Ask HN: Do you plan to move to a lower COL area/country?

Not a fan of Texas at all myself, but I would hardly describe moving from one part of the US to another as a large cultural change.

Political differences may exist between small cities and large cities, but most aspects of culture (language, holidays, daily-schedules, norms, etc.) remain largely the same.

Plus plenty of parts of Colorado are similar to plenty of parts of Texas, politically.

Haha, everyone asks, and no! We visited first in the summer, and then bought the house sight unseen and showed up in February. We lived in Alaska for awhile though, so I think we're good -- it takes a lot of winter to impress me after Fairbanks.

Classic. Guess they should've warned me to visit during spring break first instead of winter. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

To start with: We decided to apply for what's called a "D7" visa. Skipping over the details, it allows us to reside in Portugal long-term; it is somewhat analogous to the U.S. "green card". And, after 5 years, we can apply for Portuguese citizenship (which, of course, gives us access to the entire EU).

The application process was straightforward, if tedious; mainly obtaining a bunch of documents that proved that we were not wanted criminals in the U.S., that we have our own health insurance, and that we had sufficient financial resources that we would not become dependent on the Portuguese social system. It took us about four months to get everything together, and cost in total ~ $200USD (fees for various agencies, both U.S. and Portuguese). You have to submit your documents to the Portuguese consulate that is "attached" to your part of the U.S.; in my case, that was in San Francisco. It was a hassle (made worse because of COVID), but just bureaucracy, nothing worse that that.

We spent about three months in Airbnbs around Portugal to decide where to live, so that cost some. We just signed a two-year lease on a nice 3 bedroom apartment. We were able to do that prior to opening a Portuguese bank account (we used Wise to transfer the money from our U.S. account), but we are working on getting a local account; it'll make paying rent, utility bills and random purchases much easier. (Example: I managed to find a local store that has a Raspberry Pi 4 2GB, but I couldn't buy it online, because their website could not accept a U.S. billing address for my credit card. Grr.)

And yes, we still have financial ties with the U.S., primarily our retirement accounts, and we still pay U.S. taxes. Fortunately, Portugal and the U.S. have a "no double taxation" agreement, so we do not also pay Portuguese taxes on our retirement funds.

The cost of living is significantly lower here than it was in the Seattle area. Our money goes much further. The people are wonderful, the country is beautiful (by and large), and it is much safer than the U.S.--and feels that way! And, all of Europe is a short plane or train ride away.

If you are truly interested in trying this, I strongly recommend the "Portugalist" website: https://www.portugalist.com . James, the man who maintains the site, has a wealth of information on visiting and moving to Portugal. So far, all his advice and suggestions that we've used have been excellent.

lbrito, do you currently live in Portugal? And, how did you learn Portuguese? My wife and I are working on it (she is much farther along than I am), and man is it tough! So many times I thought I was speaking really clearly and correctly, but the person at the pastelaria just gives me a really confused look. (At which point I dig out my translation app. :-/)

Good for him! I would be lying if part of it wasn't also the lifestyle, big city is very appealing to me, personally!

Here's a short list of why I'm personally planning on leaving:

* Winters here suck, a lot (4~ months of the year is <40 degrees f, much of it in the 0-9 degrees f range)

* Summers here are hot and muggy (3-4 months of the year >75 degrees f + 73% humidity daily avg.)

* Mosquitoes are very bad here (and I'm allergic to them)

* I'm allergic to most of the flora around here, thanks dad

* Better job market, not a fan of fully remote work

* Walkable communities, better public transit

* More people for niche hobbies

* Better diversity, nearly everyone here is white or a college student

* Far from major airports, air travel is either expensive + inconvenient or a 3 hour drive away

* Outdoor activities are rather limited here relative to other parts of the country, it's very flat and the lakes are small

* Surrounding area is all yee-haw people (lol)

* Restaurant selection is good, relative to only having a McDonald's and Little Ceasars (so not good, but better than most other parts of the state)

* Hope you like driving! You'll do a lot of it to do anything at all

* Housing market here sucks too, maybe not as bad, but still out of range for most

It can work though. Living with my husband in a very rural area of a rural state, and it's going fine.

My vote is not worth making my life actively worse, sorry.

Where do you suggest then? Both my partner and I have friends & family in that area, which makes moving across the country easier.

It's only depressing if you make it depressing. I personally love it and it makes summer feel even better

Not to worry, the lights are always on inside the local bars and nightclubs, well in some of them anyway.

Everyone goes out, I met my tech company boss and his wife queuing outside a nightclub one time, and both of them dressed in leathers and dog collars.

My existing job transferred me over to a French company we had, and I learned French via Alliance Française for two years before the move.

Going through it at the moment - seems more annoying as a partner of a French person, seems like talent passport would be easier.

It's expensive yes, but moreso home prices are accelerating. We have been saving for a home, but prices go up faster than the rate our down payment fund was, and we'd still probably be looking at something in deep Georgetown, most of an hour's drive from the city in a brand new development in what used to be cow pasture, with nothing to walk to and no trees taller than us. Also, all our friends were similarly scattered around the metro so it was difficult to ever see them anyway.

Instead we're closing next week on a beautiful cape cod in a nice neighborhood that we could pay cash for if we wanted (we're still taking a mortgage for other reasons but strictly wouldn't need to). Our children can walk to school, we have friends and family nearby, and generally we can just live without constant worry about the housing market because the majority of our wealth is not tied up in a pile of sticks and drywall that we bought for the equivalent of ten years' wages.

I've been in Austin off/on since around 2013.

Back then it wasn't much worse than areas in Ohio I'm familiar with (Columbus, Cincinnati).

Constant rent/tax hikes/passed on costs has made it worse.

It's not quite as bad as say San Fran/LA, but it's not what I'd call affordable either