Hi, me and my partner are wanting to move away from England - we have a 5 year plan to achieve this but I'm sceptical about whether or not moving abroad will actually give us a better quality of life, but we are totally worn down with the life in England.

I want to be able to have a basic understanding of the local language before I move - I'm in marketing for a bank here and my other half is a builder/bricklayer etc... My other half is driving the move - I'm open to moving away but think that everywhere will have its shortfalls but am willing to give it a go. One of my worries is the legalities of buying a house/getting a mortgage (we intend to keep a property in England in case things don't work out) and my pension (he doesn't have one but mine is a good one). I think it will be far easier for my other half to find work with his profession than for me but I really don't care what I do.... anything has to be better than UK banking!!

We are thinking of spain or portugal. I'd be grateful for any advice on moving to these locations and any pitfalls we need to consider. We've got 2 years to get our finances in order and then 3 years to learn the language of the country we relocate to and get everything in order ahead of our move.

I feel such a novice writing this but would really appreciate some real-life advice from expats living in spain and portugal.

Thanks, wendy.

Hi Wendy

Well, the building trade in Spain is on a downturn at the moment ..... You're right in taking time to research it properly though, especially learning the language.

Hi Wendy and welcome to the forum.

I learnt Spanish on and off for years in London, but until we got to Argentina, I realised that I didn't know anything. For me, living in the country is the only way I can learn a language.

Good luck with your plans.

Michelle

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A wonderful place to live

I agree with Michelle on the language thing. You should study as much as you can beforehand, because having that basic grammar and vocabulary will help, but you really know nothing until you are forced to speak all the time.

I think deciding where you want to go so far in advance can present you with some problems. Research is one thing, too narrow a focus another.

Four years ago I decided I wanted to retire in Panama City. I came back this year for a visit, with the idea that I'd check things out and then move next year. Housing prices have tripled. Students are paying more for a room in a share apartment than I wanted to pay in rent.

Things can change even more dramatically if you are need to work in your destination country. What would be good now might not be good later. For instance, since there is a shortage of people in the trades in Australia now, it would be a good time to go there. Who knows if there will be a shortage in five years?

Try and stay flexible, and don't drag it out too long.

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Hi Wendy and welcome to the Forum. First thing will be language simply to communicate and be able to sort everything out. Spanish and Portuguese may look similar when written down but the spoken words are very different. On the housing front, the best plan is to look to rent for the first years, plenty of apartments and houses to choose from but I would budget 1000 euros a month to give you some choice. As for jobs, that will be a struggle. Here in Spain, good builders are in much demand but we have an influx of good Polish guys working for many of the better builders. Nowhere is perfect and many of the things you may not like in the UK may also be part of where you move to. That said, I find the UK overcrowded and prefer to live here in Spain at least for the time being.

Hi Wendy R,

I live in central Portugal and think its a good idea to do as much research as possible. Central Portugal is not like the Algarve so job opportunities here are few and as English isn't as widely spoken as on the Algarve too, having some knowledge of the Portuguese language is quite important. I would suggest you visit the country as much as you can, and different parts too as there is such a contrast between regions. Maybe you want to be on the coast, maybe the countryside, maybe the mountains.

There is plenty to choose from here and there is something for everyone.

Good Luck,

JayC

Hi Wendy,
My partner and I moved to Almeria, Spain 2 years ago and for us it was a mistake, we are currently putting our house on the market but at the moment we don't really expect to sell it, I am very homesick and miss my family. please remember the old saying the grass is not always greener although the sunshine and scenery and beachwalks with my rescue dogs is something that i will miss. You will need to learn the language which is a bit daunting. Good Luck!!