expat

5 Reasons why you should experience living as an expat

November 25, 2018 by Meg 1 Comment

Last week I celebrated two years of living in Ireland. If you had told me two years ago what a journey I would have to go through to get here… would I do it all over again? I would like to think that I would, but that is my stubborn nature – if you tell me how hard something is going to be, I almost always push past to see for myself. But that is the thing about moving countries, you think because so many other people are doing it – that it will somehow be an easy thing to do. I can’t tell you how many people email me daily asking me how we did it, and how they can make the same move. Moving overseas is something you should try experience at least once in your life, here are my reasons why.

Slight deviation off topic, but if you are new to my blog, a quick intro – we moved from South Africa to Ireland at the end of 2016. No, we did not move because we were fleeing our beloved country, or that we were worried for our safety back home, or that we thought Ireland would be ‘better’ for us. We moved because we are still young, and without kids, looking to travel and see the world. We thought Ireland would give us that adventure. The truth is – Ireland gave us a bit more than we bargained for. For starters, we had no idea the bureaucracy and paperwork and stress that it would take to move over and live and work here in Ireland. This is why I started blogging about it. Not a lot of info is out there about how complicated the process can be – so this is my little piece of the interwebs where I share the real story – and the truth is moving overseas can be hard but there are so many more reasons why you should experience living overseas once, than there are to not try it.

Becoming an expat will change you. In more ways than you ever dreamed, moving to a new country will open up your eyes to new horizons. Thousands of people move to new countries all the time, but equally there are many people who would love to move but simply cannot. Having the opportunity to live in a foreign country should be seen as the privilege that it is. This expat journey is a ride that you should try to experience at least once in your life. Simply travelling to a new place will not give you the same insights, as living in a new country will do. When you go on holiday abroad, the town you are exploring always shines its best features. Even if you don’t enjoy visiting a new place, you know that it is not forever so you never truly learn how to live through the tough moments in a new place.

When we decided to move to Ireland, we were adamant that we would not play the comparison game. The truth is Ireland and South Africa are similar in some ways, but vastly different in others – the two countries should not be compared. What living in Ireland as an expat has taught us, is that home will always be South Africa. We might not live there right now, but our hearts will always be in South Africa. Living as an expat will hopefully make you appreciate home. You will find yourself missing the simple things back home, like smells and feelings that you can’t quite put your finger on. That feeling of home just never leaves you; it might be a memory of how life was when you fitted in and knew how to work the system. How easy life was back home and that you didn’t quite appreciate how simple things like opening a bank account, going to work, driving to work really was.

As much as you try to fit into a new way of life in a new country, you will always be a foreigner in your surroundings. Living as an expat can be a lonely road to walk, especially in the beginning, when you are trying to figure out everything. This process of living overseas, it will make you stronger. You will learn more about yourself through this process, because it will push you out of your comfort zone. Making friends, learning new ways of working, small cultural differences, large amounts of paperwork and waiting in line for applications to be processed will teach you patience. It will teach you empathy for what other people from other countries and cultures must feel when they are in a new country too.

I actually think we have had it easier than most of the other expats arriving in Ireland. We at least have moved as English speaking, white immigrants to a country that is predominantly white and English speaking. Being an expat has taught me such empathy for people who don’t fit that mould. How hard and challenging it must be coming to a country where you are noticeably different from the norm brings about a whole new set of challenges I can only imagine. This process of living overseas will teach you confidence and resilience in face of those great challenges.

So there you have it, these are some of the reasons why I think you should try and experience living overseas at least once in your life. But perhaps the greatest reason you should live overseas, is that living overseas will change you. In some shape or form, you will experience a better appreciation for the life that you have. You will go on a journey through uncharted waters that you will never be able to plan for or predict. You will have no idea what lies ahead of you, and that adventure makes a life truly worth living – because it will teach you more about yourself than you can imagine.

ARE YOU AN EXPAT? WHAT ARE THE REASONS YOU THINK PEOPLE SHOULD EXPERIENCE LIVING OVERSEAS?

