Perhaps more than other residents of a country Expats are acutely aware of the quality of life offered by their surroundings. Moving constantly from place to place, comparisons are naturally made, not just between home and the current country of residence but between several countries ‘abroad’. Unlike a two-week holiday on the beach when we say I would love to just move here, an expat’s decision to move is normally based on professional criteria.

Often we are posted somewhere that might not perhaps be first or even second choice. Expatica covers Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and Switzerland. And so we decided to ask a series of questions, designed to find out what international professionals think of their surroundings and how they measure their quality of life in general. Liveability and well-being were combined in a survey that went to the very heart of what it’s like to be an exile.