This country and why people live here..NB

[StellaGirl]

Lately I have heard many people complaining about the weather here, the winter sailing, politics, hunting debate, tax, the cost of living. I am one of those moaners and am hoping to do something about my situation.

However it made me think, why do people who supposedly hate it here so much stay here? I appreciate some have commitments such as family but what about the others? What stops you from selling up, quiting your job and living the lifestyle you dream about in another country?

I am sure there are various opinions on this so come on lets hear them...

<hr width=100% size=1>Its 11.59am - lets open the beers...

 

[Beagle]

I guess Fish & Chips is a valid reason to stay....

<hr width=100% size=1>Never attempt to teach a pig to sing.
It is a waste of time and it annoys the pig.

 

[StugeronSteve]

Coz, despite the government, weather and countless other things that I really enjoy moaning about, it's BRILLIANT!

<hr width=100% size=1>Think I'll draw some little rabbits on my head, from a distance they might be mistaken for hairs.

 

[jimi]

I stay here cos I fancy StugeronSteve cos I like bald men and he wants to stay here ..

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[StugeronSteve]

Re: Ah shucks.

nm

<hr width=100% size=1>Think I'll draw some little rabbits on my head, from a distance they might be mistaken for hairs.

 

[tome]

I've lived and worked in several countries and visited many more for extended periods. Though there's much I'd like to change here, it never fails to cheer me up when I join the return flight home to blighty!

Quite a few friends are selling up and moving to France and Spain, but not for me. Mind you, I could easily stand another few years in Italy...

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[flaming]

Where else can you get a decent bitter?

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[dralex]

It's all about making choices and getting the right balance in life. So many people think the grass is always greener and want to work in places like Aus, NZ, Canada etc. I thought long and hard about all these places and am lucky in having a fairly transferable profession, but in the end, I could get about 90% of everything I wanted in this country. It was a case of sacrificing some aspects of life to fund others ie moving to the West Country and getting a boat. I always used to find ( when Lived in Nottinghamshire), that my life was jumping from one holiday to the next, with big troughs in between. The trick I found is to establish a life where you can do all the things you enjoy on a regular and frequent basis, that is, most weekends and evenings if I'm lucky.

I think moving abroad is a great idea, but not all it's cracked up to be. All my friends who went abroad to work have all ended up back in the UK, just because after a while, you appreciate how nice it really is. It also means you can have regular contact with established friends and family.

I'm happy, but that's just my opinion.

Alex

ps I'd still like to sell up and go cruising that's for a bit later on.

<hr width=100% size=1>Life's too short- do it now./forums/images/icons/wink.gif<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1>Edited by dralex on 06/10/2004 17:21 (server time).</FONT></P>

 

[Metabarca]

I left Britain back in 1985 and lived a few years in France and then moved to Italy. Of course I moan about things here and 'fly the flag' for Britain but I don't think I would move back unless I had lots of dosh: I simply couldn't afford the quality of life I have here. Basically, I love the sea, mountains and wilderness more than I do country pubs, the theatre, old bookshops and other things I miss from Britain. Other previously unavailable aspects now can be had here: reasonable bitter, browsing for books (Internet), bacon (!). In London, I had to spend two hours a day 30m underground to get to work, looking at lots of grey-faced people (although, to be fair, I now have a job that would enable me to live in the country anywhere in the UK), but when all is said and done, Britain is now just too tame, too much 'theme park' and rather nannyish for me. For example, this weekend I was in the Julian Alps 90 minutes from home. We slept in a mountain hut and spent Sunday climbing a peak, seeing dozens of ibex on the way, an eagle and some edleweiss (as well as a sum total of 0 people). Some snow has already fallen and we were probably the last people to pass this way this year; certainly we had been the first for a fortnight. That sort of experience in Britain is not possible or not as just one attraction in a way of life including skiing, sailing, good grub, lots of art and a mixture of three cultures in the radius of ten miles (Latin, Germanic, Slav).
I love visiting Britain, wish I could spend more time there, but live there... dunno. Not for the moment.

<hr width=100% size=1>Adriatic links here: <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.comoy.com/saillinks.html>http://www.comoy.com/saillinks.html</A>

 

[bedouin]

Yes it's bad here - but everywhere else is worse.

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[AndrewB]

Errr ... yup, you\'ve convinced me.

I'll pack my bags this weekend.

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[BigLes]

So where exactly do you live? It sounds great!

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[Ohdrat]

I spend 1hr 20mins approx commuting up and down the A9 on the up side it is thro some really fabulous scenery.. I get to see it in all states of light and darkness, weather etc.. The views are never the same.. It gives me time to wake up before getting to work and time to wind down after..

I live in a remote area with appalling infrastructure.. on the up the scenery is largely unspoilt and I have some world class sailing on my doorstep..

I live in an area without many job / career prospects unless you want to be an entrepreneur and work all hours etc etc on the up I have a good work / life balance and do not worry about getting promotion, I earn enough to enjoy life.

Basically there is no where else on earth I would rather be

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[Nickel]

" I'd still like to sell up and go cruising that's for a bit later on."

