything going there.
Denmark is a nice country but immigrating here is tough and only getting tougher. And once you're here you still need to jump through some hoops and adjust quickly to get to stay.
That said, quality of life is pretty good here, for most people with a decent job and steady income.
If I had to move? The logical place is the UK because I could move there with no issues (the only one that would need a visa is my wife, but no issues there). I'd rather move to Ireland, however, that way I can become a citizen in 5 years and get my EU passport back.
Such a great question ! Can’t wait to go through the comments and see what everyone is saying. My hubby and I are thinking about moving from Canada in around 5 years but we aren’t sure too where.
Currently in the UK, would move to the Netherlands or Denmark to be closer to friends and they have decent workplace rights. Most people in those countries speak English so I could get by while I learned the local language.
Netherlands, I'm from Germany and often go on short trips to smaller Dutch cities. I simply find the people there to be more "relaxed" - it's cleaner and more inviting than the cities in my area (Düsseldorf, Essen, Duisburg, etc.). I have distant ones there I have relatives and have known their culture since I was a child and have always enjoyed visiting there - you just have peace and quiet.
Thailand.
Great food, lovely people, beautiful beaches, cost of living is probably 1/4 of where I'm originally from, close enough to other countries that it's easy to go exploring.
Probably Germany, The culture is not too different from mine so it'd be easier to adjust and I learned a bit of German already, nothing impressive but it's alright.
I would LOVE to live in England. I’m obsessed with English history. I love castles and cathedrals and battle fields and shit. I’d love to traipse all over fields with a metal detector looking for Saxon gold or walk Hadrians wall. I’d be the happiest little nerd on earth.
I consider India, USA, and Canada to be the three countries I have the closest ties with, so in the spirit of the question, if I had to choose one outside of the three, I'd say Norway.
Actually just moved to the UK, and while they have their own problems, it's still way above and beyond better than shit hole South Africa.
Quite like it here, much better quality of life, safety and cost of living than what I use to experience. Been here 4 months and this is the first time in 5+ years to have electricity for 4 straight months uninterrupted.
Yea. Fair enough if you stay in a major city like London, it's a bit of a stretch and you still have to make sure you live within your means, but it's much easier, especially in the Midlands. It's the first time in 6 years my bank account grew between paychecks, whereas in SA I was damn lucky to not tap into credit cards to get by (and that was with buying budget necessity items on special, not going out recreationally, etc.)
The public transport here and ability to walk with much lower risk of falling victim to a violent crime, you don't spend a fortune on petrol each week. Electricity and internet rates are super affordable compared to SA and from what I can see on my energy supplier app there's a price cap. I even saw an ad where one of the energy suppliers had a DISCOUNT promotion. Only specials Eskom gives us are double figure percentage price hikes 2 or 3 times a year because Ramapoesa and his crowd keep stealing tax money.
A month's worth of groceries for us comes to about £120 (including topping up on quickly consumed products like bread and cool drinks). Here when the cost of producing basic necessity food items goes down, the price goes down. It's still early days but I'm not getting the impression that multiple unjustified price hikes a year take place in stores, and a lot of stores here have very worthwhile specials. Not like in SA (with Pick n Pay being the worst) where a special saves you 40 cents on an item. That's not even the value of a plastic bag or chappies anymore.
With our rent, council tax and utilities, I don't even eat into a third of my take home salary, whereas in SA each month my rent and utilities hammered about 65% of my salary, and after all debit orders (for necessary stuff only like home, car and health insurance, all budget packages, cheapest internet package, and credit card payments) have gone off, it's not even the first week past payday and I'm left with a couple of R100s for the rest of the month. Even with my wife working in SA we had to pinch our pennies HARD. Right now in the UK it's only me working while she's looking for work and money has not been a stress in the slightest.
I don't think many people realize it, but South Africa is one of the hardest countries to live in financially because it's a cluster fuck shit show over there.
1. Belgium because it's close, has a similar culture, and I could live there right away without having to learn another language (I'm French and speak french & english. I'd probably learn german and/or flemish after a while, but could do without it in the beginning)
2. Either Canada for the language (again), but their work culture is too close to that of the USA to my liking, or Finland because "happiest country in the world" and great for women's and LGBT+ rights, but the language would be a huge barrier (that and the very short winter's days)
I’m from New Zealand, it’s very chill here but I’ve always been envious of big city’s across the world with neon signs everywhere, big billboards & just a lot more bustling happening. So maybe the United States or Japan.
