The Good, The Bad and The Ugly of Living in Ukraine

As I move towards a location independent lifestyle, it is important for me to try and keep my expenses low while focusing on increasing my income. I heard great things about ‘Lviv’ in Ukraine and decided to see if Western Ukraine could be a potential ‘digital nomad’ location. Lviv is located near Krakow and since they were both parts of the Austrian-Hungarian empire, the people, culture, and architecture share many similarities.

I decided to base in Ivano-Frankivsk, a small city near Lviv of about 200,000 inhabitants. I wanted a quiet city that was walkable, off-the-beaten-track, had a low cost of living and fast internet. Ivano-Frankivsk certainly ticked all these boxes. I found a city center apartment on Air-BnB for roughly $350. If you sign a lease, you can easily find an apartment with all utilities included in the price for $150–200.

The Good

Gender roles are well-defined here. It is not common to see obese feminists with tattoos and pink here. The women are extremely feminine and dress to impress.

You can stay here for 3 months without obtaining a Visa as a British citizen.

Young people are more open-minded and curious about foreigners. If you speak English be prepared to answer many questions as to why you are traveling or living in Ukraine. A real genuine interest.

You will be in the top 1% here if you earn an average salary in USD. You can live comfortably here for $500 per month or live an extremely luxurious life here for less than $1500 per month. By luxurious, I am talking about eating at fine-dining restaurants every day, weekly spa treatments, massages and so forth. To provide an idea of the costs, a one-way ticket on a bus is $0.16 and it is $2 for a 5-kilometer taxi journey!

Ivano-Frankivsk is a very laid back city with a variety of cafes and shisha bars. There are plenty of 24/7 supermarkets and the public transport system is cheap, frequent and extensive.

Education and services are relatively cheap. Come to Ukraine if you want quality dental work!

The Bad

The nightlife and clubbing scene is pretty dead but that is expected in a small city. I don’t enjoy the typical clubbing scene anymore as I prefer electronic music festivals or raves.

The quality of service in Eastern Europe is abysmal compared to Western or Asian standards. I understand that the people in Ukraine have had tough times in the past and that may be part of their psyche

The streets and road are in terrible condition. Drivers in Ukraine can be pretty crazy. The buses also look like WW2 Tanks.

Many of the buildings and Residental areas scream Soviet-Era. When leaving the city center things tend to get ugly, and quickly.

Many homes don’t have decent air-conditioning and the summer is hot — 35 degrees and up.

The city feels like a town. There is a lack of energy about Ivano-Frankivsk. I was also told that when the students leave, it becomes even worse.

The Ugly

Many days felt like a real struggle there. The level of English is extremely low and many tasks that you take for granted are much more tedious and stressful. Asking for directions and shopping in the grocery store becomes a real chore. I spent many hours trying to secure a quality apartment but to no avail. During my pursuit of a decent place to rent, many real estate agents would simply hang up when they heard English.

My experience of living and working in Ukraine has shown me that having a sense of community and the ease of integration into the local society is important to well-being. I really felt like an outsider in Ukraine. In Thailand, I did not feel like this. Money was not an issue for me in Ukraine, however, I did not estimate how important it would be to have a sense of belonging there.

Now I am back in the United Kingdom and will continue to look for other countries which are more suitable for working remotely, possibly Chiang Mai, HCMC or Bali. What I have learned from this experience is that money will not provide happiness without having a community, friends who you can empathize with, a partner or even people who can understand and relate to your ideas and thoughts.

The ability to live a location independent lifestyle can provide a huge sense of freedom. I appreciate that and I am wholly grateful for the fact that I can do it. I advise those who wish to escape the rat-race and corporate slavery that if you do choose a location, ensure that where you will work from can provide a sense of community. It is a very important factor that I didn’t consider.