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Originally Posted by am1m - Actually, a LOT of regular-job-holding people seem to have more than enough time for travel and photography, just check the Web, their travelogs and photologs are all over the place. Heck, just check the travelog section of Team-BHP! |
I dont want to get into a point-by-point rebuttal because thats not the purpose of the thread, but the point I was trying to make is that abroad, what you've pointed out is more the norm rather than the exception. Kudos to the regular job-holding TBHPians who do these things here - however, I'd still maintain that they are the exception in India, rather than the norm.
There is dog-eat-dog competition in India that makes us very career-focused to the exclusion of all else - 2-week travelogues notwithstanding. One of my life's ambitions is to climb a 8000+-peak. Thats easily 6-12 months of preparation, that is going to be unpaid leave. At the back of my mind is always the fear of whether I'm going to come back to a job at all!!
In contrast, my Swiss boss, took a sabbatical and went off on a 1-year MTB expedition from Cairo to Cape Town and then returned to his job and all his benefits (this is just one example btw. I have many other examples from European colleagues mainly). Even if his job wasn't there by some long shot, the governments there provide a soft cushion to fall on if you are unemployed (what soft cushion is there if you are unemployed in India or shudder, unemployed and fall sick. I can't imagine and I just went through a major illness in the family and the impact that had!!)
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Originally Posted by am1m By quality of life if you mean an easier day to day existence without many of the hassles our Indian cities have, and perhaps a populace with a higher degree of civic sense, then I would agree that quite a few countries abroad will be better. |
Yes, I meant this as well. I disagree that there are few, there are many in the developed world. Of course, the level of comfort and openness regarding language and culture will also dictate how easier an individual's day-to-day existence will turn out in the end
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Originally Posted by am1m But the travel point does not hold, as a lot of Indians based in Indian cities travel all over the World and the country these days. |
Again, sorry for the rebuttal, but on a pure cost-to-cost basis, its still more affordable doing foreign travel when you are working abroad than when you are working in India (unless you are lucky!)
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Originally Posted by am1m
- I'm curious, in which country worth living in is the cost of living not going up? I've never tried to buy a house abroad, but I think buying a home in any developed country in North America, Australia, or Europe is going to be an expensive proposition too |
It is much cheaper on a PPP basis. Simple factors - far greater land availability, lower population densities (in some cases, decreasing due to aging of population and lower fertility rates), relatively lower amounts of speculation, much more mature and deep rental markets (ensuring that there is no deadstock that is piling up and driving up prices - seen the number of unoccupied apartments in Gurgaon/Chennai/Bangalore/other NRI-hubs?) and I'm sure many more.
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Originally Posted by am1m -Fair enough. But it's not any easier or less expensive to get into such top-tier institutions. One of the major debt burdens for young workers in the US seems to be college loans. And from what I understand, you'll need to be a citizen of that country to qualify for the various educational assistance loans from the government in the first place. |
I'm sorry I used such an example. Take a look at the Times Higher Education Supplement's ranking of Top 100 universities in the world. A quick glance will show that there are 60-70 American universities there (not a single Indian one!!). So even if you dont get into a Harvard/MIT, you still have so many many options. In India, if you dont get into an IIT/IIM, heaven help you regarding the quality of education you'd get elsewhere (and I write this as a graduate of a Top-10 non-IIM MBA program!!) You're right about citizenship being necessary for college loans though, thats why this is an emigration thread after all
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