Living in another country

I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one here who would like to live in a different country from where you were born, and obviously there are some members (such as Dave) in this situation right now.

I decided to open this thread to talk about it. Why would you want to (or why you do) live somewhere else, the pros and cos of it...

I've always been a bit obsessed with this idea, and am feeling each day more frustrated with the fact it has not happened yet. I have a lot of friends who studied in other countries in high school (like Ingo) or as part of their University courses. My family never had the money to provide me this kind of experience, and believe me, I've asked them for that!! The fact I'd always preferred England, a more expensive destination, than USA, never helped either

I'm currently doing a MBA in Sports Business and Marketing, and have been looking for courses abroad as well. I'm also in the process of obtaining the Portuguese citizenship, which would make everything much easier for me in Europe. Those courses are quite expensive though (at least for me), and that is really frustrating.

Don't get me wrong, I love my country and especially my city with all my heart - I'm sure I'd miss it too -, but I've always felt much more of a citizen of the world (pardon for the cliché) than just a Brazilian. I love other cultures and knowing different people. And I feel like now would be the right time for such an experience, as I'm not married (don't even have a girlfriend), don't have kids, already got my University degree etc, the kind of stuff that could be problem.

Anyone ever felt the same?

Well not really a helpful post from me, but I was thinking about the possibility of living abroad yesterday.

It was based around being in an entertainment team in holiday parks across Europe during the summer months.

I personally find Warrington (my town) a rather grim place, and I'm in a bit of a rut. Wouldn't mind leaving it 'all' behind for a while to get some good life experience.

Anyone ever felt the same?

Ian Rush, he said living in Italy was living in a different country.

I know exactly what you mean Diego. I would love to live in London, England. I have wanted to live there as long as I can remember. I was lucky enough to be able to study abroad there with my university. I spent 10 weeks living, going to school and working while there. It made me fall more in love with the city. I actually didn't even cry when I left my family but I cried leaving London. I know I would miss my family and friends. I am hoping a company will hire me with sponsorship. Otherwise, I hope to get a job and save as much money as I can so I can apply to work and live over there. It seems impossible sometimes, but I tell myself dreams do come true if you put the effort into them.

I don't have any great affinity with my country of birth, England (or UK for the pc amongst you). I've never been the sort to get homesick and can make myself at home anywhere so it's a huge shame that I've never had the money, freedom or resources to travel the world. As I'm not well-travelled, my impressions of the world are based almost entirely on what I see in documentories, travel programs and on the internet. One place I've always fancied living is practically on the other side of the world, New Zealand. Not so much because of the people or culture because I don't know enough about it but for the physical landscape. There's such a variety of incredibly beautiful landscapes that I think I could set up home there and never tire of touring the country.
Having two kids, however, that would be a difficult dream to fulfil.

My country of preference would be England for various reasons (including football of course), but I'm not obsessed with any particular country though. There are many places where I know I'd probably love living. A change of culture, place, weather, language, all that is really appealing to me. I like to get in touch with people from other places even when I'm traveling inside the borders of my (big) country, but it's not the same. When I was in Liverpool, I made 'friends' even while I was eating a sandwich on Subway (the guy was wearing a Liverpool shirt and I had no one to talk to ).

If I had to choose to live in another country. It's either Liverpool for obvious reasons, Hawaii or San Diego. Visited the latter two in 2007 and 2008 and I loved my holiday there.

If I do live abroad, I'd like to bring my family, my cousins and basically anyone under the family tree starting from my grandparents, .

Though I have got the chance to live in another country alone in the last two years and another year next year, I still find Malaysia the best place to be. Friends, Family and Food. On Match Days, I just love sitting down at 10 pm after a shower and dinner to enjoy the match.

Maybe I should stop reading beatnik literature. Sometimes I feel like I should just quit my job, get all the money I have and travel somewhere, without really worrying about the details I'd never have the courage to do that all by myself though

As much as I love my friends and family, and think Rio is a spectacular place to live, in those times in which we live in, I feel too provincial with the idea of being born, living and dieing in exactly the same place (even though I was not born in the capital of Rio, but a smaller city in the mountains ). It may sound stupid to some people, and I don't really know how to explain, I just feel that way.

