Best thing about being an expat?

What do you all think the best thing is about being an expat?

I lived in Southeast Asia for some of my working life and enjoyed the conditions. The servants kept the house clean and cared for my son, my wife never worked, the beer was cheap and the local people treated me like a king. If only life was always like that!

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Well I’d say well done to be fortunate enough to have had lived such a luxurious lifestyle.
Ain’t gonna happen soon for this working class boy from 'Ull.

Ah Floydy, I’m nothing out of the ordinary. That’s the beauty of it. Life is so much cheaper, you can live a life you wouldn’t normally be able to in the UK/Oz.

I have a cousin in Sydney her name is Tessa Holt . If you happen to bump into her say hi from me.

Do you work? Otherwise you must have had some funds to begin with.

Fortunate

Not entirely fortune Floydy, he spotted a chance, he chose to
 take it,he upped sticks and did it.Not excactly  luck.
 I can recommend any younger age person take the chance if
  they see it.l did it aged 40, two  kids, one wife, sold my mortaged
 house with a small  profit, and just went ,  never looked  back,
wasnt  easy at first, but  worked  through it.
 it is harder now,l know,  but l would  do it again,but l  dont think 
 my  other  half  would.

   Best  Regards,   Donkeyman.
 PS,  I'm  working class  too.

Good explaination, donkeyman. By the way, what are you doing out of the Brexit threads? :wink:

I’m looking way into the future tbh, perhaps if I end up on my own in years to come, though I dread the thought of losing my wife.
But she does have a large family and couldn’t bear to be away from the grandkids especially, so it won’t happen for a long time.
I would seriously move abroad if I got the chance but who’s to say what the world will be like then?
Time will tell :cool:

Take chance

 Floydy, l will explode if l  get to much of brexit, so l am trying to
 ration myself, without much success so far,
 On the rest of your post would like to say first,l meant no critism
 of you, l understand we all have different cicumstances etc.l
 was trying to convey my belief that life is short and l dont think
 we should take to long with decisions, l was probably a bit rash
 in mine, but it all turned out wellso far.
 I would definitely encourage younger people to consider buggering
  off given the chance, l dont think this old country of ours is going
 anywhere fast judging by the quality of leadership being displayed
 in the POS  HOC   at the moment.
 In your own case Floydy, you've probably left it a bit too long,
 Maybe  consider somewhere quite near, like the canaries or
 somewhere else that your good lady could live with, and that your
 grandkids  could visit easily, they would love that!
 It all depends on what you both can accept. 
 Bit like brexit really
 And dont forget, children grow up and start their own lives
 You will be left behind by them
  Sorry about this Floydy, l must sound like an agony aunt
  I will sound off now

 Very Best  Regards      Donkeyman.

Sorry about my delay in getting back to you, Donkeyman.
Yes bud, I think it’s a little too late to be moving away now, although maybe if I end up being alone I might do in the future (although I couldn’t ever bear to be without my wife).
All my friends are older than me, so if everything pans out like the law of averages dictate, I may be left by myself with no mates and no wife. But I do have my stepdaughters and the lovely grandkids, so it would be a wrench leaving them. It’s a very tricky situation but I’d love to get away from this country at the moment, never mind when I’m old and lonely. It depends on funds too.
We’ll see what happens in the future :cool:

Hi

I have quite a few friends that went down living the ex pat life most that did made a lot of money as no tax to pay and had the servants and kids at private school

I myself never left England but through hard work.
Well people working for me had to work hard

I only had to put my house on the line and worry about not getting paid retired at 57 and went to live in the sun

