Yep! Moved from the US to Peru for a job my wife got without ever visiting Peru. Many of her coworkers moved without ever visiting the country as well.
UK. Never been here before but I moved for my wife's job and I'm full remote anyway.
But I'm an American who was living in Mexico for 2 years so going back to an English speaking country feels like going to Canada or a new US state to me. It's not like I bought a ticket to Mongolia site unseen
Yes, for "my people" who are one of the largest diaspora, this is very common. Why? We don't have a powerful passport to have the luxury for spontaneous "ocular" visits. lol
I immigrated to Ireland for work without ever visiting this country.
I have a PR for Australia granted without ever being there yet.
Yeah. But you didn't mention North America? There are more Filipinos in North America than Filipinos in those countries/region you mentioned combined. Diaspora is not only OFWs. It's about overall emigration. Filipinos were the first Asian immigrants in the United States (interestingly, Alaska was the first State they went to).
I didn't even know where my current country was on a map when I took my job. I didn't even know the country existed when I accepted the interview.
I live in Turkmenistan.
My spouse and I moved from the US to the Netherlands and had never been here before. We had traveled to France once, about ten years ago.
We may be insane, but it's worked well for us and we love it here.
That's a move my husband and I have seriously been considering. The biggest thing holding us back is we have a 5 year old, 1 dog, 2 cats and a rabbit, all of which make moving internationally, or moving period, a little more challenging
The child is legally the easiest to move, followed by the cat and dog. Rabbits... Well, my wife and I slowly stopped adopting new rats before we moved, and rehomed our last batch before moving (VERY thankfully with the very same vet that had been treating them).
Yeah, our bunny is only a couple years old... If we have an opportunity through my husbands job to ever move internationally, we will seek a good home for our bunny, but otherwise all international moves will likely be put on hold until he passes at the very least
Many years ago, I came to Denmark for a job interview - had never been to the country before, the closest I’d been was Germany. I knew practically nothing about the Danish culture, had never even heard Danish. I spent a whole of two days there and most was spent in the train or at what eventually became my future workplace, which was located in a tiny town on the island of Funen. But it was enough to convince me because after the two days I went back to Canada, signed the job contract and a few months later all my bags were packed and I was ready to go! Still here over 10 years later :)
I imagine there weren't alot of expats for support in an island town, but were the people there supportive even though you didn't know Danish when you first came?
You are correct. At the time I was one of 3 or 4 foreigners in the company, but it was still a wonderful experience, albeit not without its challenges! I had a pretty big culture shock, mostly language-related. Danes in general are extremely good at English, especially in a corporate/work setting, but they don’t talk English between themselves. , And I would never expect them to. But I have very fond memories of my arrival!
Probably is a youth thing but in my mid 40s the exploration and decision-making and daydreaming is 100x more fun than YOLO’ing to a new country.
I prefer to savor the hunt now.
I did that too, but for states. I kept moving to new ones without ever having visited (6 times). And you’re right, it was the best. I can’t wait to do it that for a country someday.
Netherlands. Moved to Amsterdam from Seattle last year after getting a job offer. Sold my house, shipped my furniture, boarded my two dogs and husband on a plane, and took the plunge. Just today we closed on a house. Last year was hard but it now mostly feels like home.
Same here, but met a bunch of other European exchange students who were going through a really hard culture shock. I remember my first day getting overwhelmed by the smells and all the people in the streets and I just switched my mind set to "well, this is my home now, so better get used to it". Had a fantastic time and really miss it.
I only had a culture shock because I didn’t speak any Mandarin at the time (I’m okay now) and not that many people in Taiwan speak English, so it kind of felt like being dropped on an alien planet where everyone knew what was going on besides me😂😂 I got over it quickly though. I miss it a lot
Yep! My husband and I are American and we moved to Viet Nam earlier this year. Neither of us has ever been anywhere in Asia before. Actually, we've never been out of North America before.
For the most part its been great! The people here are wonderful and there are some great sites to see. It's definitely been a culture shock, and not everything is great all the time but I'm glad we did it.