Live Simply & Travel Slow,

~Meg~

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How to figure out how much you need to earn to live in Dublin

October 21, 2018 by Meg 7 Comments

This is a question I get a lot, how much should I be earning if I want to live in Dublin? So many people compare their salary back home to the salary here and then forget that the monthly budget you would need in order to live over could be very different to the monthly budget you had back home. When we first moved over, I wrote a post on the cost of living between Johannesburg and Dublin although that was a couple of years ago, it gives you a general idea on my perception of costs between the two cities. In this post I am going to share an estimate monthly budget for Dublin, which will give you insight into how much you need to be earning in order to comfortably live and pay your bills in Dublin.

First thing you need to do is to work out what your take home salary will be every month. Just a note that companies will give usually give you a salary offer per annum, not per month. So if you got a job offer with a salary of 30 000 euros, that’s probably per year – not per month! You also need to remember to deduct tax. The tax rate is high here, but it is fairly similar to South Africa, so for us this wasn’t a jump from what we were use to. Our friends from Dubai did not have the same experience! A handy online calculator to work out your salary after tax is this website.

Once you have a monthly take home salary, you should work out what your monthly costs will be. Just a note that these are estimates, and largely based on our own experience. Everyone has a different budget and way of living, so this is purely what we have found costs to be like here in Ireland. I think when you are deciding if moving to Ireland is going to be good for your family, you should always over-inflate your costs of living. The last thing you want is to move all the way over here, only to find you are not able to afford the lifestyle you had back home. A move as big as moving overseas should always be an improvement to living back home – or at least the same, but never worse. You don’t want to have to cut your costs and battle to make ends meet in a foreign country – moving countries is hard enough as it is, who needs the added stress of not being able to afford to live month to month too!

Rent

Once you have a job offer, then you can start looking where you would like to live, and what rent is like in the areas close to your work. Finding a place to rent is one of the hardest thing to do here in Dublin. There is a huge housing crisis and the demand for rentals and people looking for places to live makes it tough. We had the added stress of finding a pet friendly rental, I wrote a post about how to find a pet friendly rental, but the same process could equally be applied for finding any kind of rental. The average cost of rent in Dublin varies, but on average if you plan to live close to the city the average rent is 1800 upwards for a two bed apartment. Some people choose to move out of the city, which means the rent is slightly more affordable. But moving out of the city has pro’s and con’s to it, and in some cases you would need to buy a car if you plan to live far out of town and commute into work. Depending on where you work and where you plan to live, that commute might be just as bad as living closer and paying a higher rent.

Utilities

Then you need to consider gas and electricity costs. On average these costs for us have been around 75 euros a month. The cost of gas and electricity will depend on how frequently you have the heat on in your home, and what kind of rating your home has. BER A1 means it is a highly energy efficient house, the rating goes all the way to G which would be the lowest rating and least efficient. The higher the energy efficient the house is, the lower your utilities costs should be. Currently no one pays for water in Ireland, but this could change in the future. For now, it is not a cost you need to account for.

WIFI / Broadband

We don’t own a TV, but we do have internet at home. We went with Virgin because they had a good deal at the time, but you can go with anyone really – most service providers have competitive prices, so you can shop around. For internet at home we pay 55 euros. If you own a TV you will need to TV license to get the national channels, and if you want something similar to DSTV or cable TV, then there are providers like SKY TV etc. We have found that internet is fine for us, with YouTube, Netflix etc you might not feel the need to own a TV.

Mobile phone

Your company might offer you a company phone as part of your package, or you can just buy a new SIM and buy prepaid. When we first arrived, we brought our phones over from SA (make sure your phone is unlocked so that it is able to accept a new SIM!). We were on prepaid/top up for a while before moving to a SIM contract. Since moving here, we are hesitant to get into phone contracts and paying ridiculous fees for new phones. We both pay on average of 25 euros a month for data/minutes each month. We have never had to top up our data or run out of data since we moved here which is a serious novelty for South Africans!

Groceries

This is a really personal thing, how much you eat might be half as much as what we eat. We had to live off one salary for over a year so we got really good at cutting our food bill and buying cheap. I find fruit and veg that is in season to be very affordable, and you can get a frozen pizza for 1 euro that isn’t half bad (especially if you are on a tight budget!). When we are saving and trying not to overspend, on average we can spend as little as 50 euro a week on food for two of us. We both drink, but not a lot and when we were struggling on one salary we lived off 50 euro a month for beer and wine that we consumed at home.

