Anyone Moved Back to the UK and regretted it?
#61
BE Forum Addict
Joined: May 2007
Location: England
Posts: 4,206
Re: Anyone Moved Back to the UK and regretted it?
Hi Ruby, excellent thread, I have to justify myself everyday now our home is on the market...even the mobile care mechanic said to me (first time I have ever met this guy) and he said "your not selling to go back to that dump"..he meant the U.K....it wears you down and gets on your nerves...life here in Perth has not been all bad..we have had some good times but as you said "Warts and All" home is the place where we want to be......I think everyone should realise that most countries do have "Warts and All" and for some it will never be home and I wish people would just stop "knocking" people who want to return to the U.K ...I wish anyone all the best of wishes for trying a new country to start a new life, I really do...but they should realise that a lot of people miss the U.K and think it's the beez neez......we do "warts and all"
#62
Forum Regular
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 66
Re: Anyone Moved Back to the UK and regretted it?
Hi Ruby, excellent thread, I have to justify myself everyday now our home is on the market...even the mobile care mechanic said to me (first time I have ever met this guy) and he said "your not selling to go back to that dump"..he meant the U.K....it wears you down and gets on your nerves...life here in Perth has not been all bad..we have had some good times but as you said "Warts and All" home is the place where we want to be......I think everyone should realise that most countries do have "Warts and All" and for some it will never be home and I wish people would just stop "knocking" people who want to return to the U.K ...I wish anyone all the best of wishes for trying a new country to start a new life, I really do...but they should realise that a lot of people miss the U.K and think it's the beez neez......we do "warts and all"
Then they put on the guilt about the children and schools, bad time to return with eldest, who has two more years left in secondary school.
It just goes on and on......
No one has said well done for trying, be great to catch up, they only look at the negatives, what we have lost, but people are so strange when on is down on their luck, almost as if they are glad.
#64
Re: Anyone Moved Back to the UK and regretted it?
Hi Ruby, excellent thread, I have to justify myself everyday now our home is on the market...even the mobile care mechanic said to me (first time I have ever met this guy) and he said "your not selling to go back to that dump"..he meant the U.K....it wears you down and gets on your nerves...life here in Perth has not been all bad..we have had some good times but as you said "Warts and All" home is the place where we want to be......I think everyone should realise that most countries do have "Warts and All" and for some it will never be home and I wish people would just stop "knocking" people who want to return to the U.K ...I wish anyone all the best of wishes for trying a new country to start a new life, I really do...but they should realise that a lot of people miss the U.K and think it's the beez neez......we do "warts and all"
God I feel like I've been away from Expats for years, but such a lot has happened in the past month I can see! Good luck with the house sale....I hope someone comes along and grants you your wish soon, then you can be on the other side making us all dead jealous Are you still heading for Romiley or Marple?
#65
Account Closed
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 5
Re: Anyone Moved Back to the UK and regretted it?
I don't think I'll ever understand why so many English have such a penchant for being negative about their country. There DOES exist a world outside the Daily Mail you know.........
#66
Re: Anyone Moved Back to the UK and regretted it?
Thank christ for that cos thats all my Dad will read!!! makes me even more miserable and worry about the future.
I hear now the kids that are to sit their 11 plus for 2009 applicants have got to do it this September now instead on next January bloody ridiculous, teachers are up in arms as its more workload grr....just let them be kids
#67
Re: Anyone Moved Back to the UK and regretted it?
Hello Hobbes79,
You have hit the nail firmly and squarely on the head!!!! that is the exact way I see the UK and people in general now....they grumble a bit and dont do anything - only when its too late, and the most terrible thing is...its getting worse and worse, working hard and seeing b*gger all for your efforts and not even being able to enjoy the most simple things in life is just part of it.....I really think a large portion of our once great country is in moral decline...
I may not have moved to Canada yet...but Im sure things cant be worse there than what they are here now...ok some people may say it was a lot worse just after the war or during all the strikes of the winter of discontent,(which I remember even tho I was only a child) but back then people had far more time for one and other, I honestly think peoples attitude has changed here, theyre selfish, aggressive, immoral, ill mannered to name a few, Im not tarring the whole UK with same brush of course - infact I live in a lovely area, with lots of polite genuine people, I see my village as a little bubble of normality, but how long before that bubble is burst and even if not, can I continue to afford to live there?....taxes and costs of everything is increasing, and salaries arn't, not in my line of work any way - that doesn't bode well.
