Volkswagen Mark IV Forum banner

I keep getting the urge to emmigrate......

4K views 17 replies 10 participants last post by  Anonymous 
#1 ·
With my second child nearly here (due in december), its got me thinking that this country really doesnt have alot to offer and is going down the pan.

High crime, High tax's, High house prices, crap weather, and its always work, work,work. (+ ive got quite a bit of equity in my house to help me along with emmigrating)

Leaving family and friends wont bother me 1 iota !
(I probabley have the most antisocial family around.... some of my close family ive not seen for 5 years and non of them came to see my daughter when she was born.....infact most of them havent even seen her. Just got a card when she was born!!)

Im off to this in october @ manchester

http://www.expo-newzealand.com/

Anyone suggest any other nice places in the world to move to ?

My Other idea's include Germany, Alaska, Sweden, Norway..... but new zealand is at the top of the pile at the moment
 
See less See more
#2 ·
My wife's brother left for Philidelphia about 12 years ago, and he has a nice life now married with a couple of kids. We visited them and for all it's bad press if you're making a living in the US life ain't too bad.

The thing is where ever you emmigrate to you're going to have to work, work, work to afford a life. Every year when we come back from holiday we always think would love to live there all the time, but when you think about it unless you are very, rich or good at what you do, you ain't going to be living in a beach front villa. But working 9-5 making a living to afford to live in a normal house in the suburbs somewhere.
 
#3 ·
The grass is not always greener... and I have the urge to emmigrate also ..

Physical assault in the likes of NZ and Oz are actaully higher than the UK (Economist book of world figures)

and propotionate to income alot of these places are more expensive to live OK they may be cheap to you ... but that is based on a UK salary base it on the natinal average things look harder.

Also labour rules are also often worse. we have some of the best holidays anywhere statutury

Why not first have a look at re-locating in the UK? the last place i worked we closed the London office and we moved 20 staff to Liverpool.... and they all hated it , called us all the stereotypical names possible... now 16 of them have re-located AND moved there familys here, as its just a cool place to live.. housing is relatively cheap 200k for a good 3 bed semi, lots of good eaterys, 2 minutes from the hills of wales and forests/countryside of cheshire.. and 4 major shopping centres within 30 mins chester, trafford centre, liverpool, manchester. Also Manchester is closer to Liverpool that 10 stops on the tube in London, and most people moving here utilise Manchester as much as Liverpool...
 
#4 ·
Also I dont know what your ethnicity is,, BUT alot of other countrys have real race problems verging on what the UK was like in the 60's and 70's

OZ and NZ have all suffered recent race riots and we all know how biggoted the yanks of all races can be... and as for the Germans well my best mate who lived there for 5 years was knocked back from the biggest Gay club in Berlin.. because his guest was Indian [:O], he basically said the Germans just have an inherently racist streak still running through society that is why he left there.
 
#7 ·
I've got that urge too for the same reason, crap weather, high taxes, fuel and food prices. I love Menorca - so laid back, no traffic ( must admit that the last villa we stayed in over the summer spoilt us as it was only 100m from the sea ! )

I don't actually need to be in the office to work so that doesn't really bother me and I have £160000 equity in this house so that would be a good start.

Just gotta learn persuade the wife.....
 
#9 ·
Before you go anywhere, go to the country for a month and see what you think of it, this is an absolute must. If possible go again 6 months later so you experience the other side of the weather spectrum!

My girlfriend lives in Spain, she came to live with me here a little time ago but it was impossible for her to find teaching work, only then she was called by the authorities for potential work in Spain again... and so, she returned.

Not ideal for our relation...

...unless, I go to Spain to live with her.
 
#10 ·
#11 ·
I've done it!!

I moved to Bermuda in April 2005. I worked a multi national company that I joined as a trainee and was with them for 5 years progressing through the ranks, I decided to leave when they continually refuse dto allow me to work in the overseas office (reason being that I had specific knowledge in a number of sectors in which we had projects so they didn't want me to leave the team). I accepted this the first year but then I had a particularly bad day at work, surfed the net at lunchtime and had an interview lined up for the following week. Went to the interview and was offered the job on the spot with a start date 6 weeks later so I went home and chatted with the other half about it and accepted the job.