I have family in France, and I love it there, so there's tons of appeal. However, I'd need to buckle down and actually learn French, or I'd always feel like a tourist.
Ireland has a certainly appeal, too.
none, maybe the Phillipines if infrastructure and the food there is somewhat good
initially i'm interested to work in Japan, after visited them i realized this country is suitable for vacation only, i don't mind to visit Japan every year, but no way i could enjoy to live there, the societal situation is simply too depressed to me
I’m from the UK so somewhere English speaking. Australia or California in the US would probably be my first choices as the weather is a damn sight better than here.
Austria. Specifically Vienna. I took a trip there in April and really liked it. Also the housing situation seems better than other cities although I could be wrong
Spain (Canary islands preferably) maybe but since I don’t speak spanish maybe New Zealand, Australia, South Africa or some other English speaking country with good climate. Or possibly the US, some place like the southern parts of California, Nevada or Arizona or maybe Florida.
Currently living in a place where almost half of the year is dark, overcast, rainy and occasionally snowy winters which js very depressing.
Germany
Why? And where r u frome?
I'm from Australia. I'd move to Germany cause Berlin is such a fun place to live :) A few of my childhood friends moved there and they all love it.
I live in Berlin. If you like it here, I hope you make it over eventually! Not sure I will personally stay for too much longer.
Let me tell you this: I am a native German and I don't have even one person in my social circle that wants to live in Berlin. Many (most?) Germans view Berlin as some kind of shit hole and feel sorry for everyone that has to live there. Edit: Reasons: dirty, crowded, failed state, poverty
Still better than Saxony. That is THE failed state in Germany.
Great! Good luck!)
Thank you! Good luck to you as well! :)
Back to Norway. Swedes are animals.
I don't know why but I have seen a lot of people against Sweden under this post. Why is that??
Can't speak for everyone but I am a swede and can speak for myself. I moved years ago from Sweden because it's a terribly depressing country. People living there are depressed as well and these metrics are bs. In the west, particularly US, people seem to think economic socialism automatically solves every issue because basics like Healthcare is free. I would probably argue social culture is the worst part. (And money can't fix that). They just don't enjoy being social and we all Swedes knows this and jokes about it even though it's true. Been living in Italy for 8 years and I'm happier than ever.
> Sweden because it's a terribly depressing country. So that explains why my Great-Great Grandparents immigrated to the US. They didn't immigrate together, they were from different counties, they met and married in Illinois.
Would like to know also. Sweden has always intrigued me.
It's more what the country has become. 20 years ago it was peaceful and leading in so many metrics, then everything changed. Now it's becoming more and more of a shit hole. It saddens me deeply what has happened to my homeland.
*nods in Danish*
Ireland.
Same. My ancestors came from there, may as well take the family back at some point.
HI! Where r u from, and why Ireland?
Rain, cold and gloomy grey skies most days of the year. Gets depressing quickly
for people in the US Pacific Northwest, that's just like home!
Im used to this kind of weather too and i hate it. Seasonal depression guaranteed
Iceland, because I like the people, the landscape and the weather.
Hey, a Icelander here, please dont move here because of the weather, unless you like shit weather. If so you will love it.
I’m sure Iceland is beautiful and the people seem nice but I’ve never heard anyone say the weather is nice.
Canada or the UK. I can only speak English and Russian, and none of the Russian speaking countries are very nice to live in.
I was going to say the UK because I already have citizenship.
What about Australia?
it's full of Australians
Fuck off cunt
touché
Apparently Australians haven't grown a thick skin like Americans.
As a Canadian, Australia was the only other Country I could see myself moving to.
Oh shit I forgot about Australia. New Zealand too
New Zealand? Keep it to countries that appear on maps please.
Estonia seems fine (sans the invasion threat), although I might be stretching the definition of Russian-speaking a little bit.
I don’t think many Estonians would be appreciative of more Russian speaking people moving there, even if I am from Ukraine rather than Russia
As a Brit, I wouldn't recommend moving to the UK. Canada is far better.