Then the overcrowded roads... I do 5-7miles out of my way some mornings now to avoid traffic queues....and that is only going to get worse as there quite simply isnt any alternative to your car - nor is there any plans to make alternatives. Im sure Canada wont be some wonderful perfect utopia - Im certainly not expecting it to be...but Im sure it can improve on many of the things ive mentioned above.
I have always been a firece patriot of my country, was very proud to be British, (still am really - but more so for what our country was) and I paid a lot of attention to my countrys future, but sadly and typically when I started to notice a gradual decline and shared these concerns with friends and family, no one was really interested in the direction of their country (just there own little world, or probably if England or Manchester United had won a football game)...now some people are waking up, but I feel it may be too late to do anything about it. Like you there are many things here in the UK that I love and things I will miss....but feel I can see a lot more for my efforts and significantly higher quality of life elsewhere, and of course without the comparative attiude and the hassle I seem to have to endure now.
In other words Hobbes79 - HEAR HEAR!!!!
Paul
You have hit the nail firmly and squarely on the head!!!! that is the exact way I see the UK and people in general now....they grumble a bit and dont do anything - only when its too late, and the most terrible thing is...its getting worse and worse, working hard and seeing b*gger all for your efforts and not even being able to enjoy the most simple things in life is just part of it.....I really think a large portion of our once great country is in moral decline...
I may not have moved to Canada yet...but Im sure things cant be worse there than what they are here now...ok some people may say it was a lot worse just after the war or during all the strikes of the winter of discontent,(which I remember even tho I was only a child) but back then people had far more time for one and other, I honestly think peoples attitude has changed here, theyre selfish, aggressive, immoral, ill mannered to name a few, Im not tarring the whole UK with same brush of course - infact I live in a lovely area, with lots of polite genuine people, I see my village as a little bubble of normality, but how long before that bubble is burst and even if not, can I continue to afford to live there?....taxes and costs of everything is increasing, and salaries arn't, not in my line of work any way - that doesn't bode well.
Then the overcrowded roads... I do 5-7miles out of my way some mornings now to avoid traffic queues....and that is only going to get worse as there quite simply isnt any alternative to your car - nor is there any plans to make alternatives. Im sure Canada wont be some wonderful perfect utopia - Im certainly not expecting it to be...but Im sure it can improve on many of the things ive mentioned above.
I have always been a firece patriot of my country, was very proud to be British, (still am really - but more so for what our country was) and I paid a lot of attention to my countrys future, but sadly and typically when I started to notice a gradual decline and shared these concerns with friends and family, no one was really interested in the direction of their country (just there own little world, or probably if England or Manchester United had won a football game)...now some people are waking up, but I feel it may be too late to do anything about it. Like you there are many things here in the UK that I love and things I will miss....but feel I can see a lot more for my efforts and significantly higher quality of life elsewhere, and of course without the comparative attiude and the hassle I seem to have to endure now.
In other words Hobbes79 - HEAR HEAR!!!!
Paul
Ah, Paul, so you think that people grumbling and doing nothing happens only in the UK? Here in Ontario we have our fair share of Grumblers too, in fact Canadians are known for there "laid back attitude"......it's almost as if they just can't be bothered about anything!
Don't even get me started on wages and holidays; okay the cost of real estate is lower in some areas, and the more rural you are the cheaper it is, but then you have to drive milesandmilesandmiles to shop and work...... I earned less than half my UK wage for doing pretty much the same thing. Food prices have risen quite a lot in the four years I've been here, and of course gas (petrol) has almost doubled in that time. Don't kid yourself that there are no traffic jams, and very little traffic. Live in Toronto, Calgary or one of the other large cities, and you'll get stuck in one. Oh - and all that driving you do? If you live in a rural area, as I do, you are car dependant............there is NO public transport system at all. I drive 40 minutes just to get my grocery shopping, and about the same to work (which I have now actually finished as I prepare to return home). There is no way I would have considered driving that distance for either work or grocery shopping in England.
Prepare yourself for extremes of weather.....we get 12" of snow in one day, temperatures down to -26, blizzards and ice storms with roads closed. Give me rain........you don't have to shovel it! It's quite common to be stuck miles away from home and have to sleep in a stranger's house. In summer the mercury climbs to 37, the humidity is unbearable in July and August, and the shops are full of people enjoying the air-conditioning!
