Time to depart...

[gingerjedi]

So no-one's come up with any better options that aren't the other side of the world?

Anyone tried living in Spain for more than a few months? I used to work with a couple of contractors that had places in the Marbella/Puerto Banus area. Didn't seem bad, though not exactly cheap.

Though that's the price you pay to avoid the expats who think Blackpool's sophisticated, trashing the Costa Del Sol and Benidorm areas.

Seems we may as well gain some benefit from being in the EU, and try moving around it a bit more, even if it's only for the sunshine.

My dad has a Finca with a few acres, he keeps chickens for eggs, grows all the vegetables he needs and sells his chilli crop to a uk based online chilli trader, he tells me you can only grow oranges in the summer months but his lemons grow all year round, what he can’t eat he trades with the neighbours for meat and wine.

It’s more ‘the good life’ than high life but he’s very happy, I hope join him one day when get this stupid idea that I need lots of money out of my head.

[Purple Dalek]

My dad has a Finca with a few acres, he keeps chickens for eggs, grows all the vegetables he needs and sells his chilli crop to a uk based online chilli trader, he tells me you can only grow oranges in the summer months but his lemons grow all year round, what he can’t eat he trades with the neighbours for meat and wine.

It’s more ‘the good life’ than high life but he’s very happy, I hope join him one day when get this stupid idea that I need lots of money out of my head.

There are two main varieties of oranges that luckily crop at different times of the year. Suggest you dad finds what his trees are and buy a few of the other sort.

(Pedants: Yes I know there are hundreds of varieties of orange, but I'm on about they broadly fall into two groups for time of the year they crop)

[expat]

How come Americanism isn't spelt with a Z?

Americanize iz.

[expat]

Even if it wasn't in recession, there is no way that I will be able to match locally the sums of money that I earned working at Finance companies in London, so this has been a lifestyle move not an economic one, and probably not a lot of help with your article!

I would like to point out that it has been for me too, every time I moved. That included moving to the USA on a pay cut. And it applies to the negative side too: I have no inclination to leave the UK on economic grounds. I commute weekly to another country, but I've got to find work like everybody else, and we are in the EU which expands the horizons there somewhat.

[BrilloPad]

http://www.contractoruk.com/004125.html

Has Britain gone to the tulips?

"This country is turning into a crime-ridden tuliphole, last one out turn off the light," said one CUK bulletin boarder yesterday, and judging by other contractor comments there are few that have not considered taking work abroad.

Lockhouse, also on the CUK bulletin board, writes, "If I was younger I'd have already gone. This country has nothing to offer."

And DiscoStu adds, "I'm off to Australia provided my visa application's successful. Can't wait to get out of here, it'll probably mean a pay cut but I don't care. With any luck this will be my last UK Xmas."

When Cabinet minister Tessa Jowell admits that Britain faces the worst recession in living memory and comparisons with the 1930s depression are rife in the media, it's hardly surprising so many are thinking of leaving.

But curiously, possible economic hardship is only a small part of the reasoning.

TheFaqqer says, "I just want somewhere with more land. My aunt and uncle live on a farm out there [Canada] with 100 acres, but don't actually farm anything. Just land, and lots of it..."

And Threaded cites the reasons he's already left the country: "On my visits back to the UK, the most shocking thing is the level of poverty I see. The place seems to be going backwards. Dirty, grimey. These plastic policemen look like a joke. Coppers walking around airport terminals with machine guns, when some don't seem to have grasped trigger discipline, is worrying."

Many contractors detest the over-crowded nature of life in Britain. Perhaps 30 years ago, with less car ownership, fewer commuters and nucleated communities, one was less aware of the sheer density of the population.

But now, when everybody wants to dash across the country on Friday nights, or cram into the out-of-town shopping mall on Saturday morning, the stress of navigating the hoards is causing many to look wistfully overseas.

"The UK would be a better place, and better placed, if 20 or 30 million people departed," says TimberWolf.

And Expat adds, "Look at the good bits of the UK, they're all the lesser-populated bits."

Abroad is not all roses, though, warns Les Berridge, overseas agency spokesperson for the Recruitment and Employment Confederation IT and Comms sector group.

It is important to completely understand the complexities of language, culture, taxation and payroll issues. "You must really want to fit in," he says.

"Unless you are going abroad for a lifestyle change, you're probably better off in the UK."

