Why don't a lot of English people live abroad?

[Booneymil]

Hi! I was just thinking about something. I am Irish originally. I have lived and worked in around seven different countries at my age. I am 40. I love moving around and living in different places. I have been working in england now for two years.

At my large workplace, there are a lot of English people and a lot foreign people working there. So we have people from Spain, Poland, Italy, Australia, and Lithuania working there. Every one of the foreign people there have lived all over the world. I was chatting to the lithuanian woman, she has lived in Indonesia, in Sweden, Switzerland and in Italy.

I was chatting to the Spanish woman - she has lived in Italy, Spain, Germany and Norway. She told me she was from a wealthy family in spain so she had no need to move, she just had a desire to see the rest of the world. I was the same, I always wanted to see more of the world.

The English people in my workplace, there are about thirty of them.

Not one of them has ever lived abroad. A lot of them are old enough that they could have moved around the EU before Brexit happened. But they didnt.

I was thinking about it. Why? Why is it so different in England.

I’m not scared to leave my country.
I travel internationally for work regularly but I’d never move abroad. I love living in England and want to bring my child up around close family and friends.

There are hundreds of thousands of uk people in just dubai and ex pats everywhere - look at the beaches in Sydney Australia full of Essex and Scottish accents.
you won’t find the uk born ex pats by travelling to the uk. If you go to Australia or Singapore or Hong Kong you’ll meet loads!
there are also millions of Irish who stay in Ireland. If I went to work in an Irish village I’d think they all stayed home

I tried living abroad in my 20s (America and Canada). I was terribly homesick. I spent some time with an American this year, over with her husband and kids on an exchange to the UK. She was very homesick too.

That's all compounded as parents age - my expat friend was very taken aback by the ban on travel during the lockdowns.

Not a decision to take lightly, emigrating!

Family. For the 20 years we'd have been the right age to travel we've always had parents who's health was uncertain, making being 1000s of miles away a challenge. Plus I found a city with a brilliant range of people, where I felt at home and just didn't feel the need.

The only places that appealed to me were ones where I don't speak the language and I wouldn't want to live in an English enclave so that plays a part too.

I am English and have lived in 3 different countries. I also love learning languages. One of the countries I lived in was English-speaking. The other 2 weren't and I became fluent in the languages. Certainly in one of those countries, there were many British people living there, some of whom could speak the local language but many of whom couldn't.

Brits do live overseas but the ones I know (pre Brexit) emigrated/retired to live with other expats in the sunshine as their language skills weren't up to much and it's harder to learn a new language as you age. That's ok as long as their health remained good. I know quite a few over the years who transferred to the US/Australia (my global company sorted their work visas) and no worry there about translating. There's not the drive in schools to learn languages as the old world view is that everyone speaks english if you shout loudly enough! 🙄

But they do? If you were in Spain you might meet loads of ex pats. Or the US. Or Australia. Or….wherever!
It’s because you are here that you aren’t meeting people who live elsewhere - surely that it obvious?
I’ve lived in the US and France.
Of my cousins, they live in Australia, Belgium, Dubai, USA.
My sister has lived in Spain. My parents lived in Spain, India, Malaysia, Ireland, here, USA.
Friends have lived in Hong Kong, US, France, Finland…
And most are still living abroad so you won’t be meeting them here!

I don't understand it either. I've lived abroad a couple of times and would love to do it again.

Why is it difficult to understand?
I love travelling but would never live abroad. I can understand why some people do but I can’t see why it’s so difficult to comprehend why it’s not for everyone?

I have lived in three other countries. I wouldn’t now as I don’t want to disturb my kids’ education and I have a lot of pets.
For example my husband was offered the chance to work in the US since we had kids and declined due to not wanting the children in American schools especially in the state being considered. When I was young and single I lived in the US very happily and had a wonderful time with amazing friends, but kids put a different spin on it, with the hours people are expected to work in US culture or risk to my job. I wouldn’t want him to go on his own, we’d miss him.

There are English immigrants everywhere to be fair (I do love the ex pat term but cannot bring myself to use it) but if you are working in a certain industry and you have a decent job and homelife maybe moving abroad is something planned for retirement rather than for raising family etc.

This.

I'm English and have lived in five non UK countries and lived outside the UK most but not all of my adult life - there are absolutely loads of people of English origin in my nearest city (EU country) most of whom have duel citizenship now or an application in progress and children at school or university here - nobody's going back.

The English who go abroad, stay abroad. That's why they aren't working at your workplace, in England...

How come living abroad did not open your mind and instead, at your big age turned you to trolling the internet, take shocked that the English, like most other populations mostly never emigrate?

And I say this as somebody born and bred in London with four immigrant grandparents, one immigrant parent, one brother who lives in the US, multiple GenX and younger relatives born and bred in the UK who are nomads/ permanently living abroad and a daughter who I have not spent the last three festive holidays with due to her being " in foreign" due to her freelance career.

I have never travelled to a country, including my heritage country wondering why the majority never left to live/ work abroad.

Brexit took a lot of our rights to live and work abroad away. Pre Brexit I lived in Spain for 10 years, came back to UK with a plan to work hard so I can retire in Spain, now it's no longer feasible as we're no longer entitled to health care plus you need a substantial amount behind you. Brexit has shafted us and I'm still angry about it.

I live in Hong Kong, moved here 15 years ago.

A lot of British people DO emigrate, and live abroad, we just don'tsee them, sinply because they are abroad. I haven't (yet) because I wouldn't have left my mother (in poor health), and I have DC who I couldn't take with me atm, but I fully intend to when the time is right for me.

Approximately half of Europeans have never been outside their country, even for a holiday. But sure it's a nasty, small-minded peculiar English thing. Because the English think they're superior or something. Yawn. I hate these faux-innocent 'English people' threads and the gaslighting from the OPs when called out on it. Why don't these idiots ever have the balls to create the thread they really want to, it's not as if Mumsnet is going to do anything about it anyway.

Times change.

Just because the ancestors did it, doesnt mean that people do it now.

They do! Just in my own family - I live in Spain, my uncle has lived in various countries in Asia and Africa, my mum has lived in Saudi, my cousin has lived in France, Portugal, Japan and currently in the Netherlands and my other cousin in France and Portugal. You cited a Spanish colleague who has lived in multiple countries, this is actually not that common. You’d be surprised at how many Spaniards have never even travelled outside of Spain on holiday.

I am talking about English people, because I live in England, OBVIOUSLY.

I work with English people. I go to groups with English people. My experience is with English people.

Aw sorry to hear that.

If you want to find English people who work abroad then you won’t find them in England for rather obvious reasons. Loads of my English friends have worked/do work abroad but I have lived abroad for large parts of my life as well.

Why wouldn't I find them in England. People can work abroad and come back can't they?

No English person in my very large workplace has ever lived abroad even for a year. It's interesting

Have you spoken to every single English person in your very large workplace?

And even if what you are saying is true, why is it an issue?

Yes I have spoken to every one of them.

It's not an issue as I already wrote. Why would it be an issue.

Its just an observation on how different their life was to mine. It is interesting how different people live