People have their reasons to emigrate to a country like Sweden. It is known for efficient public transportation, excellent living standards, and scenic landscapes. These factors alone make this Scandinavian nation an easy sell.
Among them are carless playgrounds and bike paths, the abundance of plant life, and the walkability of schools and grocery stores from her home.
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Expats will always have a unique perspective of their new home country
Image credits:mama.in.sweden
For those of you who don’t know, I’m an American living in Sweden, and I absolutely love my neighborhood. So I want to share with you guys some of my favorite things about it.
First of all, there are playgrounds on pretty much every corner in my neighborhood. There are literally dozens, and there’s virtually no crime and no cars permitted.
So the children are really safe playing. And the kids in the neighborhood leave their toys at the playgrounds and the sand boxes and stuff so that the other kids in the neighborhood can play with them when they’re not around.
Another thing that I love is that there is just so much plant life here.
Everyone has gardens, and there are wild flowers growing everywhere: lilac trees, cherry trees, walnut trees, and plum trees, all with flowers or fruits for anyone to take.
As long as you’re not taking from someone’s personal garden, the back of our yard in particular leads out to a walking in a biking path, which again, there are no cars permitted on; you can kind of see it peeking through the hedges here, but it’s super convenient for daily walks as a family.
There’s also an elementary school directly across the street from the neighborhood. So whenever our daughter does start school, we can just walk to school with her instead of having to drive her anywhere or put her on the bus.
And my personal favorite thing about the neighborhood is that it’s just really quiet. There are really just families here, retired older couples, and lots of kids playing outside all the time. So I know that Dolly will have friends when she gets older.
And I think this is probably all of Sweden, but everyone’s really really friendly here. But also, our neighbors do keep to themselves, which is nice. We’re not feeling like we’re bothered at all.
We’re also not like right in the middle of the city. So it’s pretty quiet and secluded here. But we also, like I said, have access to a lot of amenities really close to us. I’m just extremely grateful to be able to call this place my home. And I hope that we can live here for a really, really long time.
“We wanted to ensure that our future children were set up for success”
“We wanted to ensure that our future children were set up for success rather than failure, and in doing so, it also guaranteed that raising them would be much easier for us,” she said.
Among thebenefitsfor parents in Sweden is a monthly stipend ofSEK 1,250 (around$115),which is recurring until the child turns 16.
“I don’t think there is anywhere better in the world to be a parent,” she said.
Being an expat shouldn’t be daunting as long as you’re prepared and well-equipped
A few experts and expats shared their insights with the learning platformPreply. Software developerDennis Brown, who lived in Japan and currently resides in Thailand,pointed out the importance of learning the local language.
As he stated in the interview, language breaks barriers and makes building connections easier. It can also strengthen your bond with locals.
If you don’t take the proper steps, your banking situation could be an issue. Travel writerKatie Cafadvises negotiating a travel debit card with your bank to address this.
“Pulling out cash in a foreign currency was charged to my account just as if it was an ATM back home!” she said, recommending financial services like Wise that offer multi-currency debit.
But if you want first-hand insights, you can always seek advice from those who’ve been there and done that. This is something multi-traveled entrepreneurRyan Walkeradvises.
As he explained, these people may have first-hand information about local etiquette, finding an emergency plumber, and understanding colloquial language.
Some locals also shared their well-wishes
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