I don't think I'll bother to mention the crap-awful TV.......but take it from me, if you calculate the monthly cost of the UK TV licence, and compare that to the fees for even the cheapest cable package in my area ($36) then realise out of 40 channels, only 3 or 4 are watchable for a short time, you realise that British TV is way superior.
Friendly people? Ha! Read some of my earlier posts on this subject; I live in a pretty little town inhabited by some of the rudest and most hostile people I've ever come across......with plenty of "attitude and hassle" as you put it. The UK does not have a monopoly on that!
I'd hate you to think you're leaving the UK and hoping to find Utopia on the other side of the world; all the negative things that happen there, happen here too. It's just you don't hear about it in the British media.......Canada's like that....it doesn't really figure on the World's Stage, until the annual seal hunt on the east coast, and even that's short-lived attention. Canada has one of the world's worst reputations as far as animal cruelty goes.......there are no laws here to protect wildlife....
http://www.ifaw.org/ifaw/general/def...spx?oid=228034
This is actually quite a selfish country with people who have little idea of what's happening in the world around them, and don't really care because they think it doesn't affect them. They only seem to show any emotion when a catastrophe hits somewhere in the world, such as the tsunami a few years ago, and Hurricane Katrina.
One other thing that is not often mentioned on BE.....taxes are added to the price of goods at the till..........they are NOT included on the shelf, so you can be in for a nasty surprise if you haven't allowed for it. 13% on top of what you think is a bargain makes it no longer a bargain. Tax is also payable each time a car is sold; it's also charged on many second hand goods in thrift stores.
So okay, a lot of people want to leave the UK.....but there are a helluva lot wanting to go back............I'm one of the lucky ones, because I go home at the end of June. I have been very fortunate as I've lived here twice, each time for several years; I now know where I want to be, despite all the negativity in the media, and that's "home" in England........as Ruby M says "warts n' all". Until you've lived it you have no way of knowing what it's like. A holiday is exactly that......a holiday from the norm during which you see things in a totally different light. Living it is totally different.
Good luck whatever you decide to do.
#68
BE Enthusiast
Joined: May 2008
Location: Hamilton, New Zealand
Posts: 328
Re: Anyone Moved Back to the UK and regretted it?
Hello all,
Ok I get the point, I didnt want to offend anyone, they were just my views, this thread is entilted - has anyone move back to the UK and regretted it... ?after reading some posts on here - quite a few people have ..I was just agreeing with some of their points, I havent lived in another country yet, so maybe that strictly doesnt allow me to compare like they have, and some of you, but I dont think my posts were out of place on a thread with such a title, we all have our rose tinted specs of our own places in the world, they do say travel broadens the mind, and the differing factor is - we all have our individual needs. The UK is far from a bad place to live, you cant really compare 1st world countries with state controlled 3rd world countries like Burma, I was just making a comparison of what the UK seems to have become to what it used to be. Ive said on one of my posts, I live in a lovely area, its just the UK as a whole is not what it was in a many ways 20-30years ago. I dont know for sure, but I hope to find somewhere that is...
Paul
Ok I get the point, I didnt want to offend anyone, they were just my views, this thread is entilted - has anyone move back to the UK and regretted it... ?after reading some posts on here - quite a few people have ..I was just agreeing with some of their points, I havent lived in another country yet, so maybe that strictly doesnt allow me to compare like they have, and some of you, but I dont think my posts were out of place on a thread with such a title, we all have our rose tinted specs of our own places in the world, they do say travel broadens the mind, and the differing factor is - we all have our individual needs. The UK is far from a bad place to live, you cant really compare 1st world countries with state controlled 3rd world countries like Burma, I was just making a comparison of what the UK seems to have become to what it used to be. Ive said on one of my posts, I live in a lovely area, its just the UK as a whole is not what it was in a many ways 20-30years ago. I dont know for sure, but I hope to find somewhere that is...
Paul
The UK like other countries has some serious problems but it seems to be a national pastime to pick at all its faults without acknowledging its good bits....'you don't appreciate what you have and until its gone'... quite a few people in the UK believe in 'the grass is greener" scenario.
