Omlet cube and run

[laurmurf]

I moved here from the States via Ireland and can't imagine living anywhere else. I adore this country and the British people: i feel fabulously lucky to live in a country that is tolerant, democratic, fair with a sense of decency and general lack of bigotry and intolerance: where how much you earn doesn't decide how healthy or well educated you are.

 

Two of my children have had nearly fatal illnesses and were saved by the "Ooops, word censored!"le and heroic actions of NHS staff: the outcomes would have been so different for all of us if we'd lived in the States.

 

I will be forever grateful and forever thankful for living here and having British children!

[Redwing]

We were all set to move to the States some years ago, we had a town chosen, costs all sorted out plus help with relocation and a job for OH despite him not being fully qualified. I wouldnt have been allowed to work but the profit on our UK house would have bought us a nice house outright over there.

 

We backed out as it simply became too scary a thought, if we had stepped off the housing ladder in the UK would we ever get back on if things didnt work out in the States?

 

I am actually glad we didnt go now

 

If I moved abroad I would go to Finland I think, everyone there speaks English, we love the way of life over there and its a climate we both like.

[Cinnamon]

I take back all I said about moving away.

 

There is nowhere in the world more beautiful than England on a warm,sunny day

 

(might still look for a holiday home in the sun though!)

[LolaLayla]

It is lovely to go on holiday but it is great to come home. Home is where my family and friends are All my family are in this country and that is why we stay here. If they were somewhere else it could possibly be a different story

I also think it is necessary to be with folk who are on the same wavelength as you and I have found that difficult when meeting people from other countries particularly if English is their second language as it is hard to have the depth of conversation (we have German friends and this is where this observation comes from).

I suppose we are particularly lucky in this part of the world (apart from the windy weather) as the scenery is lovely. The area has little crime, there is no charge for parking in town (which amazed an English friend who was visiting). The city is less than an hour on the train etc etc

I am also grateful for the NHS as it is amazing in an emergency. We also have free prescriptions and my children attend University without paying tuition fees (sorry to mention these for those of you who are not up here )

Although having a good quality of life here I do occasionally yearn for my hometown in the Cotswolds, but I can always get on a train and visit which sorts me out for a short while

[Chortle Chook]

I take back all I said about moving away.

 

There is nowhere in the world more beautiful than England on a warm,sunny day

 

(might still look for a holiday home in the sun though!)

 

I know what you mean, Cinamon. This weekend I really thought "Nah, could not live anywhere else and told OH " It was so beautiful. I've just got to pray I keep my health so I can enjoy some travelling when I retire but travelling that brings me back here after each 3 week or so period.

[The Dogmother]

Yes, it was beautiful this weekend, wasn't it?

 

My uncle moved to work in Singapore about 30 years ago - he and his wife have a whole new way of life over there now and I doubt they will ever leave. Their house in the UK is rented out so they still have something on the property market, but I understand they have bought a retirement villa on one of the Indonesian islands.

[majorbloodnock]

Living, as I do, in the UK, there are several things which strike me.

 

• I have the ability to say what I want and decide my own life's direction. Not all countries would allow me that. Moreover, if I feel there is something wrong with how it is being governed, I know I have the choice to actively try to change it i.e. stand for election. I've never exercised that choice, but it's there nonetheless.
  
• When I and my family have been unwell, we have been well looked after. There have been times when it could have been better, but the basic standard has always been one it would be churlish to take for granted.
  
• I have a job that requires me to travel quite a lot, so I regularly see the differences in the sets of compromises different countries choose. All have their appeal, all come at a price. I've seen plenty that would suit me as well as the UK, but none that overall stand out as better.
  
• I have relatively few friends per se, but those I have are good ones. They are more important to me than geography. If I moved to a different country, I suspect I'd still retain the friends I have; many live a fair distance away anyway.
  
• My family and I are now financially secure enough not to have to worry about the next bill. We're lucky in that. However, that, combined with the relatively bohemian nature of my job means we don't currently have to live in the UK. The fact we're still here is probably the best answer to the thread's overall question.

[Chortle Chook]

Living, as I do, in the UK, there are several things which strike me.

[*]I have a job that requires me to travel quite a lot, so I regularly see the differences in the sets of compromises different countries choose. All have their appeal, all come at a price. I've seen plenty that would suit me as well as the UK, but none that overall stand out as better.

This has intrigued me and I'd love to know more. What countries, and what is the price of their appeal?

 

I love Italy especially the area around Rome and Tuscany too, Oh and Venice. I love the totally natural flair that all Italians seem to show for style, as if it is in their blood. I also adore their food and their attitude to life, family and friends (they work to live and live well, not the other way round). I think I could even resurrect the Italian I used to know. So Italy would be my first choice for a move abroad if I was going to go, but I think the beaurocracy would wear me down eventually. My hair dresser tells me it can take nearly a year to buy a car. An exaggeration I'm sure but I was put off once when standing behind someone in a post office in Venice who was being told that something could not be accepted by the post because it was not in the right sort of envelope

[majorbloodnock]

Living, as I do, in the UK, there are several things which strike me.

[*]I have a job that requires me to travel quite a lot, so I regularly see the differences in the sets of compromises different countries choose. All have their appeal, all come at a price. I've seen plenty that would suit me as well as the UK, but none that overall stand out as better.