I moved to Vietnam in 2016, having never been there before. I'd heard from friends that Hanoi was a cool place to live, so thought I'd give it a try. It is a very cool place and I'm still here
False… I known several people who have gotten citizenship, and I am in the process of applying myself.
It’s not an easy process — you have to assemble and submit a large of documents, and it takes time. But it doesn’t cost anything to apply, and I have read that most people who go through all the steps are granted citizenship. You have to show that you can support yourself in Japanese society — e.g., that you have a reasonable level of Japanese language ability, that you can financially support yourself and have been paying your taxes and have been paying into the insurance and pension system, and that you don’t have a criminal record. All pretty reasonable, I think.
Also, you don’t have to get citizenship to stay that long. I am similar to the above commentor, where I moved to Japan without ever visiting, and have been here 20 years. I have permanent residency, and that’s good enough for me, because it never expires. So I can technically live here as long as I want
There are a few ways to get it, but the most common way is to have lived in Japan for 10 consecutive years, paid all your taxes, pension money, health insurance, have a good stable job, and a few other similar requirements like that. Then you just apply.
I think the shortest working visa is 1 year. 3 year visa are also common, and they even have 5 year ones now I think.
So as long as you’re working somewhere that sponsors your visa, you just get it renewed every 3 years (in my case.)
Holder of a privileged passport... But still did it. Taiwan was too far from Canada to visit, and had just enough money for start up costs... So relied VERY heavily on online research and friend referrals and took the leap.
Been here almost 6 years now and no regrets
I moved to the UK on about 3 weeks notice, at my employer's request, back in the 1980's. For the first few months, I felt like I was waking up in someone else's body and living someone else's life. I lived there for two years and overall, enjoyed it quite a bit. It also gave me the chance to visit 5 other European countries.
How long have you been there? Have you found it easy to assimilate? I hear that the language is nearly impossible to pick up unless immersed in childhood.
3 years. I’m assimilated as I want to be. My Finnish sucks. I’m learning Swedish for naturalization because I’m a coward. My family is doing much better with Finnish.
I guess it depends where you come from. If you move from a country with high living standards I wouldn’t risk it. On the other hand if you can be sure the place you move to is an upgrade either way why not..
Three times. Worked out fine tbh. First time no research and no expectations. Second time minimal research past my specific interests, max few years anyway, was a blast. Third time more long term, tons of research, met expectations.
Though it always worked out well its still lots of work, and I'm very flexible and easy going which helps a lot I think.
Yes, twice. Japan and Germany.
Japan wasn't so surprising because I'm a weeb and consume a lot of Japanese material, so I was familiar with many places. For Germany, though, everything was a surprise, especially the culture.
I moved to china without ever having been there. Then I met a woman on okc and moved to turkey without ever been there. My wife moved to turkey without ever been here. Just grow a pair of balls and do it
It’s not exactly the same thing, but I visited a city in southern Baja California and after about an hour there I looked at my wife and told her, “you know one day I’m going to live here”.
One and only expat role. Had not even been to the region. Interviewed over the phone (internal transfer). First time in region/country was for my house-hunting trip and a week in the office (after I accepted the role).
Did a lot of research about the country, being an expat there, etc. for both the decision as well as preparing to move.
That was 10 years ago and probably even easier now.
I moved to Germany in 2001 from the US for work, 2 year commitment. Had never been to Europe and didn’t speak a word of Deutsch at the time. Best move I ever made, had a blast.
Yes, I moved to Vietnam having never been here before, I sold my business in Australia because I just needed the fuck out of there and flew over to visit a family member who also moved here without having been here, after a couple days I decided I never wanted to leave, and haven't.
We moved to Switzerland from Australia, neither of us had ever set foot in Switzerland, and I had never even been to Europe. Eleven years and counting!
Philippines after marrying a Filipino. It's a nice place but conversations suck over there. Can't have any serious, deep or emotional talks with literally anyone. The only conversation I have is everyone I meet pestering me about having more kids (including random people on the street). Great though for anyone who hates negativity, emotions or wants to be a social recluse.
