2 YEARS Living In Lithuania: Expat/Foreigner Opinions | What You Should Know!

So with two full years now having passed since coming to Lithuania, what can I say to those who are thinking of visiting or moving to this country? Well, I’ve made a short list for today’s video. And, since I’m comparing my Lithuanian experience to other places I’ve lived, you’ll definitely get to learn a little more about me too!

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It’s been just over two years since I personally
moved to Lithuania. But, at the time, I didn’t actually know
that I was going to be moving. That’s because I was in the country as a
tourist… and I eventually met someone… who is now my wife. Explaining this story to anyone here won’t
exactly get a reaction of surprise. The more people I speak to, the more I realize
it’s a fairly common story, almost to the point that it could probably be a meme or
a cliché! Funny enough, someone I spoke to the other
day at a co-working facility said most of the foreigners working at their offices are
in the same situation. So with two full years now having passed since
coming to Lithuania, what can I say to those who are thinking of visiting or moving to
this country? Well, I’ve made a short list for today’s
video. And, since I’m comparing my Lithuanian experience
to other places I’ve lived, you’ll definitely get to learn a little more about me too. So let’s get started! I think my first mild shock regarding Lithuania
was how well developed it was. This wasn’t surprising to me when I arrived
in 2020, but when I first visited as a tourist in 2017 I was delighted to find that Vilnius
had a well-functioning public transportation system and was overall extremely safe. I’ll be completely honest with you and admit
that on my first visit, I was expecting some sort of post-Soviet state still recovering
from Communist Russia influence. I think this was definitely the result of
movies- which can often perpetuate this stereotype as a parody. Just take this example from the 2004 movie
Eurotrip. In a weird way, without properly doing any
research, this was the general vibe that I thought I would find in Lithuania. But it’s also worth mentioning that Fabijoniskes
on a dark and rainy day might be a little bit like this! Before moving on, I should also say that I
know Baltic citizens will freak out at being called Eastern Europe, BUT many ignorant foreigners
essentially group everything East of Germany into being eastern europe. I now know things are much more nuanced but
I know there are many out there who still don’t know the difference! But on the topic of public transportation,
I have to say that I quite enjoy the public bus system in Vilnius. Before coming here, I had spent some time
living in Kuwait, and that public transport system was an absolute mess when I was there-
especially considering how wealthy the country is. Of course, that’s probably a result of most
people choosing to travel by private vehicle, but I digress. At least in my experience, the Vilnius transport
system is incredibly affordable, while bus service is pretty frequent – at least for
the areas I’m traveling to. When it comes to affordability, I’m mainly
comparing this to my home city of Vancouver, which has its cheapest 90-minute fare costing
the equivalent of 2 euros and 30 cents. It’s probably not a fair comparison, since
Vancouver’s transportation system covers so much more distance and base tickets are
valid 3x longer, but I’m just saying that it’s nice to be able to get across the small
city of Vilnius for just 65 cents. This is a good transition to my next point,
which is the size of the city. Vilnius has a population of around 550,000
people. This is much smaller than many of the other
cities I’ve spent time in. It’s actually about the same size as Edinburgh,
Scotland – a city I lived in for just over a year, and really really enjoyed.. I think this size of city is ideal. It’s not too big that it feels chaotic and
frantic, but it’s still big enough that you have pretty much everything you need and
want for living and enjoying life, including a good selection of restaurants, big shopping
centers and an international airport. It’s small enough that you can walk across
the city in less than an hour, but big enough that you can wander around different neighborhoods
and find new things all the time. I’ve heard quite a few other foreigners
say the exact same thing, so I know it’s not just me! So yes, Vilnius does have its own International
airport. It even has some major airlines serving it,
such as Lufthansa, and Turkish Airlines. However, Vilnius just isn’t a big enough
destination to have long-haul flights operate from the airport. This means that flying anywhere far, such
as North America, Asia, or Africa, will require a connecting flight. It hasn’t been a big deal over the last
