Kim with colleagues at the Lila Games office in Bengaluru.
As Covid shuts down, political upheaval and rising costs drive expats from Hong Kong, and rival Singapore raises barriers to imported labor, young professionals are looking for adventure. and careers abroad are facing a dilemma. Where will the future international hotspots be to attract a vibrant international community with well-paying jobs and affordable luxury lifestyles?
While countries from Curacao to Cape Verde have rolled out digital nomad visas for web-based vagabonds, building and maintaining a vast, international talent base is more than just a beach and wi-fi connection. In a world reshaped by contagion, invasion and inflation, a host of cities are defying the old order, attracting companies and startups to mark their certification as a leader. way is a global city. We talk to six workers, from the beaches of Rio to the tech hub of Bangalore, traveling on less-traveled streets.
Kuala Lumpur
Long overshadowed by neighboring Singapore as a destination for foreign workers, Malaysia’s capital is increasingly attractive to global businesses because of its large English-speaking workforce, flights ease of connectivity in the area and relative affordability. In 2021, the city topped a worldwide survey of about 12,000 expats by InterNations, the highest ranking for housing.
“It’s a country at the crossroads of many civilizations: Southeast Asia, China, the Middle East,” said Caroline Pujo, who moved to Kuala Lumpur with her husband and 10-year-old son in January after 15 years. , India. live in Shanghai. “There’s a lot of cultural and linguistic diversity, but there’s a real harmony in all of that diversity.”
She spends around 3,000 ringgit ($682) a month on rent and as an events consultant, developing relationships across the region with clients in places like China, India and Australia. She also landed a contract job as a project manager for a multinational company.
“In Shanghai, everything happened so fast,” said Pujo, 47. “I used to work extremely hard and party extremely hard. But when I left, I realized that it was always the same. like always addicted to drugs. Now, things are more balanced for me.”
She says some things can frustrate you – such as an unstable internet connection – if you’re used to a city with very advanced infrastructure, but resort islands and culture. of the tropical country will make up for the inconvenience.
“Travel the islands, swim in the pool, fly around the area. That’s the thing of life.”
Lisbon
One of the oldest cities in Europe, Lisbon has reinvented itself as a trendy destination, hosting events like the annual Web Summit and offering a mix of culture, life nightlife and warm weather within easy reach of some of Europe’s most spectacular beaches. Last year, described by expat website Dispatches as “arguably the most popular destination for expats in Europe at the moment”, Lisbon is enjoying a boom as property prices rise. steadily as the influx of wealthy immigrants buys homes in the capital or along national lore. Algarve Coast.
Last August, Allison Baxley and her family traded in the 800-square-foot brownstone house in Brooklyn they were renting for $4,300 a month for a three-bedroom home with a pool on the Portuguese beachfront. House for nearly half the fee, a move she describes as “getting out of the rat race.”
She says Cascais, a posh beachfront area along the coast from the Portuguese capital, is “a good stop for expats,” with an international community and good schools.
Baxley, 39, said: “New York went crazy during the pandemic: politics, crime rates escalated across the country.
A freelance writer, her plan is to buy properties around Portugal and rent them out.
“In New York, we rent forever. We can never afford it,” she said. “Prices here in Portugal are going up but they’re not as astronomical as New York.”
Her family enjoys the Cascais lifestyle, where they can drive into central Lisbon for half an hour or so several times a month to see friends, deal with administrative matters and go to restaurants and hospitals. Museum. She also began writing about their life in Cascais in a blog she called Renovating Life.
“We just love it here,” she said. “In New York, you work really hard all week. By the end of the week, you’re exhausted. Here, I can enjoy every day.”
Dubai
The desert state has been challenging Hong Kong and Singapore in terms of expat traffic for more than a decade now, and the combination of a pandemic and war in Europe has made the Emirate even more popular. With the jagged spire of the Burj Khalifa soaring above a collection of futuristic architecture, Dubai has invested billions of dollars in creating a city of the future.
Bernd Hanke, a partner at a London-based fund, moved here during the pandemic to escape the confinement and Covid measures in Stuttgart, where he spent nine months, along with a large number of financial professionals move to a thriving city. financial markets and its cryptocurrencies.
Hanke loves waking up to the green golf views from his Emirates Hills accommodation, as well as a warmer climate, although summer temperatures outside air-conditioned homes and shopping centers can reach 45 degrees Celsius (113 Fahrenheit). A similar time zone to Europe makes it easy for him to reach UK-based investors in his $400 million hedge fund.
Hanke, 48, with family in London, said: “Dubai has handled the pandemic very well and there has been almost no lockdown. Now he is thinking about whether to make a more permanent move and buy property in Dubai.
