Expats: Where are your favorite places you've lived?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tashkent, baby!

Nothing like eating that shashlik at chigatai bazaar, amirite?

Tell us more. Central Asia fascinates me. I've never been.

Ive lived there 8 years. Uzbekistan is amazing. Kazakhstan is beautiful and modern. Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan not so much.

Visit Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva. There is a great Soviet art museum in Nukus with art saved from Stalin.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tashkent, baby!

Nothing like eating that shashlik at chigatai bazaar, amirite?

Tell us more. Central Asia fascinates me. I've never been.

Ive lived there 8 years. Uzbekistan is amazing. Kazakhstan is beautiful and modern. Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan not so much.

Visit Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva. There is a great Soviet art museum in Nukus with art saved from Stalin.

I've never been to Kyrgyzstan, but I saw pictures of Lake Issyk-Kul, and it's been on my bucket list ever since.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For those who have lived in multiple cities in Europe, where would you recommend for a small family who wanted to do a lot of traveling. We were originally thing Paris would be fun and centrally located, but people don’t seem particularly high on it around here. Vienna maybe? We’d like to take our kids as many places as we can during our two year stint.

Pro tip: Your money will go much farther in eastern Europe (Budapest, Kyiv, etc), with the added benefit of more charm while still having all the amenities and development of the major western capitals, which would be just a short flight away. Another option is to take a look at the route maps of the budget airlines and park yourself near one of the airports (which tend to be in second-tier cities, which you may prefer with a family anyway). Voila, easy cheap travel.

[Anonymous]

Grand Cayman (plus proximity to Little Cayman) and Lombok were our favorites. But we didn’t have to navigate local schools in either place. We liked Glasgow- but the gray sleety days do get old if you aren’t a fan of cold, wet weather. I do miss the Highland cows/ coos.

[Anonymous]

Great topic, following!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For those who have lived in multiple cities in Europe, where would you recommend for a small family who wanted to do a lot of traveling. We were originally thing Paris would be fun and centrally located, but people don’t seem particularly high on it around here. Vienna maybe? We’d like to take our kids as many places as we can during our two year stint.

I would avoid bigger cities. That's just me. After a while, they are all the same and if you think you'll be drawn into a "foreign"culture living in a major city, think again.

I would recommend Lyon. Much more pleasant than Paris, nicer weather, well located to travel Too many places in Europe, also a diverse and dynamic city.

Thank you, that's helpful. We are also looking at Lille for similar reasons, but I like the location of Lyon a little better.

[Anonymous]

I think a lot depends on your stage in life. I don't think you can beat a large city like London, Berlin, or NYC in your 20s. You don't mind living in a shoebox because you are out all the time.

With kids, however, I think there is something to be said for a slightly smaller city like DC or Edinburgh. I think the quality of life is great in places like Munich and Barcelona too. The biggest problem with DC, like NYC and London, is that people tend to be quite work obsessed. It is nice to be somewhere where jobs are only a part of what people do, not all of who they are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For those who have lived in multiple cities in Europe, where would you recommend for a small family who wanted to do a lot of traveling. We were originally thing Paris would be fun and centrally located, but people don’t seem particularly high on it around here. Vienna maybe? We’d like to take our kids as many places as we can during our two year stint.

Pro tip: Your money will go much farther in eastern Europe (Budapest, Kyiv, etc), with the added benefit of more charm while still having all the amenities and development of the major western capitals, which would be just a short flight away. Another option is to take a look at the route maps of the budget airlines and park yourself near one of the airports (which tend to be in second-tier cities, which you may prefer with a family anyway). Voila, easy cheap travel.

I see your point. We will probably be limited to Western cities because of the nature of my husband's work sabbatical, but I will look into it. I think we are going to try to do most of our traveling by train and car rather than fly, so we can visit the smaller, in-between places. But I'm sure we'll do a few trips by plane, so your point about checking budget airline routes is a good one. Thanks!

[Anonymous]

I loved living in Hong Kong (also lived in London, New York, Moscow). Hong Kong wins for us easily.

First, it's hotter here than HK. The record high in HK is 95f. Warm weather is a 9 month kind of thing there so you don't get the seasons, but really really hot days in the swamp of DC are worse than HK.

We really enjoyed living there with young kids. We had a live-in nanny and a great community of friends. With so many big buildings, it's easy to have playdates and dinner meetups with friends. Could walk everywhere and public transit is one of the best in the world. Really a great place to raise kids.

