If you wanted to move abroad would your OH?

seven-day-weekend

We moved to Spain in 2004 and lived there full-time until last year, we now intend to do half and half.

We were not going away 'from' anything, it was just an opportunity we felt we couldn't miss.

Do be aware that if you move to a country where English is not the first language that, contrary to popular belief, not everyone will speak English (I could count on one hand the number of Spaniards I know in this part of rural Spain who speak anything other than Spanish) and that of course impacts upon any job opportunities. Luckily we did not need employment.

Try looking at the expat forums on www.britishexpats.com - they can be very enlightening. Plenty of good advice there from horses' mouths. Take a look at the one entitled 'moving back to the UK' and see what discontented expat Brits have to say, about Oz in particular!

I'm not wanting to tread on your dream, but you need to make your decision with your eyes open.

Good luck and I hope you find your dream.

Kazipoo

We have been discussing emigrating for years now. At first it was Australia, but neither of us are too happy about sharing our garden with snakes and spiders!! So we changed our minds, and for the past three years we have been looking at NZ. A lot of people think they want to emigrate, but when they get there, find out that they hate it. Many Brits apparently end up in South Island, because it is more like "little Britain", although having never experienced it for myself, couldn't confirm it. Our preference is Northlands in the North Island, because we might as well try for the better weather!

Our reasons for emigrating have nothing to do with the colour of the grass lol. The hubby has a reasonably secure job, but unskilled here, I am a SAHM to 4 girls. Our plan is that within the next 7 years we will be living in NZ. That means that our oldest two should be independent of us and living their own lives, although they have both expressed the wish to emigrate, it will have to be under their own steam if we leave it that long. Our loan and finance payments will start to finish in July and we have projected that we should be able to save a fair amount over the next few years. We aim to have at least £50,000 to move with. We do not have a house to sell. We are aware that just moving will cost us upwards of £10,000, although we aim to sell up completely here, and buy new out there, because it takes so long for your stuff to turn up anyway, so since we don't mind slumming it, we will buy cheap, and upgrade as time goes on.

I will be completely retraining, despite having the appropriate skills on the job list, I have decided that the years whilst we wait would be best spent with taxing my brain, rather than sitting around and waiting. The hubby would probably continue to do what he has for many years, his skill is on the short term list, and has been for many years, because it is not unfortunately classed as a "skill" in NZ, we doubt the job will ever be moved onto the long term list, so we will probably move on a work visa, with a view to gaining permanent residency once I have secured employment.

Perhaps you should consider taking an extended holiday to the place you wish to call home, just to make sure it is right for you. We will go come what may, and we will not ping pong like many, because my dad was in the army and the hubby was too, so we are both used to moving about and making it work.

If we can knuckle down and save enough in the next three years, we will be gone sooner and I will take all my girls with me (which is the preferable option). I will strive to be the best that I can be, gain qualification and experience in my new chosen career path, in order to give me the best possible chance of employment over there.

We have a good life here, but life is glum so our reason for change is a perhaps more laidback way of life and the weather (which is marginally better than here). It will be a new adventure, one that thankfully we are all agreed on!

pelirocco

You have to remember everywhere is nice when you are on holiday . It doesnt matter where you live you will still have to work in job you will possibly hate , and still have to pay the bills , still have the everyday niggles and problems .
Tbh I dont understand why people think they will be happier living somewhere else , I think the chances are that if you are disatisfied with life you will be the same where ever you live

fawd1

I really want to move at some point. My family is originally from Spain and I have lived there for a couple of years as a child and then as an adult and for me it just doesn't compare. The reason being (again, for me), that no matter how crappy the job, everything seems better when the sun is shining. It was so lovely to live in Seville and know that after I got home for the day, I could go and sit on my roof terrace with a glass of wine (which didn't cost me a fiver), and relax in the warmth and the sunshine. And yes, I do know that it rains and it gets cold as well, but comparing three months of cold and wet weather to nine months means it still wins out in my view. I can't stuck being forcibly indoors because of bad weather so the reason I would move is so I can have the freedom of being outside as much as I want. DH keeps on agreeing but has so far only learnt to ask for a beer and an ashtray in Spanish, nmot exactly conducive to a good job over there- unless he plans to be a glass collecter of some kind in an English pub!