“I would love to stay in Dubai even longer,” he said. “I have to decide on that.”
Bengali
Bengaluru, or Bangalore as it is still referred to by many locals and expats as Sequoia Capital and Goldman Sachs. By one estimate, venture capital is pouring into the southern Indian city faster than London or San Francisco, growing to $7.2 billion in 2020 from $1.3 billion in 2016. With a growing expat community, there are international schools, as well as bars and pubs serving everything from craft beer to pork chops.
Joseph Kim, 49, who left the San Francisco Bay area last year to set up a gaming studio in the Indian city, said: “increasingly dissatisfied with Silicon Valley, politics, crime and poor educational status”, a combination of factors he said is driving a “mass exodus” from the US tech hub, where he has spent most of his career.
After attending a gaming conference in India in 2020, Kim joined two other co-founders to start Lila Games Pvt. in the densely populated Indiranagar neighborhood of eastern Bengaluru, backed by Sequoia.
Kim, an engineer who graduated from UC Berkeley with an MBA from UCLA Anderson, said: “We considered Finland, Latin America and Canada before settling in Bangalore. “Everybody here is hungry to learn.”
Like other locations on the subcontinent, however, Bengaluru can be challenging for those who have been to cities in the Western world, and Kim’s wife and children remain in Santa Clara, where he visits them every day. quarter once.
“Many things in Bangalore seem unfinished, including the roads and buildings, and people seem to be in a hurry to do the next thing,” he said. “But for the first time in a long time, I feel like I’m doing something worthwhile.”
Mexico City
A sprawling metropolis of nearly 22 million inhabitants, Mexico City might seem like a tough candidate for an expat haven, but the oldest capital in the Americas has quickly garnered attention as a hub of entrepreneurs and startups in Latin America. Mexico tops the global rankings in InterNations’ 2022 Expat Insider ranking of the best countries to live in, and its high-altitude capital is home to expats from around the world. Blending a seven-century history with some of the region’s most progressive policies – the city was the first in Latin America to legalize same-sex marriage – the capital is also home to one of its vibrant restaurants most in the Americas.
Brian Requestarth, CEO of startup platform Latitude, moved with his family in July to the tony Polanco neighborhood of the Mexican capital. “It’s like the Beverly Hills of Mexico City,” he said. “It’s pretty fancy but it’s very safe.” Coming from a small town in Sonoma County, north of San Francisco, the family’s biggest culture shock was the sheer size of the metropolis.
“In my small town in California, my kids go to public school. It’s very small,” he said. When they visited their new school in Mexico City, it was a bit of a shock, he said. “It’s huge, twenty times bigger than the school they’re attending now, and has a Starbucks! It’s like a college campus instead of a small neighborhood school. “
Requestarth, 41, has seen increased interest in the Latin American tech sector, with startups mushrooming in Mexico City, which benefits from its proximity to the US tech industry.
“There’s an incredible level of talent and ambition in Latin America that didn’t exist before,” Requestarth said. “There’s a lot of people thinking about solving bigger problems through technology. I’ll be very productive here.”
Rio de Janeiro
Boasting a charm for much of the 20th century, the former capital of the Portuguese empire boasts iconic views of the tree-covered mountains surrounding one of the breathtaking natural harbors. best of the world. While the city fell into decline in the 1990s, overshadowed by financial hub Sao Paulo, Rio’s laid-back atmosphere and world-famous beaches continue to attract expats moving to the economy. largest economy in South America.
“I was surprised to see how many foreigners I found working here,” said Marie Alasseur, 31, who runs B2B operations at Brazilian real estate platform Loft.
Since doing a month-long foreign language course in the coastal city of Salvador in 2009, the 31-year-old from Paris says she has had “a call to Brazil.” After working in Hong Kong and working with Uber in Sao Paulo, Mexico and London, Alasseur and her Brazilian boyfriend were considering moving to Spain or Portugal, but decided in the early months of 2020. , just before the pandemic hit the world, to try Rio.
“I feel at home,” she said. “There’s a European soul here – it’s a Brazilian Paris.”
Through a former Uber colleague, Alasseur landed a role at Loft and splits his work time between his home, corporate office, and Ipanema expat Aussie Coffee hangout, which serves whites and cakes homemade banana noodles. True to Rio’s easy-going personality, she spends part of her mornings meditating or walking on the beach, and occasionally makes time for pottery classes.
“When you work at a startup, there is no limit to how much you can work,” she says. “I like the current balance. I learned to slow down last year and enjoy what I have.”
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from an aggregated feed.)
