On the Road

The first thing to do is find a place to live. Finding the right neighbourhood to live can be a challenge, though, as you’re unlikely to be able to work out straight away where’s safe, where’s sociable and easily accessible to the rest of town. A guidebook can be a useful tool here in giving you at least a general idea of where everything is and you can explore from there, following your nose.

You’ll want to arrive in a hostel or cheap guesthouse for your first few days while you hunt for apartments, although another option is to wangle a place to stay via the hospitalityclub and get a local orientation that way.

Ways of finding apartments vary from place to place – in cities there will probably be ads in newspapers, maybe even websites where people post ads for rooms and flats. Other places it will be the norm to go through a housing agency, call up ads posted at bus stops and notice boards, or just walk around asking people – the latter is more likely if you’re choosing to live out in the sticks.

It can be tough to follow directions or negotiate with landlords in a foreign language and you might well miss something crucial. If you can get a friend to help, or pay someone to translate you’ll have an easier time of it. Failing that you can always hassle passers by to speak on the phone for you and help you find the address.

When you do find a place try to get as flexible a contract as possible in case it all doesn’t work out. You might move in only to find that there’s a local airport that keeps you awake at night or an operatic singer next door. You might equally well learn that you live in a very rough part of town and not somewhere you want to be walking home at night – ask around in the local shops before you sign on the dotted line.

Once you find your place you’ll want to get it set up – take your time and ask around to find the cheap markets and see what furniture you can find in the street. It’s important that you feel at home in your new place so try and fill it with familiar books, music and food – after a hard day of cultural adjustment, it’s good to come home and be able to relax and recharge.

Check out a story of renting an apartment in Rio de Janeiro

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