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What's it like to live in the alps?

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Is it as great as I imagine to live in the mountains, or do you get bored as soon as the snow melts. What do people do for work (other than the seasonal bar work/chalet monkey/shop assistant type stuff) and do you have to come back to the UK to top up your funds? Are there major disadvantages to weigh up against the huge advantage of having a mountain in your back garden?
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
2000overdrive, good questions. Something i'd love to do. Like you say though, living and working there does look like quite a challenge. The lauguage for a kick off.

An obvious option seams to be run some kind of holiday accommodation like djfletcher does for example.
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I should think life there has its ups and downs wink
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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2000overdrive, Much like living anywhere else but with better views! Seriously, it's no good living in the alps if you have to rely on your winter earnings (unless you're very lucky). In spite of 2 seasons I have to return to the UK in the autumn and do some temping to keep grub on the table. Sad Certainly I don't return out of choice. Very Happy The point is though, is that it's not a prolonged holiday, but just normal life in a much nicer environment than most places in Brtiain.
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easiski, What kind of things do people do for work in the summer then? I know most resorts have some kind of tourism in the summer for hikers/mountain bikers/glacier skiing (if available), but the numbers must be significantly fewer than in the winter.
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2000overdrive, you can always compromise and live in teh area but in a city: Geneva, Lausanne, Grenoble, etc.
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
2000overdrive, one set of owners I know, run their catered chalet in the winter, and then come back to the UK in the summer - the husband is a qualified lawyer and can always secure a contract to cover summer holidays etc so has 3 or 4 months of well paid work. They then go back to the mountains in the autumn with a financial cushion in case the winter season is less than bouyant. Always seems advisable to have other strings to your bow
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Great thread. I hope to relocate to France eventually. Not necessarily a ski resort but near enough that I have mountain views and it's not far to drive to ski in winter and find some gorgeous roads for motorbiking in summer...

Thing is, I'm not done with my career yet, nor have I paid off my mortgage. Then I need to decide what I'm going to do for income once I get there...

I shall watch this thread with interest...
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queen bodecia wrote:

I shall watch this thread with interest...

queen bodecia, me too! Very Happy
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do it just...or something like that Smile
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
Anniepen, that's not living in the alps though - that's called being a seasonaire! The OP was asking what it's like to live in the alps!

2000overdrive, There lies the problem! There isn't a lot of work in resorts, but the summer is much busier than most beach bound brits would believe. Lots of people do holiday in the alps in the summer, so if moving to an area and intending to live there permanently you do need to consider what you would do out of the ski season. People who have a suitable degree with the ability to write the language of their chosen country, can live in the mountains and work in the nearest town. eg: HP are in Grenoble ... You could live quite close to Grenoble and not be far from a ski area.
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I keep promising myself that I'll learn good enough French to get a decent job in somewhere like Lyon or Marseille to be within striking distance of the Alps (plus I love France, and - whisper it - the French). Will I ever do it?

Probably not.

YES YOU WILL

No, never.

Idiot.


Sorry about that, my ego and id just had a little argument with each other.
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
easiski wrote:
Anniepen, that's not living in the alps though - that's called being a seasonaire! The OP was asking what it's like to live in the alps!
.


He did ask if people needed to come back to the UK to top up their funds - I know many people here don't but gave him an example of someone who does Very Happy They own the chalet and do offer it s/c in the summer, but don't necessarily have to be there then
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
easiski wrote:
People who have a suitable degree with the ability to write the language of their chosen country, can live in the mountains and work in the nearest town. eg: HP are in Grenoble ... You could live quite close to Grenoble and not be far from a ski area.


arf, your chance of getting work in France at the moment is very slim. HP are laying off 25,000 people. Yahoo! (another Grenoble employer) are in a bad way, ditto Sun, Caterpillar etc. Wages are also much lower than in the UK, I think a lot of Brits would be shocked.
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 Poster: A snowHead
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A dream for a lot of us I imagine. I want to do it but i feel that i need to make my fortune in here first.

