Moving Abroad

[P.D.]

Galicia, which is in the North

A lush, green autonomous community in northwest Spain according to Google, sounds lovely. Pictures look beautiful. What made you choose there, did you want to stay out of the mainstream areas?

 

[SpurMeUp]

Great thread.
Approaching 60 now and it's always been our plan to move to somewhere with a better lifestyle and climate.

And then the climate came to you!

But we aren't setup for hot weather here.

It does beg the question, if Spain is too hot now in the summer, where is a good location? Maybe northern Spain etc.

We've planned for this financially for over 30 years and now it's getting closer it's exciting and terrifying in equal measures.
Leaving Glasgow on Friday morning to drive to Spain for two weeks for some R&R but also scope out some areas and villas.
Will post on the thread how we get on.

 

[SpurMeUp]

What about a sailing boat? Take your living room and bedroom with you and be fully footloose to travel. Could work from a boat too with Starlink. And of course watch the football.

I am attracted to Italy, the people and the history. A villa with an olive grove. But I ended up thinking a place just outside London made the most sense. The climate is getting hotter, and being able to drive for an hour rather than spend a day travelling with Easy jet and the indignity of being marched through the cattle pens, as well as not pumping out more C02, means I think that will be what I do. France and Italy appeal though if I was moving for good.

 

[spanishspurs]

A lush, green autonomous community in northwest Spain according to Google, sounds lovely. Pictures look beautiful. What made you choose there, did you want to stay out of the mainstream areas?

Definitely wanted to stay out of the mainstream areas like you said. South of Spain and the”party islands” not my thing at all

 

[Mosquito_Coasting]

My old boss lives there, I went to see him recently when out for business and the whole lifestyle was so good. He had a nice place with his wife downtown, nice short walk from the river, $ beers and bowl of noodles for dinner, watching the world go by, home half cut only about $25.

The biggest drawback there IMO is the constant stream of British sex cases out there walking around with underaged girls and boys.....its properly off putting

I live and work here in Thailand, think that is overplayed, most of the country is untouched by that. Even the tourist traps - I haven't seen underage girls and boys with men in the streets, seen huge depressing age gaps but nothing illegal. They'll be that in Cambodia and SE Asia generally too anyway, a lot of the expats who are blacklisted from Thailand end up in Cambodia.

 

[MartyFunkhouser]

I live and work here in Thailand, think that is overplayed, most of the country is untouched by that. Even the tourist traps - I haven't seen underage girls and boys with men in the streets, seen huge depressing age gaps but nothing illegal. They'll be that in Cambodia and SE Asia generally too anyway, a lot of the expats who are blacklisted from Thailand end up in Cambodia.

It still happens though, one of my clients is based there and its our job to send them clients and we have to work on reports for it. Yes the government does better now but there are clearly people there on for a reason still. Unicef did a whole thing on it that I had to spend a week having to counter the proposal for a car launch I was bidding on.

When I was in Bangkok earlier in the year "the age gap thing" is clearly a thing, you are right, but I have to say, if people are wanting to even date women or boys who clearly at the very least look underage, its a really strange environment to be around.

I was sat in Icons mall for a coffee one morning (we were staying at the Peninsula) and honestly it was one of the more obscure mornings of people watching I have seen in my life.

I have no doubt that they are doing stuff about it and I applaud them for it, just the sheer number of arrests and extradition orders shows that people are there for a certain time. Delighted to hear from you its being sorted

 

[Mosquito_Coasting]

It still happens though, one of my clients is based there and its our job to send them clients and we have to work on reports for it. Yes the government does better now but there are clearly people there on for a reason still. Unicef did a whole thing on it that I had to spend a week having to counter the proposal for a car launch I was bidding on.

When I was in Bangkok earlier in the year "the age gap thing" is clearly a thing, you are right, but I have to say, if people are wanting to even date women or boys who clearly at the very least look underage, its a really strange environment to be around.

I was sat in Icons mall for a coffee one morning (we were staying at the Peninsula) and honestly it was one of the more obscure mornings of people watching I have seen in my life.

I have no doubt that they are doing stuff about it and I applaud them for it, just the sheer number of arrests and extradition orders shows that people are there for a certain time. Delighted to hear from you its being sorted

I dunno if it's being sorted tbh, I just think it shouldn't put anyone off living here. I haven't been to Pattaya and have no desire to go. Even Phuket has Patong which is sleazy and then loads of really nice little beach towns and a historic old town. Again if I'm in BKK I don't go to the sleazy parts, it's easy to not see those things, though like you said it's a problem and to be honest in a lot of the tourist places it is a low class of expat and visitors. Not only the ones you're talking about and other sex tourists but also roided up Muay Thai bros and a lot of super rich entitled people from the kind of countries whose tourists are famously unpopular. I live in a normal small Thai city and you don't see those sites at all, there are only about 50 or 60 non Thais living here.

 

[MartyFunkhouser]

I dunno if it's being sorted tbh, I just think it shouldn't put anyone off living here. I haven't been to Pattaya and have no desire to go. Even Phuket has Patong which is sleazy and then loads of really nice little beach towns and a historic old town. Again if I'm in BKK I don't go to the sleazy parts, it's easy to not see those things, though like you said it's a problem and to be honest in a lot of the tourist places it is a low class of expat and visitors. Not only the ones you're talking about and other sex tourists but also roided up Muay Thai bros and a lot of super rich entitled people from the kind of countries whose tourists are famously unpopular.

Wouldn't likely stop me either, like I say in the OP, just something I picked up in even the nicer parts. The Muay Thai bros do make me laugh I have to say hahah

I love Siem Reap but never been to Phnom Pehn for longer than a day, can't say I have seen a big issue in SR, but can't say it doesn't exist as reports say it does in the country for sure. I like the vibe there, huge international expat community, not a deluge of fish and chip shops or ham egg and chips in the bulldog bar haha.

 

[Glenda's Legs]

Wouldn't likely stop me either, like I say in the OP, just something I picked up in even the nicer parts. The Muay Thai bros do make me laugh I have to say hahah

I love Siem Reap but never been to Phnom Pehn for longer than a day, can't say I have seen a big issue in SR, but can't say it doesn't exist as reports say it does in the country for sure. I like the vibe there, huge international expat community, not a deluge of fish and chip shops or ham egg and chips in the bulldog bar haha.

Rather a roostertail in the Elephant Bar at the Raffles Hotel!

 

[Mosquito_Coasting]

Thai media is freer than Cambodian so you will hear about more crimes from Thailand.