Would you ever fancy Living abroad ?

[Lardlizard]

I do fancy somewhere hot and sunny with a nice sandy beach

In my fantasy life I live in Lecco and commute to work in Milan. Every weekend we go up to my nonnas village in the Alps to ski or hike.

Maybe when I retire!

Been there, done that, wish I had stayed away 😁DH fancies retiring to Majorca but we may need a lottery win given his list of must haves.

Yes. I'd move to Canada in a heartbeat if I could.

I have lived in Paris (for two years of uni) and America. But there's only one place I call home.

I lived in Canada, but wasn't half as good as you would think. when you just have to go to work day in day out its just like living anywhere else. only they have really tiny holidays so you get even less time to enjoy where you are.

I like sand but not on beaches. I loved Cairo and I like the Nevada desert. I love heat, I'm solar powered, but I really struggle in humidity or damp. I literally ache all over and grind to a halt in this moderate damp climate.

@nextdoorshush

I lived in Canada, but wasn't half as good as you would think. when you just have to go to work day in day out its just like living anywhere else. only they have really tiny holidays so you get even less time to enjoy where you are.

Ok. I'd like to be wealthy and move to Canada then 😁

I do, we moved to the algarve 17 years ago

I do too. I live in Italy but nowhere near a beach unfortunately!

I live in Italy near a beach and dream of living in either Iceland or Canterbury.

Grass always greener etc.

In the last 5 years I've lived in 3 different countries. If the opportunity to move again arose, I'd probably go for it. There is one city that will always be 'home' home for me. But I'm still young, no children and experiencing so many cultures has been so enriching. This crazy pace of life suits me. I travel A LOT for work too.

However I love warm, sunny climates and somehow 2 of those 3 countries were Nordic! It's 3pm here and already dark outside...

We dream about living in Costa Rica. Dp has spent a lot of time lately looking at estate agents websites and finding lovely houses near a beach and National Park

Yep. My husband is not from the UK. We are considering a move over the next few years and it encompasses the UK as well as much of mainland Europe.

I used to think I would. But getting older and seeing how difficult living away from family has been for the generation above me has been has made me totally rethink and I'm going to stick to holidays.

Travel restrictions for COVID has just cemented this feeling in my mind. Having a good support network around you has become so important. I had also thought of retiring to the south coast with DH, but we would always be outsiders, with people there already having their established friendship groups and their own family, so in reality we would probably be on our own a lot of the time. Unless we had family nearby what would happen if one of us died or fell in ill health?

No, not me. I've seen what happens to relatives on their own as they get older and with no family nearby. It's very sad.

Hawaii would be my dream destination, although incredibly unlikely.

EileenGC, yes, the ideal time to do all the living abroad stuff is when you're young. Or if you're able to do it for a few years when you retire, but keep your home in your home country, that's the ideal way to do it. I could not cut off my life in England off completely, it's too final and leaves you with less choice about what happens in the years when you become infirm.

I know it's doom and gloom to say that, but I think people make some rash decisions sometimes wtihout thinking too far in the future or about the realities of it all. They just see these "new life abroad" type of tv programmes and get the urge to do it.

I live in a sunny country, in a complex with a private beach. I’ve lived in this house for 7 years. I’ve been to the beach 4 times.

Real life still exists, like going to the supermarket, doing the cleaning, being too knackered from work to bother going anywhere. Unless you have time to go and laze on the beach at home, unless you’ve won the lottery or are retiring, it’s unlikely you’ll be having the beach lifestyle you dream of.

Yes, I’m in grinch mode today.

@Imrealhonest, no, you're not the grinch, you're just living up to your name and being "real honest" about how it is! Being rich and having a second home abroad is one thing. Selling up your whole life, moving somewhere new thousands of miles away from your friends and family and culture and having to go to work like everyone else, and live in an apartment with no holiday-type facilities eg swimming pool, different healthcare system etc, possible language barrier, is a completely different experience.

I lived in Thailand for a couple of years. I also lived in Ukraine for 4 years which i loved loved loved.

Now I am happy to travel ALOT. (not this year obviously!)

At the end of the day the downsides are that you sitll have to go to work and you still have the daily grind. The upsides are that the expat life can be alot of fun if you have some of the perks to go with it (like schooling and a nice hosue - i Thailand mine came with a gardener and a housemaid which I LOVED).

i was always a workaholic though and never took enough advantage of travelling while living abroad. I recommend that if you do you travel and see and experience as much as you can.

I did in my 20s and early 30s and loved it. But I was young, free and single

Want to do it again for a year when kids have upped and left but would have to be a sabbatical of some kind........

Yes to somewhere hot.

Lived in Tokyo, Greece and the Middle East.

In tropics here. Really homesick. Thinking of moving back to uk but worried it would be a big mistake. Not much covid here.

I lived abroad most of my life. I would love to go back home to live.

We've spoken about moving to Spain in 20+ years but I've looked into it and a surprising number of people come back after only a year or two. Also, we had 3-4 days of very hot weather in England this summer which I struggled with so Spain probably isn't the best idea

I'd love to live somewhere that's pleasantly warm and sunny most of the year.

I love the UK countryside but I get very low mood in winter and I also love the beach. I've got family in Australia but that's too hot and humid in their summer, so somewhere with a nice 18-25 degree climate would suit me.