85: If a meteor hit London: Where I’d move next in Europe (and why)

If a meteor wiped out London tomorrow, where would I move next in Europe—and why?

In this episode, I walk through the five places in Europe that would top my relocation list if I had to move out of London and why. Part practical, part playful, this thought experiment is built around a real question many of you have asked: If London isn’t an option, what’s next? 

I share the exact qualities I’d look for in a new home base—like walkability, affordability, international communities, and visa access—and explain why each city abroad stands out as some of the best places to move to in Europe.

Plus, a few under-the-radar honorable mentions you might not have considered...

👉Take the free quiz: Which European city should you move to? 🤔

Grab my free guide: 5 Exact Steps to Move Abroad

Website: jordangiberson.com
Instagram: @jordan.giberson

Transcript

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But you just realize in general that your life doesn't depend on one place and that's freedom. It is having the ability to live anywhere and being able to create a home anywhere and make it your home. So there are so many amazing places across the globe that you can move to Hey, my name is Jordan Giberson. I'm a Texas girl living and thriving in London. The best thing I've ever done? Moving abroad, hands down. And I'm passionate about helping others do the same. Are you curious about finding a job abroad? You're in the right place, friend. I'll teach you the tried and true secrets of how to make moving abroad a reality for you and how to live a fulfilling life once you get there. We'll cover topics like choosing the best visa for you, how to get a job offer in another country, how to get over your fear of moving abroad, and how to live a life you love once you get there, this is The Move Abroad Podcast. Hello and welcome to another episode of the Move Abroad podcast. Thanks for joining me for today's episode. So for today, we're going to be talking about if a meteor hit London, where I'd move to next in Europe, and why? So imagine this, a giant meteor hits London. My life in this beautiful city that I love so much has completely ended. I'm fine, thankfully, but suddenly I have to pick a whole new place to live in Europe. Where would I go? What would I look for? And more importantly, why those places. This episode is part practical, part playful, but underneath the meteor metaphor is a real question many of you have asked. If London is not an option, where else in Europe could you build a life that you love? I feel like a lot of people want to move to London, and I totally get it. I love London. I love my life here, and I understand why other people want to move here as well. But sometimes people are saying, I love London. I love that option and I'm interested in moving there, but there's other places that I'm also considering, or where else would you want to move to? And that's basically what this episode is for. So if London was not an option for you if you decided that it was not a good fit, if it was a bit too difficult to move to because it is quite a competitive city to move to, where else in Europe might be a good fit for you. So let's go ahead and dive on in. Now what makes a city livable? This is at least what is livable for me and what I'm looking for. But before I name names, let's go ahead and zoom out. If London were suddenly off the table, then I'd want to move somewhere that checks off a few personal boxes for me. So number 1 would be a walkable city with good public transportation. This is something that I love, something that's really important to me, I want somewhere that's going to have very organized public transportation. Some places that you move to, I'd say most places are gonna have pretty decent public transportation, but some are better than others. Some places like Italy, especially Southern Italy, you're not gonna have great public transportation. But in cities like Amsterdam or well, London obviously has great public transportation. Paris, they also have great public transportation. So where is a city that is walkable, where it's really nice to walk through and where it also has really good public transportation. Those are things that are really important to me. Another thing that's also really important is to have strong international community. You need to have strong expat community whenever you move abroad because you can make friends with local people, and you will, and you should, but it's also important to make friends with people who get you, who are quite similar to you, who have also wanted to move abroad, who also have that adventurous spirit that you'll have who also understand the difficulties of living abroad. Just you will have a similar mindset to those people and in some countries it will be a bit more difficult to meet and integrate with local people. For example, in Paris, I would expect that it would be a bit more difficult to integrate into, Parisian life with Parisians, whereas it'll be a bit easier to connect with expats. So I do think that it's important to make friends with both local and and expat communities. But it is importance that where you move to does have a strong expat community or international community. Another