People who live between 2 countries
Posted by reverse-13@reddit | expats | View on Reddit | 22 comments
Hello, I was just curious and wanted to ask for people living between two countries, if its worth it and how it's been for you?
My situation is that I've been living in japan for a year and half, my visa is ending soon and I would love to stay forever but when I looked at getting a work visa it really would cut my income and free time in half. I'm pretty fortunate when it comes to my career, it's a job I love, extremely flexible (can work anywhere.) I worked on getting it to that point for the last 10 years so it seems silly to give that up. In terms of quality of life here its been amazing, my home country quality of life isn't bad just (for personal reasons) not a good time for me. I would really love to move my entire life here if I could.
But it seems like for the next while anyways I am going to have to split my time between places. 3 months here and there as per what my passport allows. I don't think its horribly unrealistic, just trying to find a good compromise for the time being.
Alternatively, I can move my whole life over to somewhere like Germany if I don't want to be in my home country but I want to be in Japan more than anywhere else.
What's your experience?
Cheers
cy_berd@reddit
I am happy to learn that I am not the only one crazy 2/3 Canada 1/3 Portugal
Guilty-Composer-8463@reddit
Lowkey wanna do the exact same thing as u lol. Rn I live in Portugal but all my super close friends live in Canada
rlstrader@reddit
I live in the US and Canada, but it's an easy flight between the two. I love it, but only because of the ease of travel.
Rich_Position_9831@reddit
I’d love to speak with you about this! I know given today’s climate in the U.S., people are leaving. But I have my mother here (a widow) and sister. And I don’t want to leave them. So I’d like to split my time between places instead.
rlstrader@reddit
Get Nexus so you are pre-screened by both counties. Crossing the border generally takes me 1-5 minutes at major airports.
Rich_Position_9831@reddit
Thank you! Just sent you a private message as well.
ESQ-US-UK@reddit
The last 7 years, I live in France (April-October) & Spain (November-March) while in Germany regularly to work with clients. Before that, I lived 1-3 months in 20+ European towns in 8 countries to assess their livability. The 3-month rotation can work if you are fine with constant packing-up&move. It's easier if the rotation is between the same 2 towns. Since I live in 2 well-dressed towns (of different fashion senses), I have 2 different wardrobes stored in those towns. I move with essential wardrobe &household items. I maintain my sense of stability by having my own pillows/seat cushions/bedding/towels and use the exact same daily use products. FYI, I had lived in 4 German states (my family lives there) and I am very familiar with Japanese culture. If you love living in Japan, you are unlikely to enjoy living in Germany. Since you are not in engineering/IT, you will need B2 German to be marketable, speaking local dialect is key to fit in if outside big German cities.
EggFull4016@reddit
I would have thought Germany was similar to Japan in some ways (I live in Japan, have visited Germany , I’m from the UK)
ESQ-US-UK@reddit
Visiting Germany & living in Germany are very different experiences. My family is native German. In addition to having lived in 4 German states, I work with Germans continuously the last 20 years. In sharp contrast to the polite/smiley Japanese, Germans are too blunt & direct for people from polite culture, even worse is they say it with straight face without smile, so it appears confrontational/rude. r/Germany regularly features foreigners complaining about German bluntness. My own very trivial example -- I went to graduate school in London. When I told my German family friends that "I hated living in London because it's always raining", my German brother in all seriousness jumped in to loudly contradict me: "no, IT IS NOT TRUE, I had sunny weather when I visited last year." Germans do not hesitate to disagree & bluntly point out anything that they disagree with, it's not in their cultural DNA to say it in a diplomatic/gracious way so as not to embarrass/humiliate other people :-)
EggFull4016@reddit
Of course living is different to visiting , it’s just that the UK is drastically different from Japan whereas Germany didn’t seem as drastically different, in some ways. And yet I guess the Uk is more similar to Japan in other ways (island culture and all that)
reverse-13@reddit (OP)
Super interesting and helpful thank you, Germany is only an option due to friends living there and in general the visa restrictions are much easier for me there.
In your case do you own the places that you rotate between? My main issue is mostly just the short subletting part. Seems like owning places in an easier option. Otherwise you need to pay for storage i guess for the months you arent there or lug everything back and forth.
ESQ-US-UK@reddit
I have agreement with landlords to rent the same place every year. Local friends in both towns keep my wardrobe while I am away. In my years of moving town/country every 1-3 months, I rented a centrally-located storage unit for 3 years. I move with 2 big luggage of "essentials".
EastMidlandsDutchess@reddit
My life is split between my native Netherlands 1/3 and Nottingham, UK 2/3. Every half school term and school term we travel from Nottingham to The Netherlands. That would be about every six weeks another trip to The Netherlands. Sometimes it gets exhausting as I am the only one who drives and it is about 800 km one way and the channel crossing. However, I like to drive and overall feel blessed to be able to do this.
Calm-Drop-9221@reddit
I'm heading back to Oz for work March to October after spending August to Feb in Thailand.
Second time I've done it. Last time was 6 mths work. I can't recommend it enough. Reduces the burn out from work in Oz and I really appreciate the time off in Thailand. I'll probably do this for a few years then pull.the pin if I've had enough. 57 can get my superannuation at 60 but for now it's a good way to adjust to early retirement and not dip into.my savings 🙏
goldilockszone55@reddit
contrary to popular belief, living between countries isn’t hard at all; many people do that. What is harder is to understand where we fit and belong for wellness and lifestyle and this can be for some split in countries… while for others split in neighboring areas regardless of countries — for instance, the South of France has been “quietly quitting” the lifestyle rules and challenges of the rest of France… for over 2 decades now
reverse-13@reddit (OP)
Its different difficulties for everyone of course, personally I love living inbetween worlds. Feels like im thriving for the first time in a while. I think its also more openly discussed and not so unobtainable of a concept as it used to be.
Captlard@reddit
You can slow travel (3 to 6 months) the globe or consider two locations and don’t break the visa rules. Personally live between two countries plus some travel (we rent a place in one (1 bed condo) and own in the other (2 bed condo in case our child wants to visit).
reverse-13@reddit (OP)
Never heard of term slow traveling, i shall educate myself and have a look thank you!
Captlard@reddit
r/slowtravel but seems pretty quiet. Also the r/digitalnomad crowd are fundamentally slow travellers.
Prinnykin@reddit
I do 6 months Europe, 6 months home country. I tried 3 months but it was just too exhausting.
You can now get the 6 month digital nomad visa for Japan if you wanted to go that route.
reverse-13@reddit (OP)
Yea i can understand how that may be exhausting, i did see that visa and i dont quite qualify for it yet. But even then they require you to be out of japan for 6 months and the visa is still 6 months long. So it only makes it slightly more attractive for me not exactly a game changer.
ZucchiniAcrobatic127@reddit
We sort of do this but it’s pretty structured and routine around the school year, and we still have a “home” country. Fall/spring in one EU country, summers in my home country (6-8 weeks), and winters in a different EU country. We own or have access to homes in each of these so we aren’t schlepping around our lives like nomads, and that makes it easier. It helps the distances are relatively close so except for the summers is more like going to the mountain house if we want.
A relative of mine does the Japan/PNW split. Homes in both. Absolutely loves it.