The best place to live

Last week the Sunday Times newspaper¹ published its annual list of ‘Best Places to Live’ (in the UK) and the market town of Saffron Walden in Essex won.² Its attractive setting and green spaces, vibrant market, bustling high street with numerous food places, great schools and transport links, and the strong sense of community with many volunteering activities, won the judges over. I have been to Saffron Walden a couple of times and can confirm that the town is picturesque, oozes historical charm and is well worth a visit because of all it offers.

However, while I really enjoyed the trips, this didn’t give me a real sense of what it would be like to live there, or indeed how easily I would find my feet after moving there. The sense of community and opportunities to volunteer suggest it should be possible to make new local connections, find friends and discover new rewarding leisure pursuits, which are all important to me, however, the survey (perhaps unsurprisingly) doesn’t look at how newcomers are welcomed. Being part of a community is an important factor to somewhere feeling like ‘home’ because it fosters a sense of belonging and connection to a place.

The 2024 Expat Insider list of the Best & Worst Countries for Living Abroad,³ on the other hand, has an ‘Ease of Settling In’ category, which looks at elements such as how welcome expats feel and how friendly the locals are towards foreign residents, how easy it is to make friends and get used to the local culture, and how at home they feel. There are also a number of categories for more practical considerations, which seem rather comparative in nature. Expats were asked to rate their satisfaction on Personal Finance (how easy it is to lead a comfortable life on one’s income), Expat Essentials (language, visa, internet/social media), Working Abroad (working hours, work-life balance, working remotely) and Quality of Life (healthcare, transport, leisure, climate).

The highest overall scores last year went to:

• 1) Panama (which has a much higher percentage of retirees than other countries)
• 2) Mexico
• 3) Indonesia

The bottom three were held by:

• 51) Finland (a surprise drop from the previous year)
• 52) Türkiye
• 53) Kuwait

Panama scored highly in all categories, but was let down by transport and healthcare. The picture in Mexico was more mixed: it is incredibly easy to settle in, however, there were concerns over safety, healthcare and transport. Similarly, Indonesia ranked very highly on Ease of Settling In, Working Abroad and Personal Finance but got low scores for healthcare, air quality and all things digital.

At the other end of the rankings, both Kuwait and Türkiye scored low throughout with just the odd plus point, whereas Finland presented a mixed picture: it scored very highly in Digital Life and Environment & Climate but lost out in Ease of Settling In, Personal Finance, Quality of Life and Working Abroad.

This suggests that no country is ‘perfect’. So how do you find the ‘best place to live’? This will be different for everyone, as it depends on what is important to you and on how you want to live your life. At a practical level, if you like sunshine and warmth, Finland may not be for you. If your job depends on the internet in some way or you love social media, you may not want to pick Indonesia. If you have a health condition, you might want to find somewhere with a great healthcare system.

And then there are more intangible reasons: for me, the UK just ‘felt’ like home whenever I visited. I loved the language, the sense of history, the way they seem to do everything the other way around from what I’m used to, and the people are just the right mix of welcoming and reserved. Sure, there aren’t proper winters or summers here but a rather surprisingly humid temperate climate all year round, but I’ve got (almost) used to that now.

So it really depends on what your reasons are for making this change, how you hope your life will be different and what you plan to fill it with. Different countries offer contrasting lifestyles and vary in the sacrifices you may have to make so it is up to you to weigh up which one would suit you and your goals best. Whether you don’t know at all or would like to explore your motivations a little deeper, or you have been on holiday there, loved it and are wondering if it’s somewhere you could live permanently, I can help you figure out what your options are, which ones you’d like to pursue and what your next steps will be so that you can make the right decision for you at that time.

I have lived in the UK for over 20 years now and have never regretted the move. Of course, there have been times when I have felt there’s something missing and I couldn’t move forward, and the fastest way to get unstuck was with a coach. If you feel like this too, I can help you explore what that something is that has been alluding you and how to get it. Or if you love your social life and the local culture but feel work is leaving you unfulfilled and without career prospects, I can help you work out what changes you need to make to feel rewarded in your job and advance your career. Or if there is an aspect of living abroad you don’t enjoy (for instance if you didn’t realise how hot – or cold – it would be), I can help you find options of how to deal with it – all so that you find the best place to live.

1 The Times article is behind a paywall but numerous other papers have also run the story, e.g. The Independent: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/best-places-to-live-uk-saffron-walden-essex-b2719254.html, 21 March 2025

2 In case you’re wondering, there were also regional winners: in England, Chelmsford (also in Essex) for the East; Walthamstow for London; Petersfield (Hampshire) and The Chew Valley (Somerset) for South East and South West England, respectively; Ilmington (Warwickshire) for the Midlands; Woolton, a village in Liverpool, for the North West; and Ilkley in West Yorkshire for the North and North East. In Scotland, North Berwick won; in Wales, the Gower Peninsula and in Northern Ireland, Dundrum, Co Down.

3 https://www.internations.org/expat-insider/2024/best-and-worst-places-for-expats-40450, 23/03/2025