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Odessa, Ukraine for Digital Nomads, Long Term Travelers, and Expats

I know I wrote a blog post and guide to Odessa a few years ago during my first trip to Ukraine but that was purely from a travel and tourist point of view. Now that I've been here for a couple of months and have spent an entire summer here, I'm writing this post to explain the pros and cons of living in Odessa, Ukraine long term, or at least for a few months at a time. On paper Odessa is the perfect place for digital nomads to come to during the summer. Imagine a place that has super fast internet, 4G/LTE, Uber, low costs of living, great infrastructure, an international airport, amazing good, great wine and beer, a beautiful historical city center, beaches, sea, amazing nightlife, pool parties, coworking spaces, and easy visas for most people. You would imagine that this place would automatically be a hub for digital nomads and a dream destination for a lot of people.

It's a bit like being in Spain, Miami, or Southern California at a third of the price. Or imagine being in Bali but clean with modern amenities, good internet, infrastructure, and Uber. To take it a step further, imagine the beauty and convenience of Chiang Mai's old city center but with a beach and seaside. Sound too good to be true? Well, it kind of is. Even though everything I mentioned above is true, life in Ukraine is also difficult, even if you have money. In this post i'm going to break down all of the downsides and workarounds for life in Odessa, and what it's actually like for digital nomads, expats, and long term travelers. Here you'll learn the actual costs, the best taxi apps to use, where to stay, eat, sleep, cowork and what to do during your next summer in Odessa, Ukraine.





Visas and Travel



A big reason why I choose to visit Odessa and Ukraine in general every summer is because of the Visas. For the past 5 years ever since I started making enough money online to travel and work online, I've been coming to Europe every summer and spending more and more time here. I wrote about this dream goal and how I accomplished it in my book Life Changes Quick. The only problem became that even though I loved summers in Europe and could finally afford to travel and live here, as an American, I am only allowed to spend 90 days every 180 days in the Schengen zone which is pretty much all of Western Europe including Spain, Portugal, Germany, Poland and even as far east as Greece. I tried spending some of my time in Bulgaria which isn't yet part of the visa zone for EU but got bored really quickly. Then I discovered Ukraine. Unlike Russia, we don't need a visa to enter and we get 90 days upon arrival. This means every summer I can easily and legally spend 3 months in Western Europe and 3 months in Ukraine or Eastern Europe allowing me to spend the entire summer in the sun without having to leave.

Ukraine's visa requirements are extremely easy for Americans, Canadians, Brits, EU members, and even many South Americans in which we just show up, and get 90 days (3 months) upon entering with zero paperwork or hassle. For whatever reason, Australians don't qualify for the visa exemption, but maybe that's a good thing as it keeps Odessa from turning into the next Kuta Beach in Bali. To check your visa requirements of our country, visit the Official Ukraine Visa page for more info. The other issue is that even though Odessa Airport (ODS) is technically international, there are limited flights, mostly from Vienna, Prague, Warsaw, Istanbul, and sometimes Sofia which is where I flew in from. So if you're flying in from another country, you'll most likely have to land in Lviv (LWO), Kiev (IEV) or even Chișinău in Moldova which is confusingly abbreviated (KIV). There is a lot more info on travel and tourism in my "Johnny's Guide to Ukraine" blog post.

Also I've heard from a few different expats in Ukraine that fees and penalties for overstaying your visa in Ukraine isn't that big of a deal and in general, if you fly out of Ukraine before your 90 days are up, you can come straight back after a week of vacationing in Europe even before your 180 days clears, but it's not guaranteed as I've also met one guy who was refused entry for not staying out long enough. However I've also met multiple people who have overstayed by up to 8 months and just paid an 850 UAH fine ($35) with no issues and were invited to come back the next day if they wished. There are also a ton of posts in expat groups similar to:

"If you payed your fine your record ID clears. You can come back anytime , even next day and break the rules again ...as many time as you want. When you pay your fine they reset your record. I know 100% ...do it all the time for 6 years."

