Time to depart...

[lilelvis2000]

Apply for an independent skilled migration visa, which gives you Australian Permanent Residence

Move out there and find a job.

After 4 years, apply to be a citizen.

and...Be under the age of 45.

I have looked into it and IT people arn't on the demand list - last I checked. They are in NZ, so its easier to get in there.

[SallyAnne]

you value your future, pension and well-being of your kids, get the flip out of here ASAP

I'm pleased we didn't have people with your attitude on the front line!



It's amazing how people's views can be so different...

My husband and I have thought really carefully about where we spend out money over the last few months - trying to make a difference by supporting places that need our help the most etc. This has seriously been in the fore front of our minds every weekend for ages.
Maybe this is because in a place like Sunderland, most places are in need and you can see it a mile off.

I wonder how many people from the North East feel the same way as me? This may actually be a North/South divide thing again (once again realising just what a differeht species you lot are down there).

I'd hope that my fellow men and women of the North would put others before their own selfish individual needs. They'd certainly put the poors needs NOW before that of their fricken pension ffs!

[DimPrawn]

I'm pleased we didn't have people with your attitude on the front line!



It's amazing how people's views can be so different...

My husband and I have thought really carefully about where we spend out money over the last few months - trying to make a difference by supporting places that need our help the most etc. This has seriously been in the fore front of our minds every weekend for ages.
Maybe this is because in a place like Sunderland, most places are in need and you can see it a mile off.

I wonder how many people from the North East feel the same way as me? This may actually be a North/South divide thing again (once again realising just what a differeht species you lot are down there).

I'd hope that my fellow men and women of the North would put others before their own selfish individual needs. They'd certainly put the poors needs NOW before that of their fricken pension ffs!

Think of the children!

Nice rant by the way.

[expat]

and...Be under the age of 45.

I have looked into it and IT people arn't on the demand list - last I checked. They are in NZ, so its easier to get in there.

.... if you are under 56

[Lockhouse]

Lockhouse, why not try a trial move with work for a while, without burning any boats? that way you keep saving, in Euros en plus, and get a chance tp check it out in more depth. You may love France as a mistress but will you see her in the same light as a wife? I found it very different.

Good point well made. We were going to rent for a year first though. I was talking with the missus about contracting in Amsterdam once the youngest leaves home and she was very positive about the idea.

[Sysman]

Thing is as a Londoner (former) I feel more at home in Brussels, Bangkok or Berlin than Bishops Stortford.

Thing is here, as a non-Londoner, I realized a long time ago that in my field my only chance of being able to find work 100% of the time was to move to the Smoke, or at least near enough to commute. Meanwhile I'd already found plenty of work in Europe where I was able to live amidst green fields, usually no more than 10-30 minutes away from the office. No contest for someone who doesn't really like life in a big city.

Yes, there was work outside London, but only until the next takeover...

[sasguru]

If you are going anywhere, the future is an English speaking country in Asia: Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, even parts of India.
The current economic paroxyms mark the beginning of the shift of power from the West to the East, so there's no point going somewhere which is in decline because they spend more than they earn, which IMHO means Europe, the US and the Antipodes.

[DiscoStu]

If you are going anywhere, the future is an English speaking country in Asia: Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, even parts of India.
The current economic paroxyms mark the beginning of the shift of power from the West to the East, so there's no point going somewhere which is in decline because they spend more than they earn, which IMHO means Europe, the US and the Antipodes.

I'd agree, it's just I have this this for girls with Aussie accents

[TimberWolf]

I'm pleased we didn't have people with your attitude on the front line!



It's amazing how people's views can be so different...

My husband and I have thought really carefully about where we spend out money over the last few months - trying to make a difference by supporting places that need our help the most etc. This has seriously been in the fore front of our minds every weekend for ages.
Maybe this is because in a place like Sunderland, most places are in need and you can see it a mile off.

I wonder how many people from the North East feel the same way as me? This may actually be a North/South divide thing again (once again realising just what a differeht species you lot are down there).

I'd hope that my fellow men and women of the North would put others before their own selfish individual needs. They'd certainly put the poors needs NOW before that of their fricken pension ffs!

Forget about the current crisis, this is just a blip of no significance. I'm talking about 10 or 20 years down the line and our huge population problem. That's where we are deeply screwed.

[Scotchpie]

Does that mean we abandon ship and leave the poor to rot?

Yes it does.

You want to take a walk around some of the council estates near where I live and trust me, you'll be fighting for your life within minutes! Even the police don't patrol there!

You seem to have a very rose tinted view of this country SallyAnne, either that or you are being overly optimistic about the future. The reality is completely different.

As my wife is Japanese we often spend several weeks each year over there visiting her family. When returning to the UK it feels like I've traveled back to the dark ages with all the litter and dirt in the streets, the chav's and run down buildings. Britain is becoming a filthy and depressing place to live.

Hell you don't even need to go to Japan to realise that. Last year we toured Germany, and the difference was obvious. Clean streets, good public transport and people who have a much greater understanding of the world.

In Japan people have a higher standard of life (even with the recession), the streets are clean, there is low crime, the people are polite, they have good modern public transport, and the children are respectful and want to work hard at school. When my wife first came to the UK five years ago she could not believe that this was "Great Britain," and how people survive in such misery and squaller. Our plan is to move there when our baby, who is due in February, turns five. If not, then definately when they are ten and ready to enter high school. There is no way she, or I, will allow our child to be raised for long in this place.

You cannot blame people with the means to move abroad for doing so. It's completely natural to want the best for themselves and for their children. Britain sadly cannot offer the future it once could. End of story. Maybe you need to get out more, travel the world etc. then you'll understand.