Those in other countries can also slander the UK without even experiencing it...makes them feel better about their own country, maybe. I don't think I have ever heard another '1st world' country judged as negatively as the UK. Must have something going for it, there are a lot more people staying than leaving and a lot more joining them.
We do things for our own personal and individual reasons, some of us have to try 'bigger' moves, some stay in those chosen countries and some go back. We are not failures or mad for doing the latter. The success is in doing what is right for you and yours wherever that maybe?
wish you well with your move and hope you find what you are looking for?
#69
Re: Anyone Moved Back to the UK and regretted it?
At first, living in Canada was exciting, an adventure, a chance to experience new opportunities, a different way of life............we explored, we travelled, we tried new things and enjoyed ourselves...................in short, an extended working holiday.
Now we just want some sort of realism back ! Hard to explain if you haven't been in our shoes, but here lacks that real life feeling to us. We want the meaningful things back, the cosy familiarity, the understanding of the way things are. We want to be somewhere where we feel we belong.
We want Spring back, so miss the colour. Alberta is either brown or white, or an odd mucky shade in-between for at least 6 months of the yr, and it aint pretty. Its the end of May and its only really started to green up in the last 2 weeks. Thats hard to adapt to when you are used to the pretty Cheshire counryside.
In short, its been a fun trip, no regrets, but we aint wasting any more dollars on snow shovels and associated back pain treatments !
Now we just want some sort of realism back ! Hard to explain if you haven't been in our shoes, but here lacks that real life feeling to us. We want the meaningful things back, the cosy familiarity, the understanding of the way things are. We want to be somewhere where we feel we belong.
We want Spring back, so miss the colour. Alberta is either brown or white, or an odd mucky shade in-between for at least 6 months of the yr, and it aint pretty. Its the end of May and its only really started to green up in the last 2 weeks. Thats hard to adapt to when you are used to the pretty Cheshire counryside.
In short, its been a fun trip, no regrets, but we aint wasting any more dollars on snow shovels and associated back pain treatments !
#70
Re: Anyone Moved Back to the UK and regretted it?
Hi, we lived in Brisbane for a year in 2006 and moved back to the UK. Thought it was the right thing to do - regretted it ever since. Everything we hated about the UK and the reasons we left, were still the same. We are moving back to Australia, but Perth this time, once we've sorted out the house. I think that we had to come back here to realise that we did definately want to be in Oz. Everything we thought we disliked about Australia were actually things we didn't like about the area we were living in, not Australia as a whole. Wish we had moved to a different area at the time, it would have saved us a lot of money and hassle! I wish I'd given myself more time to settle before rushing back to dreary old England!
But, luckily, our 9yr old cannot wait to get back there. Nor can we!
All I can say is that you need to be more than 100% sure you want to come back for good - soooooo many people have regrets. But, be aware, that not everyone does regret it - everyone is different. This is just my opinion.
Take care all, whether you stay or go xxxx
Lynn x
But, luckily, our 9yr old cannot wait to get back there. Nor can we!
All I can say is that you need to be more than 100% sure you want to come back for good - soooooo many people have regrets. But, be aware, that not everyone does regret it - everyone is different. This is just my opinion.
Take care all, whether you stay or go xxxx
Lynn x
#71
Re: Anyone Moved Back to the UK and regretted it?
At first, living in Canada was exciting, an adventure, a chance to experience new opportunities, a different way of life............we explored, we travelled, we tried new things and enjoyed ourselves...................in short, an extended working holiday.
Now we just want some sort of realism back ! Hard to explain if you haven't been in our shoes, but here lacks that real life feeling to us. We want the meaningful things back, the cosy familiarity, the understanding of the way things are. We want to be somewhere where we feel we belong.
We want Spring back, so miss the colour. Alberta is either brown or white, or an odd mucky shade in-between for at least 6 months of the yr, and it aint pretty. Its the end of May and its only really started to green up in the last 2 weeks. Thats hard to adapt to when you are used to the pretty Cheshire counryside.
In short, its been a fun trip, no regrets, but we aint wasting any more dollars on snow shovels and associated back pain treatments !
Now we just want some sort of realism back ! Hard to explain if you haven't been in our shoes, but here lacks that real life feeling to us. We want the meaningful things back, the cosy familiarity, the understanding of the way things are. We want to be somewhere where we feel we belong.
