Quitting the UK

Fretwired

I worked in Denmark for a few years and love Copenhagen - safe city, low crime, they only work a 35 hour week and have long holidays and a good health and education system. Don't go there if you like performance cars as the tax on new cars is very high and income tax is high but public services are very good. You don't really need a car - excellent cycle lanes and tram/bus system.

My wife and I have thought about leaving - we'd probably go to Boston. Worked there for a while and love the city.

octatonic

Working in Japan would be pretty gruelling.
Don't they only get one week a year off + long, long hours?

richardhomer

I'm planning to escape to the country once my son's finished his schooling. I fancy fresh air, less traffic and less aggressive people....

Brize

richardhomer said:

I'm planning to escape to the country one my son's finished his schooling. I fancy fresh air, less traffic and less aggressive people....

Reminds me of the guy who moved to the Falklands to farm sheep in 1981.

octatonic

richardhomer said:

I'm planning to escape to the country one my son's finished his schooling. I fancy fresh air, less traffic and less aggressive people....

Any idea of where?
We are pretty happy to have done it.

TTony

Fretwired said:

I worked in Denmark for a few years and love Copenhagen - safe city, low crime, they only work a 35 hour week and have long holidays and a good health and education system. Don't go there if you like performance cars as the tax on new cars is very high and income tax is high but public services are very good.

But that's the trade-off the "we" (ie the UK) opted against.  We (apparently) want low taxes, so we have the freedom to chose on what we spend our money, rather than have a government-knows-best decide to spend it on social goods.

I remember - Maggie told us so.

richardhomer said:

I'm planning to escape to the country one my son's finished his schooling. I fancy fresh air, less traffic and less aggressive people....

I work in the City.  I couldn't live there.  The further you go into the country, the more you encounter people who

1. have made the life choice to live in the country and are therefore happier living there, and
2. realise that they live with nature and all (good & bad) that it provides, rather than trying to force the world to provide what you (think you) want and so are more relaxed and accepting.

FelineGuitars

I wanted to move to LA about 15 years ago , till I pent time there and got a fuller picture.
I liked the nightlife and music scene where it still existed
It was the crazy traffic and gun culture that were initial put-offs, and the crazy care of medicine and healthcare
I had to see a dentist there because I broke a tooth - I would have needed a mortgage just to afford a filling it seems, so I just waited till I got back to UK.

Sambostar

Non eec immigrants take more than they put in. Eu immigrants break even. This is the problem. The japs would never let it happen because they have an intrinsically racist culture, especially when it comes to employment.

AustrianJohn

thomasross20 said:

We have two Japanese engineers at work now and both will never go back. Much better life here. 

I always fancied Australia. A better bet might be a job opportunity I have where I can stay here and go to California 1-2 months of the year. I always fancied Germany/Austria.. though one guy was telling me Austrians aren't the most friendly.

We've lived in Austria for 7 years and had no trouble settling in and integrating - the Austrians are very friendly. We live in a small town in the mountains near Kitzbuhel, perhaps it's different in Vienna. Only problem here is the language, which is too complicated for my simple brain - but most people speak English if you really struggle.

The quality of healthcare here is similar to the UK, but without the waiting lists. There are three times as many doctors per head here than in the UK.

Fretwired

TTony said:

Fretwired said:

I worked in Denmark for a few years and love Copenhagen - safe city, low crime, they only work a 35 hour week and have long holidays and a good health and education system. Don't go there if you like performance cars as the tax on new cars is very high and income tax is high but public services are very good.

But that's the trade-off the "we" (ie the UK) opted against.  We (apparently) want low taxes, so we have the freedom to chose on what we spend our money, rather than have a government-knows-best decide to spend it on social goods.

I remember - Maggie told us so.

Wages are much higher in Denmark. Their education system produces highly qualified graduates. I was stunned with the quality of staff and even in the bars and restaurants everyone can speak really good English. The cost of property is lower as are rents - the standard of living is much higher in Denmark than the UK.

Sambostar

In switzerland you get 35k in a british gas type call centre with a high school qualification, here you earn less than 20 years ago, there are rental caps and 7 primeministers, the local cheese shop guy still shuts on a wednesday at 12 and doesn't wash his hands and the police stop and harass you for your papers at night if you have dark skin. We also have an antiquated infrastructure with no opportunity to change it, a lack of democracy, bent and incompetent councils and all the bus services have been cancelled.

scrumhalf

I've been fortunate to have travelled a lot but I've still not come close to finding somewhere I'd move to that wasn't:
- skin-meltingly hot in the summer
- nose-feezingly cold in winter
- run by a highly-objectionable regime

For all of its faults, the degree of freedom and opportunity here is pretty much unparalleled.

boogieman

Stevepage said:

I used to think the same when I came back from other countries. I wanted to move out to Florida for years but after seeing more of this country I think I'll stay. We have some of the most beautiful countryside in the world and our countries history is amazing.

