Is the grass always greener?

My friends and I have often talked about returning to England but the huge drawback is the British health system. We are aware we live in a part of the country where there are few problems at the moment but be worried to go into something worse.

Whatever country you are in it depends very much on where you live. I currently live in Southwest WA and truly feel very fortunate to do so. The scenery is lovely and the weather very moderate and houses not too expensive. I've lived in many areas in Australia, UK and New Zealand and there is good and bad about everywhere. It's very much a case of what you make it - and I've never been anything like wealthy.

I definitely agree with Fleurpepper. A holiday does not give you anything like a clear idea of how it would be to live somewhere. Your attitude on holiday is different for a start. a lot of the posts are about moving to another country where the language is english or a semblence of it. I have lived in countries where I had to learn another language too. I wonder if some of the people wanted to go to a different climate but not have to learn another language.? Whilst you could make a list of all the pros and cons of your new place I think you should make an effort to meet up with people who have actually lived in your new place and get some real idea of what you may find there. Actually if you made a pros and cons of where you live now you would also see that everywhere you might choose to live will have good and bad points according to what matters to you. Personally I am glad that I got the chance to travel and do not regret the moving about even if there were difficult times , and wish I still had the opportunity to travel to other places, so am glad I have good memories and think that if you go with an open attitude you will find good things to enjoy.

I’ve enjoyed this thread very much, the heartwarming thing is that most of us are happy living where we are. I would love to visit family in NZ and Australia but circumstances don’t allow for that and as I can’t stand the heat it would have to be carefully planned! I’ve only lived in three countries of the UK, never abroad, and found people in all those countries just as friendly as anywhere else. I live in Scotland now and love it for the scenery, slightly slower pace of life and the friendliness of the vast majority of people.

Whenever we visit anywhere the other half says “ I could live here!” He couldn’t !!! Living in the UK we have wonderful scenery to suit all types, great access to many places, lots of history, various weather types, great humour, kindness , diversity, options! Having lived in Sydney as a 24-5 year old it was a great experience ! I am revisiting next month plus NZ so wish me luck !
We almost emigrated to NZ when I was 11 but my dad never got round to filling in the forms!! He never left Brighton !!!

This is a very interesting thread. We visited NZ just prior to covid, and although it is a beautiful country in places, I just couldn't get my head around how young it is, we had a guide proudly showing off a church built in late 1890s, our village pub is 2 hundred years older and not even listed!

As to the start of the thread, the question about grass being greener; I watch with interest 'Wanted Down Under' and hear people talking about wanting more family time, more time spent outside, etc., but they they leave their support network/babysitters behind and I wonder how they manage. Oh, and we do have 'outside' here too. I think some of the people on this programme are running away from problems in their lives, problems which will move with them.

Sodapop, we also lived in Southwest France and we loved it, not touristy at all, very unsophisticated rural authentic France. We made so many French friends - when the French befriend you they are friends for life. We still talk about our lives there, but now that we’re back living in Southwest England we’re finding similarities to French life we hadn’t noticed before, and reminiscing too about the differences.

We lived in beautiful surroundings, but nothing to equal the beauty of the countryside and coast here in the UK (although we could see the Pyrenees in the distance).

The language was a definite challenge in France, much more so than I thought it would be, made slightly more difficult due to pronunciations I never learned at school, probably equivalent to a west-country accent here.

We feel comfortable and at home here, but so glad we experienced life in France.

There are lots of places where I know I could have a good life, but I grew up in the UK and love our landscape, historical buildings, and friendly people - and much more. I simply know how to live here - I have lived abroad and liked it, but I didn't have that same sense of 'knowing I belonged'. It isn't perfect - there is so much we need to do to improve impact on climate change, and for the most disadvantaged people in our society. But I am constantly grateful for my life here, for seeing trees and green fields, my friends and family and for my sense of having deep roots.

My DS married a Canadian and now has Canadian nationality. It suits him totally as he is an outdoor guy. He loves fishing, boating and skiing. It is a beautiful country and I enjoy visiting but can't take the cold winters.

My family emigrated to Australia in 1949 as my mum was in poor health (affected by the cold winter) plus my married sister was there. I certainly did not want to leave as I was nearly 15 and left all my friends and other family. Husband was from London, His family had lived in London but also emigrated to Australia. My three children are Australians but only one son lives there.He has just gone back after a 2 month visit to St Lucia where my other son lives. My only daughter lives in UK. I returned to UK after PNG became independent and was happy in London until the death of my husband. I loved Australia but always yearned for England and I still look back back and remember just how beautiful it is but age intervened and now I live here in the warmth of the people and the weather. In that famous English remark “mustn’t grumble” You never know how life will affect you!

I don't think the grass is necessarily greener on the other side of the fence.

However, I think it is natural to criticize the unfortunate aspects of the country we live in.

There is not much pont in complaining about the weather, as we cannot change it, but we can and should be critical of the things that are within human control and could be better than they are.

After all, if we do not see the faults and attempt to rectify them, nothing will change, will it?

I would prefer to live somewhere where it did not rain as much as it does here, and where summers were hot, rather than a mixture of all seasons with temperatures rarely rising above 30 degrees.