But even though it's very easy and the fines are low. The border control could have a bad day, not like the way you look, or decide to enforce the rule in the future, so realize it's still a risk. For me, I wouldn't want to stay here over winter anyways, and I don't mind a week trip to Poland or somewhere else as a vacation after 90 days for a visa run, so I'd recomend that route over overstaying.


Odessa City Center Map

Where to Stay in Odessa



Google maps for Odessa is deceiving as everything looks super close by and within walking distance. However, everything is actually much further than you expect as the blocks here are extremely long and there is a slight hill going from higher up in the main city center, sloping down to the beach and park area on the right. That means that even though it's a nice easy 20 minute walk from the main walking street, Deribasovskaya in the center down to one of the coworking spaces or Fitness stadium, on the way back, you'll find yourself walking for more than half an hour slightly uphill in the hot summer sun. Also confusing is that the word "Center" or "Centre" on the map, while technically is the city center of Odessa, isn't actually where all of the bars, restaurants, and places to go out are. For that you'll want to be somewhere in between the word center on the map to either Deribasovskaya street or the Opera house. Technically the entire area shown on the map above is considered the center so if you find a nice Airbnb place to stay, you can get around easily enough with a short $3 taxi ride or the local bus if you can figure it out.

Most locals would consider any place on the map above a desirable place to live and they'd be right as you'll always have a grocery store, park, and and a cafe close by. However, if you really like being able to walk everywhere within 10-15 minutes, you'll want to stay in the pink area above. I stayed basically at Bunina 20 which is right in the center in between everything and was within a block of two super markets and within an easy walk of everything you'd want to go to. During my first trip to Odessa I stayed in Arcadia which is where Ibiza beach club is, and even though it was fun for a weekend, if you're staying for more than 2 days, you'll want to stay in the city center instead as there's much more to do, and it's less touristy. The good news is however you can get to Arcadia with a 20 minute taxi ride which will cost you between 100-150 UAH which is $4-$6, which is the same price as getting an Uber from the Airport to the center as well. The train station will cost you even less.

There are definitely a lot of apartments in the city center for around 8,000 UAH ($300USD) a month or less the only issue is being able to find one that will rent month to month.



Dinner on Deribasovskaya Street



Hotels and Apartments 



The good new is that hotels in the city center or in Arcadia are reasonably priced at around $35 (900uah) a night for somewhere in a great area. So if you're staying for a week or less, it's actually relatively easy to find a decent place. You can also rent an apartment for 6 months or longer in the center for around $300 a month. Unfortunately this isn't how we digital nomads travel so we're a bit screwed when it comes to finding monthly rentals, especially since during the time we'd most likely come are the peak summer months of June-August when prices are often three times higher than the rest of the year. The problem is that there isn't a month to month rental market in Ukraine. People coming to Odessa either need to pay a daily rate, or sign a 6 month contract. That means that if you want to get an apartment for 1 or 2 months, we're basically screwed on pricing as there isn't a place to rent mid term with the exception of Airbnb. Even my local friend came to visit for the summer booked her place on Airbnb as she had no other options despite being from Odessa originally. The other issue is the mindset that most Ukrainians would rather their apartment sit empty than give a discount. If you want, you can try the Airbnb bargaining trick I mentioned in my guide to Gran Canaria but in my experience, even writing in Russian, most Airbnb hosts wouldn't discount the apartment further even if you're renting for 2 months. Luckily I just found out that some hotels, like California Hotel will give you 30% off weekly or monthly rates if you call or email them. That means you can stay at a 5-star hotel in the center for around $35 - $50 a night or around $1,000 -$1,500 a month including breakfast, spa, sauna, hotel gym and an impressive hotel lobby.

