by Baggieboy » Tue Jul 06, 2010 1:19 pm
Been following the thread with interest. We intend to move to Cyprus in - ooh around 3 years, 4 months and 23 days - roughly. reason being is that's when I hit 50 and can take early retirement.
Now everyone's circumstances are different, but what a lot of people say is "Cyprus is great to retire to, not so good to work in".
There are people who move to Cyprus and succeed, but it ain't easy. Theres little or no safety net if things don't work out and Cyprus, for all its positives, is after all a different culture to the UK. There are horror stories of people having one holiday there and next thing they're selling the house in England and moving out to live. Its often these types who end up returning the UK because they didn't do their research.
Which brings me to my next point. Research. research everything. Where you want to live, the language (even just the social niceties), the politics and history (now that really is an interesting one - but I'll go no further at this stage). research Cyprus accommodation websites - there's plenty if you look.
Honestly, we've been planning our move for 5 years already, but there will still be surpises for us when we get there. You cannot do enough research! Villages, wines, transport, culture, arts - really LEARN about Cyprus.
My advice would be test the water. If possible give yourself 2 years, with enough cash to get through at least 6 months. Don't sell the house in UK and rent in Cyprus.
Did I mention research?
Search other message boards, the one the locals refer to as "Cyprus Dying" is actually a very useful one for getting information. I won't advertise the name on here, but you can probably guess it from the above pun.
Its a brave move, and one I wouldn't have the bottle for, so fair play to you on that, but if it works out you'll appreciate it all the more.
And do lots of research.
Good luck
Richie