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I did and I regret it deeply. I was working remotely even pre-covid times and I decided to leave London (where housing was becoming a nightmare) to move to Swed

I did and I regret it deeply. I was working remotely even pre-covid times and I decided to leave London (where housing was becoming a nightmare) to move to Sweden. I have never been this deeply lonely in my entire life. I love the nature, I love the winter, even the darkness, but socially this was a very bad move. Working remotely when you live close to a big city where you are very fluent in the language is not even close to being the same as working remotely when you live in a foreign country alone and far away from everyone.

siva7 5y ago
Why not move back?
- Winterflow3r 5y ago
  Not a UK citizen and Brexit has effectively made moving back much much harder than it was before when you had automatic right of residence based on being an EU citizen.
kharak 5y ago
Out of curiosity, why did you choose Sweden? Why not move back? Is there an expat community you could mingle with?
- Winterflow3r 5y ago
  I did a pros/cons analysis and figured out that it would be my best bet since I knew the language at a around a B2/C1 level and there was no other EU country that spoke English (my preferred language). However, I severely underestimated how difficult it would be to establish a social circle without very fluent Swedish and without existing connections. There is certainly an expat community that I've tried to interact with, but sadly covid has made in-person social gatherings almost non-existing (restrictions have not been very severe here but many groups like language cafes have been cancelled or moved online). Hope things get better in the spring!
  - yoyohn 5y ago
    > there was no other EU country that spoke English (my preferred language) you've missed a whole country named Ireland which is in EU
    - BerislavLopac 5y ago
      And another named Malta. Much smaller, for sure, but with way better weather.
dougmwne 5y ago
Did you move there on your own without knowing anyone? How did you choose Sweden? Do you feel like hosting some HN nomads?
rowanajmarshall 5y ago
Maybe try somewhere like Scotland, especially the Highlands? You'll get similar-ish weather and nature, but you'll speak the language and it'll be easier to work remote for London companies.
knarkmacka 5y ago
Yeah, that's a thing with us swedes in general, and perhaps also with tech people in general. Combine the two and...
danieka 5y ago
I'm sorry to hear that. I think Sweden can be a difficult culture to integrate into. If you live near Stockholm and would like to meet up I'd be happy to introduce you to my group of friends. My e-mail is in my profile.
- digianarchist 5y ago
  Having friends in Denmark and Norway this might be a Scandinavian thing.
epage 5y ago
In visiting other countries, I realized how little I interact with the people around me because of the language barrier. I know there are places its worse and some where its better. Still, made me reconsider to another country.

siva7 5y ago

Why not move back?

Winterflow3r 5y ago
Not a UK citizen and Brexit has effectively made moving back much much harder than it was before when you had automatic right of residence based on being an EU citizen.

kharak 5y ago

Out of curiosity, why did you choose Sweden? Why not move back? Is there an expat community you could mingle with?

Winterflow3r 5y ago
I did a pros/cons analysis and figured out that it would be my best bet since I knew the language at a around a B2/C1 level and there was no other EU country that spoke English (my preferred language). However, I severely underestimated how difficult it would be to establish a social circle without very fluent Swedish and without existing connections. There is certainly an expat community that I've tried to interact with, but sadly covid has made in-person social gatherings almost non-existing (restrictions have not been very severe here but many groups like language cafes have been cancelled or moved online). Hope things get better in the spring!
- yoyohn 5y ago
  > there was no other EU country that spoke English (my preferred language) you've missed a whole country named Ireland which is in EU
  - BerislavLopac 5y ago
    And another named Malta. Much smaller, for sure, but with way better weather.

dougmwne 5y ago

Did you move there on your own without knowing anyone? How did you choose Sweden? Do you feel like hosting some HN nomads?

rowanajmarshall 5y ago

Maybe try somewhere like Scotland, especially the Highlands? You'll get similar-ish weather and nature, but you'll speak the language and it'll be easier to work remote for London companies.

knarkmacka 5y ago

Yeah, that's a thing with us swedes in general, and perhaps also with tech people in general. Combine the two and...

danieka 5y ago

I'm sorry to hear that. I think Sweden can be a difficult culture to integrate into. If you live near Stockholm and would like to meet up I'd be happy to introduce you to my group of friends. My e-mail is in my profile.

digianarchist 5y ago
Having friends in Denmark and Norway this might be a Scandinavian thing.

epage 5y ago

In visiting other countries, I realized how little I interact with the people around me because of the language barrier. I know there are places its worse and some where its better. Still, made me reconsider to another country.