Bye Bye Britain (hopefully soon)

2

Comments

  • sandyballs
    sandyballs Posts: 577
    mr_eddy wrote:
    I should not have to protect my bike from poor roads that I am paying to be maintained.

    I stayed in Malta 3 years ago. I hope you are not planning on riding there cos the majority of the roads were potholes. But found the old yellow buses absolutely fantastic, but mostly dangerous.
  • lesfirth
    lesfirth Posts: 1,382
    I can guarantee that all your new mates will expats and after fives, may be ten, minutes in there company your conversation will be about how sh1t the UK is. Good luck.
  • rolf_f
    rolf_f Posts: 16,015
    Sandyballs wrote:
    mr_eddy wrote:
    I should not have to protect my bike from poor roads that I am paying to be maintained.

    I stayed in Malta 3 years ago. I hope you are not planning on riding there cos the majority of the roads were potholes. But found the old yellow buses absolutely fantastic, but mostly dangerous.

    Wouldn't worry too much about the potholes - there must be so few miles of roads on Malta that you'd know the exact location and size of every one inside the first month of being there!
    Faster than a tent.......
  • Moonbiker
    Moonbiker Posts: 1,706
    I think i'd most like move to a scandi county or maybe the low countries.
  • BelgianBeerGeek
    BelgianBeerGeek Posts: 5,226
    I have been thinking about this a lot. My local council, like most of the councils in Britain are hell-bent on building over every square inch of Southern Britain. If you live in the bit of England below the M62, you will grow old in a massive housing estate. Options are to move north (Mrs BBGeek not keen), or abroad.
    If the mooks you see on these property programmes can do it, so can I!
    Ecrasez l’infame
  • team47b
    team47b Posts: 6,425
    Cygnus wrote:
    jordan_217 wrote:
    bompington wrote:
    In my experience, people who move abroad because they think the UK is failing to give them what they deserve tend to stay grumpy - because the real cause of their grumpiness moves with them...

    That's a good point. Get divorced before you go :lol:
    And ditch the children :lol:

    Check.

    Check.

    Wahey! It worked, I'm not grumpy now :D
    my isetta is a 300cc bike
  • FatTed
    FatTed Posts: 1,205
    bompington wrote:
    In my experience, people who move abroad because they think the UK is failing to give them what they deserve tend to stay grumpy - because the real cause of their grumpiness moves with them...

    A lot of truth in this, move abroad because you want to live in Malta not because you don't want to live in the UK. I made a successful move to NZ, but it took 5 years to be successful.
  • Garry H
    Garry H Posts: 6,639
    Sandyballs wrote:
    mr_eddy wrote:
    I should not have to protect my bike from poor roads that I am paying to be maintained.

    I stayed in Malta 3 years ago. I hope you are not planning on riding there cos the majority of the roads were potholes. But found the old yellow buses absolutely fantastic, but mostly dangerous.
    The buses are iconic.But try sitting in a full on in temperatures over 40 degrees,whilst it trundles along on roads that are worse than the ones over here. If i were to move abroad,i wouldn't choose Malta. Most of it looks like a piece of wasteground.
  • bernithebiker
    bernithebiker Posts: 4,148
    Garry H wrote:
    Sandyballs wrote:
    mr_eddy wrote:
    I should not have to protect my bike from poor roads that I am paying to be maintained.

    I stayed in Malta 3 years ago. I hope you are not planning on riding there cos the majority of the roads were potholes. But found the old yellow buses absolutely fantastic, but mostly dangerous.
    The buses are iconic.But try sitting in a full on in temperatures over 40 degrees,whilst it trundles along on roads that are worse than the ones over here. If i were to move abroad,i wouldn't choose Malta. Most of it looks like a piece of wasteground.

    Yep, if you want an island, Malta wouldn't be high on my list. Interesting fact though; I used to work in oil and used Malta as a storage base - there is a massive underground oil facility on Malta built by the British for the Cold War. You drive into it in a Land Rover, and it just keeps going down. Like something out of James Bond.

    Majorca, Canaries, Sardinia, Corsica, all nicer IMO.

    Or how about Barcelona? Fantastic place. Biarritz? Very nice, as is San Sebastien just over the border.

    Brittany's pretty good too, but I can't guarantee the weather!
  • dodgy
    dodgy Posts: 2,890
    Yes, Malta does seem like an odd choice. I've been there 3 times on holiday as a kid. It'll be lovely when it's finished, mind.
  • bikes`n`guns
    bikes`n`guns Posts: 959
    Move to Scotland mate.