Different strokes, for different folks

I  dont  know  where  you  got  the  impression  of  NO  TAX  to  pay
&   KIDS  IN  PRIVATE  SCHOOL  Vaniy,  you  must  be  living  in  a  
different  universe  to  me.  My  name  is  not  Richard  Branson.
We  did  have  the  option  of  employing  a  'servant'  as  you  call  
them.
But,  if  we  chose  to  employ  somebody,  it  was  ,  in  my  case
 at  least,  to help  that  person  have  an  easier  life.
I  think  you  said  it  all  vaniy,  when  you  said  , l  quote,
Hard  work,  well  people  working  for  me  had  to  work  hard.
Says  it  all  really  Vaniy,  those  people  you  employed,  did'nt
 have  the  option  of  selling  anything  to  finance  a  business
 venture.
 However,  l  applaud  that  you  did  do  what  you  did,  you  took  a  
 Chance,  and  reaped  the  reward,  Bravo,  for  you
  I  could  carry  on  ad  infinitum,but  what  l  am  trying  to  correct
 Really,  is  your  perception  that  expats  have  it  easy  and  are
Tax  dodgers, vaniy,  this  is  only  so  in  the  so  called  ' upper   
 echelons

    Best   Regards   Donkeyman.

Hi Donkeyman

I accept your reply but I can only speak from my meetings with the Ex pats that worked aboard

Most of these people worked in the Middle East or India their lifestyles were privileged I will give you that but their money was all tax free two of the people I know even had free houses with pools

The men worked and the ladies did lunch although when you speak to them it did become boring but they put up with it

I would love to have been a lady that lunched… I had my own business too and I employed people …small potatoes though in the scheme of things…it never allowed me to be a lady that lunched :slight_smile:

I wish I had moved abroad though when the kids were little but alas it was not to be :frowning:

We had been planning our move from 1986 and moved house in Spain more than the UK

Anyway we’ve both done well despite being from Leeds

I lived the Brit Expat life in Lisbon for five years, saw the tail end of a bygone age.

Christmas Carols at the Victorian St George’s Anglican Church, garden party at The British Ambassador’s Residence, charity fundraising events organised by old school Brits in their Estoril palaces.

:smiley:

Xpats worked abroad

 I  think  the  expats  yo  met,  Vaniy,  must  have  worked  in  the
Emirates or  Saudi,  and  worked  for  firms  doing  business  with
those  countreis,  and  had   accommodation  provided  by  those
companies.

You are correct, they did not pay any tax here or in the
country they worked in, in the case of uk, because they were
not resident in uk.
You are correct also that they were extremely well paid this
in dollars. All these factors resulted in an extremely good
pay package.
My case Vaniy, was very different,
it was as follows . find job find accommodation.
leave job. start business. build house. build business
Buy another house. rent it out. and so on.
And yes my house did have a pool, which l payed to have
installed.
I think you will find most expats had a similar experience
to mine Vaniy.

Best   Regards.     Donkeyman

State of mind!

Having read all the expat posts in this forum, l have arrived
at a generalised conclusion that a persons state of mind has
a major bearing on whether or not the expat experience is a
pleasant or unpleasant one!
For instance, if you tend to be of an optimistic disposition,
and are willing to put up with a certain amount of discomfort
or struggle, then l think you will have an enjoyable expat
experience!
However, if you tend to have a gloomy outlook, and tend to
see difficulties in every situation you may be presented with,
even to petty things like the taste of the bacon!
You are unlikely to make a success of your move!
I myself became aquainted with a chap from Sheffield who
actually moved three times between UK and SA in a time
span of 5yrs! due to the above reasons.

 Best  Regards      Donkeyman!

I never see expats moan about the country they moved to, I wonder why?
Every country has it problems be it political-social or economic. Is it because they are afraid to speak out as they are not naturalized citizens born in the country, so could be expelled?

Expat expulsion?

I  dont  think  so  RS,  l  think  it  is  precisely  because    of  what

I described in my previous post as, ’ their optimistic, flexible
disposition ’ and the fact that they tend to get on with their
lives regardless,
In my own case, the country l chose to go to erupted into
violent insurrection 3wks before l was due to leave uk,
However, we persevered with our plans, and despite a number
of initial difficulties, we climbed our way up again until we
achieved a level of living we would never achieve in uk doing
what l was for a living!
So l believe some people will always be unhappy with their
lot and others will just get on with it!
The only reason we returned to uk was to reunite with our
children, and financially it has been a disaster.
But it is what it is and we will have to see it through.

Best  Regards      Donkeyman!

I love the expat life. I especially prefer the local Spanish. Even after years here I find their way of life much slower and calmer which suits me to a tee. Long may I continue to enjoy it.