Entertainment/Travel

Drinking and eating out falls under entertainment for us, which even though we both have jobs and two salaries coming in, we limit to once or twice a month. We find eating out to be very expensive, especially dinners. We often look for early bird specials, or opt for lunch or coffee and a treat over a full meal. We would far rather spend our money on travel and doing cool activities over eating and drink our money away. There is a lot of free stuff you can do in Dublin, plus free museums you can visit – the city has loads of budget friendly activities you can do for the whole family. We do find walking in the park or going to the beach or mountains to be a good way to get out the house and not pay for it.

Transport

This will largely depend on where in the city you live, whether you use bus/train/luas or if you choose to buy a car. There is a monthly cap on public transport so I highly recommend getting a LEAP card which will mean that your daily/weekly/monthly trips will get capped. Right now the cap is 7 euro a day if you use the bus only, or 10 euro a day if you use a combination of transport or luas/train. The weekly cap is 30 euro for busses only or 40 euro for train/luas and bus. Rob is currently study which means he has a student card, this is a cheaper rate for public transport (not to mention entry fees and other deals!). If you decide you want to buy a car it is important to remember to get a car insurance quote before you purchase a car – we haven’t gone down this road yet but when we do, I will write a separate post on it. I do know that insurance as a foreigner is very expensive!

Once you have added up what your monthly living expenses will be, and if you know what your salary each month will be, then you can work out if you can afford to live in Dublin. The above doesn’t take into account things like: savings; retirement funds; medical aid; additional costs for children like school etc which are all super important too! Plus this is just a guide, or an estimate – everyone will have a different set of priorities and costs that they will need to consider, but I do hope this posts makes you think about what those costs might look like and for you to consider whether, with your monthly budget, you can actually afford to live and work in Dublin.

WAS THIS POST HELPFUL? WHAT ELSE WOULD YOU LIKE ME TO COVER – COMMENT BELOW!

Live Simply & Travel Slow,

~Meg~

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How to make friends whilst living abroad

September 27, 2018 by Meg 3 Comments

It is easy to make friends whilst living abroad, right? I have found that if you look hard enough, it is easy to find other expat friends from your home country. So if you really wanted to make friends, you could make friends fairly easily with fellow expats from home. But should you rely on only making friends with people from the same country as you? If you were to look at your current circle of friends, how many of them are from the same country/culture as you? This is something Rob and I are pretty conscious about, and only really since we moved over to Ireland has it really become an obvious thing we want to stay away from.

I get the attraction to making friends with fellow expats, but why would you want to recreate exactly what you have back home, in a new country? Being South African, I have found a whole heap of South Africans who have made the same move as we have and are living in Ireland. The problem I have found is that so many South Africans choose to only be friends with South Africans – even when they are living abroad. But it is not just an SA thing though, it is a people thing. People generally stick to what they know, so you will generally find expats sticking together with other expats.

The reason Rob and I try to avoid only being friends with South Africans is that when we are among other South Africans, it is very easy to start talking about the differences between Ireland and South Africa. The ‘when we lived in South Africa’ mentality is pretty easy to latch onto when you surround yourself with people who are just like you. The other thing is (and I know I seem to harp on about this!) is that we never left South Africa because we thought it was a bad place, because we felt unsafe, or because we thought Ireland would be better for our family. We left for an adventure, and to experience what living overseas was like. This might or might not be a forever adventure but I hate being around all that negativity that seems to follow people who have left South Africa for all those other reasons. I hate being around people who seem to complain about what it was like in South Africa but also who tend to complain about what it is like to live here in Ireland. Honestly, living abroad is a struggle as it is, it is not easy to fit in and work things out, but if you spend your days comparing and judging and complaining – who really wants to hang out with people like that?!

There are tons of South Africans in Ireland – honestly, I was a little disappointed that we were not the first and only South Africans to ever think of moving to Ireland. But just because we come from the same country does not mean we need to be friends. I am sorry if that comes off rude, but hear me out… Friendship should be a little deeper than just the fact that you come from the same part of the world as someone else. The trap most expats fall into, is that it is easy to fit in with a group of people who are from the same country as you, but the risk is that you will never fully learn or understand the new culture you are living in if you don’t try to make friends with locals and perhaps other expats from other parts of the world.

