Jump to content
This site uses cookies. Continued use is acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. More Info... ×
  • Welcome to Celiac.com!

    You have found your celiac tribe! Join us and ask questions in our forum, share your story, and connect with others.




  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A1):



    Celiac.com Sponsor (A1-M):


  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Support Our Content
    eNewsletter
    Donate

Moving Abroad


MollyBeth

Recommended Posts

MollyBeth Contributor

Have any of you ever just picked up and moved to a different country? I'm thinking of moving to jamaica or something...just getting a boat and going and getting a job when I get down there. I'm 25. I've had a rough year. My chosen profession is a television news producer but the station I've been working for since August of 2007 has really turned me off. My last day here is March 27th. Part of me feels like I should get a new job in TV...you know...not letting this one bad experience get me down. But I've always wanted to just take off and I feel like I should do it now while I'm young.

So have any of you done it? What goes into it? Is it like the movies...Can I just pack some clothes and buy a plane ticket and take off?? Any advice would be appreciated!


Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):



Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):



mushroom Proficient

Well, there are a few formalities to be observed first....Don't do like I did at 22 and arrive in Germany to live without a work permit, residence permit or a job. They kinda frown on things like that, especially the Germans :lol: where everything has to have a stempel and be in order. It did work out for me in the end with a lot of luck. Sometimes it's not what you know but who you know. On the other hand, with a bit of planning it can certainly be done. I don't know about in these precarious economic times, though, when jobs are being lost right, left and center. You would need to do a bit of research on your chosen country. Of course, I didn't follow the advice I am giving you, except for writing a letter to the German Consulate. The response came on the day my flatmate and I were leaving the country, so we just ignored it, caught the ferry across the English Channel, and then hitch-hiked to Wurzburg. Certainly it is easier to do this kind of thing when you are younger and more flexible and able to roll with the punches. On the other hand, six years ago my husband and I pulled up stakes from California and moved to New Zealand after 38 years. But then of course this is my home, although not his. The community we live in is full of people from all over the world, a mini United Nations.

My best friend's daughter just arrived in New Zealand to live from Colorado Springs on Friday, having raised her son, and dumped her husband after her mom died (I approve of this move by the way). She did have the advantage of being eligible for New Zealand citizenship right away because her mom was a Kiwi by birth, but she's 45 and starting a new life in a new country. She is loving it so far.

So yes, it can be done, but don't just hop a plane like in the movies!

MollyBeth Contributor

Thanks for the advice! If I get citizenship in another country do I have to give up my US citizenship? Do you know how any of that works? I've been searching online but it's all so confusing!

missy'smom Collaborator

The U.S. will let you have dual citizenship I believe, but some countries won't so at some point you may have to choose but that's a long ways away in the future. I have a friend who's been living in the U.S. for many years and has one more year to go before getting citizenship-I think she said it was 8 years for her. You don't have to become a citizen to stay permanently in a country. We know many who retain their citizenship in their home country and are settled here and will never become American citizens. Anyway, There are procedures that take time and money and don't have to be decided right away. Many come as a students and stayed and went step by step. Many companies help out with these things too.

I lived oversees for a year-wanted to stay longer. Best thing I've ever done. You could always teach English language!

mushroom Proficient

I have dual New Zealand/US citizenship, because New Zealand is one of those countries that will always recognize you as a citizen if you were born here. Michelle, who just arrived from Colorado Springs, has dual ciizenship. Most of the people around us here have become NZ citizens and in doing so have had to lose their citizenship from country of origin.

I lived in the U.S. for 35 years on my green card and only became a US citizen because they would not have sent my social security payments to me here in New Zealand if I were not. Without citizenship in the US I could not vote and was barred from certain jobs. My husband is a permanent resident in New Zealand and under our laws he does get to vote. Because of the way the tax laws are set up he could not afford to become a New Zealand citizen, although he could have dual British/US citizenship because his mom was born in Britain.

But as Missy'sMom said, citizenship is not something you have to be concerned about really. But in most cases you do need work permits and other official documents to start working abroad, often these are arranged by employers if you hook up with someone who wants you to work there. One of my nieces worked for a year in New York on a work visa arranged by her company. She took her partner with her but he could not work. But because of an agreement between Australia and New Zealand she can work in Oz without a permit. which she now does.

So everything is specific to the country and your nationality situation.