Before i met the Mrs, me and a mate of mine where considering heading over to America to work for a year or so. But met her fell in love (aaahh) and that was the end of that. Would have been a good experience though.

One thing to think of Diego is, if you don't do it while you're young you probably never will.

I still want to move to Australia for a bit. Being Irish, it's something we just do really, especially in the last 5-10 years among the recently graduated population. Just up sticks and move there for 2 or 3 years. An awful lot of my friends have emigrated in last year too, there's some going every second month like.

I'd love to live in other places like the coast in America or even Spain, but I think it's really Ireland + Australia first choice for me if I get the chance. 

Next year is my final year in Uni, hopefully, and one of my best friends is in the army, his contract is up around the same time so we might head off somewhere.

I want to travel alot more and live in a few other countries in my lifetime. I love my country, but I love travelling and experiencing other cultures aswell. I don't really need to live here. I actually considered moving to Sweden when I was dating a Swedish girl. She's actually still a good friend of mine, and the thought of moving to there for a while is still in the back of my head. Ofcourse I won't be going anywhere anytime soon now that I bought a home here.

One thing to think of Diego is, if you don't do it while you're young you probably never will.

Yeah, exactly why I feel so frustrated for not having done it yet, and it doesn't look like happening in the near future either.

One thing to think of Diego is, if you don't do it while you're young you probably never will.

Exactly my thoughts.

No use waiting, once you get older, other things take priority and before you know it your lifes over and your regretting not doing it years ago.

Speaking from experience 

I spent 4 years in Munster, Germany as a kid.  Was just an army brat, but I had some wonderful times over there.  Memories include snow that covered the climbing frame, walks through a forest, that seemed to have play areas every few hundred yards, seating in the front seat of my old man's mini, the birth of my aryan brother, by that I mean he's blonde haired, blue eyed and born in Germany, my little pre-school I went to, it's sand pit, the (huge to me) library in the classroom and they encouraged learning, reading on your own, encouraged you to ask questions, something I found in short supply on my return to the UK and my favourite memory of all, my best mate, at the time, wanted to be white and so asked me to paint him.  I did.  

BIggest disappointment after my old man quit the army, was founding out two weeks later, we would have been shipped out to Hong Kong, still somewhere I'd love to visit.

In my last year of school I started planning a trip starting in NY and finishing in Florida, it became quite an obsession and I researched the whole trip. I left school and started work and started saving. Then I started knocking round with a new set of lads, met a girl and blew the lot. Since then I've never been able to get to that financial freedom to do it. I've still travelled but not on 'my trip'.

I've lived in various parts of England since I left school, work-wise. Lived in Gran Canaria for a couple of years. Eire for about the same, Lusk, Dublin & in a bungalow not far from Blanchardstown.

I still don't think I've found the place I'll stay, not sure why but I just feel that I'm missing something and I'll know when I get there that that's the place I'll stay.

If you've got them itchy feet Diego mate don't ignore them, I for one can assure you that the itch will never go. It's not a choice, it's something you've got to do.

In my opinion of course.

One thing to think of Diego is, if you don't do it while you're young you probably never will.

I know quite a few people who have moved to a different country in their 40s, 50s and 60s.

The 'if you don't do it when you are young' is in my view just an excuse that people make due to making compromises for others.

It is usually a much bigger hassle though JD. When you're older you might own a home, a car, you might be married, both have jobs, and have kids. To organise a move then is a huge undertaking, and in that situation you won't easily just move to somewhere else for a year. When you're young you often have nothing to worry about when leaving, and you'll return to a similar situation as before. Ofcourse once you're older, in your 60's maybe, when people stop working, sell their house etc. then it gets easier. But even then, not many people will easily leave their kids and grandkids behind.

