When did you wake up and realize it's crap here?

[stevewool]

You turn the tv on and there is bad news , open the papers and its bad news, talk to your mates (IF YOU HAVE ANY) bad news again,
So when did all this bad news start,
When i was younger the news did not bother me , i was working had a young family and everything seemed fine, yes every week we ran out of cash before pay day but life it seemed was good,
Still a little older life is still fine the world has moved on and the kids are doing fine too,
You can remember your dad and uncles complaining or moaning about the world outside your shell but thats for old people you think,
Right up to date and now i am my dad and i am moaning, what has happened to good old England when did it all change, seems like overnight to me,
Is there a switch that turns on when you reach a age telling you what a crap place where you are living or is it all in our minds,
Can everyone be wrong about how bad it is, or am i looking at things all wrong

[Tawi2]

UK is a great place to live,i was at heathrow this morning,the place was awash with foreigners coming IN,all the illegals at calais are crossing europe to get in,its not as bad as you make out,read pinoy papers and watch the TV over there,its not all sunshine and roses count your positives

[stevewool]

count your positives

I think thats my problem, too many positives in my life

[Michael Parnham]

Yes UK is still the best place on the planet, nothing wrong with it at all, it's just some of the people spoil things for decent people!

[stevewool]

Maybe the best place for a few, but not for all.

[Tawi2]

More than a billion people around the world live on less than a dollar a day,true genuine poverty yet we won the lottery being born here,you have health,wealth,a pretty wife,roof over your head,food in your sromach,howl at the moon with gratitude could be worse,you could have been born in Chad or Haiti or somesuch unfortunate place

[stevewool]

So true i should be blessed, but its hard work that keeps me here, yes i could get all you say if i sat on my backside too, but i have never done that, so maybe thats why i think the way i do

[Ako Si Jamie]

Yes UK is still the best place on the planet, nothing wrong with it at all, it's just some of the people spoil things for decent people!

Agree with the last sentence although to really guage if the UK is the best place to live, I suppose you'd have to live in several countries before making a judgement.

[London_Manila]

The UK is not perfect by any means but I feel its better living here than in the Philippines

[Ako Si Jamie]

I dread to think what the UK will be like in 20 years time.

[stevewool]

The UK is not perfect by any means but I feel its better living here than in the Philippines

yes maybe you are right as i have never lived in the Philippines, and for what you get here too, even the working wage is great here if you have a good job

[stevewool]

I dread to think what the UK will be like in 20 years time.

Wont be long to find that out, time does fly when you get older it seems

[Tawi2]

I dread to think what the UK will be like in 20 years time.

Or pinas with its massive population explosion

[Terpe]

It's probably true that most folks have days when they wake up feeling crap and wonder if their lives could be different.
Especially if those same people are thinking that the UK is somehow ‘not working’ for them.

It could conceivably be the case that some folks have more of those days than I do living here in Davao City in my beautiful house in clean quiet surroundings living like a king on my perfect diet!

It doesn't mean that a decision to move is either easy or in fact the right one anyone as an individual.

It's my opinion that just having a few days of not liking life in the UK and a desire to be somewhere else isn't a good enough reason to retire abroad. Nor is considering retirement overseas solely based on financial reasons.

For me, I didn't wake up think the UK is crap and decide to leave. Personally I don't think the UK is anywhere near being the "broken Britain" many of the media would have you believe.

It's an individual choice.
Retiring abroad will never be right for some individuals.

For me it was always going to happen. I remember from a very early age my larger family gatherings and the inevitable Sunday afternoon discussion on where to live. My dad always wanted to go live in Italy. As time moved on it became a retirement dream.
My mother wanted to live in France. She spent years learning the language, until she was fluent, in the hope that dad would come around to her way of thinking. He never did.
My grandfather was Spanish and hankered for spending time back home in his twilight years. My Grandmother was Irish and only had desires for the old country.
My many uncles and aunties also had there own dreams. My grandfathers brother left for Canada and lived out his entire life in one adventure after another. He lost contact with the family and passed away in a care home alone and unmarried.

As for me I spent 35 years living in other countries and somehow never quite reconnected with the UK as "home"

I had visions of marrying of Japanese lady and spending a simple life somewhere in the mountain areas.
As it happened I met and married a wonderful lady from Mindanao and am here in Davao City living a simple life.

Since my parents passed away I was left alone with no family ties at all in UK.
Virtually all my childhood pals had either moved overseas or, sadly, had passed away.
My younger brother had lived for many years in the Siera Nevada mountains of Spain until his untimely death. He died alone with no family.

The only family I have is here in the Philippines. Despite my family circle getting smaller due to selection.

Do I imagine I'll ever return to the UK?
Well if I'm honest, possibly.
If I had a very serious life threatening illness that could not only be treated but where only the continued long term maintenance treatment would allow me to continue for a good few years and with an reasonable quality of life, then I could see me taking the opportunity to return.
Let's hope that I will never need to make that call.

Those lucky ones of us will face a few creeks and a few aches and pains
Others will face something more debilitating.

Before finalising on any decision ask yourself just what is it about your life that you don't like?
Give honest answers as to why you want to move abroad. Are you running away from someone or something or perhaps over-reacting to circumstances.
How about family ties? Grandchildren for example.
How about those true friends you'll leave behind? Such friendships are rare and hard to find.
Think about health, think about wealth. Retirement life can last a very long time these days.

For most folks the UK is what you know and love the best.
For me it never was.