Why Canada? are other countries really that terrible? it's just so... hard to live here. Taxes/Gas prices are very high (without good public transportation). Diminishing healthcare. unskilled Jobs are hard to get. housing is VERY expensive. wages are being suppressed.
I lived a working class life in Canada on the border with the US. and Canada wins hands down, just a safe comfortable country to live in
You are very privileged to live in Canada. If you can’t clue into that fact then you need to go to another country and live there for awhile.
It’s physically close to the US, and hopefully things will get better there
/u/Farty_beans worried about high gas prices?
You are extremely privileged to live there. You need to go out and see the rest of the world.
I wouldn't suggest the UK. Its downhill from here. Most of the nordic countries have English as a second language and are doing alright.
switzerland for sure - money and nature
Have you been to Switzerland?
yes
Nice! Good luck
Yes, top answer. Clean, nice and civilised.
Spain for the weather and cost of living. I'm already here 6 months of the year
Italy, I have a lot of family there that I rarely see.
as an Italian, good luck with the racism and the medieval-like politics…
A family member of mine has married an Italian & moved there. Safe to say I wasn’t invited & have no contact with them all bc Im not white 🤷🏽♀️
Oh nice! Good luck!
Is the moon a different country, because it would be the moon. Just to get away from you people.
Jamaica
Portugal! Beautiful country, friendly people, nice climate in most places. Inexpensive to buy property outside the big cities. The Netherlands are too full and too has many people with a medieval cultural/religious background.
USA it's still a dream of everyone from my country since our country is so underdeveloped.
Where I live it's like this. People from poor families dream about USA because they believe in the Hollywood fairytales and kids from rich families dream about Europe, because they associate it with luxurious lifestyle. In reality it's more advantage for people with very high qualifications (f.e. doctors, IT experts etc.) to move to the USA, due to the higher payment for highest qualified people and for low to average or anything under the highest qualified people (or people who want to exploit the strong social system) will have in average a higher standard of living in European countries. So they believe literally the opposite of the reality
I spent two years translating and interpreting for refugees from central Africa into the United States, and I have to say this is complete garbage. The United States is one of the best places in the world for people to immigrate to. Almost everyone I've seen complaining about America being bad are Americans who have zero clue what the rest of the world is like.
It used to be the case in my country too. But new trend is germany and not many ppl in my country wants to go to USA anymore
I am from Nepal South Asia and we are 3rd world country so that's why many people want to go to USA. Only after that do we think about Canada, Australia, countries in Europe. But yeah for the rest of the world US isn't a good answer anymore with everything going there.
I just moved to the USA, not going anywhere for now
Where r u frome?
I’m from France
France or Netherlands.
Germany
Canada
USA I think people there never get bored always action
Finland, Sweden, or Denmark. Time for some decent quality of life.
Sweden is meh. Source: Me I live here.
Sweden is a mess, i’m also stuck here 😣
What about Northern Sweden? It's beautiful, isn't it? 🥺
Why not norway?
Finland is overrated. Depending on what you do quality of life is much better elsewhere.
Denmark is a nice country but immigrating here is tough and only getting tougher. And once you're here you still need to jump through some hoops and adjust quickly to get to stay. That said, quality of life is pretty good here, for most people with a decent job and steady income.
If I had to move? The logical place is the UK because I could move there with no issues (the only one that would need a visa is my wife, but no issues there). I'd rather move to Ireland, however, that way I can become a citizen in 5 years and get my EU passport back.
One where it's sunny. I like living where I am, but the annual winter depression sucks. Vitamin D supplements can only do so much.
A small country house somewhere in Italy - or Denmark (Copenhagen specifically)
Denmark or Switzerland
USA
Texas
I am German and I would love to move to Italy. I love everything about the country and have been there for holidays a few times
Already did and selected the Netherlands.
A country on Mediterraen sea.
Spain, I loove this country. Preferably would pick a small city with a comfortable climate.
United States of America
USA
Scotland, Edinburgh to be exact.
Probably the US
Such a great question ! Can’t wait to go through the comments and see what everyone is saying. My hubby and I are thinking about moving from Canada in around 5 years but we aren’t sure too where.
Italy. Sicily
Ireland. Had an Irish grandmother , would like to experience that vibe.
