Flashback - The Decision

El Andalous - Garden Side and Pool Side

I ended up deciding to buy an apartment at El Andalous in Sahl Hasheesh (don't you just love the name? I'm going to spend the rest of my life living on Hasheesh! I saw an attempt at a back-translation of the name from Russian and it was "Easy Hasheesh". The name alone could keep me creatively occupied for years...).

But I was aware that deciding to buy the property did not yet commit me to pursuing my dream. I could just use it as a holiday home, no need actually to live there... No, no, really, I wasn't scared of committing to it, honest...

Actually, in reality there were lots of decisions to make, not just one. Could I really afford to live my dream (what was the cost of living? what were the tax implications?)? Could I get a visa (was it renewable, what did it permit me to do?)? Would I be happy with Egyptian healthcare (what was it like, what were the costs?)? Would I end up being bored? Was I happy to try to adapt to the culture, the hassling, etc?

This is where the internet comes in handy, my good old faithful friend. Or does it? The whole project, not just the flat-hunting, seemed to be becoming a case of information overload.

I asked the question about cost of living on the expat forums but got wildly different estimates as to what my living expenses would be (I think from around 200 GBP per month to 1800 GBP per month), so I gave up in the end. I don't need to live an extravagant lifestyle and swimming will be free, as will the gym (included in flat purchase). In the end I thought if I settled for something that would afford me a minimal lifestyle in the UK, it would probably be a decent enough lifestyle in Egypt.

The visa rules changed (not radically) as I deliberated and although I really wanted the residency permit to get Egyptian rates for healthcare and hotel stays, it wasn't really practical. I could get a renewable annual tourist visa like the majority of other expats. Some people seemed to think the tourist visa also gave you residency privileges if you were from the UK, but I've never seen that verified. Anyway, I quite liked the idea of calling myself a professional tourist, and surely that's worth something? They say you can't open an Egyptian bank account if you have a tourist visa, but then other people seem to think you still can. It's all very fluid.

Similarly with healthcare - I heard some great stories of the wonderful quality of care in Egypt and others depicted horror scenarios. I guess it would be the same if someone was trying to find out whether the NHS (or even private practices) in the UK provided good service.

I'm not sure whether the internet is the information highway or an information hurdle.

It always was going to be a decision made in the midst of uncertainty and at the end of the day, that's just how life is.

I did go through a "what's the worst that could happen?" scenario. Here are some of my possible predictions:

1. Political uncertainty after the revolution in 2011; elections were due and things could change.
ME: Some people were already uncomfortable with the Sinai region now requiring Egyptian majority holdings in all companies. There was some scaremongering that perhaps privately owned properties would be appropriated, but in the end it seemed that majority opinion was that Egypt needed foreign investment and wouldn't risk scaring foreign investors away.
2. I would go over and find that I just couldn't adapt. Like many other expats, I would end up hating it and just wanting to get out.
ME: It's a risk. I won't know until I try. Worst-case scenario, I always have the right to live in the UK, and I may also have the possibility of going back to Switzerland if I could find a job there/had enough money/income. I can keep the property as a holiday home, so my purchase wouldn't be wasted.
3. It would be too expensive and I would find myself unable to live on what I had. Also, the value of my shares could plummet and then I wouldn't have the money I needed.
ME: I would keep a close eye on what I was spending and if it was really expensive and I couldn't get a job back in Switzerland, I could go back to the UK. I could sell property if I really had to, but  I would probably rather move back to the UK than do that. Perhaps I could get freelance medical writing/editing work if I needed some extra money (my visa would not allow me to work in Egypt unless I set up my own company) and I could set myself up as a freelancer either in Switzerland or the UK, depending on income. There is always a way out.
4. The Govt would appropriate all private property
ME: Not good, obviously, but the Egypt property is paid for and is not being used as living expenses (other than saving me rental costs). I would be seriously unhappy, but I would not be living on the streets if this happened.

So, basically, in the end, it seemed that as long as I was sensible, I would always have a way out. It was just a question of whether I wanted to take the risk. But I'd always had it in my head that I would like to do something like this some day (admittedly, I'd never really imagined it to be Egypt, but I had now warmed to the idea, and in any case I'd recently had a yearning to try a completely different culture). It was just a matter of taking that leap. After all, what could really go wrong?

I handed in my notice and booked a flight to Hurghada for September 19th.