WHY did you want to leave UK so much?!?
Aug 31st 2008, 11:27 pm
#46
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Re: WHY did you want to leave UK so much?!?
Wanted to try Australia for about 18 years. We nearly came out 15 years ago, but changed our mind; mainly financial as we were in negative equity and all that.......
Anyway hit 40, got an email from a website sayin "my skills are in demand", attended 3 funerals in 6 months and thought it was time to scratch that itch.
15 months later we arrived in Melbourne, having sold the house, car and half of our belongings.
Broke my mum's heart along the way.
Now I head home, the itch is scratched and I look forward to enjoying what the UK really has to offer, rather than seeing it so negatively.
Glad I came, feel very settled now, Glad to be going home.
Pete
Anyway hit 40, got an email from a website sayin "my skills are in demand", attended 3 funerals in 6 months and thought it was time to scratch that itch.
15 months later we arrived in Melbourne, having sold the house, car and half of our belongings.
Broke my mum's heart along the way.
Now I head home, the itch is scratched and I look forward to enjoying what the UK really has to offer, rather than seeing it so negatively.
Glad I came, feel very settled now, Glad to be going home.
Pete
Sep 1st 2008, 12:24 am
#47
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Joined: Apr 2008
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Re: WHY did you want to leave UK so much?!?
Pretty much the same as you. I thought there was something "better" out there. Sometimes you don't know what you've got - or how lucky you are - until it's GONE! It's just "somewhere else to live" - that's all.
Life is life - wherever you are!
But yes - it was an expensive lesson to learn - but it was worth it!!
Life is life - wherever you are!
But yes - it was an expensive lesson to learn - but it was worth it!!
Sep 1st 2008, 12:40 am
#48
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Joined: Aug 2008
Location: Blighty - but still mad!
Posts: 476
Re: WHY did you want to leave UK so much?!?
Wanted to try Australia for about 18 years. We nearly came out 15 years ago, but changed our mind; mainly financial as we were in negative equity and all that.......
Anyway hit 40, got an email from a website sayin "my skills are in demand", attended 3 funerals in 6 months and thought it was time to scratch that itch.
15 months later we arrived in Melbourne, having sold the house, car and half of our belongings.
Broke my mum's heart along the way.
Now I head home, the itch is scratched and I look forward to enjoying what the UK really has to offer, rather than seeing it so negatively.
Glad I came, feel very settled now, Glad to be going home.
Pete
Anyway hit 40, got an email from a website sayin "my skills are in demand", attended 3 funerals in 6 months and thought it was time to scratch that itch.
15 months later we arrived in Melbourne, having sold the house, car and half of our belongings.
Broke my mum's heart along the way.
Now I head home, the itch is scratched and I look forward to enjoying what the UK really has to offer, rather than seeing it so negatively.
Glad I came, feel very settled now, Glad to be going home.
Pete
) to scratch the itch. It's done now so back to Blighty with a renewed respect for the place. Not sad that we came, but glad to be going home. Luckily we've just been renting here and left our money in the UK - with the way the housing market is over there, we should be in a pretty good position when it comes to buying, so that's something!
Last edited by 3 go mad in Adelaide; Sep 1st 2008 at 12:42 am. Reason: missed comment
Sep 1st 2008, 7:03 am
#49
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Location: FL
Posts: 273
Re: WHY did you want to leave UK so much?!?
I never did. It was my mum that dragged me and my siblings back over here when I was 18. She was a bit of a ping ponger, but decided this was the year she was going to do it and stay this time. That was 19 years ago!!
Sep 1st 2008, 12:36 pm
#50
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Posts: 4,374
Re: WHY did you want to leave UK so much?!?
Pretty much the same as you. I thought there was something "better" out there. Sometimes you don't know what you've got - or how lucky you are - until it's GONE! It's just "somewhere else to live" - that's all.
Life is life - wherever you are!
But yes - it was an expensive lesson to learn - but it was worth it!!
Life is life - wherever you are!
But yes - it was an expensive lesson to learn - but it was worth it!!
am usually a pretty much, well am here now lets get on with it and not dwell on 'if's', but ave been really bad this week for regretting EVERTHING i've done. Just before we left i saw a house i would've died for , a modest affair, and a good location in our town, i keep thinking and thinking, why oh why didnt we go after that instead of landing in this ******* (wish i could shout that in caps, lol) hellhole
, we would've be ALOT better offI have now been working for 15 months without any A/L, i cant afford to take any, and have been told i wont get any until feb2009, as i am basically bottom of the heap, i said to my husband last night , i feel we have died and landed in hell, and i will have to get up everyday , go to work, pretend i like it and never have any holidays from work again. (not like he gives a shit!!, he will be quite happy if i work till i drop!!!)
On a positive not, i know i am DEFINATELY going back, with or without OH (am past caring!!)
Last edited by Margaret3; Sep 1st 2008 at 12:42 pm.
Sep 3rd 2008, 10:44 pm
#51
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Re: WHY did you want to leave UK so much?!?
f$ck knows?
Sep 8th 2008, 4:16 am
#52
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 1,750
Re: WHY did you want to leave UK so much?!?
I never thought about being British until I'd left. Now that I'm away I've never felt more British, and yes, even proud of it. A lot of people seem to dislike the weather but I could imagine Texas being part of a twilight zone episode for one of those people. It's hotter that hell for 80% of the year!
It was good to get away from the area I grew up in, but I think another county would have been just fine - not another country
It was good to get away from the area I grew up in, but I think another county would have been just fine - not another country
Sep 15th 2008, 5:45 am
#54
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Re: WHY did you want to leave UK so much?!?
