Forum menu
Just wondering really - did it work for you?
Moving to France next month. I hope so!
Yup. Sitting in Lausanne, switzerland waiting for the weekend to go skiing. Best thing I ever did.
Thinking about it in the next 1-2 years.
Doing a lot of reading.
Tim
Does goog know? And if not, do you think it's wise he finds out here?
Ha - been thinking a lot about the very same idea of late. Couldn't leave my daughter though.
Shame, that.
I'll just stick around and moan a lot instead.
Yup. It worked for nearly ten years, decided I'd had enough of it taking up my whole life, have just gone back to where I was originally.
Best thing I ever did, don't regret a thing.
Right now I am wondering getting a job related to my PhD back in the south of the UK. Or trying to find something that will pay the bills and keep my relationship going here in the south of France and ditch the last 9 years of my life. So I know it's a tough choice.
Nearly 2 years ago I left a safe job in the town I'd been in for all my 33 years-took a gamble on a job and moved 250 miles away to a place where I'd never been.
No regrets-worth it just for the scenery(mk to south wales)
ive done it a few times lol left the forces and started work in london and hated it so jacked and moved to belgium then one day got offered a job as a guide if i could start in 5 days time so packed up everything that would fit in my car gave the rest away and drove off. i then sacked that off to come back to the uk as i fancied the fire service i sometimes wonder why tho lol but ive some lovely kids so its not all bad 😉 you only live once so if you considering doing it just do it 😉 and good luck
(btw i was a few years at each place lol i didnt just jack after five mins)
The problem with these threads is that the people who have tried it, failed and are now lying in a filthy gutter in a foreign side street tend not to reply 🙂
Well, so far all the input is definitely making me more tempted! France or Switzerland would be awesome.
tree-magnet - MemberDoes goog know? And if not, do you think it's wise he finds out here?
Even I'm not THAT much of a dumbass! Course he knows, I'd not make any decision without his input. I've been uming and ahing about it for quite a while now.
Ha - been thinking a lot about the very same idea of late. Couldn't leave my daughter though.
Shame, that.
I'll just stick around and moan a lot instead.
Yeah, I'm doing the sticking around moaning about it thing now, but it's not doing me any good. Take this week - working Sunday evening, Monday working all day, up at 4 am Tuesday to drive to Dundee, Towed home at 4 am Wednesday (effectively making a 24 hour workday), up at 9 am Wednesday to sort Van, working wednesday evening, up early today to write urgent reports and now the boss wants me to spend several hours on public transport trying to get from the outskirts of brum early tomorrow to hereford. It's killing me.
I'd have walked out a long time ago but I need to make sure I have a secure home for my little dog. It's so difficult to rent anywhere with a pet.
littlegirlbunny - Member
Well, so far all the input is definitely making me more tempted! France or Switzerland would be awesome.tree-magnet - Member
Does goog know? And if not, do you think it's wise he finds out here?
Even I'm not THAT much of a dumbass! Course he knows, I'd not make any decision without his input. I've been uming and ahing about it for quite a while now.
That was meant in jest. 😳
tree-magnet - MemberThat was meant in jest.
To be fair, I am normally a dumbass so it was a fair question 😉
i was going to say with that sense of humour perhaps germany was an option 😉
yes yes i know stereotypes lol but i did live there for a good few years so i know 😉
I'd do it if there was enough equity in my house to buy a caravan 🙂
Yes - I have.
When I was 30 sold the house and set off to see the world. 2 yrs later started from scratch again in a new city.
I don't regret it at all.
LGB - you need to sort your boss out over those working hours - totally illegal and will damage you
LGB - you need to sort your boss out over those working hours - totally illegal and will damage you
They already have damaged me (hence the serious contemplation to sell up my tiny home in my dream location and walk). A few years ago we'd have busy weeks, and quiet weeks, and flexi-time really was that. Now I am always working, whether physically or thinking about it. I have to be available on the phone all day, so 'flexi-time' isn't really that anymore. It's got harder and harder to get time off and I don't get paid any more than I did three years ago, despite being the more qualified, more experienced and having a whole load more responsibility. It's a terrible state of affairs tbh, but, apparently I just need to MTFU and accept that the other staff are also under pressure, and I should be grateful to have a job considering the recent economic climate. We are apparently getting more staff, but I'm not holding my breath it'll relieve the pressure - because it seems that the construction industry just expects this kind of dedication to the job. The amount of families and relationships I hear about that have fallen apart because the contractors/consultancies demand so much from their staff is just sad. 😕
But to be fair I sort of came back to where I was before but with a better view/perspective (and a rather nice set of memories and friends).