thing is the weather. Depending on what's important to you. You might be looking for mild weather, you might be looking for somewhere that's really sunny. You might be looking for somewhere that is a bit colder, temperature. So for me, the weather was not the most important decision making factor, but if I were to move abroad again, I think that this would be something that I would heavily consider. Another thing might be affordable ish living costs. So depending on again, what you're looking for and what type of job you can get and what your salary looks for, you might be looking for something that's a bit more affordable depending on what type of work you are looking for. So let's say that you want to work as a freelancer, then it might make sense for you to move to somewhere like, Portugal, where the living cost is a lot more affordable. Whereas if you are looking to build a career, you might say, okay, I wanna build my career. Then maybe some more like Amsterdam, the Netherlands might be a better fit because they might have more work options for you. So yeah, it just really depends on what you're looking for. So, that would be another thing is the living cost. And then another thing is just work. What is actually available in for work for you if you're a freelancer, if you're building a business, if you're going to be retired, if you're going to have a normal 9 to 5 job. So what does that look like for you? So what are those work opportunities for you? Another thing I'd be looking for is good food. That's important to me to having a variety of food. I feel like some places I move to, I'm like, okay, I love Italy and Italian food is great, but do you have anything besides Italian food in Italy? Because after a while you can only eat so much pasta and pizza. It gets a little bit tiring. So good food and a variety food is really important to me. Another thing that's important to me personally is access to nature. That's something that I always look for. I've always lived nearby a park or nearby nature. I'm currently living on the river in London, and it is incredible. I walk along the river almost every single day. It's something that's really important for me. So just access to nature in general, even if it's a little park, is important to me personally. Another thing that might be important to you is creative energy. That's something that some people are really interested in having. So maybe it's creative energy for you somewhere where the people are a bit more edgy or creative. Maybe that's something that you're looking for. Maybe you are looking for something that's a little bit random but is really important to me, and not necessarily just the city, but in the area that I'm living in, in general, is really good. Cafes, coffee shops, coffee. Because I work in coffee shops quite often. That's something that's really important to me because it does affect my personal day to day. So having good coffee access to cute coffee shops is really important. I was actually just in Paris very recently, and I was shocked at the quality of the coffee there. Maybe it sounds really silly, but I really love coffee and I was shocked at the quality of coffee. It was just terrible. After a while I was like, okay, I just need to start getting Americanos only because they don't know how to make a proper flat white or cappuccino. Like it just was not good. But I know that there are some places that do good coffee there, but on average the coffee was not good. Whereas in London, you go to pretty much any coffee shop and the coffee is gonna be incredible. Like London does coffee well, but London has blown up, it no longer exists. So where else am I going to move to? And then the last thing that I really look for is just easy visa access for Americans. Getting a visa is super annoying, but you do have to get a visa whenever you move abroad. So it is important to see where has good visa options, and especially for Americans. So you might think about this list and say, okay, I have a bit of a different checklist, but I would encourage you to think about what you value in a city. It helps to cut through the noise, especially whenever you're feeling overwhelmed with options, because there are a million options of where you could move abroad to in Europe. So without further a do, if London were to have blown up and it no longer exists, then where would I move to In Europe? These are my top five places that I would move abroad to in Europe, number 1, Is Lisbon, Portugal. So let's start with Lisbon. This is why I would choose it. It has a growing expat and digital nomad community. I remember whenever I visited, I looked around and I was like, I could move here. I mean, I love London. And I was like, no, I'm gonna stay in London. But, I honestly looked around Lisbon, and Lisbon is honestly an incredible city and one of the biggest reasons, again, is because it has a great expat community. A lot of people speak English. A lot of the local people speak English, but also there's a really big expat community. There's constantly events. We actually randomly ran into an expat event for Americans in a bar that we went into. We looked around and we're like, why are there so many Americans? And like, why is everyone trying to talk to us? This is really weird. But then