You took the words right out of my mouth. =) Just a couple points to add: - Move somewhere with sane and/or regulated PTO policies[1]. This is a huge plus in t

You took the words right out of my mouth. =) Just a couple points to add: - Move somewhere with sane and/or regulated PTO policies[1]. This is a huge plus in the EU. In Germany, I get about 34 days paid vacation days per year (including federal holidays), and that's even considered a bit low by German standards. It's enough for me to seriously consider never working full-time in the US again. And don't get me started on so-called "unlimited" vacation policies in the US. (As a corollary, if I ever do work as a normal employee in the US again, a proper vacation policy will be on my list of must-haves.) - As much as I love trains, flying is usually quite a bit cheaper for most of the places that I want to travel to in and around Europe. Long-distance bus lines (think Greyhound) are also extremely cheap now that the market's been deregulated. - The main disadvantage (and one that people should take into serious consideration before moving overseas) of course is that I'm so far away from family. Even with so much vacation time, it's pretty difficult both financially and logistically to make it home more than once per year. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_statutory_minimum_employment_leave_by_country https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_statutory_minimum_empl...