Living abroad?

I worked for six years in Monaco and a year in Brussels, but I settled in France in 2002. One daughter lives near Nelson, New Zealand and they do sometimes have the odd tremor, from an small earthquake far out to sea. They have earth-quake proofed their home as far as possible and live in a village of mostly one-storey houses. I have grandchildren in NZ, Yorkshire, Kent and London. I don't miss England, much as I love it, because I am so happy in my lovely area of France. I can also be in Switzerland in about 30 minutes, and in Italy in a couple of hours. I am currently staying in Switzerland, house sitting for Juragran. I will be emigrating to NZ in a few years, at the suggestion of my daughter and her husband.
I have always had 'itchy feet' and was very frustrated throughout my long marriage because my ex would not fly, so we never left the UK. I was 40 when I made my first trip abroad, to Nice, to join my employer.
Another daughter lived in Malaysia, up near the Thai border, for three years, but I found the heat and humidity stifling. I put up with it for a couple of weeks a year just to enjoy my hobby of snorkeling on coral, but I couldn't live permanently in such conditions. The climate in the Nelson area of NZ is pretty much like that of France, and the scenery is just as lovely - with the addition of gorgeous beaches in the Abel Tasman National Park.

I also lived in Dubai, for 13 years actually - loved it. It is hard to return and settle down, I tried it last year after I retired but left again after 5 months, now in the US (Texas) moving to Costa Rica end of November for a while. Travelling is nice but there is always the longing to return 'home'.

I left Scotland in 1977 living in the Middle-East, Brazil and the USA. My two granddaughters are in Colorado and Arizona and I live in Texas. I am moving to Costa Rica soon for a while but will return to 'settle down' back in Scotland. Would love to start communications/penfriends with people in the Edinburgh or Fife areas prior to returning.
Look forward to hearing from you!

I'm from Kent but moved to Scotland in 1979. In the past ten years I've lived in Indonesia and West Africa but dh has just retired so we are back in Scotland while our 15yo finished her education.

I moved to Italy with my Italian born husband nearly 3 years ago just after we married and he retired. He had always planned to come "home" eventually and the time seemed right. He had been in England 40 years and had had enough of wet summers and foggy winters! I am finding it difficult to learn the language but I am lazy and he is fluent in both!! The only thing I miss is the family (3 GD'S) but they come here and we go there, it's only a 2 1/2 hr. flight. In summer we have home grown fruit and veg and we have a very good Saturday market selling local produce. Not forgetting homemade wine and limoncello!! Cold wet England? No thanks!!!

As you can see from my Gransnet name I do live abroad. I met and married my handsome German husband in the late 60s and went to live in Germany.
Both my parents had passed away so I left nothing personal behind in Sheffield and moved to South Germany to Bavaria, where it was so beautiful. I kept having tp pinch myself during that first summer there. Cycling through deep woods and past waving cornfields, the Alps in the distance. All that after grimy Sheffield!
I did sober up as and there were times when I was homesick, but I never regretted it and am still happily married. I like having France , Austria and Switzerland just a couple of hours away by car, and am a true European.

That is what I always think. It is a heck of a long trip and very inconvenient of all my offspring to have gone so far.

No, I agree, JessM. I am determined to go to NZ next year. Sister now has the go-ahead for repairs - fortunately not demolition, but complete re-plastering and redecoration. We're hoping to have a break in Australia too. Might as well make the most of it if I'm going all that way!

Well Annobel of course it doesn't stop me visiting my lovely son. He lives on the Kapiti coast now - so lovely.
Ironic isnt it that Christchurch copped it so unexpectedly. And amazing there was so little loss of life, when you see the amount of damage - and the fact it was not just the one quake.

German is easier to understand when it's spoken, but I could never get my head round the grammar side of it and [I think; it was a long time ago] failed my German O Level. I love French as a language, it's so musical.

FlicketyB I agree about German being easier. If you know the German you will understand what is being said to you, but even if you know the French, unless the speaker is very posh. it is hard to understand what is being said. Well, that's my experience anyway. German is easier to speak too - especially when you have a Yorkshire accent, with flat vowels. Speaking french ties my tongue up in knots!!

My father was in the army so I spent the first 21 years of my life travelling about. We lived in Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaya (as it was then) Germany and Belgium, plus various places around the UK. We now have a holiday home in France. Well I love France, but still struggle with the language. Much prefer German.

Since marrying I have stayed at home while husband whizzed around the world on business. He loves Egypt and we have been there and to Jordan on holiday since he retired.

I lived in Germany and Hong Kong in the early 70's, thought Germany was so clean and would love to go back to HK to see what it is like now.

I had five years in Kenya in the early '60s as a teacher in a great school. Happy years!

JessM, I got a set of pictures of Christchurch yesterday from my sister there. It's heartbreaking. 10,000 houses are likely to be demolished and the Central Business District is a complete shambles. And the faults that have caused this devastation aren't even the main fault, so I totally understand your misgivings about Wellington. I'm thinking of going over next year, but...

Six months in Wellington NZ looking after son while he had chemo. I love Wellington, it is the perfect tiny capital city and beautiful as well. But it's one big fault is a massive one - it is where the Pacific Plate meets the Australasian plate, about 200 yds from the parliament building. Great big steep hill - that's it. (you can see it on Googleearth) Every so often the A. plate bounces upwards as the P plate pushes under it. It actually has 3 earthquake faults around the harbour. So this inconvenient fact would I think put me off moving there... Tempted though. I decided it was like having an entertaining, attractive and charming friend - but in the back of your mind you know that one day they will forget to take their psych. meds and have an axe-murderer day.

Back in the '70s I worked/lived in Washington DC, Islamabad and Dubai (where I met my husband). Never been back to Islamabad or Dubai but have been back to DC and loved it - in fact if I had the chance I would love to live in America (finances permitting of course!). Came back to the UK in the '80s and it took me a long time to settle back in to life in this country (especially with a baby and no family back-up - mother died 11 months after I got married and MIL became ill soon after son was born). I still yearn occcasionally for life overseas but OH is quite happy here in the UK so if he's happy I'm happy (most of the time).

I was born & bred in Nairobi, Kenya. I left just before I was 20, then lived in Zambia, Australia & Bahrain. I have been settled in the UK for some time now, but when I met & married my 3rd (yes 3rd) husband, he showed me France. It was like another love affair. 10 years ago we bought a house there, & are planning to retire to France shortly. However, plans are 'fluid' as we now have a darling grandson - I also have ageing parents. We will go at some stage & I know it is not the end of the world but........

As well as living in Australia now, I lived in NZ just over 4 years in the 1970s, and 18 months in Vienna, Austria, in the mid 60s when I was 19 to 21.

I used to have the wanderlust: these days my feet are set in concrete, or so it seems.

Oh, and in Thailand, I was in Hat Yai in the south. Not a touristy place but that was better because the touristy places are not typically Thai. Most of them could be anywhere in the tropics.

We were in Oslo.

Spotted that baggy has lived in Thailand and has also lived in Norway. Didn't like the former too much (our daughter got married in Phuket and we were there for the wedding), but would love to spend a 'gap year' in Norway. Where were you baggy?

I`ve always quite fancied living in Cyprus, or on a Greek island, but in the last few years I`ve had a strong yen to move to the west coast of Scotland, in particular, to Kintyre.