Why We Left Malta? | Advice Before Moving to Malta

hey dudes! in this video we talk about reasons why we decided to leave Malta 🇲🇹 after living there for 2 years! :)

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[baddieatrizz]

I am also a foreigner (been raised and lived all over US and Europe all my life) and have been living in one of Sliema’s quiet street for the last 8 years. This is a key to liking it here, one area, full of locals who, with time, treat you as their own. As for the prices and rent, before coming here l checked those and knew what l’m getting into.
You guys are young with no kids, you wanted to experience the world and you did just that.
In comparison with you, l have a 9 year old son, and l strongly believe there is no better place (English speaking country) to raise your child than here. When looking at the cost of living, in my case the single most important factor was a free child care. So, instead of dishing out £1000 min a month for a childcare, here it was free. Another factor is a close proximity to work and school. Good work life balance. Another is the fact that in the local government primary school there are, out of 400 kids, 86 different nationalities, of all cultural, economic, social, religious backgrounds. It is better than any private school.
Malta is extremely safe place for kids. Kids grow up maybe not in green nature but definitely in the sea water and outdoors in general.
My point here is: depending on your situation this place can be a god send.
I consciously chose to ignore bad things and enjoy the good things, again - in my situation these prevailed.

[feli___b]

You guys are saying you bearly survived with your earnings in Malta, but you also said that you saved enough to buy a property in your country - this is a big contradiction, it does not make sense

[jimallen]

"Have to work 40 hours per week" What? I'm almost 60 years old and have worked full-time since I was 20 years old. I estimate that I averaged 50-70 hours per week over that span. In my twenties and early thirties it could reach 80 hours per week during parts of the year. Now, I am in the U.S. so this is not outrageous. I have European friends who could not believe how much we work here. What these two describe in the video would be a breeze to most Americans, so I guess its all relative.

[gregoriofracassi]

I'm a bit confused, you say the rent takes away almost an entire person's salary, but I'm checking online and I see listings for even €650 for an 80m² apartment. What's the catch here? Thanks guys let me know pls 🙏

[webbers]

You should have bought a boat. Lived on it, and sell it again when you decide to leave . Secondly, out of curiosity, would I feel welcome in Latvia? Will everyone start speaking English because I am there ?

[cptjam]

Every where is expensive you can't compare Scotland with Malta, Scotland cheap at rent because the miserable weather and malta expensive because a nice weather I lived in UK for 12 years we work like donkeys in here all money goes to rent and bills so the bad everywhere at least malta you see the sun every day and enjoy it but here in UK you will see the sun ones a year i lived in malta before I came to UK and I prefer Malta then UK

[jackcalder]

You have to work 40 hours to pay your bills? Isn’t that the same in most places?

[martysfluidart]

When you land on a country that you don't have to work to live, or maybe the boss will send you money while yiu stay home, send me a message, i think you two are very entiltled . Imagine Maltese speaking Maltese, how rude of them.

[vespalifemalta]

Hey! I'm also from Latvia, managed to survive here in Malta for 8 years. It's harder to settle here during past 5 years for foreigners, in order to rent house or apartment you need to check if it's quiet neighbourhood or you will have constant construction happening around you. In same time you will want to rent an apartment close to your job to avoid traffic jams. But still i like Malta, but missing Latvia :)

[CraigAnderson-hh]

I'm 78 and been all over and can say that every place has both positives and negatives, pros and cons. That's life!

[jasonfenech]

Malta is a very small country that you could nearly classify it as a country. Yes, it is not cheap but that is attributed to the fact that everything is exported due to the limited amount of land and rain. I think that you missed your planning when it came to culture, places where are not a touristic trap (such elsewhere in the World).

The biggest positive aspect about Malta is that most of the people speak fluent English, people are friendly, schools and health is free to a point, and you will feel quite safe walking the streets. Another positive aspect is that since Malta is situated in the middle of the Mediterranean for vacations, you could actually travel to all Europe within 3 hour flight range. However, the bad side of Malta is that as an island is very small and you might feel claustrophobic from time to time.

[rodneyhighwaystar]

You are very right on many things! I am a Maltese guide and work with varius foregners and get to get many reactions. One thing or two where you might have failed was one: You lived in Sliema! That is super expensive and really essentially there is nothing much Maltese there, so you could not really get a sense of the place, its traditions and the warmth of a Maltese town/village. It's Festas and its microcosms. You were in the noisiest and alien places on all the Island. Two you where expecting the locals to speak English for you when you should have had tried to integrate, learn the language, customs and so on. I think its part of respecting yourself and the locals too :) About the fact that it is expensive (for no real value at all), noisy and may be alien in such touristy places sure thing! Couldn't be more right ;)

[Expatlife]

These are the experiences of young people with unestablished careers. I appreciate they shared their perspectives.