Landlords would rather hold out for someone to maybe pay full price even if it might not happen. I know this is true as my airbnb host has 3 units next to mine that have been empty 90% of the time I've been here these past two months and he still refuses to lower the price as he's rather someone pay full price once in a while and have the chance to make more than have a guaranteed tenant in the room. Just take a look at places that are still available on Airbnb and are sitting empty for the rest of summer as an example, these places in the photo below are holding out and will most likely sit 90% empty as they are asking for too much. I'm paying $680 a month for my apartment in a great location in the center, which is a bit overpriced as it doesn't include utilities which is another $60 a month but it was the best option I could find. The solution to getting a good deal in Odessa would be to sign a 6 month contract or come for just 2 weeks or less at a time. It's honestly a huge shame as everything else in Odessa is very reasonably priced and sometimes are super cheap, it's just that the accommodation kills the budget for a lot of people. Let me know in the comments below if you find another solution or what you paid if you've been here.


Overpriced apartments on Airbnb
Hotel prices depending on Season. (27 UAH = $1USD / 850UAH = $32)

An apartment in the center: 9,500UAH / $350 a month (long term)



Taxis and Ubers in Odessa



One great thing about Ukraine is the fact that they have Uber and that when it works, it works great and is super cheap. Two years ago when I first came, Uber worked fantastic and I loved it. However, as of 2018, Uber has stopped incentivizing drivers and the service has started to slow. That means that even in the city center, you often can't find a ride, or if you do it'll be at 2x surge pricing. I've heard from drivers that this is because Uber takes around 35% which is super high compared to other local apps. The downside is that the other apps aren't as easy to use and don't take credit card. So as a passenger I still default to trying Uber first and leaving a tip through the app first. However when cars aren't available or there is a high surge price, I use one of the other local taxi apps instead. After a lot of hunting around I have five different taxi apps installed on my phone as randomly one work better than the other. The one I use the most after Uber is "Tachku" which I actually hated in the beginning as it's mostly not in English and is an bidding type fare. However I've learned to just bid 50 uah ($2) around the center, and 100 uah ($4) to Arcadia which usually ends up getting accepted.

I also have Yandex, Uklon and Bond installed but don't use them unless the above two really aren't an option. The annoyances of all the apps aside from Uber is that even if you drop a pin or give an address, the drivers almost always call you which is annoying especially since I can't speak Russian. They also almost never have change even though it's cash only, and often ask you to cancel the ride through the app so they don't have to pay the 10% fee to the company or pay taxes. Still it's better than hailing a taxi on the street or dealing with the taxi drivers in front of the airport as these guys are a huge time waster and always want 500% what the fare should be. Arriving in Odessa's airport at midnight the first night really sucked as the airport's wifi wasn't working, the shops were closed so I couldn't buy a SIM card, and I had no way to call an Uber. That meant I had to waste 30 minutes negotiating with drivers in front of the airport which all wanted 300-500 UAH which I refused to pay upon principle as I knew the actual price was between 100-150 UAH maximum. Luckily I managed to find someone who would share their internet hotspot with me so I could call an Uber, then I had the driver call my Airbnb host to let them know I was there to check in.

I know the above sounds terribly annoying, and honestly, it sometimes is. But the fact is that it's still a million times better than places like Bali where the taxi mafia literally beats up Uber drivers and rides are often impossible to get. Or places like Germany where they completely ban the app and it costs a minimum of $25 (650UAH) for a normal taxi wherever you go. The fact that you're able to easily get around the city for $2-$3 a ride, means that you can go wherever you want and really enjoy the city.



Odessa Opera house in the center, a great meeting spot.


Odessa Digital Nomad Scene



The great news is that there are three coworking spaces in the center of Odessa, all within walking distance of each other. Even better news is that they are all reasonably priced, have daily or even half day rates, and great internet. The downsides are mainly that there isn't currently much of a digital nomad or entrepreneur scene in Ukraine so you'll most likely be coworking solo unless you bring friends with you. Even at the busier spaces like Terminal 42 or Impact Hub where you'll be surrounded by dozens of people, since 99% of people are locals and there's not the culture to go out to lunch together, it's actually really hard to get to know people. At Impact Hub the staff is super friendly but being here for over a month, I still haven't been out to lunch or drinks with anyone. At Terminal 42, after spending an entire month there, I barely had a 2 minute conversation with anyone. Compared with Chiang Mai where it's normal to go to lunch with new people almost everyday, Ukraine is completely different. The best place to actually have a conversation and meet people would be the various English Language Club meetups that happen a few times during the week.