[grahamw48]

Good post Peter.

[Michael Parnham]

Yes Peter brilliant post, a lot of thought went into what you've said, also your circumstances are very different to most members of the Forum, thank you!

[Trefor]

You turn the tv on and there is bad news , open the papers and its bad news, talk to your mates (IF YOU HAVE ANY) bad news again,
So when did all this bad news start,
When i was younger the news did not bother me , i was working had a young family and everything seemed fine, yes every week we ran out of cash before pay day but life it seemed was good,
Still a little older life is still fine the world has moved on and the kids are doing fine too,
You can remember your dad and uncles complaining or moaning about the world outside your shell but thats for old people you think,
Right up to date and now i am my dad and i am moaning, what has happened to good old England when did it all change, seems like overnight to me,
Is there a switch that turns on when you reach a age telling you what a crap place where you are living or is it all in our minds,
Can everyone be wrong about how bad it is, or am i looking at things all wrong

I'm afraid that is called 'getting old'. Stop watching the news, they thrive on bad news stories. Everywhere has some advantages, but you either average out the pros and cons or accept a few restrictions and settle for wherever.

I've lived in a few places and visited many. I've spent plenty of time in places many people covet such as the US. The UK is a bl00dy awesome place. Yes it rains a bit and winters are not great, but at least we don't get Typhoons. The electricity works, I can drink the tap water, my poos get flushed away, the rivers are clean, I have complete freedom to express myself religiously or sexually (within reason).

Things haven't changed that much, over the past 20 years maybe a bit more mix of foreigners. However that is not all bad. Some say youngsters have it worse, but I'm not so sure. When I left University in 1991 it took me 8 months to find a 'proper' job and I worked in 3 bars and a petrol station to earn some money. I also worked in various pubs and working mens clubs every holiday, and did other summer jobs. Not really that different to today.

[Terpe]

Good post Peter.

Thanks Graham and thanks for the rep. Much appreciated.

[Terpe]

Yes Peter brilliant post, a lot of thought went into what you've said, also your circumstances are very different to most members of the Forum, thank you!

Thanks Michael, yes you're right my circumstances are/were quite a bit different.

[fred]

Yes it rains a bit and winters are not great, but at least we don't get Typhoons.

One of the worst storms I ever experienced was in Muswell hill...North London!! Call it what you want..For me it was a proper typhoon~!

[stevewool]

Some big storms happen on this forum too

[Michael Parnham]

You know, when I was young a few days went by before you received news reports of events in far away places, in fact we received visual news reports a week after they happened in the Cinema on 'Movietone News'

[stevewool]

It's probably true that most folks have days when they wake up feeling crap and wonder if their lives could be different.
Especially if those same people are thinking that the UK is somehow ‘not working’ for them.

It could conceivably be the case that some folks have more of those days than I do living here in Davao City in my beautiful house in clean quiet surroundings living like a king on my perfect diet!

It doesn't mean that a decision to move is either easy or in fact the right one anyone as an individual.

It's my opinion that just having a few days of not liking life in the UK and a desire to be somewhere else isn't a good enough reason to retire abroad. Nor is considering retirement overseas solely based on financial reasons.

For me, I didn't wake up think the UK is crap and decide to leave. Personally I don't think the UK is anywhere near being the "broken Britain" many of the media would have you believe.

It's an individual choice.
Retiring abroad will never be right for some individuals.

For me it was always going to happen. I remember from a very early age my larger family gatherings and the inevitable Sunday afternoon discussion on where to live. My dad always wanted to go live in Italy. As time moved on it became a retirement dream.
My mother wanted to live in France. She spent years learning the language, until she was fluent, in the hope that dad would come around to her way of thinking. He never did.
My grandfather was Spanish and hankered for spending time back home in his twilight years. My Grandmother was Irish and only had desires for the old country.
My many uncles and aunties also had there own dreams. My grandfathers brother left for Canada and lived out his entire life in one adventure after another. He lost contact with the family and passed away in a care home alone and unmarried.

As for me I spent 35 years living in other countries and somehow never quite reconnected with the UK as "home"

I had visions of marrying of Japanese lady and spending a simple life somewhere in the mountain areas.
As it happened I met and married a wonderful lady from Mindanao and am here in Davao City living a simple life.

Since my parents passed away I was left alone with no family ties at all in UK.
Virtually all my childhood pals had either moved overseas or, sadly, had passed away.
My younger brother had lived for many years in the Siera Nevada mountains of Spain until his untimely death. He died alone with no family.

The only family I have is here in the Philippines. Despite my family circle getting smaller due to selection.

Do I imagine I'll ever return to the UK?
Well if I'm honest, possibly.
If I had a very serious life threatening illness that could not only be treated but where only the continued long term maintenance treatment would allow me to continue for a good few years and with an reasonable quality of life, then I could see me taking the opportunity to return.
Let's hope that I will never need to make that call.

Those lucky ones of us will face a few creeks and a few aches and pains
Others will face something more debilitating.

Before finalising on any decision ask yourself just what is it about your life that you don't like?
Give honest answers as to why you want to move abroad. Are you running away from someone or something or perhaps over-reacting to circumstances.
How about family ties? Grandchildren for example.
How about those true friends you'll leave behind? Such friendships are rare and hard to find.
Think about health, think about wealth. Retirement life can last a very long time these days.

For most folks the UK is what you know and love the best.
For me it never was.

As always Peter a very interesting post, thank you for sharing