As Covid lockdowns, political upheaval and soaring costs<\/a> drive expats from Hong Kong, and rival Singapore <\/a>raises the bar for imported labor, young professionals looking for adventure and careers abroad are facing a dilemma. Which will be the cosmopolitan hotspots of the future to lure a vibrant international community with high-paid jobs and affordable luxury lifestyles?<\/p>\n\n\n\n While countries from Curacao to Cape Verde have rolled out digital nomad visas<\/a> for web-based wanderers, building and retaining a large, cosmopolitan talent base takes more than a beach and a wi-fi connection. In a world reshaped by infection, invasion and inflation, a clutch of cities is challenging the old order, luring companies and start-ups to burnish their credentials as a global city. We talk to six workers who, from the beaches of Rio to the tech hub of Bangalore, are taking the road less traveled. Long overshadowed by neighboring Singapore as a destination for expat workers, the Malaysian capital is becoming increasingly attractive to global businesses because of its large English speaking workforce, easy flight connections around the region and relative affordability. In 2021, the city ranked first<\/a> in a worldwide survey of some 12,000 expats by InterNations, scoring top for housing. One of the oldest cities in Europe, Lisbon has reinvented itself as a hipster destination, hosting events such as the annual Web Summit and offering a mix of culture, nightlife and warm weather within easy reach of some of Europe\u2019s most spectacular beaches. Described last year by expat website Dispatches <\/a>as \u201carguably the most popular expat destination in Europe at the moment,\u201d Lisbon is enjoying a boom that has seen property prices steadily rise as an influx of wealthy immigrants buy houses in the capital or along the nation\u2019s fabled Algarve coast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Last August, Allison Baxley and her family swapped the 800-square-foot brownstone in Brooklyn they were renting for $4,300 a month for a three-bedroom house with a pool by the Portuguese coast at almost half the rate, a move she described as \u201cescaping the rat race.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n She says Cascais \u2014 a ritzy beachside enclave along the coast from the Portuguese capital, is \u201ca good landing spot for expats,\u201d with an international community and good schools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNew York got so crazy in the pandemic: the politics, crime rates were escalating all over the country\u201d said Baxley, 39. \u201cMy kids were starting in public school and I was worried about the kind of upbringing I was giving them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Read more: Lisbon Tops Hybrid-Working Ranks for Globetrotting Executives<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n A freelance writer, her plan is to buy property around Portugal and rent it out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIn New York we rented forever. We could never afford to buy,\u201d she said. \u201cThe prices here in Portugal are going up but they\u2019re not astronomical like New York.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Her family enjoys the lifestyle in Cascais, where they can drive into central Lisbon in half an hour or so a few times each month to see friends, deal with administrative issues, and go to restaurants and museums. She\u2019s also started writing about their life in Cascais in a blog she\u2019s called Renovating Life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe just love it over here,\u201d she said. \u201cIn New York, you\u2019re working so hard all week long. By the weekend you\u2019re exhausted. Here I\u2019m able to enjoy every single day.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The desert state has been challenging Hong Kong and Singapore for expat traffic for more than a decade now and the combination of the pandemic and war in Europe has made the Emirate even more popular. With the jagged spire of the Burj Khalifa soaring over a collection of futuristic architecture, Dubai has invested billions in creating a city of the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bernd Hanke, partner of a London-based fund, moved here during the pandemic to escape rounds of lockdowns and Covid measures in Stuttgart, where he had been staying for nine months, joining a growing number of financial professionals relocating to a city that is bolstering its financial and cryptocurrency markets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hanke enjoys waking up to the lush green golf course view from his Emirates Hills accommodation, as well as the warmer climate, even though summer temperatures outside the air-conditioned homes and shopping malls can run to 45 Celsius (113 Fahrenheit). A time zone similar to Europe makes it easy for him to reach the UK-based investors in his $400 million equity fund.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDubai handled the pandemic very well and there was almost no lockdown,\u201d said Hanke, 48, whose family is in London. Now he\u2019s thinking about whether to make the move more permanent and buy property in Dubai.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI would quite like to be in Dubai even for the longer run,\u201d he said. \u201cI have to make up my mind on that.\u201d Bengaluru, or Bangalore as it\u2019s still called by many locals and expats, has become one of the world\u2019s fastest-growing tech hubs, home to thousands of startups and software firms, fueled with money from global technology companies and blue-chip foreign investors such as Sequoia Capital and Goldman Sachs. Venture capital is flowing into the southern Indian city faster than to London or San Francisco by one estimate<\/a>, surging to $7.2 billion in 2020 from $1.3 billion in 2016. With a growing expat community has come international schools, as well as bars and bistros that serve everything from craft beers to pork ribs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n New centers of innovation are emerging around the world, \u201cand I see Bangalore as a burgeoning hub,\u2019\u2019 said Joseph Kim, 49, who left the San Francisco Bay Area last year to set up a gaming studio in the Indian city. \u201cPeople are increasingly disaffected by Silicon Valley, its politics, the crime and the dismal state of education,\u201d a combination of factors he says is prompting a \u201cmass exodus\u201d from the US technology heartland where he spent most of his career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\nKuala Lumpur<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a country at the crossroads of so many civilizations: South-east Asian, Chinese, Middle-Eastern, Indian,\u201d said Caroline Pujo, who moved to Kuala Lumpur with her husband and 10-year-old son in January after 15 years living in Shanghai. \u201cThere is a lot of cultural and language variety, but there\u2019s a real harmony in all that diversity.\u201d
She spends about 3,000 ringgit ($682) a month on rent, and works as an event consultant, developing ties across the region with clients in places such as China, India and Australia. She\u2019s also found a contract job as a project manager for a multinational firm.
\u201cIn Shanghai, everything is so fast,\u201d said Pujo, 47, \u201cI used to work super hard and party super hard. But once I left, I realized it was like being on drugs all the time. Now, things are bit more balanced for me.\u201d
She said some things can be frustrating \u2014 such as a patchy internet connection \u2014 if you\u2019re used to a city with very advanced infrastructure, but the tropical country\u2019s resort islands and culture more than make up for the inconvenience.
\u201cTraveling the islands, swimming in pools, flying around the region. That\u2019s what life is about.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nLisbon<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Dubai<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\nBengaluru (Bangalore)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n