euronorris

pelirocco wrote: »

You have to remember everywhere is nice when you are on holiday . It doesnt matter where you live you will still have to work in job you will possibly hate , and still have to pay the bills , still have the everyday niggles and problems .
Tbh I dont understand why people think they will be happier living somewhere else , I think the chances are that if you are disatisfied with life you will be the same where ever you live

Whilst the first part of your post can be very true, I don't agree with the second part.

Living in another country is vastly different, simply because of the differences in culture.

I prefer it here as people tend to be more straight talking, ie, they say what they mean. Now, I know some people would hate that, as they view it as rude. I, however, prefer to know where I stand with people, and if I upset them, I expect them to tell me so it can be sorted and vice versa. I find that so many people in the UK will hold back sooo much of what they think or feel for fear of hurting or upsetting you.

Plus, people tend to live healthier lives here. More mobile and less sedentary, especially with the bikes. Less junk food choices available and people tend to shop for groceries day by day, rather than buying enough to feed a small army. I think this encourages you to think about what meals you will actually make, rather than just buying for the sake of it.

And, I feel there is still much more of a 'community' in place here. I'm not saying it isn't in the UK, but with crime rates the way they are, people have lost faith and trust in each other and, as a result, are less willing to help each other out as often.

So, as a result of the above changes (just a few examples for you), I am happier here. Despite how much I miss friends and family.

But, everyone is different. What I consider pluses, others would consider minuses.

TTC

Hi! I've been a member since 2007, but this is not my usual username, as I don't want everyone knowing everything about me:p

I got married last year, but my husband's work gave him a choice of working in Singapore for few years. Having never lived abroad, OH really wanted to go, but for me, I couldn't as I have a really good job I liked, and the timing was not good:(

But we decided to live separately for few years, and he's happily living in Singapore, while I go on extended visits there, doing work via PC:)

We are both happy, I wouldn't want to crush his dream of living abroad, you only get one chance to live, and if he wants to, and he can, he should go for it:cool:

I could re-locate too, having looked at jobs there, seems it is not too difficult to get a job as an English teacher, one only needs a degree (I have one). His pay is very good too.

Only difficulty in our case is ... I want a baby:undecided

princessl84

Edinburgh isn't into real rain - Thats not the Edinburgh i live in.

I have lived in Turkey ( 3 years) and LA (1.5 years) and i am itching to live abroad again. Its so much better than a holiday i love getting make mixed up with all the locals and living there life. Grr get me out of here

puffinmuffin

Yep, OH and i are seriously considering having a few years abroad. It's not driven by hatred of living here, just by wanting to be somewhere different. I was raised in an RAF family so have no real roots anywhere. He is looking at jobs as he is quite specialised so would get a sponsored visa. My profession is skilled but a lot of people do it so it would probably be easier for me to get a job if i already have the right to work as his partner. The job he has recently applied for is in Switzerland so that would make everything easy! I am fortunate as i work in research science and a lot of labs are english speaking (of course i would learn but could get work without a language)

Person_one

OH and I love the idea of living in Scandinavia, it seems to fit our political/social ideals more and is always top of the list in terms of happiness and quality of life.

Language would be an issue though and both of us would worry about sacrificing closeness to family. Its only a short flight but its still a lot harder to get home than driving down the motorway for a bit which you can do at very short notice if needs be.

euronorris

Person_one wrote: »

OH and I love the idea of living in Scandinavia, it seems to fit our political/social ideals more and is always top of the list in terms of happiness and quality of life.

Language would be an issue though and both of us would worry about sacrificing closeness to family. Its only a short flight but its still a lot harder to get home than driving down the motorway for a bit which you can do at very short notice if needs be.

You'd be surprised how quickly you pick up a language when you are living in the country!

But, for a lot of jobs, you would need the language first. Depends on what type of job and firm you would work for.