Many years ago due to a back injury that caused me to loose my job, my wife and I found ourselves in a serious financial situation. Once fully fit I applied for a job overseas. I did so as I knew from previously working overseas I could earn good money, which would get us back on our feet.

This decision proved to be the right one, which resulted in my working overseas for the next 19 years. During this time I worked in 13 different countries and visited numerous fabulous places, which had I been working in the UK, I would not have been able to afford going there.

By working overseas my wife and I not only enjoyed a very good life style, but made friends with people in a variety of countries. A few years after I re-started working overseas, I obtained a married status contract on a 5 star hotel project in Turkey. The project involved construction of what later became the best 5 star hotel in the region.

My wife became so overwhelmed by the beauty and the hospitality of the Turkish people that she suddenly said one day, “When you finish your contract, why don’t we buy a piece of land and have a house built on it.” This took me by surprise as before we went to Turkey we were like so many British people were going to live in Spain. I said, “I thought that we were going to live in Spain?” “No, she replied, Turkey is much better than Spain.”

After being introduced to a Turkish friend of one of my work colleagues, who also wanted to buy land to build a house on, we bought a plot of land between us. My new Turkish friend, who along with his two brothers owned their own construction company, then built 4 houses, one for each of us. Now some 20 years later I still live in the same house, which is in a beautiful location, surrounded by orange trees with a view of the nearby Taurus Mountains.

By working overseas you are more likely to earn more money than you would do from living in England (this might not apply in some countries i.e. Norway and Sweden). As for myself, by living in Turkey I enjoy approx 300 sunny days per year. Instead of looking out my bedroom and looking across at a neighbour’s bedroom, I look out across field full of orange trees to pine forested mountains. I can also enjoy going for a walk without fear of being mugged. Children here in Turkey are safe to walk around without fear of being attacked by some pervert. In general I feel far safer here than if I now lived in the UK. Also if you are a married expat with children, your children will learn more about life, as travel broadens ones knowledge.

My first experience of working overseas was certainly an eye opener, which I will write about in my follow up article.