Living abroad can be a life of romance, personal growth and exciting opportunities. Or it can be a nightmare of expensive rent, culture shock and loneliness.
But if you are to take the plunge, Asian cities could be your best bets, according to a recent survey.
Four of the top five of the world's best cities for expatriates to live are in Asia, according to the survey of more than 20,000 expatriates.
Taipei, the capital city of Taiwan, topped the chart for the second year in a row.
Malaysia's capital, Kuala Lumpur, came in second while Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam was third. Singapore was ranked as the fourth-best city for expatriates while Montreal rounded out the top five as the only non-Asian representative.
The findings were published by InterNation, an expatriate network with 3.5 million members. The survey was conducted in March 2019, asking respondents to measure their living experience in five areas: quality of life, ease of settling in, working abroad, family life and personal finances.
Taipei took the win thanks to its affordable healthcare, competitive housing prices and friendly attitude toward foreign residents.
"I love the convenience of everything in Taipei: access to food, great transportation and cheap medical services," a respondent from Paraguay told the surveyor.
The only two mainland Chinese cities on the list were Beijing and Shanghai.
Shanghai ranked above Beijing and landed in the middle of the overall rankings at 43rd. It ranked well in local transportation and personal safety. The city performed poorly in the "quality of the environment."
Beijing, China's capital city, dropped 20 places from last year to the 60th spot. While some blamed the rising cost of living, most people found the city hard to navigate without knowledge of local culture and language.
Hong Kong fell three spots to 52nd but the survey was conducted before the start of the recent protest movement.
At the time, the slip was primarily the result of the expensive housing market.
Alexa Chow Yee-ping, managing director of AMAC Human Resources Consultants, told the South China Morning Post that despite the protests Hong Kong would still appeal to expatriates thanks to its proximity to mainland China, low tax rate, a robust legal system and good infrastructure.
But Chow warned that expatriates are monitoring the ongoing protests and assessing if the city could continue to offer business opportunities to foreigners.
As for American cities, they performed quite poorly. The highest-ranking US city for expatriates was Miami at 27th.
A few of the country's most famous cities " San Francisco, Los Angeles, and New York " were among the bottom 10 cities out of 82 surveyed, thanks to a rising cost of living.
Doha, Qatar was the most significant riser on the list, jumping 38 spots and Bern, Switzerland was right behind, rising 23 places.
Cape Town, South Africa experienced the steepest decline by dropping 45 spots. Aukland, New Zealand performed second-worst, dropping 27 places, followed by Manama, Bahrain which fell 18 positions down the list.
Additional reporting by Brain Wong and Kathleen Magramo
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