British Expats - How true?

British Expats (https://britishexpats.com/forum/)

- Moving back or to the UK (https://britishexpats.com/forum/moving-back-uk-61/)

- - How true? (https://britishexpats.com/forum/moving-back-uk-61/how-true-478574/)

Here's another good article on migration:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/liv...0&in_a_source=

Why seeking a new life abroad won't always mean the grass will be greener

A wet and rainy summer, flash floods, a new dose of bad news most days, stealth taxes, a spate of gun and knife crimes and suddenly it seems that half the population of Britain wants to head off to the sun - for good.

The official figures tell the story. Longterm migration from the UK reached 385,000 in the 12 months to July last year, the highest figure since 1991.

Where are all these disillusioned citizens heading?

Mainly to Australia, which already has 1.3 million former British residents, whingeing away because the Aussies won't stop calling them "whingeing Poms"; or Spain, which hosts 761,000 in ghettos on the various Costas; to the U.S. (678,000 scattered all over the country) and to France, with 200,000 mostly in Normandy and Brittany, which is odd considering the climate there could best be described as English.

(more) http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/liv...0&in_a_source=

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scout (Post 5264675)

The official figures tell the story. Longterm migration from the UK reached 385,000 in the 12 months to July last year, the highest figure since 1991.

that figure includes non-UK citizens returning to their country of origin - the number of UK citizens is something like just over half of that, which also includes people who are only going abroad for a finite period (fixed contracts etc), as well as people who intend to emigrate for good.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scout (Post 5264675)

Perhaps the most telling part of the article is the following: "So am I an Aussie or a Brit? In truth, I'm both, doomed like all migrants to be torn for ever between the two."

How many long-term expats on here have said that?

Quote:

Originally Posted by dunroving (Post 5264792)

Me for one...I call it the curse of the expats. :D

These sort of figures never seem to include the number of Brits who return to the UK.

Quote:

Originally Posted by elfman (Post 5264723)

And some of these are naturalised British citizens.

Quote:

Originally Posted by dunroving (Post 5264792)

Read Tirra Lirra by the River, a novel by Jessica Anderson. Although it dates from the late 1970s and so is now 30 years old - and is talking about times before that - it is nevertheless an interesting and poignant study of a woman who is in just that predicament. Worth seeking out if you have ever wondered about this question...