I had never visited Bermuda so didn't know what to expect, but I think even if you visited for a month you wouldn't get under the surface ans see what it is actually like to live here. I had an awesome time for the first few months - just messing about at the beach or pool parties, going sailing, beach volleyball but at the end of the day you are here to work. My day is 8am until 5.30 but I usually get to work at 7.15 and leave at 7pm so work long days. I also work weekends and only get 15 days holiday. My girlfriend works out here in IT and works similar hours so we don't really get to see each other very much and it gets to us. The island is very small and you do start to get 'rock fever' if you don't get off at least a couple of times in the year. A four day trip to New York at the start of august cost $2k - you could do a week from the UK for that yet BDA is only a two hour flight away.

Just recently, there has been several shootings and there is a machete attck most weekends (the guide books have Bermuda down as one of the most crime free places in the world) There are rival gangs of kids attacking each other. The government (PLP) has basically told Bermudians that they are entitled to the jobs carried out by ex pats so there are now posters up on lamposts telling expats to go home as we aren't wanted - this despite the fact that most expats work in either insurance or accountancy having studied for years at university (I work as a surveyor and project manager and there are only 6 qualified Bermudians in the same field). I have heard stories of friends being in taxis and being told that they are not welcome and should go home and then the driver ask for the fare! Ultimately, the ex pats are only here because there are no qualified locals to fill the positions.

I guess the same will be true of every place - it all looks nice when you initially visit but the longer you stay, the more you start to notice. In my job I can't help but notice how lazy the vast majority of local tradesmen are and what a crap job they do. Unfortunately the contractors need to employ a local to be able to employ a skilled expat so you get the scenario of two guys laying floor tiles. One (the expat) lays three times more than the other (local) and to a much higher standard and eventually re-lays the work by the local yet the local will not be pulled up for this. You can probably guess that this can become incredibly frustrating especially when deadlines are fast approaching.

It's not all bad though, you only need one day on the beach with a few beers and good friends and you forget all the stresses (at least for the rest of the day).

I haven't let the experience put me off and to be honest it has opened my eyes to a lot of things. I'm glad I moved here as the experience has been very worthwhile, but I know feel that it is time to move on and that is why we are looking to leave the island in August next year and it will probably be to some other country and not the UK. . I would encourage anybody to work abroad for at least a year, even if you eventually return to the UK you will see certain things in a different light. Having an overseas job on your CV will also be of benefit as it shows that you are adaptable to different scenarios and able to adjust to different markets and ways of thinking/working

Hope that hasn't sounded all doom and gloom!
 
#12 ·
My mate's 2 brothers used to work in Bermuda, they were a tad bitter sweet about it too. They are both fully trained nurses, got sick of NHS politics and figured they could do better over there for a bit. Which they did for a bit then started running into minor grief from the locals. They did love the life, cept for the humidity but for all the yachting and diving they were still there to work. Moved back now, think they work in some posh private hospital. The overseas work, as Bowdie says looks very good on a CV!

As for me, I'd move to Malta tomorrow if I could afford to, the people and their way of life I think can't be beaten. And the crime rate is probably one of the lowest in the world. Absolutely no chance of getting a job there though as they give all the jobs to the locals. TBH, I agree with that in the case of a country as small as Malta, they need to keep their own people employed! Ah, I can dream of retirement then! They're EU now, they have to have me ;)

Anyhoo, pardon my musings.. in terms of emigration. Someone above mentioned Scotland, good suggestion!

2 Similar suggestions, how about Ireland or NW France? Ireland's (southern Ireland!) been voted as being one of the best places in the world to live. Got a load of Irish at my work and they can't praise it highly enough.. ok they're biased, but it does sound nice. ;)

NW France is also really nice. You'd need to speak French of course to live there, but the locals are very very friendly and have strong ties with the SW of England. Lovely place!

Both places are close enough to the UKto return to if all went wrong and you're still in the EU so it's pretty much just a case of moving house these days
 
#13 ·
Scotland? Not sure if that is a good suggestion. I lived in Aberdeen for three years but I eventually moved away because I got fed up with the 'acceptable' racism against the English. Apparently there is some history of conflict between the English and the Scots... I guess there is, bit how many years ago??? Grow up. Get over it and stop supporting any team that play against England and maybe start supporting any British team... Maybe other cities and towns in Scotland are different, but I realy couldn't reccommend the NE. I never felt welcome there, which is a shame as the surrounding countryside is stunning and I enjoyed every minute of my walking and mountain biking there.