So after my ‘I don’t want to be friends with only South Africans’ rant, I have to say that the South Africans we have found here have been lovely. Yes, we do have friends who are South African, ones we never knew before coming here and who we get on with really well. But we purposefully choose to not only rely on South Africans to be our friends. Our goal is to have more local and other expats as friends than we do our tiny select South African network. We want to get to know the real Irish, the people who have lived in Ireland all their lives. Just like we want to make friends with expats who have come from all over the world and who can relate with our struggles to fit in. We want to try to make friends abroad that will make this whole living abroad vibe work for us, but also who enrich us and make the adventure all the more authentic. Here are my tips to finding local friends whilst living abroad:

Be selective with your friends. Just because you are both from the same country does not mean you have to be friends. Having a friendship with someone else requires time and energy, you need to be available to meet up and keep in touch and so honestly my advice is quality over quantity.
Join local groups or volunteer. Think of things like joining the gym or running club or even search Facebook for local groups. I recently joined a few expats in Dublin groups, plus I joined a local yoga studio. This way might take a bit longer, but if you are seeing people regularly every week, you are bound to make a friend or two.
Make friends through your friends. This is actually a tip my mom gave me when I was looking for Rob. She always said I would find the guy of my dreams through friends, and she was kinda right! So once you have made a new friend, ask them to bring their friends to the next event.
Get a hobby: There are clubs for absolutely anything and everything if you look hard enough for it. Things like photography, painting, pottery; are great place to find people with similar interests. A website I regularly use is meetup.com.
Say yes to anything, and try anything twice. You need to have a yes attitude, just say yes to doing things and getting out, even if it makes you feel uncomfortable and even if you feel like a complete stranger at first. Also, sometimes people need a second chance, so if you go to an event and it was awkward and awful, try go a second time – who knows, maybe things will be better the second time around.
You need to learn how to share more of yourself and be prepared to be a little vulnerable. The only way you make friends is if you open up and tell people how you are feeling. Another hard truth is that finding friends whilst living abroad takes a big knock to your ego, and unfortunately not everyone will want to be friends with you. You need to learn to let that go, and move on.
Get to know your work friends. The quickest way to make friends is with people you spend most of your time with! Rob and I are lucky that we both work in environments where our work colleagues are actually fun to hang out with. Set up after work drinks, join the social club, go out for lunch – there are plenty of ways to make friends with people you work with.

So full disclaimer, finding friends in Ireland is still a work in progress for me. I have been here for nearly two years and I still find it really tough. Making friends, wherever you are in the world, requires a lot of putting yourself out there. It means you have to keep trying different ways to make friends. Finding friends is a little like finding a partner – you have to find people who get your sense of humour, have similar interests to you and who you actually like hanging out with! And finding those special people is never going to be an easy, quick thing. It requires time and patience and little bit of hanging out with a few frogs before you find your new BFF. Hang in there, it does get easier… At least I hope it does, I will let you know!

IF YOU WERE TO LOOK AT YOUR CURRENT FRIENDSHIP CIRCLE, HOW MANY OF YOUR FRIENDS ARE FROM A DIFFERENT COUNTRY/CULTURE TO YOU?

Live Simply & Travel Slow,

~Meg~

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Information for Non-EU citizens looking to move to Ireland

August 3, 2018 by Meg 19 Comments

I get about 2 – 3 emails a day from people all over the world, looking to move themselves or their families over to Ireland. I love that they feel at ease asking me questions, and I always try to give the most honest of advice. The reality is that moving to Ireland is not as easy as it looks. There are a lot of different circumstances, or situations you might find yourself in. If you are on an EU/UK/Irish citizen – basically none of the paperwork admin is required, thus making it very easy to move over.

The emails I get are mostly from people in a similar situation to how we were –people looking to move over to Ireland on a non-EU passport. The email requests are not only limited to South Africans – I get citizens from USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India, as well as other African countries, including South Africa. Most of the questions are specific to their unique situations.

