Would you ever fancy Living abroad ?

[Lardlizard]

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

I have 2 more years here in the UK, until my son finishes studying.
Then I plan to travel lots and have been looking at plots of land in the Algarve

I moved to Cyprus 15 years ago. I love it here, it's my home.

I spent my twenties living on three different continents.

When you’re working, it’s just like living anywhere else with a commute & deadlines.

Being able to really experience living in other parts of the world is incredible though & would always recommend it to anyone.

I’ve always left a little bit of me in each of those countries, which makes it difficult to settle and be whole just in one place.

It is a great experience to live abroad but having lived in a few different places, I do really appreciate the UK, of course we have major issues but there is a reason why so many people from other countries come to the UK to make their lives here. I do have a relative who spent a year abroad a few years back and she loves to tell anyone who will listen, what she doesn't tell is that she hated it, she thought friends from the UK would be begging to come out for a holiday and no one did and she was lonely and miserable the entire time she was there . Every country has its good bad and ugly, and of course if you are wealthy, anywhere can be amazing. But most people still have to work, have problems and frustrations in their day to day lives. Even with Covid, most of Europe is suffering a form of lockdown and the restrictions in the UK have not been as tough as other places!

Having returned last year after 13 years abroad, it's just the same shit in a different place, in a different language. You still have to clean the loo, do the washing, cook, shop etc etc.

I enjoyed it, but now I'm home, I don't want to leave.

I have :) hot countries . Unless u are retired / minted one thing to remember is you will have a Job and as such it becomes a lot less like the perma hol u imagined and u still have the daily grind buttttt days off spent by the pool ( well we’re for me ) new language new culture all round new lifestyle . Would love to go back , well I had planned to at some point but ya know - brexit ! Spanner only the works 😡

I'd love to if I was rich and didn't have to work. I have relatives in Australia who love it but when you chat with them for long enough you realise their life is literally no different to when they lived here... the only thing that's truly changed is the backdrop, especially now they have children.

I’ve spent the past twenty five years living in six different countries. I wouldn’t have it any other way. Have decided to stay put here for a while for the sake of DS’s education, but left to myself, I love a new place, a new language, new customs and people.

I don’t agree with the ‘same shit, different place’ thing at all. Some places suit me far better than others. I moved countries in early 2020, and a house purchase fell through just before the spring lockdown, but this place is still, COVID and all, suiting me far better than the last one.

We moved to Asia 5 years ago and love it. We love in a massive apartment with a live in nanny and cleaner, have a pool, a gym, a playroom and a playground on site and have several holidays a year. We’ve also save thousands of pounds since we moved here because everything is so cheap. We have private health care and go home twice a year, apart from this year of course. It’s been a great experience but I do think we will move on somewhere else in the next 2/3 years.

Yes, I planned it all, saved up, worked everything out to the finest detail and took early retirement overseas.
Was there barely a year and COVID came along and I had to get out fast.
Moral: you can dream and plan all you like but sometimes life just gets in the way and it doesn't work out.
I dream of going back but I'm not sure I can cope with the upheaval all over again....

Yes but not 100% of the time. It would be nice to spend 2-3 months somewhere sunny and then come back to the UK for a few months before heading back again for a few weeks more

I live in Australia and my life IS different. The long hot summers are gorgeous and feel so much better than British summers which I used to hate. I love seeing blue sky more but still with proper seasons. I live close to the beach and walk there almost every day. Life is just easy. It’s not the same shit different place (although obviously I still have to go to work and sometimes that makes me mad)

We live in Australia. Absolutely love it, best decision we ever made. Our kids love it. We are 5 mins from the beach. We work but free time is spent beach camping, having time with our friends every weekend. It’s a great life for us and we’d never come back to England.

When this is on your doorstep in Australia, I would find it very hard to move back to the UK even if I am outside working today and its going to be 33* today.
It’s nice knowing that we will have a summer and I can pop to this beach very easily, it’s only 800mtrs away.

I don't understand people that are saying it's the same shit but in a different place? I live abroad and work 40+ hours a week, yes I still have to clean my toilet and do all the life jobs we all have, but, we live a 5 mins walk from a lake that we can swim in all summer. I'll go tonight at 9pm when it will still be warm and light. If I get a weekend off work then we can drive less than 2 hours and be camping under a glacier or by the ocean or hiking amazing tracks. On my doorstep I have mountain bike tracks, incredible parks, beaches, we can have dinner at the lakeside on a council bbq or a picnic. In the winter we are 30 mins drive from a mountain where you can ski and snowboard. There is so much to do here. It's a million miles away from the misery of living in the UK.

I'd like to live in New York or Paris for a bit. Or else I like the idea of moving somewhere because something came up; work or something. Having a reason to go there.

Myself and DH have always said we want to retire to Italy. However, now we have two DDs, and I myself moved countries to be with my DH and left my parents behind, I dont know if I could live in a different country to my kids. After this year, and now feeling like my parents are a world away in Ireland, I think I would need to be able to drive to see my girls rather than fly.

Oooh @onelostsoulswimminginafishbowl that sounds amazing, can I ask what country you’re in? I’m thinking maybe Switzerland?