Returning to the West thread

[superguavaguy]

I know people have written things individually about returning home (to live), but has there ever been an ongoing thread maintained by people who left Taiwan? I'm leaving in a week, and I know some others have left within the last year, so would anyone else be interested in a thread like that?

[914]

No need to ask for interest. Just start your thread and let others know about your journey back west, and all the bumps and bruises along with the excitement of reverse culture shock!

There have been many success stories posted, and usually after a couple of years, posters get back into their groove outside of Taiwan and check back on F.com once in a while.

Good luck on your journey!

Let me start: where are you going and why? How long have you lived in Taiwan?

[ChewDawg]

Check the Greater Forumosa thread. A lot of us have returned to the West for better or for worse (usually better for quality of life/kids education, much worse for costs of living etc.)

[superguavaguy]

I've been in Asia close to 10 years, spent the last 3+ in Taiwan. I'm moving to Alaska (never been there before, but have family there) and am going back to school. After school I'm planning to live abroad, but not Asia.

I wasn't planning on starting a thread about ME going home, since I've only met 1 or 2 people from Forumosa, and I don't make a habit of writing about my personal life online. I was thinking of the thread being a place for people making that huge transition back home.

[akikaki1]

what countires in asia did you live in? what were the pros and cons of each? which country did you like the best and which the worst?

this can be returning to the west thread.

[superguavaguy]

I've visited (but not lived in) all of the major Asian countries. My feelings mirror most people's, meaning China and Korea are way at the bottom of the list, Japan is awesome, but everyone works too much, etc.

I'm pretty burnt out on Asia, and especially English teaching in Asia, and I wouldn't recommend anyone with a useful job skill to leave that behind to come here and teach English. If someone didn't have a useful job skill and wanted to come here and teach, I'd tell them to stay in their home country, go back to school, and get one.

[PapaAzucar]

I'd tell them to stay in their home country, go back to school, and get one.

I've only been in Taiwan a short time, and I can already see the hardest part is to build up the cash to go back. The lower wages and lower costs of living essentially gets one stuck here. Even if you can save 20K NT/month with a good 60K NT/month job, after 2 years, that amounts to 16K US, which will get you a decent car before the US burn rate sets in like higher health insurance, higher rent, higher taxes, etc. The reverse is probably the preferred route. I've met some dual nationals that worked in the US, but moved back to Taiwan to retire with their savings stretching out here better.

The good thing about Alaska is that it has no state income tax, and actually has a state tax credit for its state residents from the oil revenue. I had a friend in Fairbanks which the state paid about 3K just to live there, and that cancels out what he owes on the federal income tax, essentially paying no taxes. I think some of the Middle East countries also pay their citizens from their oil revenues.

[Pingdong]

I've only been in Taiwan a short time, and I can already see the hardest part is to build up the cash to go back. The lower wages and lower costs of living essentially gets one stuck here.

Well, that kind of thing is always relative. on the flip side me and my wife saved up money here in Taiwan for 6.5 years and bought a house back home in Canada without a mortgage.

Its rarely the size, but how you use it

All in all, financially Asia is a better place for the standard middle class joe or lower looking to dig their way out of debt and/or save up for a chunk of land somewhere. its also a good place to party like nowhere else, but its probably hard to do both.

[headhonchoII]

It's not a great place for the average Joe to make money when you don't get a pension thrown along with the low salaries and bad exchange rates. It is indeed possible to get stuck in Asia with no way real way of going back. At the same time many western countries are in a heap of trouble now so it's not easy to move back and get a decent job.
You have to be that bit more motivated and independent when living in free wheeling Asia.
Personally I would like to move to continental Europe for a while, go skiing, get some fresh air, catch some art and culture, the four seasons snow and frost. What's the chance of it happening, not too good!

[Chris]

Taiwan will suck you back in. There is no escape.