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!
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? 
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 
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
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 
I wish I had moved abroad though when the kids were little but alas it was not to be 
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.
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.