we figured out that it was actually a planned social event, so people were like, Hey, you're probably here for the event because you're obviously American and you came to this bar, but we got just really stumbled upon it. But, it does have a really great expat community and there are a lot of digital nomads that live there as well. So if you are a digital nomad, this could be a good fit for you because the city is also really used to having digital nomads. So they'll have coffee shops where they're used to having people that are working on laptops, and they accept that they'll have really great wifi in coffee shops. They'll have really great coworking spaces that you can go to. So the city is gonna be built more around that digital nomad mindset and be a good fit for you if that's the type of work that you have. So a good expat community Lisbon is incredible for that. The weather is also fantastic. It is sunny most of the year. It is on the beach. There are beautiful beaches nearby. It is a very warm city and very sunny and something that I miss sometimes. I really miss the sunshine at times in London. So that would probably be a very welcomed change for me. But yeah, the weather is really incredible and sunny most of the year, which is great. And Portuguese food is delicious and underrated, so that's another thing to think about. And they also have a variety of food in Portugal as well, in Lisbon. So you will have great food there. It's also pretty affordable compared to most western European capitals. So if you're wanting somewhere that's a bit more affordable, then Portugal would be a great fit for you. And then there's great access to beaches and city life in Lisbon, and that's another reason why it's so incredible. And then in terms of visas, Portugal offers a D7 visa, which is friendly to remote workers and those with passive income. So the visa is quite flexible and there are a lot of expats in Lisbon for a reason. And one of those reasons is because it has a great quality of life. It's very affordable, it's sunny. There's a lot of other expats so people can feel a sense of community and there's a visa that's quite easy to get. So Lisbon, Portugal would be a really, really good fit. And one really interesting stat about Portugal is that Portugal was ranked 7th safest country in the world according to the 2023 Global Peace Index. And in the same year, Lisbon ranked among the top 5 cities for digital nomads in Europe. So if you want somewhere that's digital nomad friendly Lisbon is at the top of the ranks, and it's also known as being one of the safest countries in the world. It's ranked 7th in terms of the safest in the world, or as the United States is ranked like 120 something or 130 something. It's crazy. So it is quite a safe city. So especially if you're a woman and you're looking for something that's really, really safe, then Portugal would be a really good fit for you. So that is number 1 place that I would move to if London was hit by a meteor. The 2nd place that I would move to if London was hit by a meteor is Madrid or Valencia, Spain. So Valencia does not get talked about enough, but this is why it's on my list. Along with Madrid, I'm also including Madrid because. I think I would actually move to Madrid, but the truth is I have not actually visited Valencia, so I feel like I can't really speak to it, but I've heard incredible things about it. Really positive things. So perhaps if you want a bigger city, then Madrid might be a better fit for you. But if you're looking for something a bit closer to the sea and somewhere that's perhaps a little bit smaller, then Valencia might be a really good fit for you. So this is why these 2 places in Spain are on my list. It's cheaper and calmer than being in Barcelona. But Madrid is still super vibrant. I have been to Madrid and I loved it. This was one place that I did visit and I said, I could move here. I said the same thing whenever I was in Lisbon and I said the same thing in Madrid. Madrid I had a very low expectations, to be honest, but it really surprised me. I really, really enjoyed it. So it is cheaper and it's calmer and it feels a little bit less touristy to me than Barcelona. A lot of people love Barcelona. I'm so sorry if you love Barcelona, but for me, I just really didn't get it. I don't love Barcelona, but I mean, maybe you love Barcelona and if so, then I mean have at it. Barcelona is also a great city. But I loved Madrid. I think Valencia would also be a really great city too. So, the cities are walkable, they're super bike friendly, and in Valencia it's right on the coast, which is amazing. There are really great rich cultural scenes there. Think great architecture, great art, great music festivals. So if you're into kind of, the culture scene of like artsy musicy architecture, then these places would be a great fit for you. Spain also offers a new digital nomad visa, which could work really well for some Americans. So they do have great visa options for Spain. And one really interesting stat about Valencia is that in a 2023 Expat Insider survey by Interations Valencia ranked number 1 worldwide for quality of life and affordability, that is huge. I feel like Valencia is not spoken about enough, and I feel like that's one thing that's really incredible is that