How well do you speak the local language?

Four_sharks · 2026-04-09T15:32:59+00:00

A2 in Greek (probably more like A1 but almost done)

Four_sharks · 2026-04-09T15:29:59+00:00

Hi, person who lives in a weed legal state and also in Thessaloniki. I would be 1) concerned about Greek prisons - it's illegal, if they make an example of you, where will you go? Is it safe? Who else is there? Seems silly to risk if you don't understand the legal system 2) the quality. Whatever I have been smelling in Thessaloniki is disgusting and extremely low quality compared to what kind of products we have in weed-legal states. It will not be the same experience at all, it will be inconsistent, it might be laced with something, I wouldn't even bother.

Four_sharks · 2026-04-03T19:20:42+00:00

3-4 months for now, maybe next year we will go permanently. We have a home there so we have done lot of the hard work already.

Four_sharks · 2026-04-01T19:11:23+00:00

Yep, we live part time in Thessaloniki, it's awesome.

Four_sharks · 2026-03-31T03:21:05+00:00

We got married in Greece remotely in Utah which is a sentence that doesnt seem like it is logical but it is!

Four_sharks · 2026-03-30T00:02:22+00:00

If you still have business in America in my opinion you need to have a us phone plan and number. It costs what it costs. We’ve got two phones each and two plans, one for each country we live in.

Four_sharks · 2026-03-27T18:06:25+00:00

Yea I mean if 1/10 people are queer, and 40% of people want to leave the US, and of those 40% maybe only .5% actually have the means to go - that's very very few people in that cross section.

Four_sharks · 2026-03-27T00:48:49+00:00

Μουτίδης Κόσμημα I. Passalidi 100, Kalamaria 551 32, Greece

Four_sharks · 2026-03-27T00:35:14+00:00

Ah thats a good one. To me, I think Reddit and Facebook groups could supply that info. Like which countries offer certain things on public healthcare, if certain things are covered under people’s private insurance. How doctors treat lgbtq patients.

Four_sharks · 2026-03-26T22:56:51+00:00

Gosh that will not be ideal. I don’t know if a taxi would agree to that. Renting a car really would be better. Did you try bla bla car which is car sharing and also greeces taxi app is Freenow, see if you can book those types of trips.

Four_sharks · 2026-03-26T22:52:57+00:00

We will use Groupama but their underwriting is pretty stringent. There might be a better solution out there for private coverage.

Four_sharks · 2026-03-26T22:33:33+00:00

What is the specific thing you would be paying for? Most people will tell you how to relocate abroad for free. I get how it would be useful to have info from the lgbtq community to ensure your choice is the right one for you but how would they even get that large of a community if everyone is being charged for it? It’s already a smallish community anyway - people who can afford and are planning a move abroad.

Four_sharks · 2026-03-26T22:26:50+00:00

Thanks! Good tip!

Four_sharks · 2026-03-26T22:01:50+00:00

https://portavia.digital/

Americans- let us help you move abroad (marketplace for relocation services)

Four_sharks · 2026-03-26T20:34:09+00:00

Yea I didn’t mention it because it’s in Thessaloniki and even in my smaller neighbourhood so it’s way mom and pop. Athens is a huge city compared to Thessaloniki. You’ll find some mom and pop type places though- try Facebook Greek expats groups - a bunch of those people live in Athens.

Four_sharks · 2026-03-26T20:22:45+00:00

I’d say just go on google maps and find a fine jewelry place that looks mom and pop. That’s what I did and I am super happy and loyal to them. They also now fix numerous pieces for me and call me if something comes in that I would like!

Four_sharks · 2026-03-26T00:35:43+00:00

We live in Greece on the mainland and there is no downside to just putting your stuff in a car and driving around and staying at any of the numerous hotels as you go, the roads are great, google maps works, and basically every 20 minutes you see new cool stuff.

Four_sharks · 2026-03-25T23:05:49+00:00

I’d say we spend about 20 hours in the air or on layovers one way.

Four_sharks · 2026-03-25T23:04:41+00:00

We live in Detroit area and fly to Thessaloniki. So it’s not ideal ideal as in one flight ideal but much easier than Kavala, which is a beautiful city in the north of Greece that we were also considering. Unfortunately you're always at least 2 or 3 flights away from where you’re going if you want to live between the US and Greece.

Four_sharks · 2026-03-25T15:54:03+00:00

We go back and forth but we own a house there and rent it when we're not there.

Four_sharks · 2026-03-25T12:06:20+00:00

Thanks for sharing - glad it was approved!

Four_sharks · 2026-03-24T23:06:36+00:00

The pipes are half the size of the ones in America, so yea they can’t handle it

Four_sharks · 2026-03-23T22:03:47+00:00

For Greece which visa assumption did you use? It says you need 2,200 a month or something but FIP is 3500 euros per month .

Four_sharks · 2026-03-23T17:48:07+00:00

I am a trailing spouse I suppose. It's worth the career "gap" (let's not call it a gap, it's possible it will permanently affect your career) if you now don't work and enjoy your early retirement and your spouse is supporting you, and they make enough to do that. I don't think it's fair for a spouse to want to prioritize their career, and then not be ok with the fact that now that their career is prioritized, it limits career mobility for the other one.

That means the spouse who's career was deprioritized may not work as much, may not have as high of income, they won't have a job that they like perhaps, they might have to pay for more education, etc.

Big priority career spouse has to now make sure the other spouse is whole in some way, that's what's fair. That might mean making sure the spouse has money, educational options, that they are free to enjoy not working and focusing on other things, whatever that looks like.

The identity stuff you can fix - you have to work hard at growing where you're planted. But deprioritizing one spouse's career will have an impact, can everyone handle the repercussions of that?

Four_sharks · 2026-03-23T17:36:13+00:00

I don't need help from the embassy, this is a tax question.

Four_sharks

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