bokster

I balled at 9% sales tax... Yours is amplified 20%, times 5.... It's just a name.

This shows deep misunderstanding in what VAT is and how it works. It's not "a flat out 20% sales tax with a different name". The concept is different. But I do not have neither time or energy to argue on the internet.

And why ever day "we switched to VAT"

Because we used to have sales tax.

You're probably a bot anyway.

Gee. Thanks?

Most of the world - other than a few places (US included) - switched to VAT ages ago. It's a more efficient system. It's not the same as "sales tax". It's literary a "value added tax" and every purchase and sale includes it - even for materials and half products.

The idea here is that you pay a tax on the amount of value you add in the chain. VAT is an indirect tax, because the consumer who ultimately bears the burden of the tax is not the entity that pays it.

It's also much more transparent, as it must be included in the quoted price. Not like the US, where you see an item on the self for $5.00 and then the total at the register is $9.54 because it now has sales, city, state, and federal tax.

Check the Wikipedia article as well: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Value-added_tax

Well, first I hear of it.

Well, as mentioned. Use your normal bank account.

To the best of my knowledgeable, there no 'pan-European payment system which would replace credit/debit cards'.

For online payments, you can use SEPA Instant Payments or somple bank account transfers. There's also Gyropay, but only for Germany.

If you want to pay for your out-of-pocket vegetables and other small expenses IRL, cash is your only other option.

You can do all of that with a normal bank account in Europe.

Vendors will accept debit cards and there's a thing called SEPA Instant Payments.

You do not need 'a PayPal'.

That being said, I keep my 'main bank account' separate from my 'spending bank account' for which I use Revolut.

Very much this. Talk to the airline as well. This falls under 'special needs requests'.

I've already flown flights where the cabin crew announced "We have a patient with severe peanut allergy on the flight. We will not be handing out any peanuts and we kindly ask all passengers to refrain from opening any they may have brought on board."

Report an error. Click.

There are no stupid questions. I sincerely did not understand it as such. If you don't know something, ask. If you have no idea where to start, ask. And this is how I understood it.

You're not the first person asking that question.

Wait until you hear about "piano".

EU is not a single country, as the US. Each country has its own rules and regulations.

Some countries, as mentioned, offer a digital nomad visa (Croatia is one of them) others do not.

There's also something called the Shengen area, which allows for free movement between countries. Not all EU counties participate (yet) and even some non-EU countries are part of it. This allows you to have a citizenship in one country and live / work in another.

As for the language, your mileage can vary. Most countries will require at least a basic language knowlege to pass the citizenship test. For day-to-day communication, work and study, you can find options where English would be sufficient. Lots of universities offer English-language programs and lost of companies are international with English being the primary language. Most Europeans speak English quite well.

As others have mentioned, a student visa for one of these would be your best bet. Explore which country would make most sense based on your needs.

If student visa is not an option, then getting a job (in the target country) first would be a way in. Get a working visa and start applying for citizenship.

You should also understand that literary everybody in Europe (not just EU) has an ID and is registered as a citizen. It's therefore practically impossible to be undocumented and still get salary, open a bank account or visit a doctor.

TL;DR: Explore each country individually. "Moving to EU" makes as much sense as saying "Moving to Asia".

Your job change, you should. 🙂

Joke aside, depends what is the issue here:

1. Are you unsatisfied with your job or
2. You enjoy/value your free so much.

As others have mentioned, find something to look forward to. If you're miserable at your job, see what you can do to change that. Any small wins you can look forward to?

If you're in a position "do I really need to do this for the next 30-40 years", that's a more difficult thing to resolve. We've set up a system for ourselves where that is the only possibility of surviving in this world. To change that you'd need to move somewhere to the highlands of Scotland or a tropical island somewhere and live completely off the grid. Unfortunately, though, that life is not easy.

Your best bet is to be born rich. Other than that, friends help. Having a support net and something to do that brings you joy makes this a tiny bit more bearable. Go read books. Go to the park. Sign up for dancing lessons or martial arts. Learn a new language. Travel. World is so much more than what we see on TV.