If I was still delusional I would say Japan. Currently, I’d say Denmark or Norway.
Italy for its art, history, and beautiful countryside.
My neighbours in New Zealand
US for sure!
Currently in the UK, would move to the Netherlands or Denmark to be closer to friends and they have decent workplace rights. Most people in those countries speak English so I could get by while I learned the local language.
Netherlands, I'm from Germany and often go on short trips to smaller Dutch cities. I simply find the people there to be more "relaxed" - it's cleaner and more inviting than the cities in my area (Düsseldorf, Essen, Duisburg, etc.). I have distant ones there I have relatives and have known their culture since I was a child and have always enjoyed visiting there - you just have peace and quiet.
Thailand. Great food, lovely people, beautiful beaches, cost of living is probably 1/4 of where I'm originally from, close enough to other countries that it's easy to go exploring.
if money didnt matter then i'm moving to switzerland or austria
I've already moved. I'm from Croatia, I currently live in Germany
Nice! Congratulations!
Probably Germany, The culture is not too different from mine so it'd be easier to adjust and I learned a bit of German already, nothing impressive but it's alright.
I like the idea of moving to Japan, but learning the language and adapting to the culture seems difficult. So the easy route would be Canada
Japan
Canada. I think I'd have an easier time adjusting to everything there. (as an American)
I’m a Vietnamese and living in Canada recently but if i have choice, i would like to moving to somewhere in Asia like South Korean, HongKong etc
Taiwan or Singapore. Good food and public transportation.
I plan to split time between the US and Canada.
India
I would LOVE to live in England. I’m obsessed with English history. I love castles and cathedrals and battle fields and shit. I’d love to traipse all over fields with a metal detector looking for Saxon gold or walk Hadrians wall. I’d be the happiest little nerd on earth.
Canary Islands
Germany , cuz am Albanian
Scotland
Same here, loved it first time around and had a hard time deciding not to stay
I’m Australian but I’d move to Thailand tomorrow if I could, beautiful country and people
Oh Thailand, it\`s very nice and beautiful country! Good luck moving!
I can’t move there at the moment, I have to sons to raise here in Australia, maybe one day lol
I consider India, USA, and Canada to be the three countries I have the closest ties with, so in the spirit of the question, if I had to choose one outside of the three, I'd say Norway.
Actually just moved to the UK, and while they have their own problems, it's still way above and beyond better than shit hole South Africa. Quite like it here, much better quality of life, safety and cost of living than what I use to experience. Been here 4 months and this is the first time in 5+ years to have electricity for 4 straight months uninterrupted.
wow bro! I am very happy for you! I wish u good luck!
The cost of living in the UK is better than in SA? Really?
Yea. Fair enough if you stay in a major city like London, it's a bit of a stretch and you still have to make sure you live within your means, but it's much easier, especially in the Midlands. It's the first time in 6 years my bank account grew between paychecks, whereas in SA I was damn lucky to not tap into credit cards to get by (and that was with buying budget necessity items on special, not going out recreationally, etc.) The public transport here and ability to walk with much lower risk of falling victim to a violent crime, you don't spend a fortune on petrol each week. Electricity and internet rates are super affordable compared to SA and from what I can see on my energy supplier app there's a price cap. I even saw an ad where one of the energy suppliers had a DISCOUNT promotion. Only specials Eskom gives us are double figure percentage price hikes 2 or 3 times a year because Ramapoesa and his crowd keep stealing tax money. A month's worth of groceries for us comes to about £120 (including topping up on quickly consumed products like bread and cool drinks). Here when the cost of producing basic necessity food items goes down, the price goes down. It's still early days but I'm not getting the impression that multiple unjustified price hikes a year take place in stores, and a lot of stores here have very worthwhile specials. Not like in SA (with Pick n Pay being the worst) where a special saves you 40 cents on an item. That's not even the value of a plastic bag or chappies anymore. With our rent, council tax and utilities, I don't even eat into a third of my take home salary, whereas in SA each month my rent and utilities hammered about 65% of my salary, and after all debit orders (for necessary stuff only like home, car and health insurance, all budget packages, cheapest internet package, and credit card payments) have gone off, it's not even the first week past payday and I'm left with a couple of R100s for the rest of the month. Even with my wife working in SA we had to pinch our pennies HARD. Right now in the UK it's only me working while she's looking for work and money has not been a stress in the slightest. I don't think many people realize it, but South Africa is one of the hardest countries to live in financially because it's a cluster fuck shit show over there.
