A few questions to the ex-pats...

[Enfys]

Would you, or do you intend to, return permanently to the UK/your native country ? (Not on your nelly )

Do you ever regret moving away? (Hell NO! Not even for a moment)

and,

last one, what do you miss most? (Jelly babies, clotted cream, teeny tiny country lanes, hedges, proper villages and old, old buildings)

 

[Circe]

Hi,
No, no plans to return to England, and no, I don't regret moving away, I have a much better standard of living here than I ever could afford in England.
I didn't mean to stay here so long, originally the plan was to spend 6months here and 6 months in the UK, but then life, job and animals started putting pay to that.
I miss my family though, and wish I could see them more, but really, I wish they would come over here and see me, so I don't have to do the trip
Things I miss ( other than family )... Spending time with friends and family in a pub garden having a drink in the evening in summer, toasted teacakes, country lanes, London ( I love London ).

 

[Hemirjtm]

Would I ever go back ? No, I have a much better quality of life, a French OH and a job I love! I go back to the UK for a week, and it is not home anymore, and to be honest I'm sick of it after about 4 days.

Don't regret moving at all, I did resent my parents for a few months when we first arrived as I couldn't understand ANYTHING, then it clicked and I'm so so so grateful for the opportunities my parents gave me by moving to France

Actually I don't miss anything that much, being not too far from the UK I see my family quite regularly. My dad works in the UK and travels back here with a few shopping bags full of bacon/English sausages/Marmite/Heinz baked beans...etc. However if he didn't then I wouldn't miss all those things

Maybe I miss the easiness of being able to go out and be 5mins away from a shop, have to travel 30mins for a shop here....but that's only a minor detail, and it means I don't spend too much money

 

[freckles22uk]

Nope I dont intend to move back, the only thing that would send me back is if work dried up, as getting a job here is near impossible.. and I certainly would not live like I do home (own small home with an acre of land and the horses at home)

Dont regret moving here for one minute, though it wasn't my plan to move here, but the ''now ex's '' funny her hated living here, and I loved it..

Miss..... Family, Seedless grapes, nice chocolate, (ok can get them here but they're expensive,) Horse Shows, MEN!! Im single here now, and the lack of nice single men close by is dismal, and the Spanish guys don't do it for me at all.... miss the ease of doing things in the UK, like paperwork, here you need a piece of paper to f*rt! lol.....

 

[La Fiaba]

If we were to start a family I would like to move back to UK as I don't think Italy is a good place to grow up (from school age I mean). Education is not the best and opputunities to improve on your life are few. I would also like to be close to my family if I had children. There are however lots of things from Italian family life that I prefer to UK so I would hope I could carry that on eg. eating well, importance of looking after your family.

Never regretted moving here and I'm having the time of my life! Even now in the middle of winter without 2 euros to rub together I wouldn't change things. (well I wouldn't mind winning the lotto!)

Miss decent bacon butties with brown sauce, my family and people with the same sense of humour as me

 

[Rollin]

Within three weeks of moving to Maine et Loire, France, I felt I had lived here all my life. I love the undulating countryside with stunning views. Visit the Chateaux at Angers or Saumur and on a clear day you can see forever.

Lots of opportunities to participate in fun rides or endurance. We have miles of way marked off road routes.

I miss John Lewis department store and English pubs.

Don't miss traffic, traffic, traffic; outrageous cost of parking in small towns to buy a sandwich or milk..free parking in all my local villages in France; not having to always drive to a supermarket for basic food, we have four bakers, three butchers, two post offices, three banks, two weekly markets and three grocers within three kilometres.

Thirty years ago I though France a very dirty place. No longer the case, clean streets cared for small towns, whereas when I go back home I am very much aware of boarded up shops and dirty pavements and ciggy buts everywhere.

 

[JCWHITE]

Seedless grapes, are available during January, you have to look very hard, but in France at least, Thompson seedless are in selected Supermarkets!!
Deep joy to find some as I dont like seeded (and much cheaper) ones!!
Brown sauce, isnt it funny, we all crave ,
Theres not much on my uk shopping list these days, but brown sauce, fruity sauce, Worcester sauce, Cheddar, Stilton and a copy of the current Horse and Hound are all must brings for our guests, tea bags too!!
Saying that, in the uk, I make a bee line for a supermarket, any one will do, and spend ages simply walking round looking, and to go on a bus, thats a rare treat, fish and chips, oh no, dont get me started!!!!

 

[SusannaF]

Not sure what the future holds!

