When I was growing up, I always wanted to move abroad.
I was a little bit influenced by the Western media.
So I really liked the idea of moving to a different country, living there, experiencing how things are.
I think the people in Dublin are really friendly.
I always get good vibes from people here.
You know when you are going on the road.
You can just say hi to someone and they will wave back at you.
Even like when you go into the bars, you can always talk to someone there, no matter what, and they will be always polite.
My name is Suras Nayak.
I'm 27 years old and I moved from Hyderabad, India to Dublin, Ireland.
Welcome to my Dublin home.
Let's go in.
So this is the main living space.
My father also works as a software engineer.
So that's how actually I got into the field of software engineer.
I used to see him working and doing coding on his laptop.
And that's how I got a little bit inspired.
The city is really amazing.
The main part of Hyderabad is the food, especially the biryani.
There's a place called Charminar in Hyderabad.
It's really famous for jewelry and stuff.
And also Hyderabad has a very good tech sector.
If Bangalore is the Silicon Valley of India, I would say Hyderabad is a close second there.
After a year or two, I came to know that Amazon has this opportunity where, once you complete at least two years in Amazon and once you cross the L5 level, you can actually interview within Amazon for their different countries.
I started looking for opportunities almost immediately.
There is a lot of competition to secure these positions because everybody wants to move out.
You have to stand out among them all.
That's where I work.
To be honest, I did not know a lot about Ireland, but I did know that there is a growing tech sector and I knew that a lot of tech companies have their headquarters in Ireland.
But I especially chose Ireland because AWS, the Amazon Web Services, that's the main wing or the main part of Amazon, is actually in Ireland.
So I thought it should be a good move for my career to work in the cloud technologies, especially in AWS, because that's the main source of income for Amazon, I would say.
Amazon actually covers everything, end to end, from the application process to the moving, to the flight tickets, all the way to even after coming here.
They even provide you an initial six weeks of temporary stay.
It was super cold here.
I actually underestimated how cold it would be.
So I think that was my first impression.
There are no skyscrapers.
There are no tall buildings.
Everything is so flat here.
For some reason, I like flat buildings down to the ground so you can see your sky all the time.
This is the main living area.
The rent for this entire house is around 4000 euros and we split it between the three of us, but it's not an equal split because each of the rooms have different configuration.
Next let's check out my room.
I think my biggest expense would be my rent.
I pay around 1450 euros a month.
On groceries around 150 to 200 euros, eating out about 400 to 500 euros.
Netflix, prime video disney, plus youtube premium.
So all of these subscriptions come out around 25 to 30 euros.
For me, phone plan that costs around 15 euros.
Now that i have moved to ireland, i try to budget here.
It's very easy to go over budget because once you go out, you just never know how much you will be spending and coming back.
Maybe before, when i was in india, i did not used to think about budgeting a lot because i used to always spend less there, but being here, i make sure that i do not overspend.
One thing that i spend more on here is eating out, which i used to not do on.
Often back in india, The main thing was going to the city center, especially the O'Connell Bridge.
That's what I knew was the most famous place there.
I visited the Spire, Dublin Castle, the St.
Patrick's Cathedral.
Then I came to know about Guinness.
I knew that Guinness was a famous beer, but I did not know how famous it was here.
So yeah, I went to the bar and then I ordered my first pint of Guinness.
And then I realized that this is a strong beer.
I'm the only one who doesn't have to go to work.
This was my first time actually exploring a new city completely on my own, in a new country altogether.
So I was very excited and I was very happy.
And as I was exploring, I realized that I have actually made the right decision to move here.
Hey guys, come on in.
Back in India, I always had people all around me wherever I go.
So I never had to actively go out and look for people or connections.
But here I realized that I have to push myself a little bit more if I have to make friends and go out and stuff.
But I've realized that if you can push yourself and if you go out, you can make good friends here.
It's just about making the effort.
Cheers.
I have made some good friends.
I am really liking my stay here, my time here, even my work here.
My most favorite part is to just go to the parks here, have a walk or sometimes maybe just take a blanket and put down and maybe read some books or something like that.
I also like to travel.
I do some road trips on my own.
I just hire a car whenever I want.
So I have explored some areas, Dingle, Cork.
I have always been little bit of travel enthusiast and, being in Ireland, I'm just exploring all of it whenever I can.
After I moved to Ireland after a few months, my parents visited me here in Dublin.
We also went on a family trip to London and from there we did an entire road trip into Scotland, Isle of Skye and back to Dublin.
I also did a trip with my friends.
We went to see the Coldplay concert in UK.
I spend around 3000 to 4000 euros a year on international travel.
That would include my vacations and also me going to India and being back, definitely see myself staying here for the long term.
The opportunities here is really good, especially considering the salary that i'm able to make here is something that i wouldn't be able to make back in india.
I think the best advice for people looking for jobs abroad is, first of all, it is possible, but you have to make sure that you are sound technologically and you are good in what you are doing.
Try to find these kind of companies which provide these kind of opportunities directly.
Such a company which can help you in your move a lot more easily if you are thinking to move abroad.