This has intrigued me and I'd love to know more. What countries, and what is the price of their appeal?

 

I love Italy especially the area around Rome and Tuscany too, Oh and Venice. I love the totally natural flair that all Italians seem to show for style, as if it is in their blood. I also adore their food and their attitude to life, family and friends (they work to live and live well, not the other way round). I think I could even resurrect the Italian I used to know. So Italy would be my first choice for a move abroad if I was going to go, but I think the beaurocracy would wear me down eventually. My hair dresser tells me it can take nearly a year to buy a car. An exaggeration I'm sure but I was put off once when standing behind someone in a post office in Venice who was being told that something could not be accepted by the post because it was not in the right sort of envelope

 

Sorry; that's not quite what I meant. What I was trying to say is that each country I've visited does things in a particular way (including how it governs itself and how it spends its public money). Since the public purse is never bottomless, and no government is ever completely efficient, there are compromises made. Some things one particular country will do very well - France's medical system stands out to me - but that will come at a price. The country I'm visiting most at the moment is Germany; I'm there most weeks. There are a lot of things that are run very well there, but the price is generally most visible in that flat ownership is far more common than house ownership. I like it very much there, but not more so than the UK.

 

You mentioned in your post that you like Italy, but not its bureaucracy. That's exactly what I'm talking about; you can't take a country without accepting the less palatable foibles that are part of life there. Spain is great for British ex-pats, but there are Spanish governmental moves to try to get residents to declare their savings in foreign accounts (presumably to start taxing on overseas wealth). Understandable, given the Euro crisis, but at the moment I'll leave the Spanish way of life and keep my money, thanks very much.

 

It's like that throughout, in my view. I've seen lots of good bits happening in other countries, but overall I don't see their compromise of choices as any better or worse than those here in the UK.

[MedusA]

I think there are words to a Frank Sinatra song that goes...."It's oh, so nice to go travelling, But it's so much nicer, Yes, it's so much nicer to come home"

 

That sums up how I feel about living in the UK. It's not perfect but it's home.

[The Dogmother]

I couldn't have said it better MedusA

[Chortle Chook]

majorbloodnock said "you can't take a country without accepting the less palatable foibles that are part of life there"

I guess that is the difference between going on holiday somewhere and living there.

 

Also, for living somewhere, as well as the obvious points like food, health, secenery etc. there is also the less tangible thing of "does your personality fit" That's more difficult and where at the bottom of it, like it or not, I think I'm hellish English (though by blood I should be Welsh)

[KimmyCustard]

We have also been discussing the option of emigrating - to the USA. We met and have made some great friends who live in Missouri (on 40 acres!) who have greater extremes of weather than the UK but similar seasons. OH is a policeman so he would look into that in the USA, although they dont usually employ people that are not US citizens. We are visiting them this month so we will find out what Midwest USA is really like and not from a tourist's viewpoint! They have chickens after I convinced them that they couldnt have 40 acres without hens on it

[The Dogmother]

Missouri?! a friend lives there and they've only just got rid of knee-high snow!

[KimmyCustard]

Youre right Dogmother, they have! They said they have had some crazy weather for this time of the year, usually its about 70 degrees by now! The forecast is for sun and 72 this week so back to normal Where in Missouri is your friend?

[sadietoo]

 

My understanding is that Spanish Inheritance Tax is also quite punitive comparatively....

[Willow]

Went shopping in Reading yesterday and driving out came across a Sikh procession, I know it's not for everyone but I was delighted to happen upon a procession of Sikh gentlemen in long flowing beards, ceremonial costume and long swords with music etc. It added some unexpected colour to the day, then home to my English garden which thanks to our wet relatively mild weather will grow a greater variety of plants than most countries and today I'll go for a row on one of the most beautiful stretches of the river. Yep I love to travel but I'd chose to live in England I love those contrasts.

[Ziggy]

I moved to the UK in my early 20's, so I guess for me the answer is yes I choose to live here, and I wouldn't go back 'home' even if someone paid me a fortune to do so. Really this is home for me now... I keep meaning to take the UK citizenship test and apply for British nationality, but being european I've never felt the need for it (it just bothers me that my passport has to have a different name from my husband's and childrens' - in my home country you can't use your married name on passports) and never seem to find the time for it.

Occasionally I daydream about living somewhere different and exotic, but I love travelling and will always visit different countries anyway, so I'm happy to go for the endless variety of holiday travel rather than settle somewhere new. I would love to spend longer period of times in some places in the future, but the UK will always be my home port now.

[Daphne]

And just a thought, you don't have to live in a country for ever, so if you are curious about life in another country you can usually try it out and if it doesn't suit then you can go back

[Chortle Chook]

And just a thought, you don't have to live in a country for ever, so if you are curious about life in another country you can usually try it out and if it doesn't suit then you can go back

Not quite sure that is true, alas, as the rediculous property prices in the UK and the way they rise and rise, pretty much means that when you leave you can't get back

[Daphne]

Not if you rent elsewhere

 

What I'm trying to say is that moving to another country doesn't have to be an all or nothing decision. Of course there are all sorts of reasons why people can't move flexibly (education, employment, finance, family, stability and health all spring to mind immediately), but equally there are plenty of options.