Nothing lasts forever, time passes, one life, blah, blah. Do what makes you happy and the best thing about going back is that you tried. Everyone likes a tryer 🙂
We did it. Shipped out to Auckland (NZ). It didn't work out. We came back. Lost loads of money in the process and it has caused irredemable damage that won't get repaired.
Having said that, it clearly worked out for Mick the Fireman - he can't seem to communicate a single sentence without laughing out loud at some point during it (unless he's a gibbering nut and in which case, I apologise unreservedly).
Yep. At first it was great (for about 6 weeks) then it steadily went horribly wrong.
3 years later I did it all again and this time it was ace and now I'm in a ditch and couldn't be happier;0)
Yes. I was suffering a lot from stress and depression in 2002/2003. I sold my house, gave up a very well paid career in London, and went travelling for a year in 2004. I was very sick in India due to an allergic reaction to the malaria tablets I had been told to take, so had to come home after just a few months to recover. I then went to the US for a month and Peru for another month in October and November.
It took me quite a few months to get another job, which was not an ideal job and I was earning around half of what I had been in London. But I was up in Leeds which was very different to the London scene I had. I was then offered a 2 year secondment in Gibraltar which I took in order to give me time to work out what I wanted to do next.
Half way through, I discovered Schumacher College due to a documentary on BBC, and saw that they did an MSc in all the stuff I was interested in. So instead of taking up the offer to convert my secondment into a permanent job in Gibraltar, and despite having enjoying many months of riding with Roper, I decided to take another year off and do my MSc which I am half way through.
On my course I have met the very lovely and now Mrs Ralli, who had the very good sense and foresight to be born Brazilian. She is a director of a consultancy in Brazil, and so I will be moving to Brazil where I should be able to join her company doing much more constructive work for the environment and world community, which is what I had in mind when I left London in 2003, but didnt quite work out the first time around.
So yeah, I have had quite a few troubles along the way, at times got quite stressed and worried that my life wasn't going in the direction I really wanted it to, but things seem to be really going well for me. I guess you just have to really go with your heart and do what you feel is right for you, and if it doesn't work out, it is not the end of the world. Not everything in life always goes according to plan, but if you have a dream that will get you through the low points.
i am indeed a gibbering nut steve 😉
Barca2 if you don't mind me asking what went wrong in NZ? Have toyed with the idea myself a fair bit.
wah gwan
Definitely do it. Life's too short to be sitting in crap jobs worrying.
You are so dumped Goog
Take this week - working Sunday evening, Monday working all day, up at 4 am Tuesday to drive to Dundee, Towed home at 4 am Wednesday (effectively making a 24 hour workday), up at 9 am Wednesday to sort Van, working wednesday evening, up early today to write urgent reports and now the boss wants me to spend several hours on public transport trying to get from the outskirts of brum early tomorrow to hereford. It's killing me.
I can see why you'd want to sack that off.
Having been a victim of a 100 hour week work culture, I've recently had enough time to revisit my career and work out what to do with it next. I've taken the softer option of a change of job from working in a law firm to working in-house (as lawyers say) for a company (i..e being one of three lawyers in a building of 500, rather than the other way round). Resignaiton to be handed in on Monday. Foot is right off the gas, even now.
It's not jacking it all in, but that's not my style - I'd rather slowly transition myself between things, picking up skills and knowledge along the way. But it's mainly because I've a child on the way, and need to provide for it.
But, if it was me, another (adult) and a dog, I'd disappear with them tomorrow and not even leave a note.
Yes. It's great. [url= http://www.whiteroomchalet.com/sumabout.htm ]See here.[/url]
looks like its takeout night tonight 😕
Moved from Colne in Lancashire to Ipswich in Suffolk (270 Miles)- Great area (If not for MTBing) 6 mths ago. Loved it, Kids settled in to better school, better standard of living (Less crime etc) Wife could'nt settle. Been back in Colne a month now and loving it (MTB much better) I think we'll move again when kids have flown the nest just not so far next time
Yep i've done it a few times. 1st: gave up a career as an accountant to go to University and study Geology. After 9 years dropped everything in the UK and moved to Switzerland. After 5 years in Zurich, 5 fantastic years, i dropped everything there and moved to Norway to be with a Norwegian girl. Very happy here, having an easy life and now working in the oil industry.
I guess you just have to really go with your heart and do what you feel is right for you, and if it doesn't work out, it is not the end of the world. Not everything in life always goes according to plan, but if you have a dream that will get you through the low points.
+1 for this...even if that dream changes over time (which it may)
We both not that is so tru - I mean not true Mick 🙂
Chuck us an email ddmonkey and I can cry on your shoulder for 10 minutes.
Can't you take goog with you? Give him pinny and he'll keep the mleh chalet spick and span for you.
(In answer to your question, no I never have and I think I'd be too much of a wimp to actually do it. I keep pondering it though)
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?