After living in a new country every 30-90 days for over 10 years, I decided to settle down and find somewhere I could call home. All I knew was that England wasn’t that place. My primary goal is to save to retire comfortably in 10-13 years.
While sitting in a coffee shop overlooking the Andaman Sea in Hua Hin, Thailand, I created my checklist for choosing the perfect place to live: solid internet connection, warm weather, affordable housing, and, more importantly, good quality of life. Other factors were good public transport links and quality healthcare.
Choosing Where to Live Abroad
My shortlist of cities included Bangkok, Thailand; Busan, South Korea; and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. I am a city guy, and while I love islands for short breaks, I couldn’t live on them. I love cities’ connectivity, hustle and bustle, coffee shop scene, parks, and open green spaces.
If you’re considering moving abroad, creating your own list is essential to ensure you choose the right place. I recommend actually spending time in the place you want to move to before you do so.
Go on a few vacations and stay in different neighborhoods. Visit with an open mind, and don’t be afraid to look out for the positives and negatives because, as mentioned before, no place is perfect.
Only when you spend time in a place can you realize its imperfections.
Think about your goal for moving. Why are you moving abroad?
Don’t move abroad to escape problems; they will follow you. Ensure you are in good financial standing; you do not want to move overseas with debt over your head. It will ruin the experience.
Think about your hobbies and interests because this might impact where you decide to live. Finding friends is vital when moving to a new place abroad, so look for groups and meetups that are focused on your interests. You could use a site like Meetup or Facebook to find events in the places you’re considering moving to.
Why I Chose Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia
It wasn’t easy to choose because all three cities were places where I was incredibly happy. All of my essential criteria were checked off, but it came down to the friendships I had built over the last ten years.
Read my blog post on living in Kuala Lumpur as a digital nomad to learn why I chose this fantastic city. I’m so excited to call this place my home; I love it and am so happy here.
How did I get here, though? Moving to a foreign country is difficult; there are visas to arrange, planning the move, and finding a place to live. This blog post will detail my experiences moving to Malaysia.
Looking at long-term visa options
Living in a foreign country involves a lot of paperwork and sourcing documentation. As a digital nomad who doesn’t want to work for a company in the country I am moving to, it was vital that I could continue my remote job while living there, so visa options are limited.
Thankfully, since the latest global pandemic, countries have opened their borders to remote workers like me. South Korea, Japan, Thailand, Spain, and Portugal, just to name a few, now allow digital nomads to live there.
Malaysia has a nomadic pass, and I decided to pursue it because I met the required criteria.
Applying for the De Rantau Nomad Pass
As a remote worker, applying for a digital nomad visa was the easiest option. Malaysia offers a one-year visa that can be extended for another year.
This allows you to live in the country and work as a freelancer, contractor, or employee in a digital remote role.
There are now two groups of people who can apply:
Tech Talent/Profession, i.e., IT & digital professionals in various fields like software engineers, data-related, digital marketing, etc.
I applied for this group as a Quality Assurance Lead. To apply, you must earn more than US$24,000 a year.
The other group is Non-Tech Talent/Profession, which includes fields such as Chief Executive Officer, Business Development, Marketing Manager, Customer Service Manager, Public Relations Manager, Technical Writer, Tax Specialist, Tax Accountant, Production Manager, etc.
To apply for the nomad pass for this group, you must earn more than US$60,000 annually.
Your application must include mandatory documentation and pay the visa fee to be submitted. I highly recommend reading the official De Rantau Nomad Pass website for more information.
Please note that you cannot use an agency, and in my experience, it can take up to six months, so do not expect a quick response.
I will be writing a post about the entire experience very soon.
Planning the Move to Malaysia
My planning was straightforward. I planned to move in with my girlfriend so I didn’t have to find a place to live.
I suggest booking an Airbnb for the first month or two. This will give you quality time to find a place to rent.
Write down your criteria for your new home: Do you want a gym or pool, furnished or unfurnished? Do you want to live near the MRT/LRT or be more central to walk around?
The three popular online property rental companies you can use to search are Mudah, Property Guru, and iProperty. Be very careful about scams, though, as they are common in big cities, especially Kuala Lumpur.
Don’t hand over any money without seeing a contract, and check details with a fine-tooth comb.
Read reviews of any property agents you find yourself dealing with, too. Don’t rush into renting until you have checked the place because you cannot rely on photos alone.
