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Comment by kodzoman | Hacker News Reader

I second this, I would add Croatia to the list if you stay out of Zagreb and Split and even seaside tourist towns are doable for $300 out of season (October to June). Also Croatia offers a digital nomad visa which means you don't pay most of the taxes there.

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Which levels of security will you find in Croatia - including appropriate behaviour of public officers, such as the police?

Also - how widespread is the understanding of the English language?

From what I understand it is very safe and fairly low corruption. English is widespread, especially in cities and costal towns with tourism. It is an absolutely gorgeous country, very Italian in character, but minus the chaos and cheaper as well.

Low corruption is not a reasonable description of any of the Balkan countries. Croatia is a little bit better than Serbia, Montenegro and Albania, but on corruption indexes is still considered to be one of the most corrupt countries in Europe.

This is really not something that a tourist / remote worker will ever experience.

Not in Croatia, but I have experienced corruption as a tourist in Serbia and Bosnia:

- Serbia: Driving in Novi Sad, and another driver illegally passed me and hit my car coming back into traffic, causing a few hundred euro in damage to my car. He got out and yelled me and then drove off before exchanging any info. I had photos of his license plates, but multiple Serbian friends advised me to not deal with it because it would ultimately come down to who was more able to deal with the nuance of bribing the police. On the other hand, I once stupidly left my Macbook Pro on a flight landing in Belgrade, and it ended up in the hands of the airport police, who handled everything professionally.

- Bosnia: Driving into the country, with insurance that's valid in Bosnia (and every country in Europe), which it says right on my insurance form. The immigration officer denies this and sends me over to his buddy 20m away to buy "Bosnian insurance". Only €30, but definitely corruption.

In my experience, even the worst parts of Croatia are safer and have more responsible cops than the sketchy parts of any mid-sized US city. Young people are fluent in English, along with most well-off middle-aged folks who know enough to consume the internet/English movies and television since Croatian isn't a hugely used language in media. Elderly people who don't live in touristic areas may know very little English but it's rarely a problem.

This 35-year-old left the U.S. for Croatia: ‘I live on $47 a day — here’s a look at how I spend my time’

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/08/21/this-35-year-old-expat-lives...

47 dollars a day is not cheap, that's 1500USD per month, for that I can easily live in Prague, most likely even in Vienna or Berlin

In my experience police was extremely professional in every interaction. Hell, I've even witnessed them refusing a bribe (body cameras tend to do that). Healthcare is also cheap. Had multiple tests to determine whether I needed an operation with no health insurance (I was on a vacation there that time) and it cost me below 150€.

As for language, of course, your experience will depend on where you want to live in the country. North-east sees less tourists than the coast, and finding that sweet middle might take some trial and error.

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