International living and working

It’s not just travelers impacted by a puffed up European currency. This Wall Street Journal article, Weak Dollar Crimps Study Abroad, says the traditional European study abroad programs are taking a big nosedive. They’re just getting too expensive to justify. Many other college students, hit by sticker shock, also are steering clear of Western Europe, …

Not France, that’s for sure. According to the latest “Arbitrage” rundown from the Wall Street Journal, a large Pizza Hut pan pizza with pepperoni will cost you 19 euros, or $27.60 in today’s dollars. It had better be good! I think I’d rather order one in Manila, where it’s $6.58. These comparisons are always kind …

This past June I did a short one-week Spanish immersion course: me, the wife, and the (reluctant) 6-year-old. I can’t say I started suddenly dreaming in Spanish or anything from five days of instruction, but as a learning vacation it was quite useful. Budget Travel has a great article from Joshua Berman on studying Spanish …

If you look hard enough, you can find a web site for just about anything you would encounter in your travels. Such as, how do you say “cheers” in Bengali? Turns out it’s “joy,” which seems pretty appropriate. Just check this How to say cheers site, run by a whisky lover’s group. I seem to …

Many long-term travelers daydream about not just passing through the places they go, but actually picking one and moving there. Their friends and relatives might tell them it’s risky, but is it really more risky than buying something in our current overheated home markets? After all, with housing prices through the roof in most developed …