I have to be honest, I don’t usually respond if the email is just ‘how can I move over to Ireland’ – because there is no nice way of saying – through hard work and a lot of money and huge amount of effort and patience. Those people I think are looking for an easy way over; one email to a complete stranger is not going to make that happen unfortunately.

I also get a lot of emails from people who are currently living in Ireland, trying to make it work, and stressing about waiting for employment permits, finding a rental and just trying to make this life in Ireland work for them as they had once hoped it would.

I don’t say this all to sound negative, or to try and dissuade people from trying to move over to Ireland. I say this all because – you are not alone. There are plenty of people in your exact situation, and for some it works out and they move onto the next worry of making it work in a foreign country. For others it doesn’t work out and they either make the decision to try again or they stop trying and move onto trying somewhere else.

This post is targeted to the Non-EU citizens looking to move over to Ireland. Think of it as a cheat sheet of tips you will need to know, to help you move over to Ireland. Perhaps it will answer some of your burning questions.

You will need a job before you come over.

The reality is that not everyone will be able to find employment here in Ireland. You can use recruiters, however if you are wishing to apply for a general or spousal dependent work permit – then you may very well find that not many recruiters will get back to you. This is because these roles can generally be filled faster by local candidates. If you are applying for a critical skills work permit, then you might get a recruiter to help you, because your skills are specialised and in demand. Please check the critical skills list here, and be very specific to your skillset as you will need to substantiate that you have the skills required under critical skills. Additionally you should check the list of roles you do not need a work permit. Unfortunately if you are on a non-EU passport and not a spouse of a person holding a work permit, you will need a work permit to work in Ireland, which means these roles are not available for you to fill. For more on work permits, read this post I wrote.

You can only apply for a work permit if you have a job offer

You will need a job offer before you apply for a work permit; this means that the work permit is tied to a particular employer. It cannot be transferred to another employer and you cannot move employers within the first 12 months.

It is difficult to find an employer willing to go through the application process.

This is because current processing dates for all types of work permits takes over 3 months. Your work permit can be submitted online via yourself, your employer, or a recruitment agent. You can then check the status of your application online either by using your application reference or by checking the processing dates. Application processing goes by date submitted, and is irrespective of the type of work permit you are applying for. If your employer is a trusted partner then the processing times may be quicker, current processing times for trusted partners is over 6 weeks.

The thing about spousal dependent employment permits

You are only able to apply for a spousal dependent employment permit if your spouse holds a critical skills work permit or is a researcher. A spousal dependent employment permit is different to a spousal visa. The spousal visa is for a spouse to join their partner – it does not mean that they can work in Ireland.

Certain countries can enter Ireland as a tourist for up to 90 days.

To find out if you are able to enter the country with no visa, check this link. This is handy for people looking to see what Ireland is like, to travel around Ireland and to see if Ireland would be a place you would like to live in one day. However….

It is illegal to come over as a tourist (stay for 90 days) and look for employment.

Just don’t do be that person. Additionally if you apply for a work permit whilst in Ireland as a tourist, you risk your work permit being declined and being kicked out of the country permanently. If you intend to do some research and look into moving over, you can come over for 90 days but you cannot work without a work permit, and you cannot apply for a work permit whilst in the country as a tourist.

If you are married to an EU, UK or Irish passport holder

Then you are classed as one of the lucky ones. It means that you are able to come over without the need for work permits or visas. You will also have it that much easier than the rest of us coming over on SA or non EU passports. I think it’s important for those people to be mindful that their situation is entirely different to the rest of us.

So there you have it, my most asked questions all laid out in one handy little post. It is often seen as easy to move to Ireland, when the sad reality is that not everyone will be able to move over successfully or without a series of hurdles to jump over. This is not to say that it is impossible to move over, plenty of people move over every day, it just requires non-EU passport holders to have a bit more grit, a bit more research and possible a boat load of patience to navigate all the steps you need to take to make it happen.

ARE YOU LOOKING TO MOVE TO IRELAND? WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST QUESTION? – ASK ME IN THE COMMENTS BELOW!

Live Simply & Travel Slow,

~Meg~

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5 Reasons why you should experience living as an expat

How to figure out how much you need to earn to live in Dublin