Seriously thinking about leaving the UK - AIBU?

We now have family locally for the first time in our marriage and family across Europe. Very happy to travel to see family and we share a holiday home in France for getaway in Europe. DT’s are happy to visit - they both came with their partners for Christmas.

Definitely 'something else.'

Great point, you've made me realise that's why I'm getting so passionate about this.

I live in a low cost area which has become so deprived. It used to be a lovely community but now the teenagers are so angry, anti social arseholes and there's an insane amount of what I can assume is asylum seekers pouring in, no one knows what's going on.
The shops are closing, every other person doesn't work so for the good, decent people who once called this their home it's horrible. We need to move away because we are living in a place so unaligned with our values and hopes for our sons future.

I can see there are some lovely places still left to live in the UK and people who live there won't be living within this, I wasn't until a few years ago but it's well and truly hit us hard.

I agree with one of the first posters. This isn't an AIBU. Moving abroad is a very complex decision with all sorts of factors to be considered. However, since the OP has not reappeared I'm wondering if this was intended as a serious discussion of her situation. Or something else?

Yeah I think you're right.

I posted on a similar thread recently. Go for it OP! I'll echo what I've said previously. I was born in the UK and moved to Switzerland 5 years ago and it's the best thing I ever did. Luckily that was pre Brexit and moving around was straightforward. Now you will need a visa sponsorship but it is possible. I have noticed the UK has declined massively over the last 5 years. Every time I come back to the UK to visit everyone is miserable, complaining, fed up and desperate for change. The mood has changed. It's almost as if the majority have given up. People are angry and less tolerant. Nothing works - public transport, roads (traffic/pot holes), education is a mess, health care is a shambles and you pay high tax, high cost of living. Conversely in Switzerland, wages are higher and you pay less tax, everything works, no crime, its efficient, better support. If you lose your job for any reason, as long as you've been employed for 2 years you can claim unemployment benefit capped at 10000 chf per month for 18 months. You pay mandatory private healthcare and it's brilliant, no waiting - I've been referred to a specialist and seen them on the same day. Everything is maintained and invested in - roads, parks, public spaces and activities. We've been able to save alot of money in a short space of time which we would never have achieved if we had stayed in the UK. Initally when i moved to Switzerland i couldnt believe how expensive everything is but now it feels as if its the same price as the UK. What's happening in the UK is not reflective of the rest of the world. I'd recommend moving to anyone and any young person starting out. You can always come back if you want to.

👏 This exactly. ^

I wouldn't say either, it's really a very personal thing.

Yes, the UK is going downhill, but also my family and friends are here, the culture (here in London) is fantastic, I don't speak another language well, America is far, far worse, Australia/New Zealand are too hot and too far away and generally with global warming I wouldn't move south of the equator these days. So I might as well stay. But that's just me.

DH has talked about moving, but I'm just not enthused by the idea and can't imagine where we'd go.

I know youve wrote that as it sounds good but no one is looking for utopia, no one has given any indication they are looking for utopia, just better than this.

And you will spend much of that retirement shuttling across the Atlantic.

My neighbours earned oil money in the Gulf, kids at UK boarding schools, they bought a holiday house in a Fife village to use when visiting the kids in exeat uni; then they finally retired there. But their 3 now adult kids feel no UK affinity, well educated in schools with international clientele; so they now live in NYC, Vancouver and Sydney, all now with kids. So they ended up selling their Fife house to buy near a southern International Airport, aware that their kids slightly resent their annual leave being taken up with being with mum and dad either here or at their international homes.

They are sanguine about this reality, understanding that they brought their kids up internationally, and their kids are international.

But it is a reality one shouldn’t disregard!

Go visit the Australian, Canadian, American, NZ etc subreddits. Everyone is complaining of the same things like rising costs, increased crime, housing crisis, poor behaviour in schools etc. Likewise friends in these countries have many of the same concerns. Everyone is struggling. all been through the pandemic and are still dealing with the after effects of that and other issues. Perhaps you’ll find a country that’s a better fit for you but people are struggling just about everywhere and Utopia doesn’t exist.

I left in 2008 to live with my French husband. We then left France for the Netherlands for work purposes in 2017 and our aim is to return to France at the very least for retirement if not before. We will never return to live in the U.K. So I don’t think you are being unreasonable, OP.

We’re not British and didn’t want to live in a country outside the EU.

Life was good in the Uk (and prior to that in Belgium) but it’s better now we have moved.

I would love to know what is going down hill that affects you? I see these posts often and statements from people and I wondered if it’s actually things that people have been affected by or just news headlines people see. Not saying that for yourself.
What makes you want to leave? X

Several friends' adult kids have moved BACK from Dubai and Abu Dhabi
so that their kids get a proper social life and schooling.

The UK has its issues, but so does everywhere.

I think this is one of these threads designed to cause a bun fight. OP was never going to come back, just lit the blue touch paper and retired to safety. 😂 No one cares if you go, U.K is overcrowded as it is. Grass always seems greener elsewhere but it’s not.

What's with all the pointless threads lately where OP's deliberately miss out crucial information?

Good for you! 🏅 Most Brexit whingers haven't left the UK though. And never will.

so you were having a reasonably decent life in the Uk and when you heard the Brexit result you decided to leave for another country?
Can I ask why?

The UK standard of living is incredibly shit for a "developed" country 😂

that sounds tough, are you coming back when the kids have left home?
What prompted the move in the first place?

We have left because of Brexit as have others on this thread.

Me neither.

@Bignanna Lol - ok!!!! Do you understand what the words 'deprived area' means? There are also many social challenges in the nearby City too. But my husband volunteers at a historic visitor attraction and meets people from all over the world who absolutely wax lyrical about the beauty and history of our country.

I'm old enough to believe that you absolutely get out what you put in - look for the negative and of course you'll find it, look for the positives and you'll find them too! We won't be heading abroad any time soon!

why is it so much more difficult?
I just had a quick look in case things have changed but it appears you just need a visa, proof of funds and health insrance.
Are there further things?