4 ms·

I have been a digital nomad for 8 years of my life and my partner and I (also digital nomad for 2+ years) had actively decided to become parents and have a 2 ye

I have been a digital nomad for 8 years of my life and my partner and I (also digital nomad for 2+ years) had actively decided to become parents and have a 2 years old daughter. We do live as expats in Budapest where the cost/quality of living ratio is better with a foreign salary. I did attend a couple of FIRE meetups in Budapest last year. I think the article is discussing a lot of real problems but is assuming too much cause/effect rather than just correlation. I think many of these movements make sense now BECAUSE travel is easier and millenials are not marrying or are having less kids anyway. The FIRE movement is quite helpful anyway to start to manage your savings and debt. There is a lot of exchange of knowledge about ETF and passive investing. In the line of the lifestyle blog https://www.mrmoneymustache.com/ https://www.mrmoneymustache.com/ By Retire Early most people intend actually "Retire Early from a job you dislike" and keep working on something you enjoy. I'm from Italy which with Japan is one of the countries in the world with the steepest population decline. Fast population decline with an older population is a though new challenge we'll have to face consciounsly soon.

galfarragem 6y ago
A bit off topic: isn't it strange that many people _choose_ to live on countries like Hungary, that media portrays as being the gross ones in the EU context? Something doesn't seem right here.
- cko 6y ago
  Not sure what you mean. I semi-retired early, and I currently live in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. I saw a (uploaded 5 years ago) Youtube video that mentioned the city as a place rife with corruption and poverty and people somehow scrape by. I showed the girlfriend, who grew up here, and we were both confused. On the other hand, I don't know why people _choose_ to live in a country with high property taxes and healthcare costs and mandatory driving. As an American I love the US but feel relaxed where I am now. A friend once asked me why I didn't move to London instead. Because I grew up near NYC and it's like the same thing, that's why.
  - galfarragem 6y ago
    It was a satiric comment/mainstream media rant. I _chose_ to live in East Europe for 5 years also.
  - petre 6y ago
    How did you get residency? Another guy from AZ (?) was denied entry into Romania after overstaying his visa and then he moved to Moldova and now the unrecognuzed PMR, aka Transnistria after trying other EU countries. He wrote a book about the country and runs this eccentric but also sometimes funny blog: https://kingofromania.com https://kingofromania.com
- giorgioz 6y ago
  I'm not 100% sure where you are going with "gross ones in the EU context" but I'll try to answer you. Hungary economy has been developing rapidly in the past decade. Real estate has been booming by refurbishing old buildings still damaged from the WW2 and the communist occupation. Hungary has a lot of skilled engineer given its size. Hungarian salaries are growing fast but are still lower than many other EU countries. Hungary has very low taxation (9% corporate tax, 15% income tax). So from an financial point of view is quite conveniente to live in Budapest, there are plenty of new parks, children playgrounds and restaurants and they are all quite affordable if your income comes from out of Hungary. So this is the reason why someone does it. Viktor Orbán is the prime minister of Hungary since 2010. Orban has been more and more anti EU in recent years. I'm a strong supporter of the EU and sincerely all this anti-EU propoganda upsets me and frightens me very much. We were planning to buy a house in Budapest and stay longer but frankly after hearing more and more anti-EU sentiment from the Hungarian government we'll likely stay a couple more years until our child finishes the daycare and then move somewhere else (we do move quite often anyway). Please next time refrain from using an adjective like "gross" while speaking about a country since there is plenty of human beings coming from there and "gross" sounds more like a mean comment than a constructive criticism.
  - lostmsu 6y ago
    Did you express you experiences in a blog post or something? I'd be curious about living in Hungary. Visited Budapest last year - seemed to be a great city!
    - giorgioz 6y ago
      Sorry never had the time to blog about it. I'm more than happy to have a chat! I've sent you an email to con... AT losttech DOT software
  - galfarragem 6y ago
    My comment was a satire on mainstream media. I’ve lived in East Europe also and the quality of life is easily better comparing with the West. Media by the other end has a different agenda and seems to ignore it.

galfarragem 6y ago

A bit off topic: isn't it strange that many people _choose_ to live on countries like Hungary, that media portrays as being the gross ones in the EU context? Something doesn't seem right here.

cko 6y ago
Not sure what you mean. I semi-retired early, and I currently live in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. I saw a (uploaded 5 years ago) Youtube video that mentioned the city as a place rife with corruption and poverty and people somehow scrape by. I showed the girlfriend, who grew up here, and we were both confused. On the other hand, I don't know why people _choose_ to live in a country with high property taxes and healthcare costs and mandatory driving. As an American I love the US but feel relaxed where I am now. A friend once asked me why I didn't move to London instead. Because I grew up near NYC and it's like the same thing, that's why.
- galfarragem 6y ago
  It was a satiric comment/mainstream media rant. I _chose_ to live in East Europe for 5 years also.
- petre 6y ago
  How did you get residency? Another guy from AZ (?) was denied entry into Romania after overstaying his visa and then he moved to Moldova and now the unrecognuzed PMR, aka Transnistria after trying other EU countries. He wrote a book about the country and runs this eccentric but also sometimes funny blog: https://kingofromania.com https://kingofromania.com
giorgioz 6y ago
I'm not 100% sure where you are going with "gross ones in the EU context" but I'll try to answer you. Hungary economy has been developing rapidly in the past decade. Real estate has been booming by refurbishing old buildings still damaged from the WW2 and the communist occupation. Hungary has a lot of skilled engineer given its size. Hungarian salaries are growing fast but are still lower than many other EU countries. Hungary has very low taxation (9% corporate tax, 15% income tax). So from an financial point of view is quite conveniente to live in Budapest, there are plenty of new parks, children playgrounds and restaurants and they are all quite affordable if your income comes from out of Hungary. So this is the reason why someone does it. Viktor Orbán is the prime minister of Hungary since 2010. Orban has been more and more anti EU in recent years. I'm a strong supporter of the EU and sincerely all this anti-EU propoganda upsets me and frightens me very much. We were planning to buy a house in Budapest and stay longer but frankly after hearing more and more anti-EU sentiment from the Hungarian government we'll likely stay a couple more years until our child finishes the daycare and then move somewhere else (we do move quite often anyway). Please next time refrain from using an adjective like "gross" while speaking about a country since there is plenty of human beings coming from there and "gross" sounds more like a mean comment than a constructive criticism.
- lostmsu 6y ago
  Did you express you experiences in a blog post or something? I'd be curious about living in Hungary. Visited Budapest last year - seemed to be a great city!
  - giorgioz 6y ago
    Sorry never had the time to blog about it. I'm more than happy to have a chat! I've sent you an email to con... AT losttech DOT software
- galfarragem 6y ago
  My comment was a satire on mainstream media. I’ve lived in East Europe also and the quality of life is easily better comparing with the West. Media by the other end has a different agenda and seems to ignore it.