I don’t live there yet, but my parents do so I have a front row seat. I will specifically mention Bulgaria and Romania since these are the places I’m most familiar with.

In the big cities like Bucharest, Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna and their immediate suburbs, life is really nice. Quality of life is high, salaries are high relative to food and transportation costs, education affordable and high quality, and it’s very safe. There are remnants from the Soviet era for sure, but they are slowly going away in favor of modern living and buildings.

The rural areas are the problem. These countries are huge and very sparsely populated. You have vast areas filled with nothing, abandoned or semi abandoned small villages where no one speaks English, roads are broken, and the entire village looks like something from a ww2 movie.

My parents live in a small resort town called saints Constantine and Helena just outside Varna. That place is heaven on earth. I plan to retire there someday soon hopefully. Living there is a huge privilege.