I don't have any great affinity with my country of birth, England (or UK for the pc amongst you). I've never been the sort to get homesick and can make myself at home anywhere so it's a huge shame that I've never had the money, freedom or resources to travel the world. As I'm not well-travelled, my impressions of the world are based almost entirely on what I see in documentories, travel programs and on the internet. One place I've always fancied living is practically on the other side of the world, New Zealand. Not so much because of the people or culture because I don't know enough about it but for the physical landscape. There's such a variety of incredibly beautiful landscapes that I think I could set up home there and never tire of touring the country.
Having two kids, however, that would be a difficult dream to fulfil.

Just read your post and thought I would add my experience of shifting to New Zealand,Me and my wife sold up and emigrated to New Zealand with 5 kids all under the age of 11, I might add.Now in our case it was a case of having to make it work or go back home with nothing and try and start all over again from scratch.I am retired now but I had jobs here I could not of got in the U.K.,you see I left school at 15 with no qualifications so all though things are different now when I was working if you had the ability to do a job you got it.
                                                                              If you dream of doing something and do not do it you are likely to live the rest of your life wandering what if,if you do not give it a try you will never know.

Thanks for the info, Billy, didn't realise you were out there.
I didn't really explain it in my last post but the 2 kids I have don't live with me, they live with their mum. That makes it impossible to move away as I can't just take them with me. It's a constant source of frustration for me.

Diego, that doesn't sound at all stupid to me, I feel the same. I was born in the city of Stoke-on-Trent and still live here now, at 32. If I get to 50 without having seen more of the world, I will be angry with myself. I have friends here (many have moved away) and my job is here but there's nothing else to tie me to the area.

I am currently preparing to leave England in about two months to go and live firstly on the road across europe for at least six months. I would then like to settle for at least a year somewhere on the continent, possibly prague. This is due to the fact I feel stuck in a rut in England, I feel I have little in the way of freedom here. I was inspired by the books I read, mainly 'On the Road' by Kerouac and this little quote from Joyce really summed up my feelings:

'I will not serve that in which I no longer believe whether it call itself my home, my fatherland or my church: and I will try to express myself in some mode of life or art as freely as I can and as wholly as I can, using for my defence the only arms I allow myself to use, silence, exile, and cunning.'

I guess I am lucky having youth on my side and the opportunity with no real responsibilities to anyone other than myself.

I am currently preparing to leave England in about two months to go and live firstly on the road across europe for at least six months. I would then like to settle for at least a year somewhere on the continent, possibly prague. This is due to the fact I feel stuck in a rut in England, I feel I have little in the way of freedom here. I was inspired by the books I read, mainly 'On the Road' by Kerouac and this little quote from Joyce really summed up my feelings:

'I will not serve that in which I no longer believe whether it call itself my home, my fatherland or my church: and I will try to express myself in some mode of life or art as freely as I can and as wholly as I can, using for my defence the only arms I allow myself to use, silence, exile, and cunning.'

I guess I am lucky having youth on my side and the opportunity with no real responsibilities to anyone other than myself.

I hear you! I wouldn't say beatnik literature is the main reason why I would like to experience different places, as I've wanted that for as long as I can remember, but those books certainly helped a lot to make me feel more and more frustrated and uncomfortable with my current situation.

Thanks for the info, Billy, didn't realise you were out there.
I didn't really explain it in my last post but the 2 kids I have don't live with me, they live with their mum. That makes it impossible to move away as I can't just take them with me. It's a constant source of frustration for me.

Diego, that doesn't sound at all stupid to me, I feel the same. I was born in the city of Stoke-on-Trent and still live here now, at 32. If I get to 50 without having seen more of the world, I will be angry with myself. I have friends here (many have moved away) and my job is here but there's nothing else to tie me to the area.

Feel your pain regarding your kids and the impossibility of taking them with you! That's why I'd like to do it as soon as possible, as I can never know what will happen next in my life. One of my best friends just had a son which he wasn't expecting, and as much as he is really happy with it, at the same time he's quite frustrated he's not even finished his studies yet.

Its only the winters I hate here. Just spend a few hours on the boat in the glorious sunshine and its perfect when its like this.but winters are getting more and more depressing.
I have thought of a move abroad and if I thought I could fully integrate into the local society and speak the language fluently I would probably have a go..But having seen how foreigners are thought of here I was thinking along the lines of if you do move abroad dont you become the foreigner.