Life as an expat in Bulgaria

As I’m sitting at home, looking out at my balcony and watching the first snow fall of the year, I thought it was about time I shared something about Bulgaria on this blog. I’ve been an expat in Sofia for just over a year and I write about Bulgaria all the time but always for my website eatstaylovebulgaria.com. Rather than duplicate things I’ve already written I thought I would share some of my highlights and if you’d like to read more you can just head over to the other site and read the full stories!

Firstly, to give you a bit of background on Bulgaria. It’s a really interesting country with more history than you can imagine and some of the most beautiful scenery in the world. This place is a hidden gem, tucked away in Eastern Europe next to Turkey, Serbia, Macedonia, Greece and Romania.

Bulgaria offers everything you could want from a great holiday destination including nice beaches, amazing ski resorts and so much untouched nature. I’ve been trying to share all the wonderful things here through my website but even for me, someone living here, it’s difficult to capture everything. There’s so much I need to see and do and people keep sharing new places with me that I must visit and haven’t even heard of! As for being an expat in Bulgaria, well, it’s probably not for everyone but I really love life in Sofia. It’s such a cosmopolitan city and the nightlife is fantastic! Learning Bulgarian isn’t easy (I’m trying! BulgarianPod101.com – Learn Bulgarian with Free Podcasts) but the people are friendly here and once you make friends they will be close. Family and friends are considered to be very important in Bulgaria. There’s also a great expat community in Sofia. Having a group of international friends is also a must as sometimes you just need to speak to people who understand what it’s like to be an expat in Bulgaria and can help you with the challenges you may face.

If you prefer something a little more rural there are also plenty of people who have moved to villages in Bulgaria and settled in nicely to the simple, stress free, way of life.

If I could, I would take 3 months to explore this beautiful Balkan country, visiting a new place every day and documenting my journey. For now that’s not possible so in the meantime I am going to see as much as I can in my spare time and continue to enjoy living and working in Bulgaria.

It may surprise you that there is so much to do in Bulgaria but here are some of the adventures I’ve had and places I’ve visited so far … and this is only a glimpse!