“The cost of living in the South East is now so high,” declares a remote worker, “that I’m going to move to Turkey.”
If you’re self-employed, you could avail of Turkey’s Digital Nomad Visa, but you need to be earning $3000 a month. If you’re working for a company, it’s more complicated.
In any case, if you think the UK cost of living is bad, wait until you discover the hyperinflation causing Turkish professionals to seek employment overseas.
Sure, with a stable UK salary and the ability to work remotely, you could live the high life in Turkey. But you may be a decade too late.
Need to eat? You’ll find food currently on a par with UK prices. Eat meat? Prepare to pay significantly more than you would back home. Cheese, eggs, potatoes? You’ll be shocked.
Need a car? It will cost you a minimum of double what it would cost you in the UK. Running costs are something else entirely. Petrol is far more expensive.
If you’re fully remote with the ability to work anywhere, I’d suggest you’d be better off moving to Leicester, Northampton or Hull.
My own office is located in the third most expensive city in the UK. Since the remote-working revolution, many staff have moved to more affordable towns and villages, over fifty miles away.
We moved out of London twenty years ago for the same reason. However, if we wanted to move into a larger house now, we would have to move north too.
The remote worker has a freedom denied many, but they need a healthy dose of realism. Migration is a solution to the cost of living, but it’s not the only one.
Last modified: 22 September 2024