We want Spring back, so miss the colour. Alberta is either brown or white, or an odd mucky shade in-between for at least 6 months of the yr, and it aint pretty. Its the end of May and its only really started to green up in the last 2 weeks. Thats hard to adapt to when you are used to the pretty Cheshire counryside.
In short, its been a fun trip, no regrets, but we aint wasting any more dollars on snow shovels and associated back pain treatments !
Take care & mucho besto luck!!!
Ruby x
#72
Forum Regular
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 100
Re: Anyone Moved Back to the UK and regretted it?
Ah, Paul, so you think that people grumbling and doing nothing happens only in the UK? Here in Ontario we have our fair share of Grumblers too, in fact Canadians are known for there "laid back attitude"......it's almost as if they just can't be bothered about anything!
Don't even get me started on wages and holidays; okay the cost of real estate is lower in some areas, and the more rural you are the cheaper it is, but then you have to drive milesandmilesandmiles to shop and work...... I earned less than half my UK wage for doing pretty much the same thing. Food prices have risen quite a lot in the four years I've been here, and of course gas (petrol) has almost doubled in that time. Don't kid yourself that there are no traffic jams, and very little traffic. Live in Toronto, Calgary or one of the other large cities, and you'll get stuck in one. Oh - and all that driving you do? If you live in a rural area, as I do, you are car dependant............there is NO public transport system at all. I drive 40 minutes just to get my grocery shopping, and about the same to work (which I have now actually finished as I prepare to return home). There is no way I would have considered driving that distance for either work or grocery shopping in England.
Prepare yourself for extremes of weather.....we get 12" of snow in one day, temperatures down to -26, blizzards and ice storms with roads closed. Give me rain........you don't have to shovel it! It's quite common to be stuck miles away from home and have to sleep in a stranger's house. In summer the mercury climbs to 37, the humidity is unbearable in July and August, and the shops are full of people enjoying the air-conditioning!
I don't think I'll bother to mention the crap-awful TV.......but take it from me, if you calculate the monthly cost of the UK TV licence, and compare that to the fees for even the cheapest cable package in my area ($36) then realise out of 40 channels, only 3 or 4 are watchable for a short time, you realise that British TV is way superior.
Friendly people? Ha! Read some of my earlier posts on this subject; I live in a pretty little town inhabited by some of the rudest and most hostile people I've ever come across......with plenty of "attitude and hassle" as you put it. The UK does not have a monopoly on that!
I'd hate you to think you're leaving the UK and hoping to find Utopia on the other side of the world; all the negative things that happen there, happen here too. It's just you don't hear about it in the British media.......Canada's like that....it doesn't really figure on the World's Stage, until the annual seal hunt on the east coast, and even that's short-lived attention. Canada has one of the world's worst reputations as far as animal cruelty goes.......there are no laws here to protect wildlife....
http://www.ifaw.org/ifaw/general/def...spx?oid=228034
This is actually quite a selfish country with people who have little idea of what's happening in the world around them, and don't really care because they think it doesn't affect them. They only seem to show any emotion when a catastrophe hits somewhere in the world, such as the tsunami a few years ago, and Hurricane Katrina.
One other thing that is not often mentioned on BE.....taxes are added to the price of goods at the till..........they are NOT included on the shelf, so you can be in for a nasty surprise if you haven't allowed for it. 13% on top of what you think is a bargain makes it no longer a bargain. Tax is also payable each time a car is sold; it's also charged on many second hand goods in thrift stores.
So okay, a lot of people want to leave the UK.....but there are a helluva lot wanting to go back............I'm one of the lucky ones, because I go home at the end of June. I have been very fortunate as I've lived here twice, each time for several years; I now know where I want to be, despite all the negativity in the media, and that's "home" in England........as Ruby M says "warts n' all". Until you've lived it you have no way of knowing what it's like. A holiday is exactly that......a holiday from the norm during which you see things in a totally different light. Living it is totally different.
Good luck whatever you decide to do.
I am a ping ponger too - and England wins hands down!
Oldbag where you living in ontario ( well for the next few weeks anyways ) ?
I am in Oakville. Working on yorkshire.
All the best,
Needasmack
#73
Re: Anyone Moved Back to the UK and regretted it?
Hi to you too Ruby
House goes on the market in June. We have hung on coz my folks are coming over for a visit end of August, all booked and paid for long ago, so can't really up sticks and leave them in hotels instead.
