Just a rhetorical statement, but, having spent eight years in South Africa and 21 years in Canada, I will be returning to the UK this year and looking forward to it.

Despite the pros and cons of many countries, the experience of spending part of my life in a different country is, to me at least, one of the ways of getting the most out of life. I am well aware of the pitfalls of many countries but it is far better than saying, at a ripe old age, "I wish I had...". There is nothing lost with the experience.

it is a really good point you make. I think for many of us the very ability to be able to do a stint here and then somewhere else makes it all very attractive and exciting and if you are of the personality that craves being distracted with the sites, smells and logistical challenges of relocating and being somewhere else it can be great.

I think there are two buckets of people if I can call it that. There are the ones who move about, do their thing and go from place to place, settle for a while then go again, a lot of these people wouldn't even use a site like this necessarily. Then there are the ones who agonise over making such decisions because it doesn't just impact them, it impacts the children, the husband and/or wife and its extremely expensive and hard on all if it doesn't work out..

For single people or couples with no young family, globetrotting is a breeeze provided you can be prepared for a few challenges, mostly financial, but for families who have moved everything in search of a different and more tailored way of life it can be an absolute nightmare cant it.

It can indeed be an absolute nightmare, but then again I do agree with the original post.

I often hear my family and friends in UK moan about how bad it is there and how great they think it is everywhere else on earth, and part of me wants to tell them to go to those 'wonderful' places and experience it for themselves, so they will have that experience and then realise just how fantastic home really is.

On the other hand, part of me does not want to recommend that to them because I know how much grief it has caused me and I don't want them to go through it, plus I do want them in England when I return so I can see them!

At the end of the day though whilst it has caused me a massive amount of stress and a lot of major problems, I don't doubt for a minute that having lived in Australia has enriched my life and opened my mind to all sorts of things I would have been incapable of imagining had I not.

However I think perhaps some of these benefits can be had simply by taking a holiday in other countries, without the need to emigrate and all the problems that come with that.

So probably I would just recommend people go and visit other countries, and maybe don't just stick to the 'tourist' things but get amongst the natives a bit and live as they do for a few weeks maybe, but don't go and live there permanently!

I agree with a lot that's been said here. Though I want to go back to the UK, I have an experience to draw upon, on why I chose to live there, rather than just being born there.

Also it does help when people say that if they could leave they would, to say well you can, I've done it and lots of other people have too. For some they love the new country that they have chosen and want to stay there. For others, for one reason or another the pull of the UK is too much and they want to come back.

Now do I regret moving out here? Depends on which day you ask me that question. But would I have realised the things that I want out of life so clearly, without living abroad for a couple of years? I don't think so and probably not.

However, there's no way that I would have been able to come to the same conclusions through holidays, etc? I don't think so. I do try to give my friends and family the benefit of my experience, but I don't think that they realise how tough it can be and what's important to you.