British expats
By la_chique
@la_chique (1498)
March 6, 2011 10:51am CST
Are there any British expats on here? Just wanted your opinion of the country you moved to? We're considering leaving the UK. Both me and my partner are trained to degree level, have over 5 years experience in IT, under 30 and are in good health. Could teach English as a foreign language. We want to move somewhere that has quite a laid back atmosphere, and that's safe and wholesome for children. We'd like the country to have good family values and to be morally sound. Prefer the warmer climates. Not keen on humdrum, busy and densely populated places. Would like a sizable house thats pretty isolated if possible, or at least detached.
I know we probably wont get everything we want, but want to tick as many boxes as possible. Already got a list of maybes going - Caribbean, Seychelles, Mauritius, Montenegro, Australia/New Zealand.
Even if you've been on holiday for a few weeks to somewhere. Would love any advice, especially from those who can make a direct comparison to Britain (and I think you may understand the reasons we want to get out, I was assaulted on my way home from work a year ago by a 12 year old!)
1 person likes this
4 responses
@jazzsue58 (2666)
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6 Mar 11
I'm not an ex-pat, but two places struck me as where I might live - Paris and the Canary Islands. Paris was just a romantic whim, but the Canaries have a big ex-pat population and it's not just based around the holiday trade now either.
The Caribbean looks good too - I believe Barbados has a big Brit enclave.
Don't blame you for leaving this dump - there's nothing for the indigenous population here now. Leave it a few more years and Britain will be as corrupt as Somalia. I'm too old, but my kids are finishing their education and shipping out to the States and Oz.
@la_chique (1498)
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7 Mar 11
ambiepam, yes we feel that the UK is extremely unsafe. We have a government that works too hard to bend over backwards for foreigners who come into the country, and whilst I have no issue with people coming into the country to work, I believe that if you go to another country, you should try to fit in and embrace their country, rather than expecting the country to adapt to your way of life. I've been turned away from jobs before just because I did not fit their criteria for ethnicity, because here companies are expected to have a certain percentage of each nationality working for them to avoid being labelled as racist etc, but then its apparently ok to be racist towards british people! I've had enough of being told what to think - everyone has a vote, but if you're a little right wing, as myself and my partner are, you are shunned from society as everyone is mostly overly liberal. So many people on welfare because it pays so well, so if you want to be lazy and sponge off the state, its very easy to do. I've worked in a school before where about 20% of the older kids said that when they leave school they want to be on the dole. And this just scratches the surface of why I am not at all proud to be living here. (and all the reasons astonysh says too!)
@la_chique (1498)
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6 Mar 11
Yeah its a shame the US is so hard to get into, i dont think we'd stand a chance. We're not keen on France tbh but would love the carribean. Mauritius looks to have alot of IT jobs and its a beautiful country.
@maximax8 (31046)
• United Kingdom
6 Mar 11
I was born in England and still live here. In my twenties I did plan to emigrate to Australia but it didn't happen. I have traveled to more than fifty different countries in the world. Belize is an English speaking country in Central America. It has a tropical climate. I have met happy American ex-pats there. I don't think the Seychelles wants migrants and a work visa there would be hard to get. I have been there and it is like paradise. Australia has a higher standard of living, a warmer climate, friendly people, has space and a beautiful landscape. I have lived and worked there and loved it so very much indeed. I liked New Zealand but the weather wouldn't be all that much better. I fell in love with Northland and would be happy living there.
@la_chique (1498)
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6 Mar 11
Thanks for the advice. We had heard good things about Belize, but apparently its quite hard on visas to get in. The Seychelles currently allow work permits if you can secure a job offer over there. We'd want to go to Northland if we went to NZ. Australia does seem to have quite a long backlog of applications at the moment (2yrs). Thanks again :)
@maximax8 (31046)
• United Kingdom
6 Mar 11
My son's urology nurse got a 4 year work visa for Australia. Applying for permanent residency takes about 2 years so that is a long wait. It would be lovely if you could get a job offer in the Seychelles. Victoria, the capital city, there is tiny. I spent three weeks up in Northland and adored it. It is a pity that it is challenging to get a work visa for Belize. There is a website called Escape From America and I think that you might like it.
@AmbiePam (94142)
• United States
6 Mar 11
I don't think Australia and New Zealand will fit the bill. I wasn't there long, but when I was there and read their papers, they seemed to have just as many problems (crime, ect.) as the next large country. Beautiful places to be. I'm not saying they were crime filled, no. I'm saying you'd probably find them the same as any other country that size. I think you are on the right track with the islands. It's a shame that anyone gets killed, but I am always amazed when I hear about an island or some small place where they had a murder - and it was like their first in 30 years. One murder in 30 years? Sign me up!
Good luck with whatever you do. If you leave it is definitely the U.K.'s loss.
@webearn99 (1742)
• India
7 Mar 11
Dear la_chique, I am not a brit expat, but responding anyway! There are two things I want to tell you.
1.There will be assaults anywhere in the world. You only need to have the bad luck to be in the wrong place at the right time. So drop your immigration plans if this is the only reason. Home is home and nothing ever can replace it.
2.Considering you skill sets, US is a good destination for IT professionals and offers good remuneration for hi end IT jobs. For English teaching career, Eastern Europe offers very lucrative opportunities as does far east. These are the places where you can find your destiny. Now for "Would like a sizable house that's pretty isolated if possible, or at least detached." I associate this with a farming career. Professional such as IT are in cities, so it is safe to rule that possibility out.
Please weigh your options and choose very carefully.
