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?!

I'm okay thanks.

If I moved I'd have to take DH and kids with me anyway - same bullshit just more sunshine.

Oman!

Lol I think I'll stick with the "bloody dire" democracy, no Sharia Law and equality for women thanks, amongst other advantages.

Still, if you're coining it and Wealth = Happiness in your life then fill your boots.

😂

Have lived in Aus, Germany & Cyprus.
Friends DH was killed in UAE by car bomb, some yrs ago, but I’d never 100% emigrate.
Better the devil you know.

Yes you’ve sold your soul.
Can you be gay? Can people vote? Who are doing the more menial jobs?

Google the Kafala System - I dare you. Also look into domestic violence.

Not that you’ll care obviously.

Leaving aside the downsides of Oman, I don't believe they grant citizenship, do they? Correct me if I am wrong.
So you are an immigrant at the mercy of a work visa?

You don't worry about living so close to a likely ear zone?

How lovely of you to tell us all about how dire the UK is. Wait till something goes wrong. You’ll soon be expecting the UK government to bail you out and demanding special treatment as a British citizen 🙄

**war not ear

Yeah, no thanks.

Yes we are on a work visa. I don’t think we will be here forever at all but we will definitely move somewhere else rather than back home to the UK.

im not saying Oman is perfect or that I hate the UK. But I think we put up with a poor quality of life considering how hard we were working and how much education we had done and how much we were earning on paper and we just got fed up. Being somewhere without the negative press, the risk of violence or sexual assault, that’s clean etc makes such a difference. I’ve been spat out, sworn at and treated like crap at work so it feels so nice comparatively!

Hahahahah Oman!

glad the clean streets make up for the atrocious human rights, particularly women’s rights.

i wonder on whose broken backs your lovely lifestyle is built?

best keep your nose clean eh? and definitely hope you don’t ever need to exercise your democratic rights to vote against something which damages you personally. I say ‘personally’ because that’s the only thing that people like you actually care about, clearly. Fuck moral values, fuck everyone else. As long as I’m alright I’ll look the other way as hard as I can.

oh and best of luck with your marriage! If he shags around just keep schtum, as you’ll likely lose your kids if he divorces you.

I live in Europe and I see a point but have voted YABU as comparing the ME to the UK is comparing apples and oranges. Additionally you will never belong to or in Oman. You don’t feel it now, but I promise you that you will. I promise. Honeymoon period or not you will eventually see the other side and I say that as someone who has spent lots of time in the ME. Enjoy but please realise that if you had been wealthy in the UK you’d not be saying half the things you’re saying. You are just privileged where you are. If you weren’t, your life would be hellish.

Rather stick pins in my eyes than live in Oman.

This attitude and bitterness is what we left behind. Everyone here has been so welcoming, it feels a positive environment for kids with hope for the future. In the UK everyone was desperate to drag you down if you want better

This attitude and bitterness is what we left behind. Everyone here has been so welcoming, it feels a positive environment for kids with hope for the future. In the UK everyone was desperate to drag you down if you want better

Did you work in the NHS or similar, OP?
°As someone who has moved around a lot- not in the ME- I enjoyed it but found living on a work visa precarious after a while.

Don’t blame you a bit.

The late Sultan (Qaboos) was gay. When I went, women worked in offices, unveiled, no abayas and I saw one niqab in several visits. Housing was not segregated, and in general the country was fairly liberal and tolerant.

Op save this thread somewhere. In five years rime you will cringe. It’s ok to move to somewhere new and be happy, but you are very much still in the honeymoon period. The longing for home comforts does come. The Uk isn’t perfect but neither is it dire and bitter.

Oman!!! I'd rather live in a hovel in the UK than in the middle east. I genuinely don't see the attraction unless you really love desert landscapes, shopping and being a second class citizen as a woman.

Oh dear.

I have friends who live there and want to come back. Yes they’ll have to give up their live in maid but will gain a lot more. I’d never move there!

It is. It’s also incredibly at risk from climate change. Like all the Gulf states, already one of the most water-stressed countries in the world, with dwindling groundwater, and incredibly over-reliant on energy-intense desalination plants for everything that comes out of the taps. It makes it very vulnerable.

This is how it feels tbh. Women are treated incredibly well

Given OP's name I wouldn't trust their judgment on any other matter 😂