Cinnamon Apprentice

That sounds great, and nows the time to do it, while you are young. Just be careful with Jamaica. We had friends whose niece wrote travel articles, and went to Jamaica to write a piece on it. She never returned, and to this day they don't know what happened to her. As they tried to figure out what might have happened, they found out that while Jamaica is quite safe as long as you stay on the resorts, the rest of the island is not. It's not safe to travel around by yourself. When choosing a destination, try to research what the natives attitudes are towards outsiders. You don't want to go somewhere where the natives are desperately poor and where the police aren't the greatest. Pick a place that has a reputation for safety.

Mango04 Enthusiast

I've done it twice. Would definitely recommend it :) Research the country you want to go to and see what you have to do to work legally. It all depends on what you want to do and where you want to go.


Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):



Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):



Lux Explorer

I'm a New Zealander who recently emigrated to London. I moved here knowing one person (vaguely) and I would definitely recommend it. Do as much research as you can before you go but once you decide yourself to doing it, commit yourself and don't look back! It could be the best decision you ever made

ang1e0251 Contributor

I would just say exercise the caution other posters have mentioned. My friend was murdered in Haiti while in nursing school. I lived in Colombia but I can't travel there now; just too dangerous. Even during better times, you had to be very carefull.

On the other hand, living in another country was a life changing experience for me. I would highly reccomend it to anyone with the means. Do your research and obtain the proper papers. It isn't the pre-911 world anymore where you could just pick up and go. Australia, New Zealand and England all sound like great destinations to me and much safer than Jamaica.

I also picked up and lived 17 years in the West. Loved it!! But cost of living was high and jobs low paying. If you can get a job, moving across country was just as exciting for me. The culture was very different from my midwest upbringing and the terrain completely new!!

Do your homework and you should do well. Have an exciting time!!

MollyBeth Contributor

So, I've kindof ditched the jamaica idea after doing a little more research and then having that researched confirmed here on these posts!!! This is why I love this forum... so much info!

I've been thinking more Italy, Austrailia, and New Zealand.

Mushroom, How easy is it for people like me to find work there? I have a Bachelors degree and four years of experience as a television news producer. I'm also a licensed skydiver.

I've already done the whole pick up and move a thousand miles away a couple times. Grew up in Illinios, moved to North Dakota for two years, then in 2007 I moved to upstate New York.

Thanks so much for all the tips!!! If you think of anything else let me know!

Mango04 Enthusiast

Just a tip - it's easier for Americans to find legal work in Central/Eastern Europe than it is in Western Europe (if you're hoping to be legal). New Zealand is supposed to be doable. There used to be a program called Bunac that could get Americans 4-month work visas for Australia, but I believe that's now changed. Worth looking into more though.

puggirl Apprentice

Why not just move to California...? Its a whole different world over here, from the rest of the country( trust me I know I've lived in Illinios, Wisconsin, Mississippi, and Montatana So I can honestly say)

Just think... If you want snow you can drive four hours and get snow, if you want ocean you can drive a couple hours or min. depending where you live, and if you want dessert we have that too, Mountains for hiking, biking...

Its the middle of Winter here... and it was 80 today. I live in Central Cal so We dont have that many wild fires, or earthquakes (every once in awhile but most the time you dont feel it) No mud slides, Most of that is in Southern Cal.

Its really is nice over here, the people can be jerks and snobby but if you live in New York Im sure your used to it. Anyway... Its alot cheaper then moving to a new Country. Consider it.....

mushroom Proficient
So, I've kindof ditched the jamaica idea after doing a little more research and then having that researched confirmed here on these posts!!! This is why I love this forum... so much info!

I've been thinking more Italy, Austrailia, and New Zealand.

Mushroom, How easy is it for people like me to find work there? I have a Bachelors degree and four years of experience as a television news producer. I'm also a licensed skydiver.

I've already done the whole pick up and move a thousand miles away a couple times. Grew up in Illinios, moved to North Dakota for two years, then in 2007 I moved to upstate New York.

Thanks so much for all the tips!!! If you think of anything else let me know!

I'm not sure how easy it is to just come here and work. They have specific programs for seasonal workers, like apple picking and stuff like that, but otherwise there is a points system for those who want to come here. If you have a job skill that is in high demand, are the right age, speak English, that kind of thing, counts in your favour. But they are mostly geared toward immigrants rather than coming here to work for a while. I have heard some say that it is very hard to get in, but it is not something I have had to consider personally. It helps to have a sponsor, and you have to prove that you are financially sufficient and will not be a drain on the public purse. Also, due to the current economic mess the world finds itself in we are losing jobs at a rate similar to the U.S. so it would probably be tougher now than formerly. Not meaning to rain on your parade, but New Zealand has traditionally been considered a fairly tough nut to crack. But it can be done.