Trying to make the most of our last summer here, but feeling very unsettled with the thought of the whole upheaval lark again, but ultimately we can't see ourselves here for many more winters so may aswell quit while were ahead!
Plus, our 8 yr old has been having tears over leaving. Didn't experience this on the way to Canada as he was too young to have an opinion on it, so it makes us even more certain to go now, as I feel it'll only get harder for him the longer we stay.
Reading all the posts about people regretting moving back is also unnerving, BUT, everyones ideals are different, and we just hope to goodness we aren't making a mistake.
I hope that when I'm sitting in my conservatory, listening to the bird song, the church bells ringing, smelling the flowers, cup of tea in hand and Wimbledon (live) on the telly, I'll be as happy as a pig in muck !
House goes on the market in June. We have hung on coz my folks are coming over for a visit end of August, all booked and paid for long ago, so can't really up sticks and leave them in hotels instead.
Trying to make the most of our last summer here, but feeling very unsettled with the thought of the whole upheaval lark again, but ultimately we can't see ourselves here for many more winters so may aswell quit while were ahead!
Plus, our 8 yr old has been having tears over leaving. Didn't experience this on the way to Canada as he was too young to have an opinion on it, so it makes us even more certain to go now, as I feel it'll only get harder for him the longer we stay.
Reading all the posts about people regretting moving back is also unnerving, BUT, everyones ideals are different, and we just hope to goodness we aren't making a mistake.
I hope that when I'm sitting in my conservatory, listening to the bird song, the church bells ringing, smelling the flowers, cup of tea in hand and Wimbledon (live) on the telly, I'll be as happy as a pig in muck !
#74
Re: Anyone Moved Back to the UK and regretted it?
Hi to you too Ruby
House goes on the market in June. We have hung on coz my folks are coming over for a visit end of August, all booked and paid for long ago, so can't really up sticks and leave them in hotels instead.
Trying to make the most of our last summer here, but feeling very unsettled with the thought of the whole upheaval lark again, but ultimately we can't see ourselves here for many more winters so may aswell quit while were ahead!
Plus, our 8 yr old has been having tears over leaving. Didn't experience this on the way to Canada as he was too young to have an opinion on it, so it makes us even more certain to go now, as I feel it'll only get harder for him the longer we stay.
Reading all the posts about people regretting moving back is also unnerving, BUT, everyones ideals are different, and we just hope to goodness we aren't making a mistake.
I hope that when I'm sitting in my conservatory, listening to the bird song, the church bells ringing, smelling the flowers, cup of tea in hand and Wimbledon (live) on the telly, I'll be as happy as a pig in muck !
House goes on the market in June. We have hung on coz my folks are coming over for a visit end of August, all booked and paid for long ago, so can't really up sticks and leave them in hotels instead.
Trying to make the most of our last summer here, but feeling very unsettled with the thought of the whole upheaval lark again, but ultimately we can't see ourselves here for many more winters so may aswell quit while were ahead!
Plus, our 8 yr old has been having tears over leaving. Didn't experience this on the way to Canada as he was too young to have an opinion on it, so it makes us even more certain to go now, as I feel it'll only get harder for him the longer we stay.
Reading all the posts about people regretting moving back is also unnerving, BUT, everyones ideals are different, and we just hope to goodness we aren't making a mistake.
I hope that when I'm sitting in my conservatory, listening to the bird song, the church bells ringing, smelling the flowers, cup of tea in hand and Wimbledon (live) on the telly, I'll be as happy as a pig in muck !
You can only give it a shot by going back and settling back into English life again....I honestly don't think you'd have much of a problem as I know how much you love the Cheshire countryside. You are very fortunate that you will have made lots on your house over here in order to afford a lovely house back home in a very desirable area...and I'm very happy for you that you can do that. If we went back again for the second time, we would literally have to start from scratch with very little money as we bought our house only 8 months ago when they were still very expensive - we wouldn't make a bean, in fact the way our mortgage settlement figure looks, we owe more to settle than what we borrowed! I'm stuck here, and will have to tough it out for a year or two more.....the very thought of that drives me to madness!!
Keep us posted with all your house sale and moves....especially when you get back home....I just love being made jealous
#75
Re: Anyone Moved Back to the UK and regretted it?
What an interesting thread!
Having read this discussion after recently making the decision to emigrate to Canada, I am thoroughly examining my motives for moving !!
