Moving abroad is generally the same shit with (in my case sunshine) whatever the initial attraction is. Once you get into the routine of actually living you’ll come across the same petty bureaucracies. For me the lifestyle and sunshine make up for the crap you get in this country (and the petty bureacracies) and I’ll be gone again as soon as I can.

have been in Bavaria for 9 years now.

go back to the UK 2-3 times a year, albeit generally for 3-10 days at a time. i spent a month in the UK last year. that was nice, but didn’T make me want to rush back.

never really felt homesick. never missed family. old man has been over once to visit, my sister has never managed it and my mother is coming over for the first time in 9 years for 3 days next month.

couldn’t imagine returning “home”, although that is probably because i grew up in Essex. i find the south-east as a whole a bit of a shithole and massively over populated. [i]if[/i][/u] i were to return to the UK it would have to be either the south-west, the north-west or Wales. but i can’t see it happening.

the culture here is different to the UK, but i’ve been here so long now (and have little to do with expats) that i’ve adapted quite well. although humour is a little different.

i’m slowly getting the arseache with Germany. life here is not cheap. various (unnescessary?) insurances to pay each month. rents are too high and there is no chance of finding somewhere to buy in or around Munich on my income. i feel like i am constantly chasing my arse to keep my head above water.

although this above is tied up with my dislike of the capitalist system.

thinking of moving out of Germany and finding a plot of land and retreating a little from society.

can’t see myself returning to the UK other than for funerals or weddings.

Not really emigrated but I took a contract in Melbourne for 12 months and then returned to Uk. Took the family (wife and three young kids). We had a great time and in many ways the memories sustained us for a while once we returned to UK.

When I see Melbourne on TV it looks great and I wonder if we should have made more of an effort to stay.

Its not something we beat ourselves up over though. Pleased we did it – should we have stayed? Just don’t know. I get so wrapped up by work that where I am might be less important.

Thanks for all the stories, lots of perspective, if we stay we will do better materially but I’m on the fence whether the kids getting traditional grand parent time is worth more than the money

I am coming back for my son to have a relationship with his grandparents. To be honest it’s the main driver.

moved to Zurich in 2002 and then in 2007 moved to Norway. Met a Norwegian lass and got hitched. No1 son is now 4 and at kindergarten.

I miss the UK – family and friends and social aspects and lifestyle but Im settled here. We may consider retiring to the UK in 20 years or so

but as ali69er says – its quite hard not having much of a relationship between kids and grandparents but we have got used to it. and to be honest the Norwegian grandparents are pretty absent anyway

Lived in Finland for 5 years, moving back to the UK in June last year. Before that I spent 6 months in the Netherlands.

I’m lucky enough to work with loads of Europeans and comparatively few Brits. The culture shock was quite small.

OP, avoid the natives and you’ll be fine 😀

i’m slowly getting the arseache with Germany. life here is not cheap. various (unnescessary?) insurances to pay each month. rents are too high and there is no chance of finding somewhere to buy in or around Munich on my income. i feel like i am constantly chasing my arse to keep my head above water.

You are living in the most expensive part of Germany Alpin. Over in the deep East life is much easier. 😉

I am getting itchy feet to move on from Germany as well. I am casting my net Europe wide but finding English speaking employment will make a return to the UK most likely, but I can take my time getting the right job in a location that allows me to pursue my hobbies is my priority.

We get a lot of incredulous responses when we say we have moved back. Now when I see the images of moving overseas, esp Oz and NZ I can see why as the idyll projected is t quite as realistic as mortgage, job, kids etc a couple of posters further up nailed it. I think the concept of emigration when you got on a boat and sailed away has gone, its relatively easy to be mobile. We did have an option to go the US, Silicon Valley, but wasn’t really for us. I do think a single flight is more appealing than 27-32 hours away which is a very long way away. Rewind 15-20 years and NZ was attractive as housing was dirt cheap, xch rate was immense (3.9 $ to the pound) and. I capital gains tax. Financially it’s not that great now and hasn’t been for a long time, housing is crazy expensive relative to pay. Pros and cons really. If you are pondering it then do the list thing-list all the pros and cons then consider them in the cold light of day.

be prepared for the fact that it is never as easy to live in another country – even if they share similar values to yours – as you might think.

I agree in some ways, however I found Finland to be just about right for me. I felt very much at home – and having worked in Sweden to a lesser extent, I felt right at home there too. Maybe it’s because what they have is what I want.

However the biking, fantastic as it was, lacked variety. I came home from Finland for a weekend of riding and the first big rocky Welsh climb I hit was a joyous occasion 🙂

I’d like to move abroad when junior has flown the nest, but unless I can afford to work part time (or not at all) and get to experience which ever country I choose properly rather than just doing the same as I do now, but in another country! Then I don’t see a big pull to be honest.

get to experience which ever country I choose properly rather than just doing the same as I do now, but in another country! Then I don’t see a big pull to be honest.

But day-to-day working in another country is a good way to experience it. You still get weekends and holidays, just like here.

You still get weekends and holidays, just like here.

But more if you choose wisely.

I’d like to move abroad when junior has flown the nest, but unless I can afford to work part time (or not at all) and get to experience which ever country I choose properly rather than just doing the same as I do now, but in another country! Then I don’t see a big pull to be honest.

The sunshine that goes along with the same shit has a high value in my book and you do get to experience the culture, unless you live in the expat community.

not emigrating as such, was in Canada

Grew to really hate the place and its people – so dull

Actually boarded and biked way less than I did from the UK

I haven’t moved back, and wouldn’t even say I ’emigrated’ – more moved to Canada without really thinking about the longer term, and settled in. That was back in 2010, but as things stand I can’t see myself moving back in the near future.

