Moving abroad has made me realise how bloody dire the UK is

[MattHancocksPrivateNurse]

We moved abroad 4 months ago and after the normal wobbles and adjustments I am now shocked at how different (and much better!) life is. We have considerably more spending money despite paying for private school and healthcare (which are much much better than the UK). It’s safer, considerably cleaner, better public services and much better food quality.

already I can’t see us ever going back and already want to explore somewhere new eventually! But if anyone is feeling low and despondent about the uk which we really were and gets an opportunity (or has a transferable job) I would 100000% recommend looking into it.

i wish we had done it 10 years ago tbh. AIBU to never come back bar the odd visit to see family and friends?!

No it's not OK here. In fact it's illegal here! Hth.

You are living the privileged expat lifestyle. You are not living as an Omani. So you are definitely being unreasonable. Surely you can see that!

The women of Piddington have more to fear from their brothers and husbands than the refugees taking sanctuary nearby. No need to spread any more xenophobic fear to the ignorant masses, if the government thought these people were legitimately dangerous they wouldn't let them in the country.

Good for you. I’d hate it- I want to live somewhere lush, green and coastal. I’ll stay here thanks.

Oman?? No thanks

Yet it's the reality 🤷‍♀️

Christ almighty you're so bloody rude and know it all.

Not to be a Debbie Downer, but 4 months is nothing. I've never been to Oman but I have lived abroad for 30 odd years and it was at the 2 year mark that acute homesickness started to set in, not to mention eventual issues with aging parents etc.

you can't move me to the Middle East even with your husband's salary. The UK is still best place to be

My friend left her phone in a public loo. The person who found it expanded the home screen photo of her dog, read her phone number off the dog collar tag and rang her to tell her he had it.

I forget my bag on a regular basis. It's never been stolen.

Husband left his laptop in a case on a train on Tuesday last. It didn't get stolen.

There are a lot of good people in the UK.

Totally agree. After the 2 year mark I started to miss family and friends and just the Britishness of Britain. Amazing how you can crave the smell in the air on Bonfire Night, the pub quiz and a bacon sarnie with ketchup in a station cafe on a wet Tuesday. I longed for church bells so much that when I came home I bought the house next to the church. People said I'd be moaning about it in a month but nope, still appreciate it every single time.

Yes. 50 years in a country can help when it comes to knowing how a country works in the present and recognising someone from the old days who can’t see that time doesn’t stand still anywhere.

You couldn’t wait to leave Oman and that’s okay but again just how you thought your post would be helpful in the present day is beyond me.

Fact - I’m telling you how it is nowadays and I’m sorry if the reality isn’t something you want to be made aware of.

"There are a lot of good people in the UK"

Hahaha!! 🤣 thanks for the laugh @Imdunfer

My DH found a phone on a bench today here in Dorset. He couldn't ring the next of kin because he didn't have the number but they guy who lost it phoned him from his wife's phone.

DH drove the phone round to him straight away. Bloke gave him a tenner for a drink which DH tried repeatedly to turn down but the bloke would not have it.

Millions of stories like this every single day.

Debbie Savage isn't a genuine poster.

This is so sad. Maybe you live in a shit area? Or don't go out?

There's lots of cultural stuff to do and see in Muscat

Or perhaps s/he gets what he gives out.

Well, this is exactly the calibre of ‘I’m all right Jack’ under-thinking that characterises British people who don’t read the papers or do basic research before they move somewhere. but I think this thread is a wind- up. No one is so politically illiterate that they move to an absolute monarchy where political parties or having a public meeting are illegal, which is at significant water risk, next door to the Strait of Hormuz in 2026, and say ‘Oh, everyone’s so welcoming and we can afford a private school!’

probably not a ‘positive environment for kids’ for my Jewish children eh? Or their gay grandmother? What a cesspool of a place.

I am an immigrant so absolutely no judgement on finding a place that works for you (legally) but think I’d be hard pressed to feel happy for a friend immigrating to a country I’m not welcome to visit.

👏

I knew it was going to be the ME before you even said it. People who move their tend to always try and sing it's praises, like they're trying to prove something

You crack on OP, but I'd rather have a more expensive food shop than move somewhere where if I split up from my babies father:

'The law automatically recognizes the father as the legal guardian of the children, regardless of whether a court orders the children to live with their mother. Furthermore, if a divorced mother chooses to remarry, she automatically loses legal custody of her children'

Oh god, I was almost jealous til you said Oman.

Opened this interested to see where the new place was, saw it was ME, didn’t read any further. No thanks.

All my friends who lived there while working for Shell, said it was a bit like a never ending Club Med holiday. The lovely villas, sailing at weekends, never ending parties and coffees in the Shell village. But then it got extremely dull. The same people. The same gossip. Nothing of real worth. Just a very easy life. Sounds great, but after a while something is missing.