Top 10 Reasons to Leave England and Live & Work Abroad

The topic of the increasing number of immigrants in the UK is something we hear discussed constantly in the media and by politicians. BUT – behind the growing number of people coming into England there is an ever increasing number of people leaving England. Every year more and more English people choose to emigrate, opting to live and work abroad. Why?

Here is a proposed list of the top 10 reasons to leave England and work and live abroad.

1. The Weather

2. Pace of Life

3. Lack of people contact (cocoon, individualistic)

4. Crime

5. Materialism

6. Symptom Orientated

7. Not the most favourable Scuba Diving conditions in the World

8. Propaganda and Negative News

9. Not all property comes with a hammock and balcony as a standard package

10. Apathy

1. The weather

Right up there at the top. You can bet your bottom dollar, that if you ask anyone why they would want to leave England and live and work abroad, the first thing anyone would say is “The Weather!”.

People dislike the weather in England for varying reasons.

a. The Summers aren’t long enough and aren’t reliable enough
After that long grey winter our spirits lift as we move through spring, and our excitement builds as summer approaches. The mood of the entire nation lifts as a heat wave approaches (if we’re lucky!), but then, before we’ve barely had chance to enjoy it, let alone maintain a steady state of bliss – the Sun has gone, the grey clouds come over, and down pours start! The nation moves to a mood of doom and gloom!

b. The winters go on too long
The winter has some plus points let’s face it. When the snow comes it’s really amusing to watch people walking carefully but quickly through the slush, frowns on their faces as they concentrate so hard on not slipping over in their work clothes. Or maybe you enjoy taking a walk in the English countryside, and being the first person to lay a foot print in the freshly fallen snow. The mood of the entire nation at this point enters into playfulness. Sledging, building snowmen, skidding – even adults can easily find it in themselves to regress back to being children. BUT before we know it, the snow turns to grey black slush, accidents happen on the road, and the rain comes. The playfulness of the nation moves to a mood of doom and gloom!

c. The weather changes too much
As we can gage from the above two points as a nation our mood is intrinsically connected to the weather. Yet the weather is constantly changing and unpredictable. When we do receive some “good mood” weather, it doesn’t tend to stick around for long, and so we feel deprived! How do we gain a state of contentment? Is it any wonder that Nations such as Thailand are known as the Land of Smiles? Does this bear any connection to the fact that their weather is more consistent? Rainy and Dry seasons. How less complicated is that than Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter?


2. Pace of Life

Everybody in this country, and I mean just about everybody, is stressed. I really noticed it the most when I came back from a year in Thailand & Malaysia. I’m not kidding it was immediately obvious. Everyone looked tense, and everybody was moving so fast. It was almost as if I’d entered a nation high on caffeine or some form of Amphetamine. Everyone was whizzing around from one thing to the next, from one place to the next, and I couldn’t and still can’t fathom exactly how people manage to do so many things in one day. Working parents I applaud you. How on earth do you keep the house clean, do the food shopping, prepare the meals, talk to the children, get them to school, get them to any after school activities AND go to work, let alone have any time for yourself? But whatever you do, while you’re busy working your socks off to simply get through the day, don’t forget to fill in any paperwork for your child, your car, the gas man…………. Arghhhhh!!!!!!


3. Lack of people contact

Probably as a result of the pace of life, many people are too busy and therefore don’t have time for other people. We don’t smile at each other in the streets, everyone is on too much of a mission to get to the next place, or too worried about talking to strangers. We have to diary people in for quality time, IF we can. Then, when we do have “down time”, because we’re so exhausted, and because of the design of our society, we live in our little (or large) cocoon houses, living out individualist lives, trying to gain some connection with the rest of the world and other people by watching reality TV shows or god forbid, writing blogs!


4. Crime

Is it growing? Or is it reported more? What do you think? All I know for sure is that the town I live in used to be pretty safe from a large proportion of crime, and to be honest still is one of the safest areas in England. However, I’ve noticed a growing amount of teenage agro seeping into town. There is much more attitude around in youngsters today, much less respect, and so on. I can’t begin to imagine what things are going to be like in another 10 or 20 years time, or indeed what it must be like already in some neighbourhoods of the UK.


5. Materialism

Ahhh… the biggy. To me the route of all the evils, and the one that causes me some of my largest personal battles. When you live in the UK (or any western society really) you are constantly tempted, constantly seduced, and constantly encouraged to want more and more. A nice house, a nice car, nice things to go in the house, nice clothes – all designer of course. So we work all the hours under the sun to get these things, then we work even harder to pay for a holiday to get away from it all, plus we spend loads of money on playing equally as hard as we work in order to get some kind of release from the tension.

6. Symptom Orientated

Symptom orientated? Well some of you may be scratching your head, wondering what the heck I'm talking about now, but some of you will be right there with me. This absolutely drives me mad. But what do I mean by symptom orientated? Okay - the first area I can use as an example would be the medical system. If any person suffers any pain or discomfort, that person will generally and automatically look for something to take away the discomfort. It could be painkillers, antidepressants, or any other form of medicine that treats a symptom of illness. And that is my point - the majority of these treatments do exactly that - they treat the symptoms - they don't treat the cause. Usually there is a very good reason for illness, pain or discomfort - but, because of the culture we have been raised in, our thinking is to immediately look at how we can eliminate the consequences - NOT look at what caused it in the first place.