One of my goals for writing this blog post was actually to try to get more digital nomads to move to Odessa each summer so there would be more of a nomad scene and people to hang out with. I even created the facebook group: Odessa Digital Nomads in hopes people coming to town can connect with each other. But honestly I don't know if that'll happen anytime soon especially with the apartment bottleneck as a lot of digital nomads either can't or don't want to pay $1,000 a month for an apartment which is the biggest expense. You'll see that in the next section, everything else is reasonable, including coworking which range from $30 to $72 a month depending on how many hours you take. Coffee shops here are super cheap as well with coffee usually costing $1 or less and some are relatively easy to work at all day and most have great internet and some power outlets. The only regular entrepreneur meetup here is the Silicon Drinkabout Odessa which is a smaller version of the same club in Kiev. Overall, as of 2018 Odessa's digital nomad scene is pretty much non-existent even though the infrastructure is in place and there's plenty of local IT talent here and people working for remote companies out of coworking spaces. Below are my reviews of all three coworking spaces here in Odessa on Coworker.com.


My review of Impact Hub Odessa on Coworker.com

My review of IQ Space on Coworker.com

My review of Terminal 42 Coworking


Wifi and Russian



The great news about Ukraine is how fast and cheap the internet is here. You can get a 4G/LTE SIM card with unlimited data for 155 UAH ($5.50) a month including the SIM Card itself. Compared to what you'd pay in the US, Spain, or other countries, this is a steal. Wifi is also available at every restaurant and cafe, but since it's unlimited on my phone anyways, it's just a strange habit that I bother logging in at all. I'm using KyivStar as there was a store right by my house, but from what I've heard, Vodafone is the best service in Ukraine. The most convenient part is unlike the EU, you don't need to bring your passport to register, and you don't have to wait 4 hours for it to activate. I walked in the store, handed them 200 UAH ($8) and my phone and 10 minutes later had a working SIM card and 45 UAH in extra credit on my phone as for whatever reason they can't give change?

The great news about Ukraine is having internet and a host of apps like Google Translate to be able to communicate, translate menus, and call taxis make your life extremely easy. But the two times I went without internet, once when I first arrived late at night, and then again once when I somehow forgot my password and locked myself out of my iPhone for an hour. (don't ask) I felt super lost and way more confused and nervous than I would have been somewhere else in the world. Having a smart phone and internet is your lifeline to be able to order a taxi without getting ripped off, being able to read menus, and order food. If you're coming for more than a few weeks, I'd suggest downloading some Russian learning apps as well. My favorite has been "RusAlphabet" which markets itself as "Learn Russian in 3 hours." The podcast "Russian Made Easy" has also been helpful. If I come back again, I'll take classes, but being able to read and pronounce the Cyrillic alphabet has been super handy to be able to read street signs, restaurant names, especially since a lot of them are actually English words just written in Russian. Oh by the way, in Odessa, they speak Russian. If you want to speak Ukrainian, go to Lviv, some parts of Kiev, or Western Ukraine. I wrote more about those cities in my "Guide to Ukraine" blog post. After learning what the alphabet is in the app above, try learning some of these basic phrases in the video below.





Wifi speeds at Impact Hub Coworking


Food and Drinks



The food in Odessa is extremely good. It's not quite as cheap as places like Bulgaria or Thailand and most locals only go out to restaurants once or twice a month because of it. There's a huge culture to eat at home, and to bring your own lunch to work. When people do eat out, it's usually to quick serve restaurants like Puzata Hata or similar concepts where it looks like a buffet, but you pay by weight or piece. McDonald's is also a super popular place to go as lines are often out the door. The only good news is that according to the Big Mac Index, the costs of goods in Ukraine is approximately 70% cheaper than a comparable product in the USA. On average a Big Mac (sandwich only) costs $5.03 in America, while in Ukraine it's 52 UAH ($1.88). The same concept applies for Shawarma Kebabs for 56 UAH ($2), pastries or slices of pizza. However, walking in a restaurant, you can't expect to get $3 meal like you would in Thailand, unless you're just having soup and bread, but you can have a really nice sit down experience just like you would in New York or Miami at a fraction of the price.

