To be seriously considering leaving this country?

[User135644]

I've lived here all my life l, have all my family and friends here but I feel desperate to get out now.

Brexit was national self harm in itself (and has made it harder to leave) but I am done with Tory island. They have destroyed everything over the last 12 years.

Had it now. Country heading for collapse.

Good luck trying to find a country that has better governments.
Every country has its problems.
Maybe move to Mars.

Mark McGowan is an absolute prick. Would never move to WA. Like a prison.

We left. No regrets! Sitting by the pool watching DC swimming as I type this. We have a beautiful life in Australia now and I can't even imagine returning to a cold and broke British life.

I think McGowan is a hero! We were able to lead a covid-free life for several years while the rest of the world were having a terrible time of it. The closed border meant our economy didn't suffer, in fact WA has a massive surplus. Yes it was a pain not being able to leave WA until the border re-opened but the sacrifice was worth it to protect the economy, and more importantly people's lives and health. But I realise YMMV. And hardly like a prison, the border has been open for ages!

We moved to the US in our 30s and certainly have had more opportunities here and the pay is a lot better for most jobs. However, I will say that as you age we find we miss our families more but also would not have changed it but it does make you appreciate your home country because the familiarity of your own culture is not to be taken for granted. However, we have set ourselves up for retirement in a way we just could not have done in the UK so financially we made a good decision. I think the UK still has many good things going for it but this crisis is a worrying time for everyone and hopefully the powers that be will take action to support people as it is very worrying for people with mortgage increases on the horizon on top of other increases. The grass can be greener elsewhere but giving up family is a sacrifice many are not willing to make and I understand that having done that myself. It is a big thing to give up so it needs careful thought and it is why you see so many people return from places like Oz which have so many good things going for them, they miss their people I think and their culture.

YANBU but what I don't get is why so many people on this thread are being so miserable and nasty to you. What's it going to take for people in this country to realise how screwed we are and really stick 2 fingers up to this government rather than each other? Do the 'little people' in this country actually realise that it's actually us that have the power and that we don't have to take this shit?

Yes, we are leaving too. Feel totally alienated and know by experience when one country is going to the pits. The division here has become a cancer. My children deserve better. High earner household btw. Good luck to everyone wherever you do. The world is going through a very hard period but choose the place you would feel the happiest and for what is important to you.

Once my baby arrives safely I’m out too back to my home country. This country is a total shithole thanks to Tory/Brexit voters. My English partner has FINALLY seen the light and is ready to go too. Will be spending the next three months of my pregnancy and my maternity leave job searching.

looking forward to going back to a country with strong workers rights, decent subsidised, and functioning healthcare and public services.

My Tory voting inlaws can enjoy their retirement alone, sorry guys but vote Tory and reap the benefits.

DP suggested this yesterday for the first time. It's not good timing in terms of school exams and I would miss my family. otherwise I'd seriously consider it. I'm fusl us/UK national so that would be an option although healthcare would put me off. My real preference would be Italy or Spain if we could make it work.

I'm out once my mother passes. My profession and skillset is in high demand in Australia and NZ. And China, actually, but I think that would be too much of a culture shock.

To me it seems that the barriers to living in the EU are more linguistic and cultural than administrative.

People 10 years ago could live anywhere in the EU but largely chose not to; tbh I find British expats insular wherever I’ve been, a lot of that is a weird sort of superiority complex and inability to speak the local language and refusal to even try

I hope youre under 45. Anyone over, who doesnt earn $160,000 a year wont be getting in.

The grass is rarely greener. every country has it’s problems, generally you are just swapping one set of problems for another.

And I agree with PP, expats in other countries tend to spend their time reminiscing about “home”.

FWIW I’ve nothing against emigrating, have lived abroad myself, but people do seem to live under the illusion that moving somewhere else is going to solve all their issues and suddenly make life great again.

Yes financially you could be better off.

In terms of lifestyle you could have something different.

But you are potentially sacrificing your relationships with family and friends to get those things.

Not seeing your family for years at a time for instance. People say they will visit but they tend not to, and so you end up having to come back here and spend two weeks catching up with people whose lives have nothing in common with yours any more.

The relationships the kids have with grandparents is totally different, because they don’t really know each other. they’re just the fun people they see every few months if they’re lucky.

And zoom is most definitely not a substitute for any of that.

If you don’t have a close relationship with your family then it’s not an issue.

But if you do then you need to realise that moving means that relationship is going to change irrevocably.

I grew up abroad, and I wouldn’t change that experience for anything.

But ironically the country I grew up in has far more problems than the UK ever will.

And most of the expats I know who are still out there would love to move back, except they can’t afford to because the exchange rate is so horrendous.

People who are les

People who are leaving, what jobs do you do.

@AuntSalli thankfully my inlaws are ghastly and my partner isn’t close with them, and all our artist friends left left England after Brexit, so when we move there are only benefits.

This country has become so unliveable even if you were close to your family, the option of being miserable and living on a shoestring here or moving abroad for a better lifestyle becomes a no brainer really.

@AuntSalli I am. I'm a research fellow in a subject that Aus and NZ universities are advertising for at least once a week. I'm on track for a professorship in 3 years, unless I royally screw something up, so plans are in place.

I wasn't being nasty. I was just wondering why the OP had posted in AIBU because it's a personal decision to leave and unless someone knows her no one will care either way.

This!
On another thread so shoot me MNsomeone said the arseholes who werent going to struggle with higher interest rates on their mortgage should stop.posting.
So we aspire to being financially stable but despise other people for the same thing

I’ve lived in 2 other countries as an adult and the quality of life was so much better, and that was before the current shit show. If it weren’t for my mum who is recently widowed and has moved to be near us, I’d be off like a shot, but I don’t feel I can leave her. I do feel massive guilt for the kids at keeping them here where there seem so little prospects for their future. DH and I both work in a highly global profession and could move with a bit of planning and timing.

I have lived in (and own property in many of them) 9 countries - the grass is always greener. There are a lot of places worse than UK.

That should be 'owned' not 'own' - don't have any property abroad now.

So go then. Do you need permission from a forum full of strangers?

Whilst I totally sympathise, I was part of the 60s migration to Australia in the 60s.(unknowingly, I was three, but my sister was 16, just got her first job and bf and really didn’t, and despite having a family there, bitterly resented it) We saw many people come over for a better life, so many didn’t settle or felt the pull of home too much. But travel was harder then, you couldn’t pop home for a few weeks.
saying that, my Dd has a Dutch bf, I’m silently encouraging her to move over there.

I secured my Irish citizenship after Brexit for travel opportunities, really. Never in a million years thought I would consider leaving the UK, but it's actually become a comfort to know that's an option available to me. I haven't given up on the UK quite yet, though - I still think we can get the Tories out.