Having lived in a new country every 30-90 days, I traveled lightly, with just the essentials in my 46L backpack. If you’re moving to Malaysia from your home country, you might be tempted to bring everything but the kitchen sink. My advice is to declutter and only bring the essentials.
When you get settled, you can buy bulky items, depending on whether your apartment is furnished. I advise renting a furnished apartment if you want to live here only for a year or two.
Arriving in Your New Home
When you arrive, consider spending time in 2 or 3 neighborhoods; you could rent an apartment on Airbnb and review each area. What did you love and hate about the location? Was the traffic an issue, or was it too noisy? Did you find everything you need to live comfortably nearby? What are the transport links like?
Give yourself time to find the right neighborhood. In Kuala Lumpur, I see so many expats heading to Mont Kiara to live, and it’s the worst place if you want to get around the city easily, as it has no public transport links.
Better locations are Maluri and TTDI, which have excellent public transport links, plenty of international schools, and a good community feel. Subscribe to my YouTube channel, Remote Darren, for my neighborhood exploring videos.
My planning involved finding a local doctor to ensure I could continue getting my six-monthly diabetic check-up, a dentist, and an eye hospital to do my annual retinal screening.
The doctor was so easy to find, as there was a choice of two within a 5-minute walk. I walked in and saw a doctor who asked me questions, weighed me, and sent my blood off to be evaluated. It cost me 100 rm in total.
On previous visits to Malaysia, I purchased an eSIM but wanted a local mobile number, so I went to CelcomDigi and purchased a prepaid SIM card. I am finding no issues with the network and getting a 5G connection.
Another popular company is Hotlink, which is part of Maxis.
Alongside finding a doctor and purchasing a local SIM card, you will likely need to find a company for home WiFi. The best, in my experience, is Time. They provide the fastest, most reliable speeds. Do read reviews, though, because it will depend on where you live in Malaysia.
For Malaysia, it’s highly recommended that you purchase an Enhanced Touch n Go card, which costs only 10 RM.
This will allow you to pay for products and services using QR codes, which many smaller companies use. You can easily send money from your bank account. Also, download Grab because you will need this app for taxis, food delivery, and other services.
Challenges of Moving to Malaysia
Moving to Malaysia wasn’t a massive challenge because I had spent so much time in the country beforehand.
Thinking about it from a different perspective, finding places to live can be challenging because some rental agencies and landlords could take advantage of the fact that you’re a foreigner living in Malaysia and your salary is considerably higher than that of a local.
Some landlords won’t rent to foreigners, too, although this is not as much of an issue as in other countries like Japan.
Language is rarely going to be an issue, but you might come across older people who speak Cantonese or Malay but have no experience of talking in English.
Overall, there’s rarely a language barrier. What might be more confusing to locals is your English accent.
Opening a bank account can be challenging, and you have to go to a main branch, especially on the De Rantau nomad pass. Few banks are aware of this relatively new visa, so many people have had difficulties opening a bank, so try a few big branches.
Creating a Daily Routine in Your New Home
While experiencing this upheaval, you will still need to work, so it is vital to get into a daily routine as quickly as possible.
There will likely be a timezone shift, so you might have to change the time of day when you start and finish work. I love working in the evening, so I spend time on my passions during the day.
I recommend experimenting with your daily routine for the first couple weeks after moving into your new home.
Figure out when you’re the most productive and what your typical day might look like. Spend time working in coffee shops and co-working spaces, and factor in time during the day to stay active and exercise. This leads me to a topic that takes time but is essential for someone moving abroad.
Finding Community and Connection
One of the main factors for deciding to move to Malaysia was that I have friends I have met over the years. Most of my friends have the same interests as me, namely content creation, filmmaking, and photography.
Consider your passions and visit Facebook, Meetup.com, and other event sites to find people with similar interests. You have to make an effort to have a social life when you move to a new city, whether it’s a new country with different languages and cultures.
There are apps like Bumble, where you can create a profile and sign up to meet new friends. No, it’s not just a dating app but also a great way to find friends. Social media is another excellent way to meet like-minded people, and some of my friends were first connected with me on Instagram.
Go and work in co-working spaces or coffee shops, start conversations with people there, and you’ll find it easy to make new friends. As an introvert, I do not see it as easy to approach people, but it does become easier over time.
My Journey Moving to Malaysia as a Digital Nomad.
This guide will give you some steps to help you plan to move to Malaysia as a Digital Nomad. It’s certainly an easier country to transition to compared with others. English is widely spoken, it’s multicultural, and it is very well connected to the rest of Asia, making Kuala Lumpur, in particular, a great hub.