[lawrencemast]

If you only worked 40 hours a week how is it you had no time to do anything? I work over 90 hours a week & still find time to do other things.Yes property is expensive in Malta but that's why we work so hard to buy a house

[ashokdutta]

Malta is a beautiful country where I spent 10 years. It's very family oriented country.Family is very important and a safety net for the Maltese people. You go out on Saturday night mainly with your brothers in law sisters in law .And on Sunday it's usually go to your parents home and the whole family gathers for long lunches which last till late evening. This is something this couple obviously missed. It really is difficult for foreigners to adjust to the Maltese way of life. Maltese people are the kindest people I have met in my life. I was sorry I had to leave Malta for personal reasons.But I will always remember Malta and the Maltese with lots of fondness. One thing I liked in Malta the children really respect their parents and grandparents and appreciate what they have done for you. Grazzi Sahha!

[jvmalta]

us locals feel it as well and the reason of this inflation is because a lot of people have poured in our tiny island in a short time and the prices skyrocketed ! I myself am planning to move out because its hard for us as well !

[claymalta]

Just watching your video now. I agree with many things you said. Malta and rent are super expensive and you’re right and even me as a Maltese I don’t like that of course. Also construction is too much.

But some other things you mentioned is literally normal and also doesn’t make much sense at all. Do you think if I come to live in Latvia (a country I have visited) I will be excited to be there after 2 years as much as I am during the first month. It’s called the honey moon phase and that happens in everything and everywhere in life.

You also mentioned that we do not speak in English. What do you expect if you are living in a country that has its own language? Can I moan in Latvia about people talking in Latvian? But yeah, I can understand the part when you mentioned the break time at work and maybe colleagues speak in Maltese and you feel like excluded. I can totally understand that.

Also Malta is a 27km by 14km country. Of course you would feel like living in a very small country, cause it is small and yeah I know what you mean … sometimes you can feel bored.

During the part when you mentioned the Maltese jokes it is true that sometime how we joke is funny but when we translate those same exact words in english are not that funny but in Maltese way they are :)

You do not want to pay rent which I agree with cause here it’s super expensive but then you said you don’t want to pay a loan, so what do you want exactly cause I am trying to understand and you confused me :)

By watching this video you made me feel curious about buying a property in Latvia :) maybe one day I will buy a house there 😀

You’re welcome to Malta anytime :) at least for a holiday.

Take care 😊

[mariomicallef]

For those who come to live here in Malta must consider the fact that this is a small country that has its limits.

[danielaattard]

The fact that Malta is expensive especially the rent you’re right. In Malta the best thing is to have your own home. You can’t have the cake and eat it . We work a lot because it is a must and in this way we can buy our own home. You get a full time job, you get a loan from the bank, you buy a property, rent it and pay the loan with the money you get from leasing the property snd eventually you may not have to work that much. But if you have to pay the rent(all alone because many foreigners share apartments to reduce the costs)you don’t have a full time job that pays decently, if you don’t do some sacrifices at first and not party all the time, it will be hard for you. No pain no gain.As for the language I’m sorry but we are Maltese and we speak Maltese which is our first language, if you live here you have to learn the language. We are already risking of losing our language because of all the foreigners living here who speak English only( and sometimes not even that). In many countries such as France, Italy, Germany you sre obliged to learn the language to live there. In Malta it is not like that, we do more than enough to please the foreigners. Even the monery earned from certain jobs is a shame, to accomadate certain foreigners. Maltese people are not finding jobs because of foreigners who are paid less and are preferred over the Maltese. You have to adapt to the country not the country adapts to you.

There are foreigners who live a good life here but many of them have their own business or they earn good money from well paid jobs such as the gaming industry or propert agents.

Winters here are a blessing, you don’t have to complain about that. Summers are terrible and unbearable for those who hate the heat and the sun like me.

Good luck in finding a country that you fit in and live a happy life😊

[raphaelcamilleri]

Thanks for sharing your experience here, and you are always welcome to visit Malta again. Every country in the world has its pros & cos and is normal like myself living for a while in Austria and Germany so I understand you.
Good luck with your choices and greetings from our beautiful Malta 🇲🇹 ❤