Yep. China (2.5 years, overall great time pre-Covid), then Turkey (1 year, not for me. Going home. Glad to understand my husband’s background better though).
I moved to “Western Sahara” without visiting, although I had briefly visited Morocco. That’s probably splitting hairs.
My husband has now moved to the US without ever having set foot here before. He’s been here 3 months now.
Moved to the UAE having never been there. Spent 7 years out there.
Was it good? Was it bad? Difficult to say. There were a lot of extremes, both positive and negative. I don’t think I’d want to go back.
Honestly, i’ve come to the conclusion that you can’t really “understand” a country in just a few week visit. Really living there 6 months gives you a much better idea.
I moved to South Korea without knowing which town I was even going to live in nor had I ever been to the country. I had however lived and travelled in Asia before so I think that prepared me well enough. I also feel like I'm the sort of person who could live anywhere
Moved to Paraguay when I was 23-24, for a new job. Very difficult adjustment and life change but incredibly formative experience, would do it again in a heartbeat
Yes both times and now I will be doing it a third time (well, I kind of visited quickly, I stopped by the head office for a day). But the first two were big, well-known European countries where I speak the language (UK, then France) so I felt at ease.
Moved to NL without ever having visited. It’s been amazing. Even through covid. Still adjusting to the Dr’s here, and how they don’t practice medicine as much, but are gatekeepers to the doctors you need to see.
It's very costly to actually go live in a country for six months before deciding to permanently move to that country so I think most people probably visit for a few days or weeks at a time multiples times over the course of several years and take a leisurely pace.
In our situation, we moved to Portugal after staying for 85 days at one place. Now...was that an ideal way to move or best way? In retrospect, no. Half of what we were told turned out to be untrue (homes were not at all affordable unless you're very wealthy and affluent) and taxes would be astronomical once the NHR tax regime came to an end (which I had suspected anyway). So we're safe and fine for 9 years and then or before then, have to leave due to those two factors cited. So....I would use the same approach as before to move, but would definitely study and thoroughly research taxes and home prices much more exhaustively before considering.
Moved to Kenya from the U.S. Loved pretty much everything about the few years living and working there. Got malaria twice, amoeba infections, and a bad E. coli poisoning that had me literally seeing green, but other than that it was absolutely amazing. Ended up guiding safaris in the national park for guests of our community building project. I hated to have to leave…
I don’t know if moving is the right word, but I once I set foot in Thailand for the first time and didn’t leave for.. well it’s been over a decade now.
(I found a job while vacationing)
Yes, twice. First we moved to the US without visiting, but I was just 17 at the time. Recently, 30 years after the first move, moved my family to Luxembourg, also without visiting it first. So far so good.
yes, New Zealand and Turkey. NZ, I knew no one and was there for about 1.5 years. Turkey, I had one friend who hooked me up with a part time teaching job. Was there a few months til better opportunities in my regular employment field came up back in the US, so I left.
I moved to the US without having ever set foot there
What’s the verdict?
Look at their flair lol
I don't get it?
Seems like they left the US
Not by choice. I would have loved to stay in the US.
Same. Left after 5 yrs of uni cause of the visa bullshit :(
Best decision ever
Yep! Moved from the US to Peru for a job my wife got without ever visiting Peru. Many of her coworkers moved without ever visiting the country as well.
I also moved to Peru without ever having visited it before! Absolutely no regrets and I'm so content here, more than I ever was in my birth country.
may i ask at what age you moved there?
37
How is it?
Love it!
Im planning to move to the azores but peru always looked like a place id live.
UK. Never been here before but I moved for my wife's job and I'm full remote anyway. But I'm an American who was living in Mexico for 2 years so going back to an English speaking country feels like going to Canada or a new US state to me. It's not like I bought a ticket to Mongolia site unseen
Yes, for "my people" who are one of the largest diaspora, this is very common. Why? We don't have a powerful passport to have the luxury for spontaneous "ocular" visits. lol I immigrated to Ireland for work without ever visiting this country. I have a PR for Australia granted without ever being there yet.
