I worked for one of the largest US banks, but based in the UK. They expected blood.
Anyone considering emigrating?
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Banks here are ruthless. A lot of my colleagues are happy to have left banking sector (even IT). Chase is notorious here for hire and burn. Right now I work in the US for a privately owned legal services company, and I can say that the culture here is excellent.
Yep. They aren't much better here in the UK either (even UK banks, athough I'd put them slightly better than US ones). I've been working for various banks for 35 years. It's been a rough ride. I'm surprised I've managed to get this far. Having said that, I'm currently waiting to find out if I'm redundant from my current role. If I am then I'll probably move outside of banking. It's definitely taken its toll.
Soldato
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Oh the irony of living in a country that imposed its culture on a 1/3 of the world and then complain that "our" culture isn't being preserved when people from the countries who's culture we changed come and change ours.
is it really people coming here that change our culture? seems more like it was done from within by trying to eliminate anything British.
also seems like most the countries the Royal Family imposed themselves on still managed to keep their cultures intact
If someone offered me a job in NZ I'd go in a heartbeat.
Kind of regret not properly pursuing it earlier. Doubt it will happen now.
Does leaving England for Wales count?
I've been in NZ for 8.5 years now and we're looking at potentially heading back to the UK. Actually about to make a post this week asking for a good place to live in the UK.
Have you been back since you left? A friends sister came back from Oz with her husband a few years ago, and lasted about 6 months before they went back again. The UK wasn't how she remembered it, and she was glad to leave again.
No I haven't tbh. But I know we're in for a massive culture shock. Yes, I have rose tinted spectacles on, remember the good times I had a in London as a younger, unencumbered man, etc etc. The world today is more complicated than 2014 when I left. I intellectually know all these things. Looking at the salaries on offer, I'll probably be worse off than I am now. Our current working situations are so sweet it's almost criminal.
But honestly man, living in NZ is like living back in time. While we have it exceptionally good here, just missing out in being in the top 5% earners in the country with absolutely no issues, there's still something missing. There's no excitement here, there's just plain, safe, everything works, nice people, boring. I always say the best way I can describe it, is that if the UK culture can be personified as a 25yo person, NZ culture is still a 4yo toddler. And I mean this in a nice way. Through no fault of its own, it's still a young country. It has not had the time to develop flavor. If anything interesting happens in the world, NZ have to jump on the back of that because nothing really happens here.
There's definitely something to say for the issue of having no ... issues. And there's also just enough of a British influence here to constantly remind you of home. Walking through Christchurch or Dunedin on a cold, wintry day is liking walking through Banbury, Oxford-Lite or any medium sized British town. Just enough to remind you of what you've left behind.
For years I thought it was me, but when you get them talking, I've literally only met one British person here that's here in body, heart and soul. Most of us are somewhere in between. We didn't exactly left Darfur or Kiev-under-occupation to come here. We had it good where we left as well. Some of us were young and looking for adventure. Now we're ageing and you have to decide where that phase of your life is going to be.
I'll stop writing now before I become to long winded as I can talk for days about the differences and how I experience them. But yes, we are sending out exploratory probes about moving back. To the horror of family in the UK that think we've lost our minds wanting to leave The Shires
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Soldato
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NZ has like 4 different terrain types, hard to get bored with that variety and generally nice for anyone already established or able to work remote I would guess. I grew up with someone from NZ they came over for school then not long after went back, dont blame them
Which is the country where its cheapest/nicest to live in that retirement situation. Im sure there are secret locations not spoilt and with amazing exchange rate your money goes far
What about the UK didn't you like when you visited?
Soldato
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No I haven't tbh. But I know we're in for a massive culture shock. Yes, I have rose tinted spectacles on, remember the good times I had a in London as a younger, unencumbered man, etc etc. The world today is more complicated than 2014 when I left. I intellectually know all these things. Looking at the salaries on offer, I'll probably be worse off than I am now. Our current working situations are so sweet it's almost criminal.
But honestly man, living in NZ is like living back in time. While we have it exceptionally good here, just missing out in being in the top 5% earners in the country with absolutely no issues, there's still something missing. There's no excitement here, there's just plain, safe, everything works, nice people, boring. I always say the best way I can describe it, is that if the UK culture can be personified as a 25yo person, NZ culture is still a 4yo toddler. And I mean this in a nice way. Through no fault of its own, it's still a young country. It has not had the time to develop flavor. If anything interesting happens in the world, NZ have to jump on the back of that because nothing really happens here.
There's definitely something to say for the issue of having no ... issues. And there's also just enough of a British influence here to constantly remind you of home. Walking through Christchurch or Dunedin on a cold, wintry day is liking walking through Banbury, Oxford-Lite or any medium sized British town. Just enough to remind you of what you've left behind.
