The Joy of Relocating to Cyprus

“Cyprus? Where’s that!?”

I couldn’t even pick it out on a map.

Knew absolutely nothing about it.

Yet, 6 years later I happily call it my island home.

So how does somebody fall in love with, and ultimately decide on relocating to Cyprus?

Flying from Australia to most places in the world is a proper journey. I was a patient and experienced traveller by that point so the long flights didn’t faze me. Besides, nobody should complain about being able to travel to the other side of the world in a day!

When I first arrived in mid-August 2015, I felt like I stepped back into the familiar Australian summer. I didn’t quite know what to expect of this Mediterranean nation but I was willing to give it a go. Before committing to living here, I stayed with my uncle for 3 weeks in his seaside apartment near Limassol to test the waters (pun intended, and yes, the water was fantastic too!).

Summertime in Cyprus is magic.

The clear waters. The pleasant beaches. The food. The cold beers. The warm sun. The iced coffees. The relaxed vibe. The people are happy.

The island is ALIVE in the summertime.

One weekend I’m enjoying an ice cold beer at a local music festival in a mountain village. The next I’m out snorkelling and soaking up the sun in Ayia Napa. I take a short trip downtown at lunchtime to meet my family for a delicious meze (a selection of small Greek style dishes), or over to a café to watch the Champions League football.

Sometimes I go for a stroll in the park late in the evening to catch the sunset with my wife. When it’s time to train for a marathon I’ll be up extra early to catch the sunrise on my long run before the heat beats me up.

Cyprus is safe. It’s easy to get around. I feel comfortable. Everybody is in a good mood. It’s a laidback lifestyle. I’ve made great friendships here.

I love living in Cyprus.

If you’re looking to balance out your lifestyle (get your work done but relax when you need to) then you’ll find it here. Cyprus showed me that I don’t need to work like a donkey all the time. I should take the time to enjoy as much of this magic summertime as possible.

But what about the winter?

The winter is also pleasant here. Cold but not too cold (compared to the rest of Europe). It is a more tranquil time as there are less tourists and you can enjoy nature when it is at its greenest. You can enjoy nature trails, water falls, beautiful lakes and many other natural wonders (like the flamingos at the Larnaca Salt Lake!)

I’m not really fussed about snow but if you love skiing or hanging out in the snow you can get plenty of action up in the Troodos mountains. Ski season is normally between January and April.

Island life: it’s not always sunny (but most of the time it is).

There are obvious shortcomings to island life that I was not used to.

Although summertime blesses our island for many months a year, it feels as though some people are on a permanent holiday. It’s difficult to adjust to island pace (especially coming from a much bigger and well organised island) but once you do finally adjust to island pace you can understand how great it is to be balanced out.

You can also have a difficult time in dealing with certain services providers in Cyprus which is why we are motivated to help newcomers to the island overcome these challenges.

However, from when I first arrived until now, the relevant technologies have been embraced and thankfully things have improved.

Just recently a number of government services have made the long awaited transition to an online based platform (queuing up to be served at government offices is not uncommon but may soon be a thing of the past).

Cyprus: my home away from home

There is one major factor making it easy to adjust to Cyprus life: most people speak English.

Enough English is spoken that you don’t need to ever worry about learning Greek. Coming from Australia, with English as my only language, this aspect helped me adjust the most in relocating to Cyprus.

Personally, I should know more Greek than I do now but I’ve at least got the basics nailed. The Cypriots appreciate you trying to speak their language (just like in any other country) so it’s favourable to at least get some basic lessons like I did.

It took me some time to adjust to island living. In my case I wasn’t so sure why I was here when I first visited but over time I found my way. A few years ago a friend from South Africa said to me that once she decided Cyprus was home for her, everything around her instantly become brighter.

I felt exactly the same way. Having said all that, my experience is mine alone.