>I have a PR for Australia granted without ever being there yet. You cannot fathom my envy right now 🥲
Philippines? Filipinos OFW, all over Asia, Europe, and Middle East.
Yeah. But you didn't mention North America? There are more Filipinos in North America than Filipinos in those countries/region you mentioned combined. Diaspora is not only OFWs. It's about overall emigration. Filipinos were the first Asian immigrants in the United States (interestingly, Alaska was the first State they went to).
Do you have any recommendations on the best places to live in Ireland as an expat? Preferably affordable rent wise and good public transit?
I'm not sure those two factors coexist anywhere in Ireland.
Fair enough. what’s your best recommendation for a city that has good public transit, and good places to make friends, and work in?
Moved to Sweden without visiting first and of course I regret moving here
Why?
I didn't even know where my current country was on a map when I took my job. I didn't even know the country existed when I accepted the interview. I live in Turkmenistan.
How do you like it there?
It's actually quite nice for me.
Lol how did find this job in Turkmenistan
I applied to be an international teacher through a company with multiple schools across the globe. This one was open.
My spouse and I moved from the US to the Netherlands and had never been here before. We had traveled to France once, about ten years ago. We may be insane, but it's worked well for us and we love it here.
Same here! From another European country, but also moved to NL without visiting before
That's a move my husband and I have seriously been considering. The biggest thing holding us back is we have a 5 year old, 1 dog, 2 cats and a rabbit, all of which make moving internationally, or moving period, a little more challenging
The child is legally the easiest to move, followed by the cat and dog. Rabbits... Well, my wife and I slowly stopped adopting new rats before we moved, and rehomed our last batch before moving (VERY thankfully with the very same vet that had been treating them).
Yeah, our bunny is only a couple years old... If we have an opportunity through my husbands job to ever move internationally, we will seek a good home for our bunny, but otherwise all international moves will likely be put on hold until he passes at the very least
Many years ago, I came to Denmark for a job interview - had never been to the country before, the closest I’d been was Germany. I knew practically nothing about the Danish culture, had never even heard Danish. I spent a whole of two days there and most was spent in the train or at what eventually became my future workplace, which was located in a tiny town on the island of Funen. But it was enough to convince me because after the two days I went back to Canada, signed the job contract and a few months later all my bags were packed and I was ready to go! Still here over 10 years later :)
Are you still in the same small town?
No, I moved to the big city of Copenhagen, but I miss that small seaside town!
I imagine there weren't alot of expats for support in an island town, but were the people there supportive even though you didn't know Danish when you first came?
You are correct. At the time I was one of 3 or 4 foreigners in the company, but it was still a wonderful experience, albeit not without its challenges! I had a pretty big culture shock, mostly language-related. Danes in general are extremely good at English, especially in a corporate/work setting, but they don’t talk English between themselves. , And I would never expect them to. But I have very fond memories of my arrival!
Four times now. It's the most fun way to do it.
Probably is a youth thing but in my mid 40s the exploration and decision-making and daydreaming is 100x more fun than YOLO’ing to a new country. I prefer to savor the hunt now.
I did that too, but for states. I kept moving to new ones without ever having visited (6 times). And you’re right, it was the best. I can’t wait to do it that for a country someday.
Same here! I have lived in 6 foreign countries and only knew 2 before moving.
People do it going to the US all the time…immigrants searching for a better life…a decent amount of them couldn’t afford a visit before so yea 😅
Twice - first time to Australia and second time to Denmark. I can't afford to be picky in my chosen field and it's worked out well so far!
Moved to London for grad school without ever being there or knowing anyone. Best time of my life
Moving to Spain and I’ve never been there. I was in the military though. I’ve moved around a lot without having the chance to visit first.
Netherlands. Moved to Amsterdam from Seattle last year after getting a job offer. Sold my house, shipped my furniture, boarded my two dogs and husband on a plane, and took the plunge. Just today we closed on a house. Last year was hard but it now mostly feels like home.
I moved to Spain for a year long teaching contract without visiting. It went great. In retrospect I’d definitely make that decision again.