As for elsewhere in Europe... as said above, it really doesn't count as emmigrating. It's Europe, pretty much everything is the same wherever you are. Learn the language and adopt the culture and you will fit in. Nowhere is more than a few hours from 'home' so don't worry. Making a move to the US or to OZ is a different story. For my money, I love where I live now and have no plans to move back to the UK. Mae the move...
 
#14 ·
This country has zero going for it and will only get worse. There is net migration from the UK at the moment; skilled workers are leaving en mass and the figures only look less drastic due to the huge influx of manual and minimum wage workers moving here. Think of the number of people you know leaving or thinking of leaving - we ALL know at least one.

My suggestion... Canada. I lived there for a year while at Uni; had wanted to go to the US, never considered Canada but ended up with a place in Ottawa. It completely changed my outlook.

  • Blazing hot summer, snow in winter - proper seasons
  • Beach and sun worship half the year, then Ski-ing / Snowboarding / Snowmobiling in winter
  • Friendly as hell
  • No language barrier
  • Very low crime - you can literally leave your doors unlocked unless you live downtown
  • Easy to emmigrate - low requirements
  • Low taxes
  • Very cheap housing - 4 bed detatched in a decent Toronto suburb for £150k anyone?
  • Plenty of jobs
  • America & UK culture (the pre chav one) combined - essential USA without the arrogance, ignorance or crime
  • Beautiful
  • VW R32 for £16,000

[:)]
 
#16 ·
This country has zero going for it and will only get worse. There is net migration from the UK at the moment; skilled workers are leaving en mass and the figures only look less drastic due to the huge influx of manual and minimum wage workers moving here. Think of the number of people you know leaving or thinking of leaving - we ALL know at least one.

My suggestion... Canada. I lived there for a year while at Uni; had wanted to go to the US, never considered Canada but ended up with a place in Ottawa. It completely changed my outlook.

  • Blazing hot summer, snow in winter - proper seasons
  • Beach and sun worship half the year, then Ski-ing / Snowboarding / Snowmobiling in winter
  • Friendly as hell
  • No language barrier
  • Very low crime - you can literally leave your doors unlocked unless you live downtown
  • Easy to emmigrate - low requirements
  • Low taxes
  • Very cheap housing - 4 bed detatched in a decent Toronto suburb for £150k anyone?
  • Plenty of jobs
  • America & UK culture (the pre chav one) combined - essential USA without the arrogance, ignorance or crime
  • Beautiful
  • VW R32 for £16,000

[:)]
I thought canada was just as hard as america to emigrate to for us brits.... i e nigh on impossible??
 
#17 ·
I thought canada was just as hard as america to emigrate to for us brits.... i e nigh on impossible??
Canada isn't bad at all. Its a point system - not checked recently but it was out of 100 and you needed 58. You get points for years of employment experience, education and languages (speaking French and English is worth about 12, or 6 each). Oh and if you work in one of their labour shortage sectors you get extra points.

America is very difficult. The Yanks allow entry for four main reasons:

Business Visa: Employing a set number of Americans and investing a six figure sum in a business

Employment Skill Visa: If your employer can prove you have skills or experience no US applicant can (this is how most rmusicians, actors etc can do it - there is only one 'Hugh Grant', 'Tom Jones' or 'Robbie Williams' for example.

Marriage: If you marry a Yank

Family / Retirement: If you have dependents there and / or are retiring with loads of cash, and hence no burden on the state

(Not even 3 is tricky; I have an english friend who lived in Porta Rica with her American boyfriend for 7 years (documented proof), they got married, moved to Texas, and she can only spend 6 months a year in the US until imigration decide whether its a scam or not...The USA opeates positive discrimination, i.e. if you are from a 'less developed' country and are low skilled, you can go - they need cab drivers, dish washers, cleaners etc. But if you have the education and skills to take a job an American actually might want, then pretty much no way.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top