    The language is easier to master, and you`ll soon stop moaning.
    Trek,,,, too cool for school ,, apparently
  • Frank Wilson
    Frank Wilson Posts: 930
    We purchased a place abroad about 10 years ago (Portugal) with a view to moving there when life allows us to retire. However the nearer that date comes the less inclined I am to want to live there and like quite a few people have said previously, do some serious homework and don't think the grass will be greener.

    Fortunately we owe no money on the property and it is an ideal holiday place, but could I live there, I don't think so.
  • sarm34
    sarm34 Posts: 182
    chavs and kids of chavs need to be shot asap, then and only then will this country be able to start getting back on its feet again without scumbags like them around ... harsh but true
  • mr_goo
    mr_goo Posts: 3,770
    Malta! I trust that you have visited the island?
    Went there for New Year many years ago and can truly say it is the worst place I have ever had the misfortune to visit. And if anyone thinks that the Maltese are welcoming to British think again. I got the feeling that there was an atmosphere of antipathy or resentment towards Brits.
    Only plus point was getting around on the old buses.
    When I arrived back at Gatwick I kissed the floor of the arrivals hall. (My in laws have a photo of this somewhere).
    A truly awful island especially in Winter. Think carefully.
    Always be yourself, unless you can be Aaron Rodgers....Then always be Aaron Rodgers.
  • mr_goo
    mr_goo Posts: 3,770
    Chavs. Let's call them by their correct title. THE UNDERCLASS.
    Always be yourself, unless you can be Aaron Rodgers....Then always be Aaron Rodgers.
  • rodgers73
    rodgers73 Posts: 2,626
    Went to Malta recently - they've got rid of the old buses. Modern air-conned ones now.
  • sloppyschleckonds
    sloppyschleckonds Posts: 8,019
    Mr Goo wrote:
    Chavs. Let's call them by their correct title. THE UNDERCLASS.

    Or people that earn less than £40,000
    I'm sorry you don't believe in miracles
  • paultheparaglider
    paultheparaglider Posts: 123
    FatTed wrote:
    A lot of truth in this, move abroad because you want to live in Malta not because you don't want to live in the UK. I made a successful move to NZ, but it took 5 years to be successful.

    I agree 100%. There is no one perfect place, and everywhere has drawbacks that offset the plus points. And 5 years is often cited because that is how long it takes most people to really settle in a new country.

    That said, life is a journey, and part of that journey spent overseas is well worth the effort in my opinion. I spent 14 years in the Far East, and although I can't say I loved every minute of it, I'm really glad I did it.

    And, Fat Ted, although I eventually retired to the UK, I very nearly retired to NZ. Beautiful country. I used to visit there regularly.
  • team47b
    team47b Posts: 6,425
    I have lived outside of the UK for 8 years, and I am struggling to think of anything that is really any different, they have dodgy politicians here, I'm sure the big towns have their share of os chavs, unemployment, 'relative' poverty, alright I admit we could do with more rain at times :D

    I think that you adapt to your environment or if you can't adapt you move back to one that you are familiar with.

    Serious question...So as some people on BR feel that living in Britain is best, what is it that I I am missing out on?
    my isetta is a 300cc bike
  • 4kicks
    4kicks Posts: 549
    Agree with most of whats been written above apart from the "move to Scotland" idea. God forbid.
    So Ive lived abroad a lot, lets see, 2 yrs France, 5 in Belgium, 2 in Germany, plus Yemen, Oman, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, and I think to move you have to be pretty clear why you are moving and what you hope to achieve, central to this is what you want to do.

    I love my live here in Mallorca and wouldn't dream of moving back but I do find the island gets a little small, especially on a wet weekend in the winter where there is nowhere to take the kids apart from to the Aquarium for the 10millionth time. Also the international schools here are at best average and god forbid my kids learn Catalan as their main education language...Malta, unless you are into the internet "gaming" industry, seems to me even smaller and insular. Why did you choose there?

    I have to say the whole mentality of "my lifes pretty shitty being a, lets say, taxi driver in the UK so Ive decided to move to Spain and make my fortune running a bar with our 5grands life savings" is very nineties.
    Fitter....healthier....more productive.....
  • me-109
    me-109 Posts: 1,915
    paultheparaglider wrote:
    I very nearly retired to NZ. Beautiful country. I used to visit there regularly.
    And then those bloody Orcs and wizards moved in! Never mind middle income, it's all Middle Earth. :lol:
  • BelgianBeerGeek
    BelgianBeerGeek Posts: 5,226
    Me-109 wrote:
    paultheparaglider wrote:
    I very nearly retired to NZ. Beautiful country. I used to visit there regularly.
    And then those bloody Orcs and wizards moved in! Never mind middle income, it's all Middle Earth. :lol:
    Move to Hampshire, then. Plenty of people here with hairy feet, quaint accents and ale quaffing galore.