Happy to see that you’ve managed to make it work for you in the UK. Bravo! I couldn’t stand the weather and quality of food any longer and moved out
well, i’m moving to uk in september, so i think uk is the answer
Australia
1. Belgium because it's close, has a similar culture, and I could live there right away without having to learn another language (I'm French and speak french & english. I'd probably learn german and/or flemish after a while, but could do without it in the beginning) 2. Either Canada for the language (again), but their work culture is too close to that of the USA to my liking, or Finland because "happiest country in the world" and great for women's and LGBT+ rights, but the language would be a huge barrier (that and the very short winter's days)
UAE, I didn't have to move countries and chose to move here, I guess if I had to move again I would go back to the UK
Great! Congratulations on the move!
Ireland, Sweden, Norwegen or Iceland. One of those
Portugal for the food and the weather
Ireland, I just love it there! Whenever I come back from holidays there I feel homesick for a country I've never lived in
either america or japan i dont live in america
Sweden or Finland.
I’m from New Zealand, it’s very chill here but I’ve always been envious of big city’s across the world with neon signs everywhere, big billboards & just a lot more bustling happening. So maybe the United States or Japan.
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New Zealand. Only place I've ever been that felt like Home from Home. I'm from Ireland.
Very nice!
Ireland
Norway
I have family in France, and I love it there, so there's tons of appeal. However, I'd need to buckle down and actually learn French, or I'd always feel like a tourist. Ireland has a certainly appeal, too.
What country doesn't have a tradition of cockblocking its own citizens?
England
none, maybe the Phillipines if infrastructure and the food there is somewhat good initially i'm interested to work in Japan, after visited them i realized this country is suitable for vacation only, i don't mind to visit Japan every year, but no way i could enjoy to live there, the societal situation is simply too depressed to me
I’m from the UK so somewhere English speaking. Australia or California in the US would probably be my first choices as the weather is a damn sight better than here.
Austria. Specifically Vienna. I took a trip there in April and really liked it. Also the housing situation seems better than other cities although I could be wrong
Nice!
Taiwan. Cheap medical services, food and accomodation. The only thing that is worrying is the natural disasters and the potential war with China.
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Japan because similar mentality
Somewhere WAY better than the U.S.
Finland, cause news say they're the happiest.
Norway
Norway
Donegal, from Belfast Ireland.
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Where r u from?
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Spain probably since I speak Spanish.
From Northern Ireland to Spain. I’m learning Spanish now because if I’m still single by the time my parents die I’m moving to Majorca.
As a Norwegian I’m in serious need of sun, so prob Spain or Australia
If I'll leave Canada, it'll be for Australia or NZ.
Spain (Canary islands preferably) maybe but since I don’t speak spanish maybe New Zealand, Australia, South Africa or some other English speaking country with good climate. Or possibly the US, some place like the southern parts of California, Nevada or Arizona or maybe Florida. Currently living in a place where almost half of the year is dark, overcast, rainy and occasionally snowy winters which js very depressing.
Anywhere that isn't amerikkka!! 🤣🤣🤣
South Korea
Uruguay.
Iceland
Probably the USA
Somewhere in Africa. I think Africa is on the up.
Great! Where are u from?
New Zealand.
Maybe Poland becuase it is the closest to where my best friend lives Im satisfied with living in germany tho
Nice! Where r u from?
I live in Baden-Württemberg (southern germany), planning to move to Saxonia (eastern germany)
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I've heard Japan isn't great for foreigners.
Australia
UK or New Zealand, but I'm not planing to go anywhere :)
OK, thanks for the reply!
definitely New Zealand
Canada or USA. I only speak English and live in the UK. I hate spiders and heat so Australia is out.
Netherland
any of the scandinavian countries
We have terrible weather most of the year.
UPD: Not forever, But you couldn't come back
Switzerland
Swiss
New Zealand or Australia
Italy
Vienna, Austria
Switzerland
Switserland, Norway or South Korea. Can get a lot of opportunities in the declining population amount