His advice is borne out by recently emigrated contract developer, Ashley Pobs, now in New Zealand. "Moving overseas can easily wipe you out financially, and the cost of moving a family can be exorbitant. You may be able to get a sponsor who will cover this cost, but expect that to come back against you as a lower rate. And since rates outside the UK are usually lower in any case, you must base your decision on lifestyle."

But not all contractors want to leave. SallyAnn on the CUK bulletin board is scathing of the talk about emigrating.

"People like us should be working out where we need to direct our money to help the most... ploughing our money into banks, into buying things from small businesses, into eating out as much as we can, into spending," she says.

"Anyone who leaves this country in its greatest time of need, should never be allowed to return. They should be treated as deserters....after all, that's what they are, isn't it?"



SallyAnne

I see media standards are slipping.....

[gingerjedi]

http://www.contractoruk.com/004125.html

Has Britain gone to the tulips?

"This country is turning into a crime-ridden tuliphole, last one out turn off the light," said one CUK bulletin boarder yesterday, and judging by other contractor comments there are few that have not considered taking work abroad.

Lockhouse, also on the CUK bulletin board, writes, "If I was younger I'd have already gone. This country has nothing to offer."

And DiscoStu adds, "I'm off to Australia provided my visa application's successful. Can't wait to get out of here, it'll probably mean a pay cut but I don't care. With any luck this will be my last UK Xmas."

When Cabinet minister Tessa Jowell admits that Britain faces the worst recession in living memory and comparisons with the 1930s depression are rife in the media, it's hardly surprising so many are thinking of leaving.

But curiously, possible economic hardship is only a small part of the reasoning.

TheFaqqer says, "I just want somewhere with more land. My aunt and uncle live on a farm out there [Canada] with 100 acres, but don't actually farm anything. Just land, and lots of it..."

And Threaded cites the reasons he's already left the country: "On my visits back to the UK, the most shocking thing is the level of poverty I see. The place seems to be going backwards. Dirty, grimey. These plastic policemen look like a joke. Coppers walking around airport terminals with machine guns, when some don't seem to have grasped trigger discipline, is worrying."

Many contractors detest the over-crowded nature of life in Britain. Perhaps 30 years ago, with less car ownership, fewer commuters and nucleated communities, one was less aware of the sheer density of the population.

But now, when everybody wants to dash across the country on Friday nights, or cram into the out-of-town shopping mall on Saturday morning, the stress of navigating the hoards is causing many to look wistfully overseas.

"The UK would be a better place, and better placed, if 20 or 30 million people departed," says TimberWolf.

And Expat adds, "Look at the good bits of the UK, they're all the lesser-populated bits."

Abroad is not all roses, though, warns Les Berridge, overseas agency spokesperson for the Recruitment and Employment Confederation IT and Comms sector group.

It is important to completely understand the complexities of language, culture, taxation and payroll issues. "You must really want to fit in," he says.

"Unless you are going abroad for a lifestyle change, you're probably better off in the UK."

His advice is borne out by recently emigrated contract developer, Ashley Pobs, now in New Zealand. "Moving overseas can easily wipe you out financially, and the cost of moving a family can be exorbitant. You may be able to get a sponsor who will cover this cost, but expect that to come back against you as a lower rate. And since rates outside the UK are usually lower in any case, you must base your decision on lifestyle."

But not all contractors want to leave. SallyAnn on the CUK bulletin board is scathing of the talk about emigrating.

"People like us should be working out where we need to direct our money to help the most... ploughing our money into banks, into buying things from small businesses, into eating out as much as we can, into spending," she says.

"Anyone who leaves this country in its greatest time of need, should never be allowed to return. They should be treated as deserters....after all, that's what they are, isn't it?"



SallyAnne

I see media standards are slipping.....

This was my bloody post and I'm just about the only CUK member who didn't get a mention.

[TimberWolf]

Where's the poll?

[BrilloPad]

This was my bloody post and I'm just about the only CUK member who didn't get a mention.

It has taught you a valuable lesson about dealing with the media. They never let facts get in the way of a story.

[BrilloPad]

Where's the poll?

Departed?

IGMC

[Mich the Tester]

How about this? For 30,000 pounds you can get a small but comfy apartment in the very smart Palermo district of Buenos Aires. Pay cash, take some savings and just give up trying to get rich. Just live life in the sun instead.

Linky