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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]What do you most miss about the U.S.? 
Do you attempt to fully integrate into the host culture or seek out familiar amenities? 
Would you be an expat if it weren't required by the job? 
If so, and you could live anywhere, where would you live?

My husband and I have a semi-real plan to expatriate to Spain (opening our own business there) in the next 7-10 years - obviously your circumstances are quite different, but any advice?[/quote]

Miss the most about the US? The sense of living somewhere that is truly home. Our life, no matter how nice it is, is still rootless. We don't live in property we own, we will not be here for the long run, our friends are largely transitional. We are not putting down stakes in a community for the long run.

Do we attempt to integrate into the host culture? The closest we did this was in the UK where we had several great British friends from before our expat days and included us in their social circles. Very kind of them and we have wonderful friends who remain close to us from our UK days. In HK and Dubai we are strictly expats with no local friends nor have we attempted to meet locals (almost impossible in Dubai). Our friends are all other expats who come from all over the world. In all three places we lived comfortable lives to high western standards.

I don't regret becoming an expat. It was not the life I expected and I'm still surprised we're still expats after more than a decade but life has treated us well. At the same time if we had never become expats I wouldn't be dreaming of becoming an expat.

If we could live anywhere in the world it would probably be somewhere like Munich or Vienna or Zurich or Geneva. Highest quality of life and best range of amenities in an urban but manageable setting. In reality we will come back to the US someday and it's open as to where we end up. DH and I have vaguely discussed what we should do if we end up permanent expats for his working career, and where we should retire to. Probably split our time between Cape Cod and Florida, or settle in San Diego or Santa Barbara. It's all about the weather. But where our children end up will certainly have a factor.

Starting your own business as an expat is a very different expatdom than the world I've lived in, although I've known other successful expat business owners. I really can't offer advice beyond the usual, which is to know your market, have a business plan, and be aware of the business environment in Spain and what it requires to start a business. You need to pay careful attention to the visa requirements and what it allows you to (are you thinking of working remotely as a consultant while just living in Spain, or offering services to clients in Spain? Those are different scenarios with different implications).  [/quote]

Spain is a really, really difficult place economically as you probably already know...[/quote]

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