I moved from my hometown of Manila, Philippines, to Barcelona, Spain, in the hopes of gaining a better quality of life. I took all I had (around $14K) and have spent the last two and a half years paying for schooling (to keep my student visa which I've had to renew every year) and working side jobs, most for less than minimum wage (Spain has been in a financial crisis for the past 8 years). Now I'm working for a company that is willing to sponsor my application to get a work permit, which will allow me to get a proper work contract, and also a resident visa which lasts for 5 years. I work as a writer, graphic designer, and community manager for a tech recruitment firm, and try to sell my artwork and do freelance graphic design (most of my clients have come from my home country or outside of Spain). I don't plan to stay in Barcelona, but if I leave now, at 37, returning on anything other than a tourist visa would require starting over from zero.
My question is: Would you choose to tough it out in a place where you were far from the people you love and the quality of life has the potential to get better, or in a place that's chaotic but you can be around 'your people'?
I've used some retirement calculators, and the estimates I get for my current salary are between 13 and 22 years. I'm 37 and I would bite the bullet than keep working til I'm 50.
Any advice (other than, you should have chosen another country besides Spain) would be much appreciated!