I have officially been a resident of the EU for 2.5 months and over that time I have had the privilege of living in Lisbon, Seville, and now Valencia. Also during that time I have migrated off of my US-based clients, meaning my only time shifting required is to connect with my colleagues.

What are the pros and cons of living in the EU and working for a US or Canadian company?

Pros:

• Time shifting: I have made time-shifting work for me. Right now, my hours are 10am to 12pm, and 2pm to 8pm. I can sleep in, can go to the gym or get a nice long lunch break, and still wrap up work before dinner, and still overlap enough with my US-based colleagues.
• Time off in the morning: When we were in Lisbon Seville, I time-shifted even more and started work at 1pm and finished at 9pm which was a great opportunity to sight-see and get to take in the city during the best hours of the day.
• Insanely fast internet connection: Living in the EU has made me spoiled: this is my actual internet connection speed. This doesn’t even compare to living in Latin America where I would be thankful for 20mbps down.

• Culture, Food, and Wine: Nothing beats the relaxed culture of wine and tapas, siestas, and sunshine. I get the best of both worlds here – challenging and exciting work, along with the benefits of living in an incredible country.

Cons:

• Working two shifts: During crunch time, I find myself skipping my lunch break, and working late. (For example, today, I worked 10h). If you are not careful, you can find yourself working both EU time, as well as US time.
• Transferring money: If you are not smart about how you transfer your $$ to €€, you can end up wasting a lot of money on transfer fees. I use TransferWise which has been incredible so far.
• Meeting new friends: Since we are time-shifting, it gets difficult to go to meet up events which usually are scheduled in the evening (when we are working).

Despite the cons, I am so grateful to get to live in such a gorgeous country while still enjoying the benefits of my job!