However, in order to do so, I would have to move a good deal south of Denmark and either pay taxes in both the country I moved to and this one, or do without the Danish medical system, which is good and provided free-of-charge, as it is funded out of Income tax and other revenues.

Emotionally, I feel at home here too, which is also important and I know that I have both the language and the knowledge of the social and legal systems to deal with whatever life throws at me.

I imagine others, like me, stay where we "belong" because of these considerations.

I was born in Nova Scotia, but my parents marriage broke down and we came back to the uk when I was two, so no memories. When I was 48 contact was eventually made with my father who then lived on Vancouver island. We visited him and my step mother a few times, and out of all the places I’ve visited it was the only place I feel we could have settled. But we didn’t, and goodness knows the uk is far from perfect but it’s home, and I couldn’t think of living anywhere else. My stepmother had lived all around the world and always said the uk was the most beautiful and civilised country in the world.

I moved over to the USA for nearly 5 years for my husband's work. We lived in NJ (seasons much like the UK but with more snow), Florida- just north of Orlando. Scorching heat & very high humidity in the summer. Finally Atlanta! Old Southern state of Georgia - so imagine Klu Klax Clan in next county etc and being told the I "couldn't possibly have a black babysitter!!!" We returned to the UK and its the best decision we ever made!

Think it’s all swings and roundabouts, some good some bad
about most countries and places
Compared to those poor souls in Turkey I think we all should be grateful we’re where we are, doesn’t seem so bad now does it
And I was moaning about price of my gas … made me think 🤔

I've lived in Singapore, Germany, Sweden, Portugal, and also travelled abroad extensively both with H.M Forces and with subsequent civilian employment. If you're an ex-pat and quite happy with it, I'm happy for you, but don't think for a moment that those of us who choose to remain here in the U.K. are somehow unfulfilled, and are "stuck with it", as nothing could be further from the truth. I'm so very happy here, settled in beautiful Northumberland, close to family and friends and to all those familiar places which give my roots such a firm and rewarding foundation. Home is where the heart is, and my heart is most definitely here.

Moved to England 40 years ago for work. I disliked it then and still do. Our family here is now settled and I just can’t leave them.
It’s not a friendly place to live and is much more expensive. I know we’ve done well financially here but at what a price!!

I think I’m now 63 and can see it from both sides. My niece has moved there and loves it but has an endless stream of visitors coming for months to visit. Whereas if she’d stayed here she wouldn’t have had to put up with that. Saying so though she has a business and a amazing life there and is quite happy can’t see her ever returning here.

Kenilworth is still pretty nanna8; however, we’ve got new houses galore being built and we are dreading the effect on our little town centre. We used to own a flat in Nerja on the Costa del Sol and it was our dream to live there in the winter. Sadly, age and illness have stopped this. We still feel blessed to live in Britain … fabulous scenery, wonderful NHS, freedom of speech, equality. I could go on and on. Watching the terrible new from Turkey and Syria we are counting our blessings.

If I didn’t have ongoing parental ties here in the UK I’d be on a plane with a one way ticket to Greece.

My mother had this saying, you may think the grass is greener on the other side but it still needs cutting meaning you still have to make it work if you decide to move.

We moved to Canada in the late 70’s because of a job offer - our children were young 3 and 6. I didn’t want to leave England, family, friends etc., but as the offer was only for a three year period we rented out our house rather than sell it - so I knew we were coming back! No, nearly 50 years later we still live in Canada, as does our son and daughter and five grandchildren. We’re Canadian through and through and love our country….it’s given all of us a very good quality of life. But I also love my yearly ‘vacation’ trips back to England in my retirement years (every couple of years or so) and these visits always stir happy memories of our early life there! But that was then…..and this is now …….I still keep my British passport current, even though we are long time Canadian citizens. England to me is a wonderful vacation destination - it never disappoints!

LadyGracie

I was an 'army brat' and also married into the forces so spent the first 40 years of my life a bit of a nomad. I always adored Yorkshire and would, one day, like to go back there to live. A dream that will never, probably, be fulfilled.

I was also brought up in a military family. My mother loved being abroad in hot countries and this is the reason why she persuaded my father to emigrate to Australia after he retired. They were hoping that my husband and I would join them, but Australia never appealed to me.
I love England, it's history, countryside and the cooler climate.

That’s sad to hear LovelyLady - how awful to feel like that about this country after living here for 40 years. Where did you come from? Is there any chance you’ll be able to go back to the country you consider home?

My sister moved to New Zealand in 2001. It was her husband's wish not hers and in 2002 I visited them, but I could not get back to UK quick enough. They are insular, boring, and I missed living in a country with history. The scenery is nice but we have just as much pretty scenery in UK. Would never go there again.

We came to the USA with my husband’s job. I did not want to come and always thought we would return home eventually. We have been here for 35 years! DS, wife and DGC all here. I love it, and never thought I could be happy outside of England. Since reaching retirement, despite what people seem to think, we have a wonderful medical system, which at our age is pretty much covered by Social Security. No waiting lists, fantastic preventative medicine. Great friends, great weather, I could go on and on. However, England is still my first love, and we avidly watch any and all British TV programmes. We are coming back for a visit at the end of the month for the first time in 4 years, to see all our dear family. So excited!