Valencia is not going to be as touristy as some other places that you can move to. And this might not be something that you're considering now, but as you're living somewhere for a year or 2 years, you will increasingly be a little bit more annoyed by tourists. We love tourists. Tourists are great, I am an American living in another country. So I feel like I have little to say on the topic because I am not originally from here, but as you live somewhere longer, having tourists constantly stop taking photos, just wanting to like. They wanna go to the best places. They're in lines for the coffee shops you wanna be at, or they're kind of crowding the metro system or, walking really slowly in the cities or whatever. It just becomes a little bit not ideal. So to move somewhere where it'll feel more homey and it feels more local, even if there are expats living there to not have tourists, it does feel really warm and yeah, it just feels more like local and community centric, if that makes sense. So I think that's why it is really helpful whenever there's not as many tourists. So anyways, Valencia was ranked number 1 for quality of life and affordability. So I think Valencia, because it's a little bit more like not well known, it might be a really great city to move to. So anyways, that was my number 2. If London was hit by a meteor, I would move to Madrid or Valencia. Number 3 on if London was hit by a meteor, where would I move to in Europe? Number 3 for me would be Berlin, Germany. Okay. Berlin is definitely on the edgier, more alternative side, but that's exactly why I think it might be a good option. Why I love it. I honestly have not ever been to Berlin, but I really want to go. I feel like every single person that I meet from Berlin is incredible. If you have listened to some of my previous podcast episodes, you'll know that I love Cape Town in South Africa and in Cape Town. Whenever I go visit, there are a million Germans. There are a lot of Germans that love to travel to Cape Town and specifically from Berlin, so I feel like I've connected with a lot of people from Berlin and they're always so kind, so welcoming, so fun, so chill, like they're just really great people. I will say I am not on the edgier side. I would not consider myself an edgy girly. Not really my personality, but if this is something that you are interested in and you think you're a bit more edgy, then Berlin might be a really great fit for you. It has a really creative, artistic energy. Unlike anywhere else in Europe, there is a really massive international community, which again, is super, super important to have a great expat community, and there is a huge expat international community. So in terms of that, Berlin is a really great fit. It's also more affordable than you'd expect for a capital city. So while I'm not gonna say it's gonna be as cheap as moving to Portugal, it's going to be more affordable. Germany also offers a freelancer visa for freelancers, which is quite popular. There's a lot of really great visa options. They also have a year long job search visa, and they honestly just have such a great variety of visas and they're constantly hiring people from other countries. So if you are looking for an easy visa somewhere where they're wanting to hire. People for 9 to 5 jobs. If you want to be, working full-time for a company, Germany is gonna be a really great fit for that. They have a really strong economy and they are constantly hiring international people. A lot of Germans speak English. A lot of companies speak English. It does really depend on the industry and the company. But Germany, if you wanna be able to speak English in a company and get a 9 to 5 job and get sponsored to get a Visa, then Germany would be a really great fit. Germany also has incredible public transportation and they have a big emphasis on sustainability. They are going to be very organized. Germans are very like to the tee on follow rules and being kind of they're a little bit more like, I don't wanna use strict because it has a bit of a negative connotation, but they are like public transport, like the trains are probably all gonna be quite on time. And it's gonna be quite organized. Like everything within the country is gonna be quite organized because that's how Germany is, which I find as a positive. Whereas in some other countries, you're gonna have a lot of bureaucracy, like in Italy. There's gonna be more bureaucracy and it's gonna be quite challenging to get a visa and get things organized. Whereas Berlin, Germany, it's gonna be super, super organized. So an interesting fact about Berlin, Germany is that Berlin is home to over 800 arts galleries. Crazy. 