What do I miss? Well, I can get most things here and I'm only an hour-and-a-half by plane away. I miss family and friends. And watercress. Can't find that here, for some reason!

My only regret is not having the time/cash to get really good at German.

 

[GlamourDol]

Not sure what the future holds!

What do I miss? Well, I can get most things here and I'm only an hour-and-a-half by plane away. I miss family and friends. And watercress. Can't find that here, for some reason!

My only regret is not having the time/cash to get really good at German.

Where abouts in Berlin are you? And are you on facebook. There is a group on there that meet in Potsdammer Platz (i think, dont quote me on that ) that do free german classes. Looks to be quite good and I heard good things whilst I was at college.

I can send zou the link if you want?

 

[Spring Feather]

Firstly I'd like to say that I absolutely LOVED my life in England. I had a great lifestyle and loads of terrific friends. I lived in a fab part of England and really enjoyed my time there. However times change and my life over here is different but just as enjoyable, so ...

No I wouldn't move back.

No I don't regret leaving the UK.

I don't really miss anything much anymore. I used to miss certain sweets and chocolate but most of the British chocolate we can get over here now. I used to miss pubs but I don't anymore. I missed some friends and family when I first left but it's been so long now that I don't even miss them anymore as I have made good friends here. I used to miss old buildings and places to go for day trips but to be honest I don't really have the time or inclination to be pottering around like that anymore so maybe that's why I don't miss them now. Plus my local town (just literally round the corner from me) is such a beautiful picturesque 'old' town that I don't have any wish to travel elsewhere for daily stuff. I do enjoy my holidays even though I don't get away as much as I used to but that's okay as I love being at home too.

 

[mulberrymill]

I have the best ( and worst) of both as I live partly in the uk and partly in Africa where my husband has long term work. When in Africa I spent a lot of time shopping for foods I recognise, which are there if you look hard enough, but very expensive. I don't miss the bad weather in the uk, or the exorbitant prices for things like petrol, utility bills, booze etc, which are all very cheap out there. As soon as I get homesick in either country, I just get on a plane .

 

[lazybee]

I've never regretted moving to rural France for a minute. My only regret is that I didn't do it sooner. If you love the outdoor life and all things equestrian/outdoor leisure, it's the place to be. The lifestyle suites us perfectly. The education system is better and the hospitals are superb, there's no waiting lists. The place is so clean and no one litters. Even the smallest of villages have a village hall and football field as a minimum. There's always something going on. We live 1.5 hours from the coast and 3 hours from the skiing.
The best thing for us horse types has to be the literally thousands of miles of unrestricted bridleways and green lanes.

Food bills are slightly more expensive but tax is much less and no road tax

They generally don't understand customer service though and it's clearly a alien concept.

I've only been back to the UK 3 times since being here and couldn't wait to get back home (France)

What do I miss??
Tea that's tea flavour, not lemon, peach, bergamot, blackcurrant, camomile....Just tea. That's one thing they just don't get.

PS I don't know anyone who eats horse.

 

[Vindaloo]

Hmm, well I most certainly would not consider staying in India for longer than I absolutely have to, it'll be three years this May. It is just so, so different to home. There are benefits of course, we do get a lot of nice weather but blooming heck it gets hot in the summer.

The plan is to go back to the UK eventually but who knows... We could be off to another country next. Living abroad has on the whole had an incredibly positive impact on our lives.

I do miss vets! There is little to no decent veterinary help to be had here. I lost my darling Casper to colic, three vets, three diagnosis one dead horse. I would have given anything to have been able to call on a UK vet.

I miss the cleanliness of the UK too, this place is so utterly filthy.

Oh and strawberry cable sweets, you know the ones? Like laces but fatter.

 

[Armas]

I have lived out side out the U.K most of my adult life work / life style choice.
Now based in the Loire Vally central France I never thought I would end up in France as I am used to much hotter climates.
However the weather for the most part is good long hot summers very cold winters -15 some times the country side is beautiful and the French are a pleasant bunch ;-)
Property is much cheaper than in the U.K however making a living I would say is much harder.

 

[micramadam]

Have lived here for almost 10 years now and have no regrets at all about leaving the UK. Yes, there are a lot of things much more expensive here and my OH pays 52% tax but he has a really good job and we are very comfortable. Not sure if I would ever have managed to have 4 horses in England though land is a lot cheaper there than here. The Dutch don't have the best flood defences in the world for nothing though we'd be in the s**t if there was ever a North Sea tsunami!
Do we want to go back? Never say never but I would prefer to move to New Zealand if I ever get the chance.