Why do so many people talk about moving abroad like it’s just a matter of getting up and leaving?

Pre kids i have lived in three countries (including EU and USA). It’s not that hard if you don’t have to think about kids family or pets. In my experience visas aren’t that difficult (personally I also have EU citizenship) and I am multilingual (80% of the world’s population are or something like that but I accept it’s probably lower in the UK).
My husband has more recently been offered a promotion to the US and we turned it down. My company would transfer me there if I wanted but I’d hate to raise kids there and we have pets that couldn’t go so that’s a deal breaker.
My brother similarly looked at Australia as they are recruiting people in his and his wife’s field but in the end they preferred to stay where they had local family. Perhaps if they’d thought about it in their early twenties they’d have gone for a few years but not now they have kids and want grandparents around.
Rob Moore off threads should definitely go to Dubai and stop just talking about it though, the poor bloke is so miserable here.

It is much easier if you have a job that makes you internationally mobile. I have moved countries several times in connection with my work and my DP moved around a lot more than me before I met him. I only ever moved as far as Europe, whereas he lived in Scandinavia, South America and Asia as well as Europe at different times. Both of us did this on purely British passports. My DS has also spent quite a few years abroad, in Europe and Canada, as have many friends in my circle.

It is never easy, but then nor is moving from Scotland to London or vice versa. You still need to sort jobs, accommodation, children's schools etc. Language etc can make it harder, but it is achievable if you really want to.

I am now retired and appreciate that moving somewhere else would be more difficult without my job. I moved back to the UK to retire and am unlikely to want to go away again as it was hard work, particularly living somewhere where the language was challenging! I would however move again without hesitation if I felt it was the best thing for my family.

I don’t think people are underestimating it, it’s just they feel forced to leave now it’s obvious the direction the Government is going. If someone on £100k moved to Dubai until Labour have gone, for example, they’d save £130k in taxes.

We are hoping to move to France, I have a French passport as well as English. It’s still a process to do it, not straightforward at all but we feel it’ll be worth it…

Who would you prefer to be running the country ?

People who say that are usually those who already moved countries at least once (so have a career which allows that and know how it works). No one is taking about an overnight move, of course it’s something planned

There is a process, same as there is a process to anything but it really isn't that hard to move to a lot of countries outside of the UK. Brexit only changed things for people moving from the UK to other EU states. Moving to the rest of the world has always been possible and still is.

It’s not a “tiny minority” at all who are able to emigrate. Millions of people have dual citizenship for a start, then there’s all the people in skilled jobs and/work for international companies.

It is by no means straightforward, but it’s absolutely not the case that it’s only open to a ‘tiny minority’. It just seems that way because most people stay (as on balance the UK is actually a great place to live (although I emigrated in 2024…!))

Ironic isn't it given we take practically anybody.

I wish someone with balls was running this country and our Civil Service and Home Office weren't infected with "Woke Ideology" and called to heel.

I’ve lived in both the US and South Korea through work. Currently in the process of moving to another country on a digital nomad visa.

Many of my friends are doctors, bankers, teachers and social workers and their skills are wanted in many countries and some have left to Australia, Canada and other countries.

Probably some do underestimate how difficult it may be in some situations but then many more probably over estimate and never make the move because they think it’s too much.

Elderly pets are the main reason we didn’t just go straight back to Germany last year when we got the opportunity. That remote working made this choice possible (to live in one country and take a job in another) still seems mad to me.

People say it to express their dissatisfaction and of course if they want to do it the process can be long and expensive, even if they were skilled and were being actively recruited somewhere.
We are going to spend a year in Spain in 2027. We will get Irish passports in order to do this, but if that wasn’t possible the visa open to me is a non lucrative one, and same for my adult children or a digital nomad visa. We’d have to have proof of funds to support us and get private health insurance. So there are prerequisites but it’s possible. The process will take about a year, so needs planning. I’m sure many countries have similar requirements.

I’m glad you asked - Yes, and he DID. At the risk of writing an essay…We spent some years in Germany, then ten in Scotland, and at the age of 54 he left his job here and found another back in Germany, just last year. The ageism he encountered while interviewing in Britain was the reason he looked again in Germany.

We still have our home and my work here in Scotland and he travels back and forth to Germany with long stints of remote work in between - at this point we could get visas and live here or back in Munich the same as we did years ago, but at our age, whatever we decide will likely be the ‘forever’ move so we’re taking our time.

