Try and remove all 'if only's' from your life, that's my motto. When you're 70 do you want to wake up one day in that special home and think "If only I'd buggered off to France/Oz/wherever when I was reet p!ssed off with life."? Even if it doesn't work at least you know so the 'if only' question won't plague you.
Move to the West of Scotland and become an artist/potter/shoemaker and share a workshop/studio with Googy. You know it makes sense!
Yes i did it, travelled the world for 6 yrs, but realised the UK was ace and by far the nicest place on the planet for me 
I got bored of the travel in the end, airports aren't as glamourous as i dreamt when i was young...
Yep, 4 years ago. Sat in Tenerife now enjoying the laid back lifestyle and biking for a living. Not easy, but the best decision I've ever made.
The selling up made sure that we gave it a proper go when we got here rather than whimping out after 6 months!
littlegirlbunny - what do you do in construction? I was put through a similar situation last year (sent on secondment working nearly 100% extra hours for no increase in pay, due to the threat of losing my job) with the consultancy I work for, and I've not had a pay increase since the beginning of '08. I'm binning the job though and starting an MSc in something completely different later in the year. Same city, but a change of career. Also giving up a great flat to move in with my parents. Really looking forward to it! Hope whatever you decide to do in the end works out for you!
I did for a few months back in 2005. Work was really getting to me, driving me more and more bonkers and I just wasn't happy. So I sacked it all off and went and did a season in france for the summer. The best thing I ever did, it does make me want to do another though!
Ask John Venables, presently being gang-rutted in the shower block, wing C, HM Prison Slade .
Thinking about it at the moment but in a deep rut.
14 years left on the mortgage
Floor layer by trade and working to service the house dept
22 and 19 year old daughters seem to think it is cool to live at home
for £150 per month ( they are both in work and earning a good wage ) and go out enjoying them selves .But have food on the table / washing done / heating / leccy / internet access / the list is long .
Mrs Trout`s mum died at xmas so a bit of inheritance on its way .
it would pay off half the house .
I say sell up and buy a small spot without a mortgage and chuck the girls out to fend for them selves .
we are both 50+ so should be having a bit of fun before the reaper wanders by
am I a B-stard for thinking this
am I a B-stard for thinking this
No.
FWIW my folks made sure that as soon as we were earning, if we wanted to stay at home that the rent was suitably proportionate; I think it was 50% of take-home pay for the first year and rose after that. One thing helping us out / when we were penniless students etc but as soon as we entered the workplace...
Oh, and they're now merrily living it up, p1ssing our inheritance up the wall on fast living and cruising the tropics. Fair play I reckon - my mum and dad spent nigh on 30 years working hard to raise us (I'm one of four), I think they've earnt their retirement.
no mate you deserve it.
Kick em out. I was gone at 16 did me no harm.
If I ever become single again, I'm gone!
Gotta be canada.
Off for a spin in the Tarn gorge on Saturday, lived in France for five years now, and love every minute of it, but I didn't leave Britain 'cos I thought it was shite it isn't and life isn't all wonderful here. Same old stresses and strains and its never easy to balance work and life anywhere.
We've met a lot of ex-pats since we got here, and to generalise, they generally fall into 2 categories. Those who left Britain because they thought it had to be a better life than they suffered in the UK and those who came here for the love of life and have little bad to say about Britain. One lot seem very happy here, the others still moan about everything.
I would say go for it, I love the adventure, the many new friends I have met, and did I mention how good the riding is?
am I a B-stard for thinking this
NO
As for me 5 years ago got through a wifectomy which was hard, life going no where infact it was on hold and did the internet dating
Met up with a lass from Devon and it went well ( it was a 100 mile relationship) got the invite to move in, sold my place jacked a cracking job and went on a whim and it worked okay so the job situation has been a bit hit and miss but it was a good move
Now married again to a fantastic lass, planning our future to a place we bought in france ( haute vienne), problem is when is the right time to go. It is not just me anymore just a load more complications
Life never easy eh 
Long time ago i was ina shyte job, hated the peoplr there, the hours, the travelling etc - was in a major rut and getting myself into a lot of illegal stuff.
Jacked it in and went to a kibbutz for a year - opened my eyes up to other cultures and loads of people from all around the world. it forced me to re-evaluate what i had been doing.
was offered the opertunity to stay in Israel and take up citezinship, but i went back to Scotland for a while to see if things would work out - they didn't. I ended up dealing again, so packed it in and fekked off to London one day with all i could take in a car.