My bro in law lives in Florida. He hates it. Unfortunately for him he's married to a Floridian who won't move so he's stuck there. The weather is decent for a couple of months of the year, otherwise it's either steaming hot, pissing down or it's hurricane season. The gun crime rates are horrible and drug problems among the kids are horrendous. The houses are cheap but they take a lot of maintenance because the humidity rots everything. Local and national taxes are fairly steep and the cost of living isn't actually that cheap (cable with sports tv package and internet costs my BiL about $200 a month) Work hours are longer than the UK and the normal workforce only get a couple of weeks annual leave and a few bank holidays. Health care is all privatised and health insurance is very expensive. Petrol is cheap and the roads are good, well till it comes to rush hour when they get gridlocked. You have to pay to use the quicker roads. 

There is Disneyland and the burgers  are decent though. 

monquixote

TTony said:

monquixote said:

Suffolk is a lovely place to be. 

"Norfolk is nicer"

Only because you can rate it 11 out of ten on your fingers

Emp_Fab

I know where I want to live.... !!!!!!  FANTASY ISLAND !!!!

TTony

monquixote said:

TTony said:

monquixote said:

Suffolk is a lovely place to be. 

"Norfolk is nicer"

Only because you can rate it 11 out of ten on your fingers

RaymondLin

I like the UK...things that I like.

I like the change of seasons, proper Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter.  And it isn't really stupid winter you get in Sweden, we get the GOOD kind, a few days of snow and everybody go "oooooh pretty" then it's gone before it overstay its welcome.

I like being so close to Europe to travel, a lot of places to go for a few days.

I like the health care, sure there are queues but at least it is "free".

I don't think it is that crowded, go to Hong Kong if you want to see crowded.  Last week I saw more people at 10:30pm on a Thursday night in a shopping mall than i did on the Saturday before Christmas on Oxford Street.

I like the freedom, as opposed to all that censorship in China.  There are EU regulations but I don't wake up and think....ah crap, those rules about pillow cases, damn the EU wanting not flammable materials!

-----

I still want to go visit Japan though, my friends lived there for 6 years, he now lives in HK, saw him last week when i was over.  He pays £2,000 a month in RENT in an apartment less than 400 sq feet.  The good thing is his tax is 15% compare to over 40% here, he only gets 15 days holiday a year but food is cheap if you know where to go.  Rent is the killer as space is a high commodity.  

Sweden is nice to visit, I've been twice (Stockholm and Malmo), people are friendly, they are very pretty, food is good but the place generally is expensive.  And I believe to actually immigrate there you need to speak fluent Swedish?

Everywhere in the world has its good and bad, and the grass is always greener on the other side.

monquixote

quarky said:

When you have a static (or even shrinking) population, it is (I would argue) easier to deal with from an infrastructure point of view, than when you are constantly having to increase capacity, just to stand still. And it doesn't have to be immigration, their birth rates have been falling (I think). Nice try at a strawman though

A shrinking population is terrible because you end up with a retired population and no one to pay for their care. That's as big a problem as immigration here but no one will deal with it because old people vote.

RaymondLin

monquixote said:

quarky said:

When you have a static (or even shrinking) population, it is (I would argue) easier to deal with from an infrastructure point of view, than when you are constantly having to increase capacity, just to stand still. And it doesn't have to be immigration, their birth rates have been falling (I think). Nice try at a strawman though

A shrinking population is terrible because you end up with a retired population and no one to pay for their care. That's as big a problem as immigration here but no one will deal with it because old people vote.

The ironic thing is that the places that voted leave has the lowest percentage of immigrants in their area (like remote areas in Wales).  Where as counties with the highest percentage of immigrants voted stay, like London.  

menamestom

monquixote said:

The world happiness rankings suggest Japan might not be a smart move.

UK is 23 and Japan is 53 so maybe it's a lot more fun to visit than live there.

Denmark Iceland Switzerland Norway come top.

Hmmm.  Not sure the 3 prosperous Non EU, European countries fit the bill, in this instance