For an example, you can go to to a really nice steakhouse in the city center, on the main walking street Мясо и вино (Meat and Wine) and have a nice steak for around $10 and a glass of wine for $2 more. Going out for a nice dinner date with drinks and food for two people will usually cost around 800 UAH ($30 usd) even for Sushi. To some people that may sound expensive, and to be honest, it is. Most people shouldn't be spending $15 on dinner every single night, and for locals just that would be more than their entire monthly salary. The point is, if you are making $3,000 a month online or more, you can easily afford to eat at nice restaurants and even treat out friends or a date every night of the week if you chose to. This simply wouldn't be possible living in LA, NY, Australia, Canada, or other expensive places. It's the same with bars, most places charge between 30 - 50 UAH ($1-2) for a beer or a glass of wine, and you could get a bottle of Vodka or Wine staring at around 250 UAH ($10US) even at night clubs or bars. Some of my favorite restaurants include Bodega 2K, Kinza, Khinkalnya, Givi to Me, Friends and Beer, Legend, and Dacha. I also take away a lot of food from the Whole Foods type grocery stores and sometimes have a late night pizza at Mister Cat which actually has amazing 2 for 1 pizzas after midnight.





A 72 UAH ($3) Flight of Beer (yes for all of them)


Going Out in Odessa



This is where it gets tricky. There are places like the above bar, Molodost, or any of the dozens of bars around the center that have drinks for less than $2.50 for a pint for craft beer, or around $1 to $1.50 for a pint of local beer. Shots of Vodka start at 26 uah ($1) and bottles of wine or cava (champagne) can be had for 250-350 UAH ($9-$13US). But then you also have the really fancy cocktail bars, like my favorite, The Fitz which have 200 UAH Cocktails ($7.28US) or places like Ibiza Beach Club and Park Residence where it's not uncommon to spend 3,000UAH ($110usd) per person or more a night on bottle service and going out. It's a bit crazy as the average salary in Ukraine is around  $300 US a month (8,000UAH). So the good news is, there's really a bit of everything for everyone here in Odessa. You can ball out like a millionaire if you choose, or you can go out and have a great time with friends on a budget. 

The type of friends you'll meet and the girls you'll date will very cleary be in one financial category or the other. Someone will either expect you to spend 3,000 UAH ($110US) when you go out, or will be the exact opposite and think that's insane and unnecessary. The good new is that people will let you know right away which lifestyle they expect to be living. For more about my thoughts and insights on the Economy, Mindset, and Dating in Ukraine, read my blog post from last year that is still reflective of today. There are always exceptions, but in general, if you meet a girl in Ukraine on Tinder or at a bar, she'll let you know really quickly if she just wants money from you or what she's expecting. I've even met a few guys who have gone on dates with girls only to be scammed into a $600 (16,000 UAH) bill at a restaurant or bar that she chose. 

I've also spoken to girls that insisted on only going to the most expensive sushi restaurants or clubs and refused to be seen anywhere cheaper. But at the same time I've also been out with girls who were the exact opposite and insisted that we take the local bus for 7 uah (25cents) or even walk 4 miles (6km) rather than have me waste $3 on a taxi. That being said, going out or dating in Odessa can be both extremes. Going out can also be a fantastic value if you go local places, or even for a great time rivalling a Vegas Pool Party or a cool spot in New York or Miami but at a fraction of the price.

Pro Tip: Always google reviews of restaurants, bars or nightclubs if someone you just met suggests going there. The good news is most of the scam clubs have english written reviews stating what happened.