    Shame about Portsmouth and Southampton, but you can't have everything.

    Yours, living the dream.
    Ecrasez l’infame
  • ddraver
    ddraver Posts: 26,697
    Not enough people from the UK go and experience living abroad - do it! But (and I don't mean this to sound as harsh as it might) but don't expect your problems to disappear because you live in a new places. Obviously yours are a lot more quantitative than most so some of them will be better (income/costs etc), but more qualitative things will be the same (eg if you re a miserable bastard that eats too many mars bars and is scared of clowns* in the UK, you will be in Malta too)

    *deliberately ridiculous by design
    We're in danger of confusing passion with incompetence
    - @ddraver
  • mr_goo
    mr_goo Posts: 3,770
    BelgianBeerGeek wrote:
    Me-109 wrote:
    paultheparaglider wrote:
    I very nearly retired to NZ. Beautiful country. I used to visit there regularly.
    And then those bloody Orcs and wizards moved in! Never mind middle income, it's all Middle Earth. :lol:
    Move to Hampshire, then. Plenty of people here with hairy feet, quaint accents and ale quaffing galore.

    Shame about Portsmouth and Southampton, but you can't have everything.

    Yours, living the dream.

    The glaring omission being Basingstoke.

    Yours also living the dream in New Forest. But would prefer to live on Isle of Purbeck.
    Always be yourself, unless you can be Aaron Rodgers....Then always be Aaron Rodgers.
  • Mikey23
    Mikey23 Posts: 5,306
    Bye then ...
  • sloppyschleckonds
    sloppyschleckonds Posts: 8,019
    Mikey23 wrote:
    Bye then ...

    Would it actually be an improvement to the quality of life in the UK if more people left?
    I'm sorry you don't believe in miracles
  • clickrumble
    clickrumble Posts: 304
    I moved to USA with my family about 15 years ago. When I first got there I thought it was great, money troubles sorted out, sunshine, places to visit....but then the attraction started to pall. I found; that you can drive for miles at the weekend to visit somewhere that was remarkably similar to the place that we just left, that the cost of living differential wasn't that much,that the climate meant it was either freezing cold in the winter or hot and mostly humid in the summer, that there was no such thing as winding country lane to cycle along, or a pub with rickety chairs in an overgrown garden where you could sit and listen to birds singing in the summer. I and my family enjoyed the experience of being there, but after 4 years we were glad to be back, chavs and all notwithstanding. So, to the OP I'd say go, but don't burn your bridges!
  • mamba80
    mamba80 Posts: 5,032
    Rolf F wrote:
    1. Weather - Weather is great. It rains enough to make the country beautiful and green but not enough to make for endless days stuck indoors. It's rarely too hot, rarely too cold. It could be a bit sunnier but I'm pretty happy with it as it is. Wouldn't swap for a Med climate anyway.

    2. Cost of Living - don't find it very expensive really. Plenty of places to get lunch and for far less than a fiver.

    3. Scum Bags /Chavs - even in Leeds I rarely have any bother with them. In the countryside I've never had any Chav related bother (except at Stainforth falls where they congregate in Summer for some reason but at least they seem to go nowhere else so can be avoided). I did have some slightly chavvy near neighbours but they are gone now - they moved to Malta :lol:

    4. Poor infrastructure - yeah, train travel is silly expensive but really, if all I can complain about is that it takes 2 hrs 20 mins to get to London from Leeds whereas it usually only takes two hours from York then I must be pretty lucky.
    As for driving long distance- I just don't bother much and when I do, I make sure I do it when the roads are quiet.

    5. Stupid people / Red Tape - We don't have a monopoly on the stupid gene. I suspect you'll find many other European countried far worse for getting things sorted than here. I wouldn't swap our beaurocracy for that of France, Spain or Italy from what I understand of them.

    I do hope you are happy in Malta - but I suspect you won't be. Not in the long run. You'll just get as unhappy about it as you are unhappy about UK - just for different reasons. Being content with where you are is really not about where you are but about yourself.

    ^this is sooooo true - ime the people who have the best chance of making a move abroad work, are those that marry a local :D I went to SA and it was great but I miss our seasons, muddy mtb rides, quiet road rides in the early morning and now, without a job, I ll have plenty of time to do both, I suspect :)
  • Mikey23
    Mikey23 Posts: 5,306
    quite happy where i am thank you very much. aint perfect but i suspect that no place on this earth is. i suspect that i shall die here
  • cornerblock
    cornerblock Posts: 3,228
    Mikey23 wrote:
    quite happy where i am thank you very much. aint perfect but i suspect that no place on this earth is. i suspect that i shall die here

    No way Mikey, not here. Bottom Bracket is where you'll croak it. Some disgusting image or word will probably do for you. :wink:

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