22 Years later, i live in the Midlands, have about 6 years left on the mortgage, have no money in the bank, have 3 motorbikes, 2 road bikes, 3 mountain bikes, a mental cat, and a lovely wife to be.
Best thing i done was move and break the chains that were dragging me down.
Construction industry is very tough at the moment, lots of contractors going out of business, contractors desperate to get work are tendering at stupidly low levels. I used to do lane rental jobs, 7 days a week, 14-18plus hours per day - that was tough,no idea what day or week it was - just work, nap, eat, work.
If the job is that bad - leave if you can. What is it you do?
Trout, your future is in the light business ;). As for the girls do the old housemate trick. Split the bills in 4 and make them pay for their share. And by bills I mean all the bills (gas, internet, tv, food, water and so).
Yes. sorry a bit late,
Whilst going through a divorce, I moved down to France (near Perpignan) in November 2008 to start a gardening business as have some friends here. The house was sold and I'm still here.
It's been a hard first year what with the recession and noone having much money but hope for better things this year. I've also started a horticulture qualification.
Oh a complete change from my last job/career, involved in marketing the automotive sector!!
MMM worth thinking about
some good ideas and now the mum in law is at rest no ties cept the 2 girls .
good idea Juan will do the maths and present it to them and see what they think .
I reckon I can help there, Trout: I'll take the troublesome girls off your hands for, say, a handful of shiny LEDs?
Yes. So far so good.
I left another part of the world because of shite life slaving away for peanuts so decided to start again from scratch.
All I can say is it is the best thing I have ever done. Now I am a citizen of GeordieLand. Wahey!
p/s: I was having £40 saving for several years ...
Yup.
Was Andy to everyone in the UK, rented, lived a nice life spending with gay abandon...
Now in Australia, two kids, house (mortgage), known as Andrew, rarely talk to folk in the UK to be honest. All in the past 3 years.
Would I go back? Nope. Is it hard? Yes, though gets easier.
Never underestimate the culture shock, even to a place with the same language.
Yep, me and the mrs sold up and moved to NZ two years ago, having never been here before. We love it, don't plan on going back any time soon, but wouldn't rule it out. We didn't move here to get away from anything, we just fancied a change.
Never underestimate the culture shock, even to a place with the same language
or even to a place with the same language, and where you also spent most of your childhood lol. Things are very different (but not impossible) 20 years later as an adult.
I think geography has a lot to do with it too. For instance I think I would feel differently if I was say "a long drive away, but it was do-able" (eg somewhere in Europe) as opposed to "6000 miles away". Also being in a different hemisphere throws you, winter here/ summer there and vice versa.
I can't decide whether having half a dozen UK TV channels here on satelite makes it easier or harder? It's nice for the entertainment value, but it adds greatly to the surrealness of the situation.
Well, whilst not quite dropping the work (Is suspect the large promotion I'm taking in Adelaide will cause yet more work...) we are disappearing down under. I was told to apply for the job in November (I never thought I'd get it), was interviewed just before xmas, and then told basically to pack my bags. I'll be there in June.
This certainly will be a shock, but I doubt they'll call me Andrew, seeing as I'm actually called Mark Where you based ex-pat?
Went and started a MTB company in Italy...
Very hard work, language barriers to begin with and you will be amazed as to what you will miss in the UK.
Its not all better you still have to work and you get different stress, especilly money worries etc...
It also depends on what sort of person you are, if you will easily miss your family and friends then its even harder.
we havent regreted what we did but there were times why we wondered ever leaving the UK but now the business is doing well, worries are much less and it doesnt rain...
Best of luck...
I moved to England in the mid-90's and loved it from the beginning. Now, having moved to Ireland, just across the Irish sea, you know, I struggle to adapt. Same-ish English spoken, similar breakfast at petrol stations, same-ish paper in the morning. Only they are different when it matters. It's difficult to precisely say what it is but there is this something. Small things possibly, like no BBC London on the radio, like no London Pride in the shop down the road, no curry houses nearby.
If you're make it work it'll be fine, otherwise you'll struggle. Good luck!
Trout, I'll second this: your future business = lights
i'm moving to eindhoven for 5 months in April, before completing a master's. I've been getting myself used to visiting old friends infrequently now, and i'm trying to stay single, so that come graduation i'll be free to go where ever i like. I don't think i could do it in one great leap
@Zokes, We're up on the Sunshine Coast. I've lived in the cotswolds my entire life so I had to move somewhere green. Turns out there's more rain here than in the UK!!!
i.e. I have a 120mm rain gauge. I've emptied it three times in the last week as it's been overflowing (and yes it's free standing with no overhangs!), and it's up to 110mm again already...
