The convenience of access to almost anything 24hrs a day is something you will miss for sure.

But what you get in return is convenience in other ways, regular chores always felt like missions haha. You know dealing with banks, housing, government stuff/papers etc.

Adjusting takes some time, but it’s not unfathomable.

Living like a king in Asia back to living like a pauper in Europe

just want to add that as a woman, ‘asian cities’ are not as safe as a lot of people assume. im in Japan right now and the open sexual harassment here is way worse than anything i experienced in the UK. one of the main reasons i feel less safe is because defending yourself physically is frowned upon here. the police also have a bit of a reputation for not taking SA seriously

yeah i can take the bins out at night, but can i ride a busy train without being groped?

I’m quite looking forward to returning the UK ☺️

I lived in Tokyo for 14 years, Singapore for 2, and Surabaya for 1.

I’ve never lived in my own country, and moving to rural Italy from Singapore was my entry into Europe. It felt completely different, but largely because it was the first time I hadn’t lived in a city in my life.

Adjusting to the very different speed of life was a bit weird, as well as the absolutely catastrophic state of Italian rural public transport, but otherwise relatively unchallenging.

Subsequently moving to Scotland was very interesting - once again I was in a city, but the sheer quantity of street crimes in Scotland was staggering - Friday nights (Fight night? wtf) were dangerous, and if you stood on a main street in any Scottish city between 12 and 3am you could see like police getting assaulted, massive fights, stabbings and so on.

As a young teenager I used to freely walk around tokyo all night without seeing anything similar, and even when I returned as an adult and did much more ‘night life’ type stuff I never saw anything similar.

Add to that things like regular house break-ins, people vandalising stuff in a way that they don’t in Singapore and Japan, car theft, and so on, it was pretty wild.

The only major upside was the huge quantity of readily available party drugs in Scotland - something which I love, but which carried death penalties in all 3 of the Asian countries I’ve lived in.

Sure, life in Asian cities are good for expats But not for the poor workers working in retail and catering Highwr wages for these workers, etter working condition, more stringent laws, unions in Europe and a comprehensive social safety net accounted for differences

Funny, I never had to watch my back where I live in Europe and my nearest shop is 5 minutes walk. Megacities in Asia freaked me out as this impersonal places of no soul. I never got feeling of safety there.

I miss Bangkok. Bangkok spoiled me.

The one I heard is from more the higher end expats who miss having domestic staff help with most of their chores while in Asia, sometimes it’s part of the expat package

I lived in Japan, and crime is low of your male but quite high if you’re a young, slimish female. In terms of safety, I feel safer in the UK from assault and harassment but more likely to get my phone stolen

interesting

Lmao what kind of european cities are you talking about theres 20 shops at a 2 minutes walk from me and have never felt unsafe

Maybe paris or london are different but most of europe is fine

The safety component really cannot be understated.

Not having to be mindful about your stuff when going to the restroom at Starbucks, or walking home alone late at night, these are things I feel so blessed to be able to do without worrying.

This is also the main reason why I really do not see myself go back to Europe at any point in my life.

I have lived in big cities in India and I live in Europe. Probably, India is not in the same league as Japan or HK, but I definitely prefer Europe over India. I am asthmatic, and yet I have never had to take medication in 4 years in Europe, but always on my first day during visits to India. That alone helps me tolerate all the inconveniences in Europe (partly caused by strong labour laws). Also, I enjoy travelling, and the 40 paid holidays I get in Europe help me go and experience the world in my late 20s. In Asia, that would be impossible.

I moved from Jakarta to amsterdam. It’s a quality life upgrade although I kinda miss the food scene in Indonesia sometimes. But since Indonesia is a homophobic country, I don’t miss it that much.

I really miss the quality of service, having amazing cleaners, massage therapists and getting my clothes delivered ironed to me 🥲 In Europe I have to beg cleaners for free spots and they do an objectively bad job most of the time and charge 10 times the price. I miss the availability of great, fresh food & the cleanliness .

It freaks me out how most Europeans handle food without gloves, or when they wear gloves they handle the damn cashier machine with the same gloves they handled the food. 🤢 and I hate how waiters don’t wear masks or these lil spit screens and just talk over the food and all I can see is little spit particles 😮‍💨😮‍💨

In most of Europe I enjoy the slower pace, the sitting around in coffee shops culture and beautiful, turning of the century apartments with 5-6 high ceilings, the museums, biking everywhere , parks