You asked, and I am answering every Friday once I have enough questions!
You can ask any question using the form here.
Why did you choose to settle down in Canada instead of, let’s say, the USA? I’m neither Canadian nor American. I was just curious about that.
I wrote about living in France versus Canada / U.S. (some great clarifications and corrections in the comments by readers, so please take the time to read that)
In short:
- Healthcare is prohibitive there for freelancers; you need to be an employee
- I did not want to become and employee, and freelancing rates are lower there too
- I did not love the way people worked and were being treated (no vacations? heartless lack of severance pay or help if you are in trouble? under the table slave wages? unacknowledged skilled immigrant labour force that is then treated like crap?)
- Canada is far less extreme (especially now) and not quite as fervent in views on both ends (left and right); I like a sort of middle, stable country even if it is going to be less dynamic.
Where do you get your stock photos for your blog? Do you have to pay to use them?
I detail this all out in my book: Start a blog like a boss, but a lot of my stock photos are free and here is one site I use.
Still have a burning question?
You can ask any question using the form here and all of my previous Ask Sherry posts are here.
Mia
Where in the USA did you live? I think different parts of the USA are totally different–almost like different countries. For example, the food where I am in the Northeast (and when I lived in San Francisco) is *totally* different from the food in the deep south or Texas–there are “American” foods in those parts of the country I have never even tried and are totally foreign to me.
And work/office culture and political culture are so different from place to place in the USA. That’s because many things are set by the state and sometimes the city/county–like minimum wages, for example, or unemployment pay or sometimes even healthcare. In many ways, different parts of the USA feel like separate countries to me.
Sherry of Save. Spend. Splurge.
Completely agreed. I lived in Miami, Dallas, and Manhattan.
Mia
Can’t comment on Miami/FL but Texas is like a country of its own. That’s what many Texans say and that’s what Americans in the other states say.
Sherry of Save. Spend. Splurge.
Oh I’d agree with that 🙂