A Love Island star has followed suit among the many people who are “leaving the UK in waves” by ditching her drab and expensive 9 to 5 life for a luxury lifestyle abroad – and she is saving hundreds every month in the process.
Diamanté Laiva lives in a plush hotel apartment for just £500 a month, which is a steal compared to her previous £950 one-bed flat in Gillingham, Kent.
With bills on top, the Brit would spend at least £1,400 of her salary on essentials each month.
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The 23-year-old’s new home is inside a hotel in Da Nang, where she doesn’t have to cook, clean or pay extra bills.
The swanky set-up also includes multiple saunas, a gym, bars and a swimming pool.
Diamanté’s story has resonated with viewers online – one of her posts has racked up over 14,000 likes, with people stunned by her plush lifestyle.
“I’ve been living four months in the apartment in Da Nang,” Diamanté, an entrepreneur who runs a body enhancement brand business and marketing agency for hospitality brands, told Whats The Jam.
“I signed a long-term contract for six months with the hotel management and I got in this apartment during rainy season so the prices were really low.
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“I love the amenities like the sauna, the swimming pool and the Jacuzzi.
“[Before], I was living in Gillingham in a one-bedroom flat.
“It was quite modern but there was only a gym and I was paying £950 a month, and had to pay my rent upfront.
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“Plus £250 for parking my car, £116 for council tax per month and £200 approximately on bills.”
“Kent was quite isolating.
“I moved out of my family home at 19 and I didn’t make any friends.
“Because I own a business it would be awkward at times, like going out to lunch and things like that.
“So I decided to move to Vietnam simply because the UK is just not a place for entrepreneurs at the moment and it doesn’t look like things are getting better any time soon.
“For security, peace of mind and just general happiness, anywhere is better than the UK at the moment.”
Diamanté doesn’t even need to cook, because the price of a meal in Vietnam is so low that there’s “no need” to buy groceries.
She said: “I haven’t cooked since I landed in Vietnam.
A burger and chips costs me around £3, so there’s absolutely no need to cook over here.
“Healthy chicken and rice costs about £1.50-£2 to have it delivered.
“You can even get fruit drinks delivered.
“They don’t charge delivery fees that are extortionate, unlike delivery and Uber Eats back home.”
With extra disposable cash, Diamanté also goes on regular holidays and she also has more energy to go outside in her new home, where the weather is far more palatable than rainy Britain.
She said: “I’ve been to Montenegro, Egypt, Spain, South Africa, Africa and the UAE and all the groceries there are way cheaper than the UK.
“Generally speaking, in Vietnam I’m 100 times happier.
“I didn’t leave my house in the UK simply because it was too cold and you have to spend £100 just to have a simple ordinary day out.
“It’s just not really liveable anymore.
“People are so happy in Vietnam that it actually rubs off on you.
“In the UK, the whole grey filter and rain and everybody being cheesed off can’t be good for anybody’s mental health.
“I can definitely see why people are leaving in waves because it’s not going to get better.
“I’m sad about that because I was born and raised in the UK, so I consider it to be home.
“I should be able to love where I come from but so many things are happening these days that it is hard to keep that attachment.”
Instead of looking back with regret, the young woman is looking forward to the future with optimism.
She added: “Life is crazy right now.
“I feel like I’m exactly where I’m meant to be.
“Life is exciting right now because even I don’t know what’s happening next.
“The long-term plan is still very open.
“I like to just listen to my gut feeling and let it pull me to a country, so at the moment I’m getting a USA feeling.
“I’ve never been there before so feel like it’s somewhere where I would need a holiday first, because the country is so big I wouldn’t even know where to start.”
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