I love it in france, but England is a wonderful place too lets not forget. Very Happy
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Libertine, Well said. I would not want to live anywhere else. I suppose I am lucky, living in the fabulous North Yorkshire, nestled between 2 National parks snowHead
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Not the alps but maybe interesting

http://www.ladepeche.fr/article/2008/11/27/499552-Les-Anglais-disent-bye-bye-au-Sud-Ouest.html
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Quote:

A dream for a lot of us I imagine. I want to do it but i feel that i need to make my fortune in here first.


I feel a bit like that, like the only way I could feasibly manage it would be to earn and save a significantly larger amount of money than I do now.

I also wonder if I would *whisper* get bored. I'm not saying I don't love the mountains, I just wonder if I would miss urban life at all, the same way I might if I moved to an English country village or something. Therefore it would make more sense to head for a city near the mountains - but my lack of a second language and the money required to set myself up would probably rule out that idea! Sad rolling eyes
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2000overdrive, you are right, you could get bored. I live here in London (greatest city in the world) and have a place by the seaside, which i love, a place in the mountains would top it all off Very Happy

Everything in proportion I guess, for a well rounded life.

I need to work less, thats the problem !
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
2000overdrive wrote:
I also wonder if I would *whisper* get bored. I'm not saying I don't love the mountains, I just wonder if I would miss urban life at all


Laughing Laughing ... good one that!!

I think if you're worried about that then I reckon maybe you're not quite ready for the move?? Moving from London to the Alps would be some change!

However picture this - my apartment manager works for an insurance firm and helps me rent my place in his own time. When he goes to work, he gets on his bike in the morning, rides a few miles down the valley to the next town, works then rides back. In the winter, he XC skis there. When I get over to Austria and I go for a beer with him, he tells you how much pride he has in where he lives and that he'd not live anywhere else. When he tells me, I sometimes I feel like ripping his head off for it!!! Toofy Grin Toofy Grin ..... but he was born in the valley which makes a BIG DIFFERENCE!!!!!
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There are many central european people who live in little villages, earn next to nothing, don't ski much because it's too expensive (or they have to work during the ski season) and would love to move to somewhere like London to earn a crust.
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6 years and counting. Wouldn't have wanted to live here when I was younger and still excited by London life/style. I was lucky to be able to retire in my mid 40's, always wanted to ski, never had the time, so decided to give it a year here. Loved it (all seasons) and stayed. I try to work out if I had done the same without finacial security. There are plenty of people (Brits) just making ends meet, but that's the same everywhere. The benefits of less stress, beautiful surroundings with endless outdoor activities means I would recommend it, as long as you are not a slave to the Yankee Dollar and the ugly side of the material world.
Having said that about the Alps, I'm getting itchy feet and are making plans now to move on to Canada or try Japan.


Last edited by Ski the Net with snowHeads on Fri 28-11-08 12:22; edited 1 time in total
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For me, happiness is defined by the quality of my family life and by the variety and quality of friendships that we have. to movew to the Alps would take away much of that. Easier to fly to the slopes a few times a yr (hopefully) than to leave all this behind.
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2000overdrive, why don't you look at moving to a big city in the Alps where you can ge the best of both worlds. Innsbruck for example?
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 brian
brian
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My long term plan is to reverse our current situation of house here, flat in alps. I'm lucky in that I can work anywhere I can get a decent broadband connection. Kids' schools and family ties make this a fair way off for now though.
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
brian wrote:
Kids' schools and family ties make this a fair way off for now though.