Still, once it stops raining, within 48 hours it'll be like it never rained - hell as those hours are though with the humidity. And what's more Winter is a no rain cool days affair so ideal for biking!
If you're ever up round here let me know as there's some good riding to be had, but really not advertised at all. There is a 'where to mountain bike sunshine coast' book but it's not the best.
[looks out window, more rain - too wet to ride, sigh]
2007 - Took a year abroad in Canada as part of undergrad degree. Made alot of friends in Ontario and beyond, made even better friends with people I'd never met before from the same home university.
End 2008 - No clue what to do with myself. Finished uni in a matter of months, had been offered a min-wage salary job as the manager of a agronomics laboratory. Turned it down on account of a control freak 'i built this from the ground up' MD despite gaining plenty of job experience from summers working there. Lots of friends, but no direction whatsoever. Applied for some masters courses, all various geography related courses, all over the place - looked at a map of europe, and just started picking places out that I thought would be nice to study at with international scholarships. Seriously.
August 2nd 2009 - e-mail in inbox. accepted into a program at the university I'd studied at previously in Canada. Term started in September.
i've never completed a visa application so fast or for that matter used so many fax machines. got there having forgotten everything, nowhere to live etc. was soon back on my feet with old friends and a mrsgibbons (Syrian/Canadian ginger!)
if there is anything i've learnt, if there is an opportunity to do something rash, probably ill-thought out, cash poor, potentially dangerous (ought to see my wildlife company at field sites).
then do it.
regret the how, the who and the what later.
and by no means do I think canada is better than the uk, bitter is nearby impossible to come by and there is no such thing as a chocolate pud (yoghurt) in the local supermarket, they have stop signs instead of giving way and perogies are fairly rank...but they do make for some of the most generous, voraciously competitive and truely loving folks I've met in a long time.
n.b. i am generally penniless..canada is expensive, and i paid off my loans from undergrad (silly me...) through working every summer since 2000 odd. parents never helped a penny, father didn't even know what course i had done until i graduated... felt the need to say that before anyone felt the need to snipe.
Aye, I got the chance to take voluntary redundancy and get the hell out of Dodge (well....Birmingham...), and took a six month guiding job in Whistler. Thankfully that wasn't quite the heavenly job I was hoping for, otherwise I'd have gone back to the UK in October 2007. I'm now happily married, living in Vancouver with my wife and two cats, and spend my days hitting bikes with hammers.
There's even a UK style chippy over the road from where I work.
walleater, have you moved jobs or is there more than one bike shop with a chippy over the road? We should get out for a ride on the dialled's sometime.
ps. to the OP, also in Vancouver and glad I moved, I got a transfer through work though which made it quite easy.
Ex-pat, my thoughts exactly. Moved from Bristol to Sydney 5 yrs ago with the wife. Have a 3 yr old now, sold house in Bristol and just about to put down deposit on a house 200m from Freshwater Beach. Its tough, being away from family, culturally oz is very different, it is impossible to know until you get here. Used to love MotD, forgotton all about it and follow NRL instead - Manly Sea Eagles. Never shown the slightest bit of interest in rugby league but it is massive in Sydney and i now find it quite entertaining. Any move, particularly far away will test your relationship.....be prepared for tough times but dont give up 
RS, yes I've moved jobs and I guess you know where to Although I keep where I work quiet on NSMB as I enjoy being an on-line idiot without it interfering with work. LOL etc...
Yes I'd be up for a hardtail mission sometime. I'll be aiming for doing a lap or two of BBY Mtn once it's lighter in an evening.
Another one to move to Lausanne - due to gf at the time, now wife.
Been here 2.5yrs, love it. Changed my language, job and most importantly life. Miss family & friends of course, but really dont regret it.
was told me & Mrs RNP couldnt have kids which knocked us sideways 2 years ago, both in good well paying secure jobs and figured we could carry on doing what we do only to look back in retirement having had nice holidays/cars/big televisions etc or do something else.
House on market this summer, our 19 year old landrover overland camper being rebuilt by myself over winter then setting off early next year heading south-ish, rough plan is to spend the summer in Ibiza, re visit Morocco then head south from there but not to retrn to the UK.
We're gonna live the no-plans, plan.
I came to Oz 10 years ago with a backpack & bike. Got down to Hobart, met my wife, found my job & some awesome trails. No plans on leaving now.
Wow, some really great stories. Thanks all for posting - really motivating stuff
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