The first couple of years when people asked about living here I mostly would just gripe about how the food isn’t as good (can’t find good sausages for love nor money; I miss pub-style scampi and chips, and going for a good curry can take some planning); how the Canadian sense of humour isn’t as dry or as sharp as British, and so on. But really, I’d got sucked into this view in the UK that I could only live in London, for work, family etc, and the quality of life here is way better than I could ever afford there.
And there is something empowering in a way about being an expat – like you’re a bit odd for being here anyway, so you may as well make the most of it. Like driving up the Dempster Highway, learning to ski, going dogsledding/ camping, and buying a house that Canadians think is expensive but Brits think is an absolute bargain.

I do feel that aphorism that expats feel like strangers in two countries – the one they live in and they one they came from – but the UK doesn’t seem like a very inviting place to move back to right now, politically and economically.

Full time work is full time work. You spend most of your time head down, in an office, stressed, so it makes little difference whether you are in cold wet blighty, or sun-soaked Oz.
But most people get homesick so being in your native land is preferable.
The secret to happiness is part-time work and interests to pursue.

One big downside is your bollocksed for ever playing trivial pursuit ever again ! None of the questions in each country ever quite make sense 🙂

One big downside is your bollocksed for ever playing trivial pursuit ever again ! None of the questions in each country ever quite make sense

Hardly a downside, more a decent excuse 🙂

You are living in the most expensive part of Germany Alpin. Over in the deep East life is much easier.

indeed Herr Stern…. however, looking slighty further afield means there isn’t much work for the GF (designer) or myself. there is a reason Minga is full of Preißn from the far east… i know of at least 10 guys from Leipzig/Saschen/Thuringen working down south. some of them even have their families up north and send money home, travelling back every fortnight.

we could easily find work in Berlin, but i f-in hate the place. and even there it is not much cheaper than Munich.

You still get weekends and holidays, just like here

Best things about Germany… you get a lot more of them 🙂
Assuming you’re stuck with doing hard graft, 30 days leave, and far too many holidays in May-June.

Not getting itchy feet, but a contract up in 2019, which is coincidentally when the UK is raising the drawbridge. So in my case it’s more about being prepared for the eventual inevitable. Even if I’m sent home, it probably won’t be home home, but just yet another city/region of residence.

my bro lives in Sydney, ended up there after back packing, met a girl, now married with 2kids.

He really struggles with the heat, their house is now too small with the kids but its mega expensive to move (govt fee’s) and houses in their neighbourhood are massively overpriced. Long commute, stressful job but needs the money to pay the fairly large mortgage.
No time for the beach, hardly any social life/circle compared to the UK – would never come back though he reckons even though his Oz wife likes it here (spent a year waiting here together for visa’s).

Think we might go to him when our folks aren’t around anymore as I do miss my bro and only see him every few years.
Also heartbreaking not being with our young niece&nephew as we don’t/cant have children of our own.

Been in the UK 20 years but going home to France in March .

We want to give our children the chance to enjoy a different culture and lifestyle . Wont be easy for them and my wife at first but we will be fine .

Grew up in South Africa in the 70’s, came back to the UK aged 10, never got over not having servants anymore and going from a very large house in the sun to a small flat above a shop.

Now in Hong Kong, no current thoughts of ever returning, if anything maybe consider moving further away to NZ or Oz next.

Friends of Mrs Gti emigrated from Cumbria to Oz and for months we kept receiving irritating emails with pics of the kids frolicking in the surf, having barbies etc. and I could tell that Mrs Gti was a bit envious. Then it all went quiet and next thing we knew, they were back in the rain of Cumbria. It turned out that somebody they knew had been scoffed by a shark and they had realised that Oz is full of animals that bite, sting and eat humans and actually they weren’t happy at all.

Everyone I know who went to live abroad except my sister returned home after a few years. Different reasons in each case tho

Myself I have spent a fair bit of time in other countries but I don’t think I could live permanently anywhere else than Scotland now. Too many things I love about Scotland that just don’t exist anywhere else.

Too many things I love about Scotland that just don’t exist anywhere else.

It’s the Maccaroni pies isn’t it ?

And the friendly locals in Leith. Some nice chap called Begbie is a standout

On the way back home after 6 years in Oz at the moment. Australian fiancée wants to give the UK a go, and I never intended on a permanent move. Nervous about Brexit Britain to be honest and she is worried about the weather but looking forward to it. I’m an Australian citizen now though so the door will always be open for a return.

I’m about to. I won’t be coming back.

indeed Herr Stern…. however, looking slighty further afield means there isn’t much work for the GF (designer) or myself. there is a reason Minga is full of Preißn from the far east… i know of at least 10 guys from Leipzig/Saschen/Thuringen working down south. some of them even have their families up north and send money home, travelling back every fortnight.

we could easily find work in Berlin, but i f-in hate the place. and even there it is not much cheaper than Munich.
Leipzig itself is booming at the moment. I think I read something like 10 000 new inhabitants last year. The rest of the east is struggling (apart from Jena) especially Thuringia and Saxonny-Anhalt so of course a lot of the young people went west looking for work. But I can recommend Leipzig if you like the student/cafe/night life with a relaxed and high but cheap standard of living. The only thing missing here are the mountains but you are never further than a 1 hour drive from the Harz region, Thurngian Forest or Erzgebirge region. It isn’t the Alps but there is some good riding never-the-less.