Everybody has their own opinions on life in the UK both good and bad but these must be influenced by motives. I know mine are.
Personally I don't feel the UK is so awful that I must leave - I want to experience life in a different country, and while this has been something that I have previously thought I would do some day, I feel that the government is indirectly helping me make the move sooner rather than later. When I say 'help' I don't mean they are assisting me in my endeavour, I mean the frustration they are causing gives you the kick up the backside needed to make the move. For example:
There are no laws in the UK that mean employers must employ a UK citizen over a foreigner. There have been a couple of instances that have come up in the last 2 weeks where (not in the Daily Mail) companies have ignored applications from local people in favour of immigrants from European countries. In one newly opened shop the whole workforce they recruited were immigrants. I am not against immigration but, in my opinion just as is the case in Australia, Canada and USA this should not be at the expense of UK citizens.
Secondly, benefits in this country are a complete farce. I am all for unemployed people getting support to get on their feet but is it right that a couple with kids are financially better off on full state handouts than they are working and therefore have no incentive to find a job. Also, it doesn't seem right that as a couple you would be financially better off if you were to separate due to how the Tax Credits system works. It's very frustrating when you see TV programmes where benefit claimants who get their rent and council tax paid, free dentistry, free prescriptions, free school dinners and uniforms as well as weekly cash handouts, are talking in their homes about how working is not worth their while with an LCD tv in the background.
There has also been a lot of talk on this site about petrol/diesel prices. Whilst it is well known that fuel prices have gone up globally, this government are still considering putting another 2p duty on fuel in October!! As if 73% tax isn't enough.
I could go on and on. It just seems as if this government lets hardworking people get ripped off left right and centre in numerous ways while only caring about whether they will get in office again at the next election.
We have a reasonable standard of living on 2 wages but I would certainly not say we are able to have luxuries. I want to experience a different way of living in a different country as it may be better. I'm not expecting milk and honey, just different. If the trade off's aren't worth it, I'll come back and maybe appreciate the UK 'warts and all'
It's certainly all food for thought.
Good luck to everyone leaving AND returning from the UK - I hope it is all you want it to be!
Having read this discussion after recently making the decision to emigrate to Canada, I am thoroughly examining my motives for moving !!
Everybody has their own opinions on life in the UK both good and bad but these must be influenced by motives. I know mine are.
Personally I don't feel the UK is so awful that I must leave - I want to experience life in a different country, and while this has been something that I have previously thought I would do some day, I feel that the government is indirectly helping me make the move sooner rather than later. When I say 'help' I don't mean they are assisting me in my endeavour, I mean the frustration they are causing gives you the kick up the backside needed to make the move. For example:
There are no laws in the UK that mean employers must employ a UK citizen over a foreigner. There have been a couple of instances that have come up in the last 2 weeks where (not in the Daily Mail) companies have ignored applications from local people in favour of immigrants from European countries. In one newly opened shop the whole workforce they recruited were immigrants. I am not against immigration but, in my opinion just as is the case in Australia, Canada and USA this should not be at the expense of UK citizens.
Secondly, benefits in this country are a complete farce. I am all for unemployed people getting support to get on their feet but is it right that a couple with kids are financially better off on full state handouts than they are working and therefore have no incentive to find a job. Also, it doesn't seem right that as a couple you would be financially better off if you were to separate due to how the Tax Credits system works. It's very frustrating when you see TV programmes where benefit claimants who get their rent and council tax paid, free dentistry, free prescriptions, free school dinners and uniforms as well as weekly cash handouts, are talking in their homes about how working is not worth their while with an LCD tv in the background.
There has also been a lot of talk on this site about petrol/diesel prices. Whilst it is well known that fuel prices have gone up globally, this government are still considering putting another 2p duty on fuel in October!! As if 73% tax isn't enough.
I could go on and on. It just seems as if this government lets hardworking people get ripped off left right and centre in numerous ways while only caring about whether they will get in office again at the next election.
We have a reasonable standard of living on 2 wages but I would certainly not say we are able to have luxuries. I want to experience a different way of living in a different country as it may be better. I'm not expecting milk and honey, just different. If the trade off's aren't worth it, I'll come back and maybe appreciate the UK 'warts and all'
It's certainly all food for thought.
Good luck to everyone leaving AND returning from the UK - I hope it is all you want it to be!