It is, however, crazy expensive. Our 3br, 1,200 sq foot apartment was $15,000 USD a month. Can be a bit of a stretch.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think a lot depends on your stage in life. I don't think you can beat a large city like London, Berlin, or NYC in your 20s. You don't mind living in a shoebox because you are out all the time.

With kids, however, I think there is something to be said for a slightly smaller city like DC or Edinburgh. I think the quality of life is great in places like Munich and Barcelona too. The biggest problem with DC, like NYC and London, is that people tend to be quite work obsessed. It is nice to be somewhere where jobs are only a part of what people do, not all of who they are.

This, good god this. This is what I want so badly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think a lot depends on your stage in life. I don't think you can beat a large city like London, Berlin, or NYC in your 20s. You don't mind living in a shoebox because you are out all the time.

With kids, however, I think there is something to be said for a slightly smaller city like DC or Edinburgh. I think the quality of life is great in places like Munich and Barcelona too. The biggest problem with DC, like NYC and London, is that people tend to be quite work obsessed. It is nice to be somewhere where jobs are only a part of what people do, not all of who they are.

This, good god this. This is what I want so badly.

Pretty easy to find as long as it is nowhere in the US.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think a lot depends on your stage in life. I don't think you can beat a large city like London, Berlin, or NYC in your 20s. You don't mind living in a shoebox because you are out all the time.

With kids, however, I think there is something to be said for a slightly smaller city like DC or Edinburgh. I think the quality of life is great in places like Munich and Barcelona too. The biggest problem with DC, like NYC and London, is that people tend to be quite work obsessed. It is nice to be somewhere where jobs are only a part of what people do, not all of who they are.

This, good god this. This is what I want so badly.

Does there exist a dream world where people are able to be gainfully employed in a fulfilling way but have rich lives outside of work?

[Anonymous]

Lived in several African countries and living in Mombasa was my favorite! The food, culture, architecture and beaches on the coast of Kenya! Wow. So lovely.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm French and my best memories come from living in Scotland. Paris is not that great, honestly.

DC is as far south as I've lived long-term, and goodness, it's way too warm and humid in the summer.

Edinburgh? Not OP, but my family will have a chance to spend a year or two in either Edinburgh or Berlin due to a work rotation I have coming up, and I've been having trouble deciding. We have friends in Berlin and know we like it there, but I'm really intrigued by Scotland and I think it might actually be more of a cultural adventure. Berlin doesn't feel that different than the US cities I've lived in.

Edinburgh hands down! I'm the poster you replied to, and I much prefer that charming town to Berlin. Unless you don't like the cold rain (Scotland is very green for a reason!), or mind having the sun in your eyes at 3pm in winter when you're driving, because you're close to the Arctic circle... but I loved it! Tip: black-out blinds for summer, when the sun rises ridiculously early and sets ridiculously late. Not as bad as Iceland, where the sun doesn't set at all in summer, so can't complain.

52.501408° N
55.95415° N

Each degree of latitude is approximately 69 miles, so your looking at a 238 mile difference-- not that much. On the winter solstice, Edinburgh gets 40 minutes less daylight. It's not a noticeable difference when you live in either location. I'm from Berlin and went to Uni in Edinburgh. Both the grey rain and dark in winter felt the same to me.

Culturally they are world's apart though. Edinburgh is beautiful, most of Berlin was flattened during WW2, but it is a much bigger and more culturally diverse city.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For those who have lived in multiple cities in Europe, where would you recommend for a small family who wanted to do a lot of traveling. We were originally thing Paris would be fun and centrally located, but people don’t seem particularly high on it around here. Vienna maybe? We’d like to take our kids as many places as we can during our two year stint.

I would avoid bigger cities. That's just me. After a while, they are all the same and if you think you'll be drawn into a "foreign"culture living in a major city, think again.

I would recommend Lyon. Much more pleasant than Paris, nicer weather, well located to travel Too many places in Europe, also a diverse and dynamic city.

Thank you, that's helpful. We are also looking at Lille for similar reasons, but I like the location of Lyon a little better.

Np. Lille? Why? No one would choose there. You never see the sun. I lived in SE France for almost a decade. It’s so nice. Drive to Italy, drive to Switzerland, beach and skiing nearby.