the North American exodus

[Willing to Fly]

Let's say you were going to leave the safety and comfort of North America. Where would you go? Who has the best terms and conditions out there these days? Most of us can't go to Europe so that's out.

Best balance of days off and dollars.

And, go:

[nitrowired]

There is no such thing as balance anywhere. You either go for money in China or cheap living in the likes of Vietnam.
No middle ground left.

[FlyTCI]

If you are looking for a, at the moment, sensible job market with good contracts then stay put.

By the way, what NA exodus are you referring to? From what I know more American expats are going back home vs trying their luck on the outside.

[Willing to Fly]

Call it my NA exodus then. I know Americans are returning home as wages and working conditions improve there.

The other two countries in North America are not seeing the same pilot shortage as there is in the good ol' USA. The thought of either major Canadian carrier offering wage increases like a few US carriers have seen is practically laughable.

We lack balance where I am now. Problem is, I'm not really compensated well for it.

[CaptainProp]

I think if you can get $10-12K per month in south east Asia then that would be the best lifestyle/income/cost of living balance you can find today. But make sure you know what you are moving to, and more importantly make sure your family know what you are moving to, that part of the world ain't NA ;-) Often very chilled lifestyle outside work but it takes some time and patience getting used to how things are done in that part of the world.
As a side note, just read an article about cost of living for expats in various cities around the world, Dubai came up on 15th place or something just ahead of Abu Dhabi and they haven't seen a proper pay rise in years. I'm sure all the guys working out there can fill you in on the details, just making a general point.

China, as already mentioned, pays top dollar but I would only ever personally go to HK or Shanghai. Problem is, in HK you won't get paid enough for the level of cost of living anymore. Might look ok on paper but when you start asking around about cost of housing, food, schools etc etc it's probably not worth it anymore.