26 UAH = $1 USD ($2.18 for a pint of craft beer) 


Pool Party entrance and a bottle of Champagne for $20 


Gyms in Odessa



Before I came to Odessa, I looked up where the best gyms were so I could figure out where to live. I know it sounds silly but a big part of choosing where to home base as a digital nomad is access to a nice gym. When I first found Fitness Stadium I was blown away at how cool it looked. I even created a little tour video below showing off how cool it is.  It turns out that there are a few other super nice gyms in the center such as Platinum Fitness, and Formula Fitness, but the problem is they all require 1 year annual memberships. Luckily Fitness Stadium does month to month. The only issue is that since it's inside a park, you have to walk 20 minutes just to get in and out of the park as most taxi's won't be able to find the entrance. That's fine for when you have free time to walk home, but it's also annoying when you want to go straight to dinner or out somewhere after. I'm glad I did a month at Fitness Stadium, and it really is a nice gym. However, a lot of it is just for show, like make up and instagram selfies.

For my second month in Odessa, I decided to instead join the crappiest gym I've ever been to. It's right by my house so it was super convenient, but is basically just a small narrow room with a bunch of weights. It's called Power Gym and I'm honestly surprised anyone works out there. But it's cheap and in a great location. I paid 500 UAH ($18US) for a month but I'm assuming it's even less for locals who commit to a longer membership. Something in between the two luxury wise would be Yes Fitness which I joined last year during my trip here and is a good but basic gym. They also have CrossFit gyms, boxing gyms, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and Ballet.







Overall Thoughts on Odessa



It's complicated. On paper, this place is perfect. Easy visas, great weather during the summer, walkable city, beautiful old architecture with great infrastructure, wifi, internet and uber. Fantastic restaurants, beer, wine, food, nightlife, all for an incredible price. People are genuinely friendly once you get to know them and there's a ton of history and culture here to learn about and explore. There's beaches, pool parties, cafes, barber shops, outdoor activities, english language movie theaters, great gyms, amazing restaurants, drinks, beautiful women, parks, events, concerts, DJs, shopping, everything you can ask for. Best of all, it's all super affordable to live like a baller here in the life of luxury. However, the gym video above probably sums it up best. Many things in Odessa look amazing from the outside, are covered in fancy lights, makeup, and are made to look luxurious and glamorous in photos. However on the same note, everything is super confusing, overly complicated and often things just don't work. There are rules and unnecessary bureaucracy for many things and it's often frustrating.

A good example is the fact that 8 out of 10 ATMs will only dispense 200-1,000 UAH maximum ($8-$36) while if you get lucky or go to the right ones, you can get a normal amount of up to $300. When Uber and other apps work, it's amazing and is super cheap. But sometimes, there's just no cars because drivers get their accounts suspended for refusing to pay tax or fees. Living in Odessa is both amazing and frustrating at the same time. It can be and should be an amazing value, but the current rental market makes it overpriced. Someone really needs to come into Odessa, rent out a bunch of apartments for $250 a month and just rent them out month to month or on Airbnb for $450-500. They'd still make a profit, and it would great for month to month travelers. As of right now, I'd say that if you want to come to Odessa, either just come for 2-8 weeks knowing that you'll overpay a bit in rent. Or if you want to get maximum value, come in mid April during the start of Spring and sign a 6 month rental contract to stay until mid October. That way you can have an apartment in the city center for around $350 a month, a great gym membership, and you'll have enough time to properly learn how to speak Russian and get immersed into the country and culture.


Odessa, Ukraine Weather Year Round


The Travel Plan



If you ask me if I plan on coming back to Odessa next summer, I honestly couldn't tell you. Part of me really likes it here and I could see the perfect life being 6 months here in the summer and 6 months in Thailand during the winter. Both places can be super affordable especially if you sign 6 month contracts, and best of all, both are excellent hubs to leave your stuff, develop a home base and travel from. From Ukraine I could easily and cheaply travel to places in Europe like Lithuania, Latvia, Croatia, Prague, Budapest, and to places like Georgia and Kazakhstan that I've always wanted to visit. I could go back to California for a month to visit family, then do the same thing in Thailand, while checking out the Maldives, Philippines, and other Islands from October - March when it's freezing in Ukraine and the rest of Europe. Also since visas to Thailand are super easy for Ukrainian citizens, if you ever started dating someone seriously here, you could easily bring to to Thailand for the winter with you and live together back in Odessa the warm summer months. 

