Don’t Let Anything Hold You Back from Moving Abroad

The Telegraph has today published the findings from a recent study by Aviva of the things Britons would miss most if they moved abroad.  Coming top are the likes of British food (yes really!), British TV, the NHS and of course family and friends.

However, we would like to assure any would-be expats that they needn’t let anything hold them back from moving abroad.  The things you think you might miss most can often be guarded against, planned for and factored in – what’s more, you will gain so much more from making the move that chances are, you’ll wonder why on earth you were worried in the first place.

Britons are hooked on elements of British life such as the dependable NHS, and yet so often health care services abroad are far superior.  What’s more, if you think you’ll miss TV and food that much have you ever considered the fact that you can order British groceries to be delivered to you no matter where you are in the world, and the Internet allows you to catch up on the best of the BBC and ITV anyway…

If you’re keen to change your life, you know that you could access a better lifestyle and certainly better weather abroad, and yet you have a long list of reasons not to move overseas, perhaps you’re allowing nerves to get in the way of your true feelings.

It’s natural to feel massive concern before taking any major move in life – can you remember how you felt before you left home to go to college or university for example?  Can you remember what it felt like right before you moved into your own place for the first time?  Nerves precede major life events…but don’t let them rule your decisions.

In other words, don’t let your nerves get the better of you and hold you back from making what could be the best move you ever make.

If you’re overly concerned with how much you will be leaving behind why don’t you break it down and write a list of the elements of your life you’re loath to change.  Having done that you can look closely and see how you can get around these concerns, work with them, avoid them or even find a way to live with them.

That’s what Aviva asked 1,000 would-be expats to do – i.e., to write down the things they would miss most if they made the move - and their findings reveal that the top 5 things holding some Britons back from making the final decisive move to commit to relocation are as follows: -

1) Family and Friends
2) British TV
3) British Sense of Humour
4) British Food
5) NHS

Now let’s break that list down and find a way to handle each element so that a Briton concerned about each aspect above can find a way to cope with it, get round it, learn to live with it and ultimately, not let it hold them back from moving overseas and changing their life for the better: -

1) Family and Friends – it is essential that you consider how your move will affect your family and your friends.  However, you also need to remember that those who love you will always want what’s best for you, and if what’s best for you is to relocate for work or lifestyle reasons…then so be it. 

You need to make an active plan so that you can keep in close touch with family and friends when you move.  This can include you planning in future holiday time to come home and visit, or working out when you can host your family and friends abroad. 

If affordability is an aspect that needs considering then perhaps you can help fund close family’s travel – or you can all agree to save hard so that you can stay in regular and close contact. 

You can also SKYPE with a webcam, call, text, instant message and keep bang up to date thanks to the likes of Facebook and Twitter. 

Furthermore, once you’re settled abroad you may be able to sponsor your family to come and live with you – and don’t forget you will make many new friends to add to the wonderful ones you already have as soon as you relocate.

2) British TV – we Brits tend to watch a lot of TV because we have such dire weather a lot of the time there is little else to do!  When you relocate you will find a whole wealth of new opportunities to get out and about and enjoy that you will genuinely find you have less time to sit in front of the box. 

That said, they do have TV abroad you know – and because a lot of British TV is so good, it travels and is translated in many nations.  Furthermore you can get satellite TV anywhere in the world and find British channels, and you can get British TV on the Internet thanks to the likes of BBC’s iPlayer – so you need never miss out on all the shows that keep you happy. 

However, going back to the earlier point, you will also find that there is more to do and you have to get out and about and socialise in order to meet new people and make new friends – so you will have less time on your hands to watch TV anyway!

3) British Sense of Humour – other than in Ireland you’re unlikely to find a sense of humour to rival the British one anywhere in the world (I don’t expect anyone but Brits to necessarily agree with that point of course!!!).  However, fortunately enough, we Britons have very itchy feet and we can be found in every corner of the globe – which means that it’s actually very difficult to move abroad and avoid Brits! 

As a result you’re highly likely to hook up with fell expat Britons and share a few laughs over a pint of the local brew, reminisce about home and laugh the night away.  So, missing the British sense of humour is really not something to overly concern yourself with!!

4) British Food - wherever there’s a big build up of Britons abroad you will find British fare being sold – from the ubiquitous Sunday lunches to full English breakfasts – what’s more, as stated earlier, you can have British groceries delivered to you no matter where in the world you live thanks to the likes of BritishCornerShop.co.uk. 

So, anyone who really believes they’ll be able to escape Marmite, Branston Pickle, Walkers Crisps and Bisto Gravy by relocating abroad is very much mistaken!!

5) The NHS - Brits are lulled into a very false sense of security that the NHS will always look after them.  Perhaps we fail to take in the reality beneath the headlines about all the mistakes made, the lack of caring professionals in the industry nowadays, the amount of money wasted on managers, the huge underfunding and the cases of neglect?  Who knows?  However, the reality is there are doctors, nurses, hospitals and medicine all available all over the world! 

Yes, sometimes you have to pay to access care – but that is a factor and an element of your new life that you need to research before you relocate.  If you need health insurance in place to gain access to healthcare services abroad, ensure you have it.  It needn’t be unaffordable. 

What’s more, in many nations in the world – naming South Africa, Germany and Canada as just 3 examples – healthcare can be far better in terms of standards and results than that we all have ‘free’ access to in the UK. 

In other words, ensure you know about the realities of your new life, don’t just assume the worst!  Many elements of your new life will be better than they are now…so what is really stopping you from taking the plunge?

If you’re making list after list of reasons not to move then perhaps you don’t want to move?  However, if you’re just a little nervous about relocating and there are small things niggling you at the back of your mind about what you might be leaving behind, just accept them as natural nerves.

You can help yourself get over or around them by writing a list of them and actively planning ways to cope with them, and then you will be well on your way to committing to the relocation abroad.

Ultimately there are so many new opportunities to embrace abroad that as soon as you have made the commitment you will wonder why you worried about any aspect of your emigration in the first place!

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