-[SNIP]-
Why did we want to leave London?
1. The rat race, slaving away at work.
2. The tubes and trains that never work.
3. Too many people.
4. The drinking culture and what comes with it (drunks in the street, etc.)
5. The growing crime rates.
6. The property prices - we could never buy in London.
7. The weather.
8. Thinking that children would have a better life here.
9. Expensive life.
I am sure that there are more reasons. However, on the other end of the world, we found that things are not really better. Not necessarily worse, maybe just a little different with different problems.
I think that points 1-5 probably still hold true, but again, we have different quibbles with Toronto that are about equal on status to those we had with London. Property prices are going down in the UK. The weather in Toronto in the winter will be harsh, so the choice is between rain and snow. Children would not have a better life in either place, the important thing is that parents can provide a stable and happy home. The cost of life (apart from property and petrol) is about the same in each place, especially when looking at earning power.
I think people (and that includes me) have a natural tendency to think grass is greener on the other side and love to whinge and look for that better life. But maybe sometimes the answer is to make a minor change rather than a drastic change - for example, move house or change jobs rather than changing countries. I think sometimes you need to just dig deeper inside yourself to see what makes you unhappy in a place and it is surprising how much could be changed by making some really minor adjustments (compared to emigration, which is drastic)!
I am glad you see the positive side of your experience. We have also lost a lot of money in this process, but we are hoping that we have learned something from the experience, just like you feel you learned from it.
I pretty much agree with your points 1-7. The main thing for me though, was that I suffered with the Technology recession when the internet bubble burst. I was offered a job in the US and took it. I wasn't actively looking to move to the US, it was just a friend who worked in the same industry put my name in for a position that opened up, I interviewed and then got the job.
One thing that I didn't realise I was giving up, was spending time with family that live in the UK and that feeling of home.
Sep 17th 2008, 10:50 pm
#55
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Re: WHY did you want to leave UK so much?!?
I didn't think I wanted to leave, but once we made plans to be nearer the inlaws in the USA, I did start to notice all the negatives. it's kind of easy to do really. like everyone else says: weather, traffic, people, crime, etc, etc
We moved to a really nice part of the US, it was a hard adjustment but yes the sun shone and the ppl were nice and the traffic was really fine altho' the locals complained! but the rest of the family just wasn't happy. So we're back in blighty and I'm still trying to work out why. Now that I identified all those negatives, they're still there , or here. I miss the sun like crazy. I miss the slower pace of life and i miss the new friends I made there. I have old friends here who all seem to be cracking up under the strain. I'm so chilled! oh we didn't have it easy over there. the job fell thru, there was no pay for a while and on top of all that I'm in deportation proceedings for not attending the green card interview (lawyer's on the case should be OK). it certainly wasn't a bed of roses. But it was nicer. that's all I can say. So we're back and putting a brave british face on it most of the time. I guess I should check in here more often to remind me why we're back :-)
We moved to a really nice part of the US, it was a hard adjustment but yes the sun shone and the ppl were nice and the traffic was really fine altho' the locals complained! but the rest of the family just wasn't happy. So we're back in blighty and I'm still trying to work out why. Now that I identified all those negatives, they're still there , or here. I miss the sun like crazy. I miss the slower pace of life and i miss the new friends I made there. I have old friends here who all seem to be cracking up under the strain. I'm so chilled! oh we didn't have it easy over there. the job fell thru, there was no pay for a while and on top of all that I'm in deportation proceedings for not attending the green card interview (lawyer's on the case should be OK). it certainly wasn't a bed of roses. But it was nicer. that's all I can say. So we're back and putting a brave british face on it most of the time. I guess I should check in here more often to remind me why we're back :-)
Sep 19th 2008, 6:43 am
#56
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Re: WHY did you want to leave UK so much?!?
I think the advantages of the USA would be a lot more important to me, if I was a Mum of 4 too. 
Sep 19th 2008, 7:42 am
#57
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Re: WHY did you want to leave UK so much?!?
Can.t stick at anything for too long without getting bored. Actually it was my boss come to think of it. As simple as that.But I really do empathise with the comments that people make about becoming British or setting up value systems that are alien locally.
And about missing the old place.
But I'm not coming back just yet. I like my job in Kuwait and my life in Gambia.
And about missing the old place.
But I'm not coming back just yet. I like my job in Kuwait and my life in Gambia.
Sep 20th 2008, 10:43 pm
#58
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Posts: 14,188
Re: WHY did you want to leave UK so much?!?
Sure the UK certainly is'nt perfect, but for the past 6 year I had been hell bent on getting out of here and getting to Australia to start a new life. Towards the end I was trying to find any excuse to slag off the UK, I suppose to justify what a massive life changing thing I was about to do.
Now I realise the home really is where the heart is.(see thread "Moving to Oz from a gay point of view. Dislikes of Australia and why we came back" ) I'm in £10'000 worth of debt but I do believe it was worth it as I now have Australia out of my system and will never slag my country off about anything again... well apart from the weather! haha
Just wondering what it was that wanted anyone else want to leave the UK so much?
Now I realise the home really is where the heart is.(see thread "Moving to Oz from a gay point of view. Dislikes of Australia and why we came back" ) I'm in £10'000 worth of debt but I do believe it was worth it as I now have Australia out of my system and will never slag my country off about anything again... well apart from the weather! haha
Just wondering what it was that wanted anyone else want to leave the UK so much?
