Young American interested in Brunei life

Hi, and welcome to the forum.
I have to compliment you on a very well written introduction.

I can't help you directly, but I can very strongly recommend travelling outside what you know and exploring new ideas.
You have no idea how much you'll learn until you do it.

Local here but here's my input on what I can write as of now to give you some idea.

1. I have met a couple of young Americans who work here - they work in the education sector and as far as I am aware still do. I hope if they read your post, they be more incline to reply.

2. Housing - if you intend to stay in the Kuala Belait area, rental property can be expensive but having said that, with oil prices down and not much demand for housing by expats, this has brought property rental price down and on top of that there is so much supply in the market too from new houses and apartments. In the Brunei-Muara area, you can find small studios / 1 bedroom apartment with price ranging from B$400++. Or else, in shared accommodation or bedroom. I know in here that there are some ads for bedrooms too.

3. If you like to get about freely, getting your own car would be ideal. Petrol is inexpensive and you could easily buy a second hand car from fellow expats who are leaving the country.

Hi Tony,

I am from the UK and lived in Brunei for 3.5 years before leaving in 2014 to KL in Malaysia. I am part of the older generation, with kids and housing allowance, so not exactly in your shoes. But I just wanted to say that you are correct in no taxis, so you really need to invest in your own transport, the buses are unreliable and timetables mean nothing. I wouldn't say cars are cheap to buy, but they are very cheap to run.

Also there is practically nothing to do, and I mean nothing. Unless you want to eat at a select number of restaurants or go to the cinema. I'm just saying this in case your idea of quiet still includes a small amount of something. I would have said for a male in their 20's Brunei doesn't have anything (I'm in my 50's and it had nothing for me) it tends to suit couples with a young family, but my daughters are in their teens now and need more social opportunities and things to do, which Brunei doesn't offer.

Like you said though, go over for 3 months and see how you feel, but there is quiet and there is quiet, and Brunei is practically silent. And the laws there are making it worse, hence why we are happier now in Malaysia.

Hi Tony,


I'll start with answering some of the queries:
1) in our search for a roof above our head, we found that newspaper adds, Facebook pages of real estate agents were not the best source.  Most of them don't have exclusivity, so good properties tend to be gone before they get posted.
Best advice on this: when you get here, contact a few RE agents (local newspaper will give some, but ask fellow expats too if they have a personal connection with somebody), then define what you're after and let each of them come back (happens within 48hrs) with what they have got. Pick the best RE agent (in your opinion) then push him to get you more (choice). 
Budget-wise: IMO count on 800B$ to get a good basic.  I would not recommend any options on sharing, unless you find a couple of similar minded western-people who equally chip-in to rent a 3 or 4 BR house (around 2k)

2) transport: don't count on public transport, although things have improved noticeably over the past year and don't count on walking or cycling (weather can be torrential).  In terms of buying a car: in comparison to the U.S, you'll pay a lot of USD for what you get.  If you decide to come here for the initial 3 months, you need to rent a car, but talk to local business-holders if they can point you to somebody who is willing to rent his car. Re-sell value is pretty low, so avoid renting at Hertz, Avis, etc and go find a local willing to rent you his 5 yr old car because he already bought a new one. Count around 400-500B$ for good saloon car (no advantage IMO on 4x4 or pick-ups unless you need for your job).

3) Not sure if you have more luck in getting feedback on experiences of fellow-Americans through the U.S. Embassy, but regardless of nationality, I feel people who come here often fall into 2 categories:
A) Those who come here, being posted by their International employer
B) Those that have a particular strong/special skill that 'sells well' or is 'in demand'
I don't think (and I apologise for using this word) "fortune-seekers" are generally coming to Brunei as (just considering other options in Southeast Asia) they tend to explore Thailand and perhaps Vietnam instead.
PS: there are certainly a few more categories (trailing spouses, mix-marriages, ...) but the above 2 are IMO the dominant ones.

I hope this gave you some tips, but do think carefully before you think that "Brunei is your place".  Regardless of all the effort you have clearly already done, coming here on a 3-month exploration trip will set you back possibly 7k USD (flights, hotel, car rental, medical cover, ...) and if this is your first overseas visit you may end-up having a completely wrong idea about Asia.  Brunei is truly exceptional, don't misunderstand, but I'm not so sure if they're waiting for an American who wants to live a more quiet life, not hearing gunshots around every 15th corner and not seeing the drunks/junkies on the benches in every metropolitan city in the States.

Now the hard and final message: Finding a job, locally, is not easy at all !  There are 2 billion Asians who can probably do that job just as well as you, so why will they hire you? An employer would need to get a quota to employ you and these are not sitting on the shelf!  Are you fully sure that you cannot find, what you are looking for, in the States or in Germany ... Before you consider moving to a tiny country, such as BN?

Thanks for the responses guys. They have been very helpful. Although I understand your concern, I am not asking your opinion on where I should go instead, and I did not make this post for anyone to question my motives as it does not concern anyone. I simply want information on the topics I discussed. Thanks