Help me to choose the best city/country to be a Front-End Developer! —

Choosing a new city or country to leave is not an easy task. I'm sharing my process to choose the next city where I wanna live.

After I’ve been invited by my previous company to move to Mauritius to manage a Front-End Developer’s team, I’m now looking forward to choose where I want to move next. I’ve been working for many years in Paris, but going back to France, like some of my compatriotes I know, is not an option for me.

When you start living outside your native country, creating worldwide links with others, you know that you can’t just “go back”. You can’t live ignoring the fact that being out of your comfort zone is the best thing that you can experience in life, more challenging when you live abroad. I spent 3 years in Brazil and these last two years in Mauritius. Thus I know that everything I learned from people around, I couldn’t learn if I was living in France.

But today I’m facing a dilemma. I’m not sure which country / city I should to focus on my job researches. I need your help to decide where could be my next move…

1. Toronto / Canada

Canada was is on 12th position of the Top Expat Destinations in 2016, 16th in 2017 according to “Expat Insider”. With more than 35 000 000 habitants split on around 9 000 000 km2, Canada is worldwide known to be a multicultural nation and with sometimes long and cold winters.

I went to Canada in October 2014, to visit Toronto and Montreal. I really loved it! Most of the people prefer Montreal, but in my case, I enjoyed more staying in Toronto. I have few friends who moved there so they will be able to give me some advices if I need some. Since 2015, I have been registered in the pool for the IEC Working Holidays visa. Unfortunately, until today, I hadn’t any luck… But I still have hope 🌤

The International Mobility Program for Francophones could be also an option for me. And to apply for the Express Entry, I just need to pass my [IELTS exam}(https://www.ielts.org/) (on January the 20th) and have enough point to apply for.

The website Numbeo helps to compare the cost of living of different cities in the world. It seems that the cost of living in Toronto is less than most of the cities I’m interested in although these datas are not 100% reliable.

2. Sydney or Melbourne / Australia

The kangorou’s country was on 7th position in the Top 10 of best countries Expat Insider 2016 and is now on 34th position in 2017.

I never went to Australia, but all my friend who went there, tell me good things about it. The immigration process does not seems easy and because I am +30 years, I can’t apply for the Working Holidays Visa. I’m still waiting from the French government to expand the upper age of eligibility from 30 to 35 years old.

According to Numbeo, Sydney has a cost of living a little higher than Melbourne.

3. Wellington or Auckland / New Zealand

New Zealand was on 5th position for the Top 10 best countries by Expat Insider in 2016 and 6th for 2017.

I don’t know why but I was always fascinated by that country. I read a lot of articles about the pros and cons, comments of people who complain about things which are better handled elsewhere. But let me tell you something, I learned one thing since I had lived in different countries. You can have an opinion about everything around, but you should learn to live with that. It doesn’t mean you need to accept everything, but you can’t be happy in a place where you are always criticising.

Comparing two places, in the same country or in different country is in general a mistake you do in the first country you live… But the more you move, the more you’ll learn of how to enjoy where you are and skip details.

The city of Auckland was the first to answer to my tweet asking about “Where I need to move”.

Wellington followed the next day with two adorable tweets:

Maybe the weather in Wellington is not as good as Auckland… But the weather can’t be the only thing to compare (I’m already missing Mauritius’ sun 😂).

4. New York, Chicago or somewhere else in the USA

The USA was always on my TOP 1 choice (I went to NY 3 times) but it seems to be more and more complicated to get a job or a visa to go to the USA (Even if you have a project on Github with more than 23 000 likes 😅).

I don’t completely leave that option away but today, it’s more part of a dream than a reality plan.

I registered on the Green Card lottery for 2018… but I really don’t believe I can be so lucky…

Why the USA?

You may wonder: why the USA? It turns out that most of the people I admire are living in the USA. It seems to be easier to follow them being in the same country. It’s without counting on all conferences and meetups that are happening all over the country which I one day, I would like to be able to participate.

But it’s probably because I’m looking for years to find a team of Developers, Web Designers and UX who can build innovative products together sharing their knowledge and having a similar vision.

I’m looking for years to find a team of Developers, Web Designers and UX who can build innovative products together sharing their knowledge and having a similar vision.

I just had that experience once: at Barefoot Proximity in Cincinnati, Ohio. Julie Tran, Creative Director and Micky Osterman, project manager gave me in 2014 an experience I could not forget. For more than one month, I’ve been working hand by hand creating a new brand website. Whereas I have much more experience today, what I tasted that month is how I would like to work with future teams.

What’s next?

2018 should be an interesting year.

In January, my IELTS exam will give me more chances to complete some immigration forms.

In February, I’ll start sending my resume to some companies I perceive I can fit and by chance, it’ll become easier to decide which country I should focus on more.

In May/June, I hope to be in the country which will give me the chance to continue creating products and websites, managing young developers and working with an awesome team of experts who see the future of the web!