800 art galleries. And more than 20% of its population is international, making it one of the most multicultural cities in Europe. So, making it one of the most multicultural cities in Germany. So 20% of its population is international. That is crazy. But that's awesome for you because it is really important. Like I've said before, you might be thinking, okay, I'm trying to get away from Americans. I wanna get away from the US. I don't wanna make friends with Americans. I wanna make friends with Germans. Yes. Make friends with the Germans. They're incredible. I love Germans, but it is really important to have expat friends. You do not wanna be the only expat person living in a city. You're gonna feel like a complete outsider. So the fact that 20% of the population is international, that the city is used to having international people is going to be a huge bonus for you in moving there. Number 4 on our list of if a meteor hit London, where would I move to next? In Europe, number 4 is Amsterdam or Utrecht Netherlands. So a lot of people will think of Amsterdam, but it's also potential to go to utrecht. I feel like uthrect is more, it's just outside of Amsterdam. It's super close. So if you do want to work in Amsterdam, but you wanna live in uthrect, you could totally do that. I feel like utrecht is just a little bit quieter. It's gonna be a little bit less touristy than Amsterdam. It's going to be a little bit more family oriented perhaps, whereas Amsterdam is gonna be right in the city. So you could check out both places. And like I said, I mean, they're literally right next utrecht is just outside of Amsterdam, but it's just gonna be a little bit quieter and a little bit less well known. So it will have all of the charm of Amsterdam without the crowds, which is a huge bonus. There's also great canals, great bikes. History, check, check, check. I mean, the canals are beautiful and what makes Amsterdam and utrecht so unique? So if you are interested in the canal life and you love that, and you think it's really beautiful and you love being on the water and seeing water constantly, then you're in luck because there are a million canals. And if you love biking, you love cycling around. Then also huge bonus because bikes rule the road in Amsterdam and Utrecht. It is not for like, if there is a person walking and trying to cross somewhere and there is a car trying to cross somewhere and there's also a bike trying to cross somewhere, like the bike is gonna win. Like in rock, paper, scissors, it is just like the one that always wins. It is the bike. But anyways, so canals, bikes, history, it has all of that. The Dutch also speak English incredibly well and very often. So if you want to move somewhere and you're not very confident on being able to speak another language, then you're in luck because they do speak great English. They speak it very well, and they speak it quite often. So that is another huge bonus for you if you are an international person. If you're an American moving abroad, then I feel like this is a huge bonus and one of the reasons why I would strongly consider moving here if London no longer existed. It's also super well connected and very, very livable. So, it just adds to why it's so great is that it's well connected, very livable. The Netherlands also has a visa for entrepreneurs and freelancers, so there are great visa options as well. And then an interesting stat is that over 90% of Dutch people speak English, and utrecht was named one of the happiest cities in the world by the United Nations Urban Wellbeing Index. So if you want to move somewhere where they speak great English. 90% of people are speaking English and where it's one of the happiest cities in the world, then utrecht could be a really great fit. And again, utrecht is just outside of Amsterdam, but even in Amsterdam, it just feels like the last time I went there I was like, I could live here. Like I do remember thinking that. It just feels so happy and so family oriented, like there are families walking around, it just feels like slower pace of life. It did feel like a happy city to me. So yeah, I really enjoyed it. And utrecht apparently is one of the happiest cities in the world, so that could be a really good fit for you if you are considering moving abroad to Europe. And London is not an option because a meteor has hit it. And number 5 of places that I would move to if London was struck by Meteor and I couldn't live there anymore or live here anymore, would be Dublin, Ireland. Dublin might not have the sunny skies of Lisbon or the cost of living perks of Eastern Europe, but it does make the list for a few really great reasons. So some reasons why I would consider it is that it is one of the few English speaking capitals in Europe, which removes a huge barrier for Americans looking to move abroad. Dublin also has a really strong economy and is home to major international companies like Google, Meta and Airbnb, which makes it great for job opportunities in general, especially in tech and marketing. So it doesn't mean that you have to do tech and marketing in those companies, but it does have a really big tech scene in general. It also has a very friendly, down to earth vibe that makes it easy to strike out conversations and build community and just make friends in general. And the Irish countryside is breathtaking and easily accessible for weekend trips. So I would definitely consider Ireland for some of those reasons. I do think that it does have a really great job market, and it is an English speaking country, which just makes it so much easier for Americans to be able to move there and integrate into the culture and the country. One really interesting stats about Dublin is that according to Irish Central Statistics Office, over 20% of Dublin's population is non Irish, giving the city a surprisingly international feel. So 20% of Dublin's population is non Irish, which