The only issues with this grand master plan is that for digital nomads with all of the freedom and flexibility we have, it's a bit of a big commitment to sign a 6 month rental contract and commit to taking Russian classes for half a year. I know that it almost sounds silly to someone who isn't used to this carefree nomadic lifestyle of ours, as 6 months in one place really isn't that long, but it sure feels like it. If anyone wants to do this with me, let me know in the comments below or in the Travel Like a Boss Facebook group. I think that if we could get a good crew together committed to learning the language, coworking together, hitting the gym and going out on weekends, it would be both a super fun and productive 2019. Honestly I think as the years pass and the movement matures, home basing like this as a digital nomad will become more and more normal verses moving countries every month. Lets see what actually happens next year, but if anyone wants to start planning for it. Let me know! Until then, feel free to ask anything below. If you want to know more about what life is like in Ukraine and who travels here and why, listen to one of the episodes of the Travel Like a Boss Podcast below, all recorded in Ukraine. 


  



Also read my Travel Guide to Ukraine



With Love from Odessa,



Johnny FD



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Post a Comment

  1. Ask anything or leave a comment here!

    ReplyDelete
  2. To confirm how overpriced Airbnb Apartments are. Someone in the digital nomads odessa facebook group, Orin just mentioned that a local friend helped him find a month to month apartment in the city center for $200 a month. But it wouldn't have been possible to find without a local's help.

    It might be worth the money to pay a local $50-$100 to be your personal assistant and find you an apartment and get you a great place.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Cost of life here is considerably less expensive than anyplace else in Europe and most places on the planet. In Lviv I effortlessly lived on £400 every month, here in Kiev it's more similar to £650 however we lease a significant costly flat.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Just wanted to clarify. It is not the norm that you pay 25 euros minimum per taxi in Germany. That may be accurate or your experience in certain bigger cities if you take the „official looking taxis“ only or go a certain distance but in smaller cities there are often cheaper taxi services and if you go a reasonably short distance I have made many, many trips below 25 euro. In fact I don’t think, I ever spent that. I would encourage you to make your statement more accurate or state for which area and what type of taxi service that may be the case to offer accurate information to whoever is reading this. Otherwise, thanks for all the information you collected. I appreciate it :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've been to a few cities in Germany and they all start around $4 just to get into the taxi and charge around $2-$3 per km. That means 1 mile is $9 and a short trip to or from the airport or most places will easily be $25.

      Delete
  5. Dude the language in Ukraine is Ukrainian, not Russian.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dude, if you've actually been to Odessa, you'll know that 99% of people there speak Russian and not Ukraine in that region.

      Delete
  6. Hey Johnny, Great article! Keep up the good work. When you mentioned $300/mo in the city center, were you referring to the "outer" part of the center, ie. more toward the edge of your map, or area around the main walking street (Deribasovskaya)? Is the RED circle in your map more expensive than the rest of the "center"? thanks

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. They might a bit more now, but if you're willing to sign a 12 month lease, you can still find apartments in the center for less than $400 a month. (maybe not in the red/purple circle, but still the center)

      Delete
  7. Q: Which language is spoken in Ukraine?
    A: It's both regional and generational. The older ones would all know Russian because of the Soviet legacy (exception does exist in some remote villages. But how likely would an expat travel there?) Kids growing up in the Ukrainian speaking region today probably wouldn't know Russian. The older ones in a Russian speaking region probably would struggle with Ukrainian though the younger ones are fluent. You can basically draw a diagonal line from upper right to lower left to divide Ukraine. The left portion is Ukrainian speaking and the right half is Russian speaking. The official language is Ukrainian. That means students would speak Ukrainian in school in ALL regions in the *POST* USSR era. What they speak when they are home or in the street depends on the region they are in.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes you are 100% correct. But if I was going to bet, people in Odessa will still speak Russian for the next 40+ years and into the next generation. Although the rest of Ukraine is slowly pushing for Ukrainian to be the official language spoken. I think Odessa will be a hold out.

      Delete

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Want to start an online business?

Want to start an online business?
A post written for friends and family - Step by Step instructions on How to start your own online store.