two years because of COVID, but I definitely miss the Vancouver airport and how well-connected
it was to other continents. At least the airport is pretty well connected
to other European cities! And being an old European city itself, I absolutely
love the Vilnius old town. It’s big enough that I can spend an hour
or two wandering around it during each visit, and offers so many great cafes and restaurants
to check out. Vilnius street, castle street, and town hall
square are probably my top three spots in the old town. Despite the age of many Lithuanian towns,
I’m also impressed with how many great bicycle paths there are- not just in Vilnius but also
in many other cities and towns across the country. This is why you’ll see me riding a scooter
in many of my videos – it’s a quick way to get around and its just really fun! The next reflection is about the cost of living
in Lithuania. As a foreigner doing work for foreign companies,
Lithuania’s cost of living is quite good. It feels like you get all the great things
about western european cities but at something much more affordable. With rent or housing being one of the largest
expenses for, well, anyone, Lithuania’s low cost of living allows for a better quality
of life, with more money to spend on travel, restaurants, and entertainment. Now, one issue is that most people living
and working in Lithuania don’t get paid as much as their western european equivalents. This means that, in some parts of Lithuania
– particularly in Vilnius – the cost of living isn’t AS amazing. I think one person commenting on this said
it best: It’s as if Lithuania is just catching up with the rest of Europe. Still, at the moment, it’s much more affordable
than life in a Scandinavian or Nordic country. But moving on, one big difference between
Lithuania and western europe is its proximity to Russia- and I guess Belarus too. Having been occupied by numerous countries
in the past few centuries, Lithuanians are generally quite on-edge about Russian aggression
and what Vladimir Putin will do next. Personally, I feel fairly secure with Lithuania’s
status as a NATO member, but there’s always this underlying feeling of uneasiness about
everything going on in the region. The fact that Belarus has a newly-built and
controversial nuclear power plant close to the border also worries many Lithuanians. While this has taken a back seat with the
recent invasion of Ukraine, the Ostravets nuclear power plant in Belarus is said to
have violated numerous conventions and safety protocols in its construction. This combined with a culture of unsafe work
practices has definitely highlighted the difficult and awkward geopolitical situation Lithuania
is in, as a neighbor to Belarus. Personally, it’s not something I think about
much in my every day life, but I bring all this up to say that the region has its unique
tensions and this might make some people wary of starting a life here. And finally, when it comes to getting by as
a non-Lithuanian, non-Russian speaker, things have been fairly good. I would probably rate it 7 or 8 out of 10. Of course, this will depend on how much you
go out and interact with the world. When it comes to shopping, the self-check-out
kiosks are perfect for those who don’t want to interact with anyone else. Of course, there’s always the risk that
something will go wrong at check-out and you’ll have to interact with someone anyways. In many sites, stores, cafes, and restaurants
– or at least the ones i’ve visited, the people working there have spoken english. In many other cases, I’ve learned enough
Lithuanian to get by with those small day-to-day interactions. When it comes to shopping, being able to recognize
the Lithuanian words for bank card and shopping bag are useful when you’re asked how you
will pay and if you need a bag. Learning to speak Lithuanian more functionally
is definitely on my list- but finding time and motivation have been the biggest hurdles
to this. I almost forgot to say how much I love the
prevalence of supermarkets, as well as their generous hours of operation. The same goes for most post offices, and the
fact that Lithuanias postal system delivers on Saturdays too. These make life a lot easier! Oh! And mobile data rates are SO much cheaper
here than Canada- but that’s more about Canadian phone service being far too expensive! The one thing some people may not like is
the fact that alcohol sales are limited to certain hours of the day. But I think that’s about it for me and my
reflection of the past two years in Lithuania. Overall, I love it here. It feels safer than most major Canadian cities,
and the cost of living is much lower too. For anyone looking to visit or live here,
I would highly recommend it- or at least coming once to check things out for yourself. So If YOU could move to a foreign city anywhere
in the world, where would it be? Let me know by leaving a comment! Thanks so much for watching and I’ll see
you next time!