is quite similar to Berlin, which also has 20% international community. And in 2023, the OECD report says that Ireland ranked among the top 10 countries for quality of life, particularly in health, safety, and community. So if you want to have a really great quality of life, Ireland could be a really good fit for you. So those are the top 5 cities and countries that I would move abroad to if London was suddenly struck by a meteor and I had to move away. So number 1 was Lisbon, Portugal. Number 2 was Madrid or Valencia, Spain. Number 3 was Berlin, Germany. Number 4 was Amsterdam or Utrecht Netherlands. Number 5 is Dublin, Ireland. And we do also have our honorable mentions. So these are a few other places that are on my radar if those would not be a good fit. I would also consider Ljubljana Slovenia. So some reasons why it's a bit of a hidden gem is because it's clean, it's very green, and it's just stunningly beautiful. Ljubljana is small, but it's full of charm and it's super safe. You can go skiing or hiking or wine tasting all within an hour. The cost of living is lower than in Western Europe. Slovenia is part of the schengen area in the EU making travel super seamless and easy. So I do think that Ljubljana Slovenia. Could be a really good fit as well. Another good one might be Budapest Hungry. I visited Budapest before and I loved it. It is a bit of a crumbly city, but I did really love it. It has a very low cost of living and there were a lots of digital nomads there, so I do think it could be a good fit as well. And then another honorable mention, and I might pronounce this wrong, is Tbilisi Georgia. So a reason why I would consider moving here is that it has very warm people, a very low cost of living, and an easy visa free stay for Americans for one year. So if you want somewhere really, really easy peasy to move to for a year, then consider Georgia. Another one might be tone and Estonia. It has a really great tech scene, a great digital residency program, and a very beautiful fairytale architecture. So Estonia might be a good fit as well. And then Bologna, Italy is our last honorable mention. It has incredible food. It has fewer tourists than you would find in Florence and many other places in Italy in general. It's kind of in Central Italy almost, or like central to the places that you would want to visit in Italy. So I do think that Bologna could be a really great fit. It's very well connected in terms of public transportation and trains. Like if you looked on the map, you'd be like, whoa, this is literally in the middle of all places that I'd wanna visit. And it has a really strong student in expat vibe, especially for students. There are a lot of universities. There are like a really big university there, so if you're looking to study bologna could be a really good fit. So those are our honorable mentions. But those are basically the places that I would move to in London. So if a meteor did wipe out London, I would grieve the loss of my favorite coffee shops and the bookstores that I love and the parks that I love and, all the amazing things that London has to offer. But I'd also be excited because here's the thing. Whenever you build the skills to be able to move abroad, once you can do it again, so much easier, you become more flexible, more resilient, and more aware of what you need to feel at home. So like we talked at the very beginning of what I would look for if I were moving abroad. We list all those things like weather and food and, affordability and having a digital nomad community and the weather and what the visas are like. So different things that make it feel like home for you and what you really need in order to be successful and where you move abroad to. But you just realize in general that your life doesn't depend on one place and that's freedom. It is having the ability to live anywhere and being able to create a home anywhere and make it your home. So there are so many amazing places across the globe that you can move to, but Europe has so many incredible places that are very livable, where there are so many Americans who are already living there, who have paved the path for you, have already done it. So it is absolutely possible for you. So if you decide that London is the best fit for you, because you know, meter has not hit London and it is thriving and it is an amazing place to live. It's a great city, but there are so many other amazing cities that you could move to in Europe. So where would you go if your current home was no longer an option? What cities call to you and have you thought about what makes a place feel right for you? And have you thought about what makes a place feel right for you? And hey, if you are getting serious about moving abroad, don't forget to take my quiz, which European City should you move to? It's fun, it's fast, it takes under 2 minutes, and it's surprisingly accurate. You'll actually find some of these locations that we talked about today on the quiz, so you can find it at Jordangiberson.com/quiz, or you can just click on the link that's in this podcast description, which is super easy peasy. So anyways, thank you so much for listening to another episode of the Move Abroad podcast. I will catch you here again next week, same time, same place. I'll catch you then.