This is something i've thought about. I would love to move out to the Alps but if i'm going I need to make the move pretty asap before my 10 week old son grows up, goes to school, makes friends, etc. That will be a big stumbling block if I decided to move in 4 years say.
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
You work your nuts off for 5 months. Find you have not made enough. Then work your nuts off for 7 months to just pay the accountants astronomical fee. Then start again. But it's worth it for that view on clear mornings Toofy Grin
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
I speak French already, but I can't earn the sort of money there doing the same type of job I do here. Plus I work 45+ hour weeks. The idea behind my relocation is to have no mortgage, work less and have more spare time to enjoy myself. A state of early semi-retirement so to speak. So I need to stick at my current life with its lousy one week per year skiing for the time being until I can be mortgage-free in France. Gimme tens years or so hopefully... Very Happy
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Living in the Alps is like living in a small rural community anywhere. If you can't cope with the idea of living in a small town miles from anywhere in the UK, don't even think about doing it in a foreign country where you don't speak the language.

We live in a market town (pop 3500) 40 minutes from Grenoble. As far as I'm concerned we can get everything we need either here or on the internet and don't often bother going into town. If shopping is your idea of a leisure activity, you'll hate it. If you can't survive without British packet foods you won't like it much either. We don't have mains gas (use a gas bottle for cooking) or central heating - I spent this morning chopping and stacking wood for the stove. This is not untypical.

I don't get bored because I like the things there are to do here and I have access to books, films etc via the web. I also have a circle of friends which varies in size with the season. If you need an instant social life and entertainment on your doorstep, it's not for you.

Finally, we have minimal income, partly because at the moment one of us is full time and the other seasonal. This doesn't bother us a whole lot, but if your sense of self esteem is based on having pots of cash and status symbol consumer goods, you're likely to be miserable.

Still fancy it? Laughing Laughing
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Lizzard, that to me sounds amazing.

/jealous.
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Lizzard, Well said, I dont think anyone (Other than local familys Very Happy ) is going to make a large sum of money living working in the alps but you will make enough to get on with it and have a super quality of life. Most of the Austrian guys I know from alpine villages have a number of family members living into their 90 and still being very active

Its all about the quality not the quantity in your life
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Lizzard,
Quote:

Still fancy it?

No.
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Quote:

Living in the Alps is like living in a small rural community anywhere. If you can't cope with the idea of living in a small town miles from anywhere in the UK, don't even think about doing it in a foreign country where you don't speak the language.

We live in a market town (pop 3500) 40 minutes from Grenoble. As far as I'm concerned we can get everything we need either here or on the internet and don't often bother going into town. If shopping is your idea of a leisure activity, you'll hate it. If you can't survive without British packet foods you won't like it much either. We don't have mains gas (use a gas bottle for cooking) or central heating - I spent this morning chopping and stacking wood for the stove. This is not untypical.

I don't get bored because I like the things there are to do here and I have access to books, films etc via the web. I also have a circle of friends which varies in size with the season. If you need an instant social life and entertainment on your doorstep, it's not for you.

Finally, we have minimal income, partly because at the moment one of us is full time and the other seasonal. This doesn't bother us a whole lot, but if your sense of self esteem is based on having pots of cash and status symbol consumer goods, you're likely to be miserable.

Still fancy it?


More than ever to be honest! When I asked if I would get bored I wanted to see if I got an explanation like yours as to why it's so good to live somewhere like that. I'm sitting about 100 yards away from Oxford Circus at the moment and your description sounds like utter bliss to me. Very Happy

Right, just got to work out a life plan...
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Lizzard, sounds normal to me, just no snow!
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
While the snow melts in the mud season you go on vacation somewhere hot.

Come back for the summer months or go Southern Hemisphere to ski more.

Prior to the season starting again you go on vacation again to somewhere hot.

Very Happy Very Happy


Last edited by After all it is free Go on u know u want to! on Fri 28-11-08 13:31; edited 1 time in total
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stanton, and what are you doing to earn the money to fund this idyll?
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2000overdrive, yeah, i just stepped out in Canary Wharf and its horible and souless, EVERYONE is in a rush.... chopping wood sounds great.

I would still always keep a place in england i think tho.
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