For years I thought it was me, but when you get them talking, I've literally only met one British person here that's here in body, heart and soul. Most of us are somewhere in between. We didn't exactly left Darfur or Kiev-under-occupation to come here. We had it good where we left as well. Some of us were young and looking for adventure. Now we're ageing and you have to decide where that phase of your life is going to be.
I'll stop writing now before I become to long winded as I can talk for days about the differences and how I experience them. But yes, we are sending out exploratory probes about moving back. To the horror of family in the UK that think we've lost our minds wanting to leave The Shires
I've had a few friends go to NZ. They've all said similar bar 2, 1 is mad into surfing, lives for it so is in the perfect place. The other is into adventure/enduro motorbike riding and so again is in a Mecca for that sport.
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This is just nonsense. None of it is happening.
We're aiming to be in Spain in around 18 months, got a 2 week mini road trip planned in September to narrow down areas. We're aiming for around an hour North/South of Valencia so not a big area, but nice to visit a few towns around there.
Both the wife and i are pretty much fully remote, and we're currently in the (long) process of applying for Irish citizenship for her which makes it easier. We only have 1 kid at home now and she'll be 22 and just finishing an apprenticeship when we move which is the main reason we're not already there!
Both the wife and i are pretty much fully remote, and we're currently in the (long) process of applying for Irish citizenship for her which makes it easier. We only have 1 kid at home now and she'll be 22 and just finishing an apprenticeship when we move which is the main reason we're not already there!
Soldato
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Do you have no hobbies? Are there no pubs, no restaurants? What excitement do you think the UK would give you that you can't do there, genuinely interested.
Orba's lovely, and will be one of the places we look at as well.Sounds like we'll be future neighbours (kind of)
My parents are in Moraira, but we're looking around the Orba Valley/Xativa area.
One of my mates moved out about 15 years ago and his son moved out not long after. The son actually took on one of the restaurants in Orba (Awaraba) and ran it for a few years. They live(d) in a small village called Sanet y Negrals but they're just moving to Pego now. Their view right now is the lock screen on my phone
The other one's in Ontinyent, prices look pretty good there, seem to get quite a bit for your money.
No doubt that Brexit has made it more difficult, you're fortunate that your wife can get Irish citizenship which will allow you to work. I need to go on a NLV which isn't an issue but just a bit of a nuisance.
I worked for JPMC for a few years (based in HK at the time). The deal was very much (and my boss said this to me) "we pay you a lot, so you work when and where we need you to". I did some insane crunch, 20 hour days for two weeks at one point. Bloody daft.
If you want good work-life balance, then go to Germany. Strong unions, workers councils, a culture of putting family and personal well-being over work (and they are vastly more productive than we are). I stayed til 7pm one day not long after I moved there, got kicked out of the office and told not to be so stupid. Loads of holiday. I lived in NRW near the dutch border which was very cosmopolitan, loads of good nightlife, art, music, culture. The Rhine-Ruhr area is pretty flat and industrialised though, but there's plenty of nice areas to visit, the Mosel valley and vineyards to the south are lovely.
I've been back for nearly 3 years now....and getting seriously itchy feet. The state of healthcare in this country is a serious concern, not to mention the economic outlook is pretty poor.
Mainly though, it's just ****ing boring being back home after you've lived abroad and seen a bit of the world. Got a nice house in a nice village here, but it feels a bit like waiting for death.
Orba's lovely, and will be one of the places we look at as well.
One of my mates moved out about 15 years ago and his son moved out not long after. The son actually took on one of the restaurants in Orba (Awaraba) and ran it for a few years. They live(d) in a small village called Sanet y Negrals but they're just moving to Pego now. Their view right now is the lock screen on my phone
The other one's in Ontinyent, prices look pretty good there, seem to get quite a bit for your money.
No doubt that Brexit has made it more difficult, you're fortunate that your wife can get Irish citizenship which will allow you to work. I need to go on a NLV which isn't an issue but just a bit of a nuisance.
That is a great pic.
Ontinyent is on the list too, along with a few places north of Valencia like Peniscola and Castillion de la plana. I think mentally we're both already there, just a drag having to wait to actually make it happen. Just need to find the sweet spot of being near enough to the coast/towns for my wife, and close enough to the hills for me.
I did this run back in March, was a great way to see a few more isolated places!
IX Aisladis Perimetral a Benissa 75 Km (ULTRA)
Ruta IX Aisladis Perimetral a Benissa 75 Km (ULTRA) de Running en Benissa, Valencia (España). Descarga el track GPS y sigue el recorrido del itinerario del sendero desde un mapa. IX Aisladis Perimetral a Benissa 75 Km (ULTRA) Fecha: 12 de marzo de 2022 Salida y Meta en Benissa (Alicante)...