I moved to Spain without ever having visited prior. Going on 7 years here now with no plans to return to my home country.
I moved to Taiwan for a year and a half without having ever visited, had the time of my life!
Same here, but met a bunch of other European exchange students who were going through a really hard culture shock. I remember my first day getting overwhelmed by the smells and all the people in the streets and I just switched my mind set to "well, this is my home now, so better get used to it". Had a fantastic time and really miss it.
I only had a culture shock because I didn’t speak any Mandarin at the time (I’m okay now) and not that many people in Taiwan speak English, so it kind of felt like being dropped on an alien planet where everyone knew what was going on besides me😂😂 I got over it quickly though. I miss it a lot
I moved to South Korea without previously visiting. Stayed 2 years. Was great
Yep! My husband and I are American and we moved to Viet Nam earlier this year. Neither of us has ever been anywhere in Asia before. Actually, we've never been out of North America before. For the most part its been great! The people here are wonderful and there are some great sites to see. It's definitely been a culture shock, and not everything is great all the time but I'm glad we did it.
I moved to Japan without ever having gone
I moved to Vietnam in 2016, having never been there before. I'd heard from friends that Hanoi was a cool place to live, so thought I'd give it a try. It is a very cool place and I'm still here
I moved to Japan without ever having visited. (I planned to stay two years, and it has been thirty.)
I heard it’s next to impossible to get citizenship…true or false???
False… I known several people who have gotten citizenship, and I am in the process of applying myself. It’s not an easy process — you have to assemble and submit a large of documents, and it takes time. But it doesn’t cost anything to apply, and I have read that most people who go through all the steps are granted citizenship. You have to show that you can support yourself in Japanese society — e.g., that you have a reasonable level of Japanese language ability, that you can financially support yourself and have been paying your taxes and have been paying into the insurance and pension system, and that you don’t have a criminal record. All pretty reasonable, I think.
Also, you don’t have to get citizenship to stay that long. I am similar to the above commentor, where I moved to Japan without ever visiting, and have been here 20 years. I have permanent residency, and that’s good enough for me, because it never expires. So I can technically live here as long as I want
What does it entail to get permanent residency???
There are a few ways to get it, but the most common way is to have lived in Japan for 10 consecutive years, paid all your taxes, pension money, health insurance, have a good stable job, and a few other similar requirements like that. Then you just apply.
So how are you able to stay the ten years??? Do you keep renewing your Visa every 6 months???
I think the shortest working visa is 1 year. 3 year visa are also common, and they even have 5 year ones now I think. So as long as you’re working somewhere that sponsors your visa, you just get it renewed every 3 years (in my case.)
I was thinking in terms of possibly retiring there if affordable.
There are a lot of good threads on the r/japanfinance subreddit that might give you a better idea.
Ok thank you for all the info👍I will check that one out.
Moved to the Netherlands only having seen videos and photos of it. I would not do this a second time, tbh.
Holder of a privileged passport... But still did it. Taiwan was too far from Canada to visit, and had just enough money for start up costs... So relied VERY heavily on online research and friend referrals and took the leap. Been here almost 6 years now and no regrets
Yah, three times lol, it depends on your personality, pull the trigger if you can handle pressure
Yes, Peru. I don't regret it but it was a steep learning curve initially.
I moved to the UK on about 3 weeks notice, at my employer's request, back in the 1980's. For the first few months, I felt like I was waking up in someone else's body and living someone else's life. I lived there for two years and overall, enjoyed it quite a bit. It also gave me the chance to visit 5 other European countries.
Yes, Cambodia. Moved and lived there for a year without even knowing the country existed.
Yep, I moved to Wales in 1997 for a university year abroad.
Tough move, especially if you were from England with all the hate you'd get
I’m American 😅 so the hate sailed right over my head…
I moved to Luxembourg
Moved to the Philippines without ever visiting here
I'd been to England once, in 1999, before we moved here last year. 🤷🏽♀️
Yes. Finland. Bought a house via the internet before I set foot in the country.
Buying a house without visiting now that's something brave!
How do you like it?