I don't disagree with you one word, I'm just trying to square it with your motto - life's too short do it now?! /forums/images/icons/smile.gif

<hr width=100% size=1>Nickel

Being paranoid simply means - having all the facts.

 

[Birdseye]

Why stay? Mainly because no man is an island. We have relatives and friends and they are more important than the miserable climate, the overcrowding and the yob culture of the UK. But like many others I try to have the best of both worlds by spending a few months in somewhere warm in the middle of the UK winter and spending the summer in the UK itself.

In any case, we're not referred to as 'whingeing poms' for nothing. Its a national sport.

<hr width=100% size=1>this post is a personal opinion, and you should not base your actions on it.

 

[oldharry]

.... because its England. No where else in the world like it - thank goodness!

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[FullCircle]

Why here?
Regional accents like Scouse and Geordie
Brown Water labelled summat like 'Olde Dogbolt Fart Cannon'
Rock & Chips
Chicken Tikka Massalla (try buying that in Asia!)
Scotch Whiskey
Smoky Pubs hundreds of years old
Green....its very green
Brown Water labelled 'East Coast Swatchways'
Punch
Punch & Judy
Decaying Victorian Splendour and other architectural follies
Our comedians
Evading the revenue
The last vestiges of good manners
Variety of climate & scenery on one small group of lands
...many more.




<hr width=100% size=1>Our engine will never wear out - it only runs for 5 mins before packing it in again.

 

[pugwash]

This Kiwi likes it

I have lived here for 42 years since I left NZ as a teenager crewing in a yacht and ended up in Hong Kong. I now have an English wife, four english kids, and english dog: I guess I'm polluted. Every time my wheels touch the tarmac at LHR I'm mighty glad to be home. Yes, I sometimes start the weekend thinking this would be a great time to be back in NZ but when I do go back there, within ten days I'm bored stiff. Lovely sunshine, beautiful birds and trees, but nothing happens. You might think you can put up with that, and for a while you can. But not for longl The greatest pleasure in the world is to land here after three weeks Down Under, walk into the house, and open a selection of Sunday papers. Only when you do that do you realise how free we are here, how interesting and lively the people are, and how fascinating the problems. Britain is a great place to pitch your tent. Full of frustrations, to be sure, but no worse than those of any other country and in most ways fewer in number. And the sailing is the greatest when the weather's nice which does happen more often than you think.

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[wishbone]

Well we have just this last week sold our house that we built 20 years ago, we are in our early fifties, we are renting for a year while we get our projects finished off then who knows, I hate driving the M1 to and from Leeds I keep out of london although I was born a cockney! we now have too many rules and regulations that it seems only Britain adhere to! land is expensive, fed up with the box in the corner now that winter aproaches I would like to hibinate! I am a sunshine, water person, people don't have time to stop and talk, if they do they have other things on their mind, we pay too much for most things, if you are sucssesfull then the govenrment wants more off you, we are over crowded. I know that we have a 2 tier police system!! I leave this to your own conclusions!!!!!!!!!!! If I had my way I would have left the UK 18 years ago, but I had to consider swimbo and the kids, both boys have just come back to live with us 25 & 28 years old urgh!!! no I love them and glad they are both safe. I have had to work a lot harder the last 6 years to make ends meet, have been self employed for over twenty years.
Pleased to say that I am looking for a nice boat a the moment I will be getting away a lot more often.

<hr width=100% size=1>Wishbone
Rolling, rolling, rolling keep them doggies moving!
Where’s me chuck wagon gone?

 

[Rob_Webb]

Almost exactly a year ago I did just that, packed up and left the UK for a stint in NZ to seek out a different lifestyle balance and see how I liked it. Even after a year I am nowhere near fully settled and the only thing I am sure of is that the UK (specifically south of England) will always be 'home'. I'll come on to why later.

But in the meantime I consider an overseas stint a 'must do' to anyone who wants to broaden their horizons. And it puts some of the things we complain about in the UK into perspective. I could right an list as long as your arm drawing direct comparisons between UK and NZ and some of it would probably be quite amusing (might do that another day). But that isn't really the point. The point is about experiencing somethign new and either liking it so much you stick with it or return home.

Me, I'll stay in NZ for a while (exact period to be confirmed!) and will probably spend some time working/travelling/living in a number of other places before rushing back to re-establish roots in the UK (I'm only 35).

The other night I was away from home on business in some armpit town in NZ feeling a bit of deja-vu. But I was over the moon when I stumbled across a pretty good imitation of an English pub complete with roaring log fire, real local ales and a half-decent menu (including thai chicken curry - how authetic is that?)!

Right now I live on a peninsula in the Hauraki Gulf - my backgarden is (literally) a golf course, I overlook my boat in the marina below, I commute to work via ferry and enjoy a far better work-life balance than I ever did in the UK.

True, the climate hasn't been like the brochure but I'm looking forward to a good season of sailing.

But despite all this, I still miss family, friends and the raw edge of UK culture (both good and bad) that makes it such a vibrant place to live. And I'll return. Just in my own good time. And I'll still complain about some aspects of UK life but I'll shut up about others. And I hope I'll be a better person for it!

R




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