MollyBeth Contributor

Puggirl,

I've been to Cali several times and moving west is a possibility, though I would likely go for Colorado. I'm looking into several options including masters programs abroad.

Mushroom, I'vealway wanted to visit there...Looks like I should just plan a vacation though. :)

ang1e0251 Contributor

I felt the same when we moved to AZ. Culture was very different. Snow or warm weather is just a short drive away. We loved it. Jobs are tough though.

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.


  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A19):



  • Member Statistics

    • Total Members
      127,886
    • Most Online (within 30 mins)
      7,748

    Old Soul Elder
    Newest Member
    Old Soul Elder
    Joined

  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A20):


  • Forum Statistics

    • Total Topics
      121k
    • Total Posts
      70.5k

  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A22):





  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A21):



  • Upcoming Events

  • Posts

    • plumbago
      Yes, well, that's what we have been told, probably ever since the different types of cholesterol were identified. It's what most of our primary care providers are still telling us, it's what the commercials tell us. But researchers (up until now at any rate) have been learning a great deal about HDL. Nevertheless, the universe of what we still don't know about HDL is vast. And since I can sustain only a 35% level of understanding when I hear lectures on HDL, I will have to nutshell my layperson's understanding, which is that at this time, it's possible or likely that HDL-C levels are best understood as U-shaped, that there's a sweet spot right there in the dip of the "U" and anything before or after is not ideal. This is why I said what I did earlier about the "good" and the "bad" being oversimplifications. The research has long since moved on. There's a lot of talk about how the focus should be on functionality, that you want to make sure that all that HDL is performing how it should be. And now, that's it, I've exhausted my ability to explain my understanding of HDL!
    • Nicbent35
      Hi, I have a 3 1/2 year old daughter..I would say she has had tantrums since even before she was a year old. Challenging but not extreme. Lately, her behavior had gotten extreme. Just so angry, yelling mean hateful things, completely defiant, was causing a lot of disruption in our house, I felt like I had lost the little girl I knew, we were baffled.   Something just didn’t seem right to me, I have been researching and read about how gluten can sometimes affect kids behavior. I took her off gluten a week ago tomorrow. The next couple days after I took her off gluten the days were much easier. About 4 days in she had one of the worst days I’ve seen her have tho. I kept on with it tho and the past two days she has been angelic. Is this common that if it is gluten that she could still have a bad day like that a few days after taking her off of it? Should I try to reintroduce it at some point to see if it’s really a gluten intolerance? I’m not gonna lie, if she continues with the great behavior she’s had the past couple days I will probably be scared to reintroduce it but don’t want her to have to avoid gluten if it’s not necessary. Anyone have advice? 
    • trents
      But HDL is considered to be the "good" cholesterol, right?
    • plumbago
      Since some time between 2010 and 2014, my HDL-C has been going up and you might even say elevated. The last time I could find in my records that my HDL was normal was in 2014 when it was 67. Last week, it was 101, and it’s been 88 and above since about 2015. A significant life event happened in 2010 when I was diagnosed with Celiac disease and in May of that year began a gluten free diet. An informal perusal of a previously posted topic on HDL on this forum shows that a lot of members responding had high normal or high levels of HDL, so it doesn’t seem to be that unusual. But because my HDL numbers have been so high for so long, I am now officially concerned enough that I will probably reach out to a cardiologist who specializes in lipids. I would like to know if I should have a genetic test, as a specific genetic mutation can be one reason for high HDL numbers. I will also ask if he/she thinks a cardiac work up including a coronary artery calcium score should be considered. I think by now most of us are done with the ridiculous good and bad cholesterol labels; the amount of what we don’t know about HDL is quite large. For me my questions include is it a matter of production or an inability to clear HDL, and are the high levels having an effect on my vasculature (or a result of a less than optimal vasculature)? My last TSH level was normal, so it's likely not a thyroid issue. I also take B12 regularly. I’ve read that niacin can cause HDL levels to go up, but B12 is not niacin, and I could find no definitive link between robust B12 supplementation and abnormally high HDL levels. Any input is appreciated! Plumbago
    • Scott Adams
      @Mynx, how long have you been gluten-free? I ask because many newly diagnosed celiacs react to many things, and often think their reactions are caused by gluten, when in fact, they are really caused by a combination of a sensitive gut due to damage, as well as additional food intolerance/leaky gut issues to other foods which may be temporary until their villi heal.
×
×
  • Create New...