Brexit, and the ‘gloomy economic environment’ have not affected the profession DH is in or our ability to travel or live in Europe or, if it came to it, the US, there’s just more paperwork to be done.

I know you’re trying to catch me out somehow, but I really don’t see why or what point the OP was trying to make. That people should want to stay in the UK? that moving abroad should be easier, harder? That people who work in Greggs should be able to pack a bag and flit to France? Not a clue.

I admit that I haven’t read the thread, I just wanted to tell my experience of moving abroad and back and possibly abroad again and answer your direct question.

Some parts of Italy are encouraging retirees to go and live there as long as you have a good income. It's certainly something I would consider if it's still an option when I retire.

Because people are full of shit.

Wahhhh, i'm leaving, wahhh. Bullshit, you are.

The number of people with the true 'fluidity' (pah!) to uproot and hop countries easily is tiny...even on MN. People love to give it the big I am though. 'Oh yes but I have quadruple nationality/soooo much money/international contacts dahhhling'. Yeah yeah, we're all impressed 🥱

I've lived in 3 countries when I was younger (I wasn't an EU citizen so no freedom of movement benefit). By the time the kids are on their own 2 feet I'll probably be too old to move again, but I would strongly encourage any young person to look at moving abroad, at least for a while. It's not that hard, you just need to put some effort in.

My first move (to Finland, pre-kids and home ownership) was a matter of applying for a job, getting it, waiting for the visa to come through and packing a suitcase. Not much different when I moved to the UK (except I had more suitcases and a house to sell).

1. A lot of people have EU passports (vast numbers seemed to have them around the time of the Brexit vote, but lots have left). Some of these people enjoy telling those of us who were very anti-Brexit but are stuck in the UK that they can leave for a better life whenever they want. Or that their child can study abroad free of charge at the drop of a hat and then get a great job working for the European Commission or whatever.
2. A lot of people who are stuck in the UK voted for Brexit in complete ignorance because they didn't do any research or listen to or believe anyone other than Nigel Farage. These people, incredibly, still believe that they can go and live anywhere in Europe whenever they want, and are planning to retire to the Costa del Sol.

Most of the circumstances discussed above don't / didn't apply to me. I was thrown a rope (well, more like a piece of string actually) and I got the hell out of dodge. Pets had died (RIP), son was settled and married, lost my job when firm went bankrupt (cheers Brexit) and I couldn't live in France. BUT I did have my little much loved London flat to rent out until I was on my feet financially, a BIG plus. That was my stroke of luck / timing.
I can highly recommend switching up your culture, your language, your perspective BUT IT IS NOT for the faint of heart. And I am not talking about how you can manage that with children and jobs, which would be a whole other ballgame, but I didn't have to do that. What @acorncrush said. And I count my blessings I jumped before I was pushed. It really isn't grass is greener, living in an extremely volatile and sometimes incomprehensible culture, but I have slogged away to get a stable home, a safe environment, and two more cats 🐈🐈‍⬛

Yes at one point there was a lot of staying registered at kids addresses etc -

Being able to just up sticks and move is a massive privilege that most people just cannot do without major difficulties.

And then what happens if they find the same or worse problems in the place they moved to?

I wonder OP if it's more to do with the demographic of people who say they are going to pick up and move.

I suspect most are more mc corporate types, so may have some job mobility. And they have more cash to work with, so it doesn't seem obviously impossible.

But I think many also assume it is easier to go to other countries that it in fact is. A lot seem to think the UK is unusually harsh in terms of limits to immigration, so they may not know that most other countries also prefer to employ their own workers.

It's really not that difficult. I've lived in the states, Hong Kong, the middle East and new Zealand. Depends on the country but you either get a visa then go and find a job, or find a job and get sponsored for a visa. I'm not sure why anyone treats it like it's insurmountable tbh if you've got a small amount of savings and transferable skills then it's easy enough.

If we move abroad, and we're considering it at the minute, we'd just rent our house out rather than selling for the time being.

I agree OP. The people that talk about it as an angry political reaction aren’t the people that do it. Most people move because their job requires/allows it.

far too much ££ leaving the UK too - pension / capital but people coming back for short term NHS / collect prescription visits - i wish there were records for that

if you are 2nd / 3rd generation immigrant then its possibly easier to think you could leave as long as kept up links with relatives abroad, but generally you need a particular trade wanted abroad and to be child free. i honestly find it strange that people don't stay and work for their home countries and build them up.