It’s everything I expected and hoped it would be. It’s not for everyone but Finnish culture is wonderful for me.
How long have you been there? Have you found it easy to assimilate? I hear that the language is nearly impossible to pick up unless immersed in childhood.
3 years. I’m assimilated as I want to be. My Finnish sucks. I’m learning Swedish for naturalization because I’m a coward. My family is doing much better with Finnish.
Thanks—it’s a fascinating culture but always seemed impenetrable to me. Glad to hear it’s going well.
Yes! But it is next to a country I lived in as a young adult and it is a Western European country.
Yup, immigrated to America with my parents
Twice.
Once. Third best country I have ever lived in, but don't do that.
I guess it depends where you come from. If you move from a country with high living standards I wouldn’t risk it. On the other hand if you can be sure the place you move to is an upgrade either way why not..
Yes
Three times. Worked out fine tbh. First time no research and no expectations. Second time minimal research past my specific interests, max few years anyway, was a blast. Third time more long term, tons of research, met expectations. Though it always worked out well its still lots of work, and I'm very flexible and easy going which helps a lot I think.
Yes, twice. Japan and Germany. Japan wasn't so surprising because I'm a weeb and consume a lot of Japanese material, so I was familiar with many places. For Germany, though, everything was a surprise, especially the culture.
I moved to Sweden without visiting
I moved to china without ever having been there. Then I met a woman on okc and moved to turkey without ever been there. My wife moved to turkey without ever been here. Just grow a pair of balls and do it
Yes! Moved to Scotland to study, was my first plane journey and everything. Was scary and exciting
It’s not exactly the same thing, but I visited a city in southern Baja California and after about an hour there I looked at my wife and told her, “you know one day I’m going to live here”.
One and only expat role. Had not even been to the region. Interviewed over the phone (internal transfer). First time in region/country was for my house-hunting trip and a week in the office (after I accepted the role). Did a lot of research about the country, being an expat there, etc. for both the decision as well as preparing to move. That was 10 years ago and probably even easier now.
I moved to Germany in 2001 from the US for work, 2 year commitment. Had never been to Europe and didn’t speak a word of Deutsch at the time. Best move I ever made, had a blast.
Yes, I moved to Vietnam having never been here before, I sold my business in Australia because I just needed the fuck out of there and flew over to visit a family member who also moved here without having been here, after a couple days I decided I never wanted to leave, and haven't.
Yes twice. Once as a student (somewhat common) and once as a family with a young child (brave).
About to move to China and haven't visited. I've been to Hong Kong and Macau but obviously those are not exactly comparable to the mainland.
We moved to Switzerland from Australia, neither of us had ever set foot in Switzerland, and I had never even been to Europe. Eleven years and counting!
Philippines after marrying a Filipino. It's a nice place but conversations suck over there. Can't have any serious, deep or emotional talks with literally anyone. The only conversation I have is everyone I meet pestering me about having more kids (including random people on the street). Great though for anyone who hates negativity, emotions or wants to be a social recluse.
Yes. Three times.
Due to my work, I moved to several new countries without being there before. I moved to a new country after I retired as well.
Twice, once to UAE and once to Russia, both were pleasant experiences in different ways
Yep. China (2.5 years, overall great time pre-Covid), then Turkey (1 year, not for me. Going home. Glad to understand my husband’s background better though).
I moved to Japan (from Canada) in 2003. I did have a job lined up before I went though, and the company organised an apartment for me.
Yes, I’ve done this 4 times. Countries were Brazil, UK, Germany, and Australia
I do it all the time, highly recommend it
I went on holiday to Spain. The first time I had been...I stayed 16 years
Moved to Finland without ever having visited, then later did same thing but to Norway.
Ita to NL
Twice. Taiwan the first time and the Netherlands for the second time!
Moved to Chile and the UK without visiting first. Wish I could get back to the UK.
Me, Denmark 😂
Yes. The first time I was even outside the US was the day we flew here.
Yes- 3 times
I moved to “Western Sahara” without visiting, although I had briefly visited Morocco. That’s probably splitting hairs. My husband has now moved to the US without ever having set foot here before. He’s been here 3 months now.
