Alright now that I shared my awesome new job, I can finally share with you how moving abroad is going.

[vickyjo@mastodon.social]

@Gina Aside from the house prices, Switzerland (I was in Lausanne) ticks those boxes.
Across the lake is still lovely (Evian), but you mentioned France was out.

[Gæst]

@Gina not sure that emigrants are the best people to ask...

I left Germany in 1998, I would never go back for a variety of reasons, but I would also say: I have reasons, but they may not apply to you, so better not ask me.

[elricofmelnibone@mastodon.social]

@Gina If it weren't for Brexit, I would seriously consider moving back to Wales. Doesn't quite tick all the boxes, but a majority of them.

[egonw@mastodon.social]

@Gina @_elena @marcel maybe the NL can give you a huge tax break if you stay in rainy NL?

[travisfw@fosstodon.org]

@yngmar @Gina I am crashing Gina's search because I am searching too, with apparently most of the same priorities.
Italy is a whole country. There has to be a nice town with hackers in it.
I have also considered Galicia.

[gina@fosstodon.org]

@travisfw @yngmar yay "gedeelde smart is halve smart" (shared pain is half the pain) as we say in Dutch 🫶

[vincenttunru@fosstodon.org]

@Gina Possibly the only way to get a sub-€500k house with a garden.

[oilyfish@mastodon.sdf.org]

@Gina Currently visiting Oviedo in Asturias (from Porto, PT where I live). It seems to check a lot of the boxes you listed. (I think the airport might be a problem though https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asturias_Airport ) Asturias is beautiful with mountains, beaches, unique and wonderful cider and great food. We come here from Porto once or twice a year.

[gina@fosstodon.org]

@egonw @_elena @marcel lol even I'd live completely rent and tax free I wouldn't stay in the Netherlands

[vickyjo@mastodon.social]

@Gina Portugal has a big tech center, but Lisbon prices (central) are London/Brighton/Amsterdam alike, but perhaps more manageable further out of the city.

[tarnport@mastodon.green]

@Gina @Nono as I said in a private message earlier (I repeat it here for others who may be following the thread) please don't write France off too fast if it's only because of the taxes. You get what you pay for: Having lived in a few of the countries under discussion, France was the fairest, cheapest, highest quality of life, easiest and most organized. Of course it seems to be on fire these days, but so are many of the rest at the moment.

[gina@fosstodon.org]

@oilyfish I'm considering visiting Northern Spain in September to check it out. But I'm leaving NL because I can't deal with the constant grey skies and rain, so I'm not sure if it'll be a good match.

[gina@fosstodon.org]

@Tarnport @Nono yeah everywhere seems to be on fire atm I hope it's just because of El Niño and this isn't a permanent summer thing.

[travisfw@fosstodon.org]

@Gina hopefully not to nitpick, but it seems to me that if one could expect the Italian expats to be united on one issue, they clearly all made that same decision. If the opportunity presents, might it be worth asking some of their family back home why they should have stayed?

[oilyfish@mastodon.sdf.org]

@Gina My limited experience in Asturias is that it is nothing like as overcast as NL - even Galicia is better than NL. Another thing you might want to consider is the taxes in the different autonomous regions. It's my understanding that Galicia's might be quite high - don't know about either Asturias or Castille & Leon.

[chergert@my.devsuite.app]

@Gina We have very similar wants, but thanks to US<->France tax treaty it's an option for us. What you're describing sounds a lot like Montpellier.

Lots of expats, University with tech, near the beach but not on it, lots of green space. Mountains not far. International airport. Well connected train system.

[gina@fosstodon.org]

@travisfw fair, it might be confirmation bias.

[teacher_rick@mastodon.nl]

@Gina I see Liguria mentioned already. I’ve had project partners in San Remo and I’ve been there a few times - it is HOT during summer (my kids liked it though).

[wronglang@bayes.club]

@Gina @Tarnport @Nono it's permanent, sorry

[lcwander@toot.community]

@Gina @travisfw @yngmar to be honest moving from Italy to the Netherlands, I found Dutch bureaucracy way more random and confusing, particularly the fixation with strict processes that do not allow edge cases.

As to moving to Italy, I would recommend Turin/Piedmont, Bologna/Emilia or Palermo as good compromises. Avoid Milan if you want a house with a garden