wmiks
2 May 2012
USA, Canada / Living in Poland - prospects for Alabama guy ... need some advice! [146]
I've been told that if you can hang on for 6 months - Then you'll be fine.
We too are in a similar situation - My wife is Polish, I grew up here in California (although I speak Polish), and we have a 6-week-old boy. We are planning a move to southern Poland (Nowy Sacz) later this year or early next.
To make it work, I think it all depends on what are coming from and what you are going to. If you have no long-term plans, no savings, and moving into a 100-year-old apartment, then it will be difficult. But if you can make the trip with at least 1-years-worth in savings, find a nice place to live and a have a plan of action once you get there, then it can work and you may even like it.
In our case, we decided that we do not want to live the corporate grind that's here in the bay area. Although the money is good, life revolves around work, living expenses are high, no family nearby, and not much time left for our little one (who would probably have to go to private school here). So we set out to buy some land a few years back (not too big, not too small... about 1.2 acres) and we were lucky to find a beautiful spot in the hills overlooking the city. We are now completing our build of our new home (trying to make it as energy efficient as possible), just paid off our cars, and have some savings left over. After you cut out the big expenses, like a mortgage or car loan, then life is not so expensive there.
In terms of work, I hear ya with the teaching English thing - I could not make that work either. Nor could I ever work for a local company. But the internet has opened may doors... and if you couldn't find a job that you could work remotely for a U.S. company, then you could try your luck at something called affiliate marketing (try to build a few websites or blogs and earn from advertising). I've been doing it for a few years and once you get the hang of it and figure out which type of sites generate traffic, then the income can be really good.
Anyway, best of luck - I hope things work out for you.
I've been told that if you can hang on for 6 months - Then you'll be fine.
We too are in a similar situation - My wife is Polish, I grew up here in California (although I speak Polish), and we have a 6-week-old boy. We are planning a move to southern Poland (Nowy Sacz) later this year or early next.
To make it work, I think it all depends on what are coming from and what you are going to. If you have no long-term plans, no savings, and moving into a 100-year-old apartment, then it will be difficult. But if you can make the trip with at least 1-years-worth in savings, find a nice place to live and a have a plan of action once you get there, then it can work and you may even like it.
In our case, we decided that we do not want to live the corporate grind that's here in the bay area. Although the money is good, life revolves around work, living expenses are high, no family nearby, and not much time left for our little one (who would probably have to go to private school here). So we set out to buy some land a few years back (not too big, not too small... about 1.2 acres) and we were lucky to find a beautiful spot in the hills overlooking the city. We are now completing our build of our new home (trying to make it as energy efficient as possible), just paid off our cars, and have some savings left over. After you cut out the big expenses, like a mortgage or car loan, then life is not so expensive there.
In terms of work, I hear ya with the teaching English thing - I could not make that work either. Nor could I ever work for a local company. But the internet has opened may doors... and if you couldn't find a job that you could work remotely for a U.S. company, then you could try your luck at something called affiliate marketing (try to build a few websites or blogs and earn from advertising). I've been doing it for a few years and once you get the hang of it and figure out which type of sites generate traffic, then the income can be really good.
Anyway, best of luck - I hope things work out for you.