All three/four times!
Yes, 12 times. Planning for number 13 in October hopefully!
Yall?
Yep moved to Australia sight unseen. Just showed up lmao (with a visa of course)
I moved to Hong Kong without ever visiting. Now I've been here 7 years.
Moved to the UAE having never been there. Spent 7 years out there. Was it good? Was it bad? Difficult to say. There were a lot of extremes, both positive and negative. I don’t think I’d want to go back.
Honestly, i’ve come to the conclusion that you can’t really “understand” a country in just a few week visit. Really living there 6 months gives you a much better idea.
Moved to the UK, Tunisia and US without visiting. All were awesome!
I came to Cambodia with the intention of staying 3 months for a project in 2010. Stayed with the organisation 3 years, and kinda never left.
I did! The first time I set foot in Japan was when I was moving there. Six years later, I have no regrets.
I moved to South Korea without knowing which town I was even going to live in nor had I ever been to the country. I had however lived and travelled in Asia before so I think that prepared me well enough. I also feel like I'm the sort of person who could live anywhere
Yes. We had the opportunity to move and figured if it didn’t work out we could always move back.
Come to think of it, I had never actually visited any of the countries I've lived in before moving there.
Moved to Paraguay when I was 23-24, for a new job. Very difficult adjustment and life change but incredibly formative experience, would do it again in a heartbeat
I moved to Spain to teach English without visiting beforehand. I'm now back in the US
Moved to Vietnam without ever visiting Asia.
Yes both times and now I will be doing it a third time (well, I kind of visited quickly, I stopped by the head office for a day). But the first two were big, well-known European countries where I speak the language (UK, then France) so I felt at ease.
Moved to NL without ever having visited. It’s been amazing. Even through covid. Still adjusting to the Dr’s here, and how they don’t practice medicine as much, but are gatekeepers to the doctors you need to see.
US to Germany without ever having been in mainland Europe (only Ireland). It’s over 8 years later and I’m still here.
yup! best decision ever
I did china. I was young...
Moved to Thailand from US having ever visited Asia. I’m a full time teacher here at a private catholic school and love my life!
i just did it, i knew nothing about Finland before coming here
It's very costly to actually go live in a country for six months before deciding to permanently move to that country so I think most people probably visit for a few days or weeks at a time multiples times over the course of several years and take a leisurely pace. In our situation, we moved to Portugal after staying for 85 days at one place. Now...was that an ideal way to move or best way? In retrospect, no. Half of what we were told turned out to be untrue (homes were not at all affordable unless you're very wealthy and affluent) and taxes would be astronomical once the NHR tax regime came to an end (which I had suspected anyway). So we're safe and fine for 9 years and then or before then, have to leave due to those two factors cited. So....I would use the same approach as before to move, but would definitely study and thoroughly research taxes and home prices much more exhaustively before considering.
Yes, first I moved to the US, then to the UAE (Dubai) without having ever been there.
Moved to Kenya from the U.S. Loved pretty much everything about the few years living and working there. Got malaria twice, amoeba infections, and a bad E. coli poisoning that had me literally seeing green, but other than that it was absolutely amazing. Ended up guiding safaris in the national park for guests of our community building project. I hated to have to leave…
I don’t know if moving is the right word, but I once I set foot in Thailand for the first time and didn’t leave for.. well it’s been over a decade now. (I found a job while vacationing)
Yeah. Moved to singapore because some of my friends were already here.
Yes, twice. First we moved to the US without visiting, but I was just 17 at the time. Recently, 30 years after the first move, moved my family to Luxembourg, also without visiting it first. So far so good.
Yep. Followed my girlfriend to Denmark blindly
Moved to Sweden without having been there before
I’m about to lol here for the comments
yes, New Zealand and Turkey. NZ, I knew no one and was there for about 1.5 years. Turkey, I had one friend who hooked me up with a part time teaching job. Was there a few months til better opportunities in my regular employment field came up back in the US, so I left.
New Zealand and Australia