The amazing thing is - even the Doctors tend to think this way. I was gob smacked to discover a few years ago, that Doctors are not trained a great deal in Nutrition... Like "Hello!"... It's a bit like going to see a mechanic when your car won't start after you've been putting pee in it instead of petrol - and the car mechanic walking around the car scratching his head and rubbing his chin - going "hmmmm! Can’t see what's wrong with that - everything in the engine looks okay!"....

This approach doesn't just stop at the medical system however - what about speed cameras on the roads? Why is so much energy devoted to debating the rights or wrongs of speed cameras and the problems of dealing with speeding vehicles... surely the answer is simple - DON'T make cars that go so fast - and don't market their speed as a selling point... This crazy philosophy we currently witness is almost on a par with allowing the sale of tobacco and alcohol - but making it illegal to drink or smoke!!! Can you imagine the uproar there would be if people were able to walk into a corner shop and buy a packet of cigarettes, but then get arrested and fined as they walked out and lit one up!!! Sounds bonkers I know - but really the current philosophy around cars and speeding is no different, is it?

Which ever area of English culture you look at - you can almost guarantee that the powers that be will be doing all they can to treat the symptoms - and hardly anyone - anywhere will even be discussing the cause - let alone dealing with it.....

7. Not the most favourable scuba diving conditions in the world!

Yes - I love scuba diving - so for me - this is high up and a genuine reason for wanting to leave England. Sure I could scuba dive in England, and I do believe there is some good diving around locally. But for me the whole pleasure of diving is the experience of warm waters, tropical fish, and a generally meditational time.. Somehow getting into cold murky water, looking for some of the less attractive fish you may find around the English Coastline, and dealing with perhaps some more challenging conditions - just doesn't do it for me in the same way!!! Particularly when I get out of the water and have to put as many layers of clothes on as possible because it freezing cold!!!

8. Propaganda & Negative News

Is it true that no news is good news? I don't know about you, but personally I get tired and worn down by the constant bad news we are exposed to.

It would be interesting to carry out some research on two groups of people.

The people in group 1 would be void of any television, newspapers, or radio news for a period of one month, and the people in group 2 would be exposed to them as much as possible.

Which of the groups do you think would be the happiest at the end of the month? I think we could almost guarantee that the people who were not exposed to the news were the happiest.

But hey – let’s keep bombarding the Nation with negative stuff that depresses everyone – but I know what… Let’s give them antidepressants to deal with the symptoms!!

I think it would be fair to say, that many of us have one main purpose in life - to be happy. So it follows quite naturally that in our pursuit of happiness we may desire to live somewhere which is not as exposed to negative and manipulative media. As the media or the politicians in England don’t seem to quite get this – perhaps the only solution is to leave England and live and work abroad…


9. Not all property comes with a hammock and a balcony as a standard package...

Property here in England seems to be getting smaller and smaller, and more expensive. New estates are being developed, which although a great improvement on some of the sky scraper blocks of flats of the 60's and 70's, still resemble a growing span of concrete jungle. Getting onto the property ladder is a nightmare, and even buying a plot of land to build a wooden hut is incredibly expensive...

You can't beat a hammock and a balcony for breeding relaxation and contentment... But to be able to afford a place in England where you can have a balcony with a nice view, and a hammock to sway in - you really have got to be either extremely fortunate, working your socks off to earn a fortune, or just pretty damn smart.

In other places around the world, such as South America and Asia, beach apartments with balconies and hammocks are fairly standard, plentiful, and cheap. The international property market has grown beyond belief over the last few years as people become aware of the bargains available around Europe and further a field...

10. Apathy

And finally - reason 10 - Apathy.

We are all so apathetic. Every day I hear people complaining. No one I know would disagree really with any of the top 10 reasons to leave England. The country is going to pot with more and more people seeking a life in the sun every year.

Decades or centuries ago, there would have been some passionate rebellious leaders - standing on soap boxes - gathering the crowds, developing a following, starting a revolution... Now - the majority of us - go to the pub - watch TV - or do whatever we can to escape from reality.... We all feel so powerless and unable to make a difference - that no one bothers anymore.

My own personal icons of change are Richard Branson and Al Gore - if they were running two of the Worlds most powerful countries - how different would things be?

The media today is so powerful - anyone that wants to create change really has to get the media on side. Without positive publicity it could seem near impossible to get anywhere. Thankfully today - we have the power of the internet - where individuals can start to express themselves and reach other viewers without the authority of the media coming into play at all... Then we have Virgin Media growing slowly too.. Where will of all these new avenues of media lead the world?

It's going to be fascinating to watch it all unfold... Maybe the dormant passion of the people has started to stir, and the nation will soon begin to feel empowered to change... Alternatively, maybe those of us that can see, will just jump the sinking ship and start a new life somewhere else...!!!

Do you agree with the top 10 reasons to leave England?

Do you have any other reasons to add?

Do you have any comments to add?

Go for your life... and add them here, let's start a revolution!!!!!!!