Well we plan to retire after working damn hard here and taking risks and have the advantage of a house there and a home to sell in Canada. Both mortgage free. We had to make a lot of sacrifices and gone without for that pleasure to be debt free. Some people worked hard to get what they have. Others may have just been at the right place at the right time. We will not be wealthy by any means and will watch the pennies, but to me the ideal will be a place where Sally and Chris are living hence I started a thread about where to retire to. For my otherhalf his idea of heaven will be
"singing the joys of a ploughman’s lunch and a pint of best bitter"
It won't be every day or perhaps even every week though!

When it hasn't worked out for other people I think it is sad for them and I genuinly feel for them and just want to give them a big hug, but also it can help others to avoid the potholes they found. It helps us with the larger picture.

That will do me nicely.....and it is what I will get

We saved and work very hard for the "luxury" to investigate. In all honesty I would personally not take any decisions based on just statistics if we had done that we would never have lived, moved to different areas or visited a lot of the countries we have been to, all except one (and supposed to be one of the safest of the countries we lived/visited) we have been safe.

Balance is great Bud, but to be seen as someone bringing balance, you have to actually display some in your posts.

For my part, I have said many times that my circumstances are individual, and I have laid them out for people. I have also said that it's very hard to come back if you don't have a little bit of money to back you up, and/or some friends or family waiting for you.

I have shared my opinion that these two factors are what have made my move back easier. To me that's balance.

Well the Olympics has finished and just how fantastic has it been, hats off to the organisers, it's been a great spectacle and just how great did London look throughout the games.

I've heard good reviews from other UKers online it sounds like it was a resounding success.

BTW Pitbull, I start singing and dancing in my head every time I see your name and Avatar

I love that guy, me and my lad laugh everytime we see and hear him, he seems to make the words up, like Tonka Tonk and Honky Tonk, lol

There was over a million people cheering on our great Athletes at the Olympic parade in London, it was incredible, the Olympics have been amazing.

Well it seems I have missed all the excitement, I have been in Germany for the last few days so havent had a chance to catch up. To be honest Buds comments are water off a ducks back, Im a glass half full sort and unfortunately others are glass half empty or indeed bone dry
Im still looking for the crime ridden streets in the village, not sure where they are hiding to be honest
Seriously though when i start having some negative experiences worth mentioning I will report on them
Believe me there is no way in the world I will apologise for loving our new life in rural England and if that doesnt please some others then thats tough.

It was a fantastic time and soooooooooo glad to have been here to witness it......the atmosphere while both set of games were on has been great, in all honesty its been a great year to be British (it is any time for me/us lol) but with the Queens festivities (and I am not a huge Royalist) the Games etc...yes its been a great time to be home.

ps I actually enjoyed the closing ceremony with Cold Play etc better than the previous closing Games ceremony but would fantastic though

I just returned from a week in the UK visiting my elderly grandmother and my Aunt. They both live in Bognor Regis.

Bognor is a nice enough place. It's not my first choice for a retirement location. I think there are many other options. But it's well located and easy to get to from most parts of the South.

I went in purposely trying to look for examples of all the negativity and badness that has been talked about on this and other threads by some people, mainly because I am campaigning at home to move back and wanted to be totally honest with myself.

I think many would agree that Bognor balances a line between a little rough generally, and 'nice enough' if you know what I mean. I'm not being snobby but it attracts all types because it's easy to get to, there are some inexpensive family holiday options for lodging, and it's a 'typical' seaside destination.

I walked, and walked, and walked some more. I did an average of 4 to 6 miles a day walking through town, along the front, along the beach... that sort of thing.

My observations were these:

1. I was surprised about the amount of rubbish alongside roads, by bus stops, along pavements, in bushes. But in the more seaside-like areas and closer to the towns, the trash was cleaned up well and was not evident. When I visited other towns like Bosham, Witterings, and even Littlehampton, I saw no trash anywhere.

2. I saw a few guys with empty beer cans sleeping off hangovers on bus stop seating and those covered seating areas you see along the beach. I was always out either first thing in the morning (7.00 am to 8.00 a.m.) or mid-morning so I didn't see the nighttime crew. In Littehampton in the afternoon I saw a really rough-looking guy with all kinds of tattoos sitting drinking a beer right by the main amusements. I figured I'd keep an eye on him. I passed him a few times and he was keeping to himself. He ate a sandwich too and was probably a construction guy taking a break. No harm after all.

3. I didn't see any groups of kids looking for trouble. I interacted with a lot of teenagers obviously working holiday jobs in various places... fish and chip shops, cockles and mussels stands, amusements... and every time I thought I'd get attitude of some kind but never did. The kids were always super polite and helpful and went out of their way to make sure I had what I needed.

4. Apart from one lady I passed on the street, everyone either nodded or said hello as I passed them, normally with a smile. Even people sitting chatting would look up and smile in most instances.

5. I had to get used to driving on the smaller streets again but it didn't take long. I couldn't believe that in general people were sooooo polite and always ready to give way. Roundabouts were a pleasure again (in New England, if you come across one you have to be super careful as literally nobody knows what to do so they all just keep going, or completely stop). Plus people in oncoming cars actually stopped behind a parked car to let you through safely... that also never happens in New England... it's always like a game of chicken with mothers and seventeen kids in their Odyssey.

6. Everyone queued politely without being asked. I was waiting my turn in a shop and turned around to see six people were waiting behind me in line... made me chuckle.

7. I went to a couple of pubs and saw nobody puking over the marigolds, slurring and being verbally abusive, getting into fights or anything else for that matter apart from people being out and having a nice time.

Overall I had great experiences. I'm not by any means trying to paint a rosy picture of 'some' of the things I saw. All I saw was England... my home... and I was proud to be there.

I have to agree - the amount of rubbish on the streets is annoying.

MrMuffin - Sounds like you had a good time. From the way you described things I get the impression that whilst you didn't personally witness a lot of the negativity that's often talked about on this forum you took a level headed approach in your observations and I daresay if you'd encountered any of the not so good worth mentioning you would have. Thanks for sharing.

The trash here can be bad at times as well though I find it worse right in the downtown core. It's not bad along the Leas here but if you look in the bushes over the side of the cliffs its pretty grim at times - they'd need a guy on a rope to clean that lot up but I've always found the pathways down the side of the cliffs to the beach pretty neat and tidy. I guess its the same anywhere really, all towns have nice and not so nice areas.

I had a funny time down in London, the week after the Olympics finished!
Each time I was on a crowded tube, somebody would offer me their seat.
I`m still young enough to do that for other people, or so I thought!
Anyway it seemed like a great outbreak of politeness, unlike in Washington where parents would insist their little kid had a seat before ever letting you have one. It used to annoy the heck out of me because I always used to make my kids stand up for an older person when they were small.

Without wanting to be accused of having rose tinted glasses we dont see the rubbish other areas seem to suffer from. On my visit to England 2 years ago I found lots more on the roadside in the North. Overall there seems to be no more here than generally speaking in Australia although over there it seems to be more visible in the bush where it is common to see large piles of household rubbish dumped by the side of the road.