Immigrating to the UK

Priapus said:
It’s all about the reasonings for moving.

For me; I couldn’t care less about the weather or politics or whatever have you here in the UK. We are moving for one reason; to be closer to family as we have none in SA.

We will just adapt and the wife being British and only been in SA for 8 years - will readjust to English life easy enough.
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no brainer
 
Tman* said:
The Good:

1. Safety – Its amazing not having to look over your shoulder the whole time and go into full tactical mode when you hear something at night. Overall safety has reduced day to day stress immensely.
On this note, my physical health has also greatly improved. I walk, hike & cycle extensively (this is largely due to the fact that I have a safe environment to do so). I went from a GBP40 Ebay rust bucket bike to buying a full suspension bike and my weekend activities now include cycling in the woods, as apposed to drinking beer and watching rugby on the couch (I still do this, but not as often).

2. Travel – been fortunate enough to travel for work & leisure. Went on 9 international trips this year. Still feels unreal (and a privilege) to be able to travel to the EU on a short flight and experience all it has to offer.

3. Financial: I try to live a balanced lifestyle. I travel quite a bit, but still clean my home if I can use that as an example LMAO. As a household, we have been able to start living and saving in GBP and our savings have been exponential (in terms of what we have been able to save in SA). Its not all sunshine and roses, see point 2 below.

4. Taxes work: I think this goes hand in hand with point one and it increases overall quality of live, reduces stress and just made me a less angry person.
The UK is not perfect, but most of the stuff just works. Public transport, Policing, HMRC, the local council, the postal service and and and.
Example: The council missed my bin collection the other day and I logged a ticket online to notify them. A few hours later, I received an email informing me the bins have been collected. Living with small victories day by day puts a smile on my face.

The Bad:

1. Winter sucks salty Llama nut sack – I survived my 1st winter and planning to find an indoor hobby or something, because I found it incredibly depressing.

2. Properties seem unobtainable: I live in Surrey, its seems impossible to buy anything half decent, on a good dual income salary and a chunky deposit.
Most of the wealth seems to be accumulated generational, or maybe I missed the boat in my mid 30’s and Im too old to get into property.
It is making me feel a bit uneasy as I got peace of mind owning property in SA. We have shifted our goals and mindset quite a bit in the last 12 months. Initially we were planning to “retire” in SA, but that’s out the window, we are not going back.
Having the ability of full WFH we might consider to buy somewhere cheaper in England, or perhaps even Spain/ Portugal depending on visa and passport restrictions in the future. For time being we are waiting out this storm of high interest rates. Hoping to pick up a bargain in the future.

3. Restaurants food is crap and overpriced. We substitute this buy cooking great food at home, but I miss it.

4. Miss friends and family. Managed to make some local friends, but we do miss our mense back home. Earning GBP has its perks tho as its much easier to travel to SA. In fact, I have a 2 week CPT holiday lined up in September.

I hope the above can give some insight to those wanting to make the move. The grass is NOT always greener, I would rather say there is always a trade off when you move away from SA. Decide whats important for you and make an informed decision.
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Don’t remember who said it, but there’s no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothes.
 
Tman* said:
2. Properties seem unobtainable: I live in Surrey, its seems impossible to buy anything half decent, on a good dual income salary and a chunky deposit.
Most of the wealth seems to be accumulated generational, or maybe I missed the boat in my mid 30’s and Im too old to get into property.
It is making me feel a bit uneasy as I got peace of mind owning property in SA. We have shifted our goals and mindset quite a bit in the last 12 months. Initially we were planning to “retire” in SA, but that’s out the window, we are not going back.
Having the ability of full WFH we might consider to buy somewhere cheaper in England, or perhaps even Spain/ Portugal depending on visa and passport restrictions in the future. For time being we are waiting out this storm of high interest rates. Hoping to pick up a bargain in the future.
Click to expand...
The properties are caught in a moment where the sellers don’t want to drop prices and the buyers can’t afford to finance them due to the interest rate. Something has to give eventually.

Another typical factor of moving is that one takes a knock on one’s relative income. So even if you’re earning more in the absolute sense it may take some time before you can buy what you previously could again.

Tman* said:
3. Restaurants food is crap and overpriced. We substitute this buy cooking great food at home, but I miss it.
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I really like the restaurant food in London, but do agree on the overpricing.
 
I must also say that Harrogate and Leeds does have some excellent dining spots ..... yeah it's a tad overpriced but I've had some hella good nosh
 
So, we’ve decided to waste no time getting to the UK. Still set for next year as there is no time (or rush) to do it this year.

Going to start getting our ducks in a row as soon as we get back to SA next weekend.

We have a concern about one of the dogs we are taking; he is super anxious and we know he will not do well on the flight.

Those of you who took pets over; who did you use and were they good?

Going to start getting quotes and also making sure all animals have required jabs and tests etc.
 
Priapus said:
So, we’ve decided to waste no time getting to the UK. Still set for next year as there is no time (or rush) to do it this year.

Going to start getting our ducks in a row as soon as we get back to SA next weekend.

We have a concern about one of the dogs we are taking; he is super anxious and we know he will not do well on the flight.

Those of you who took pets over; who did you use and were they good?

Going to start getting quotes and also making sure all animals have required jabs and tests etc.
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global paws.
 
Priapus said:
So, we’ve decided to waste no time getting to the UK. Still set for next year as there is no time (or rush) to do it this year.

Going to start getting our ducks in a row as soon as we get back to SA next weekend.

We have a concern about one of the dogs we are taking; he is super anxious and we know he will not do well on the flight.

Those of you who took pets over; who did you use and were they good?

Going to start getting quotes and also making sure all animals have required jabs and tests etc.
Click to expand...
Petwings - can recommend.

Not sure if I would personally bring over anxious animals. I have heard some horror stories, and the pet relo company cant really help with the stressful bits - being caged, away from your humans, discomfort from the flight etc.
 
Tman* said:
Petwings - can recommend.

Not sure if I would personally bring over anxious animals. I have heard some horror stories, and the pet relo company cant really help with the stressful bits - being caged, away from your humans, discomfort from the flight etc.
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Yeah it’s not ideal. But he has to come with. I’m wondering if we can give him something before the flight to chill him out.
 
Priapus said:
Yeah it’s not ideal. But he has to come with. I’m wondering if we can give him something before the flight to chill him out.
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You can't visibly tranquillise them iirc but a good vet should be able to work out a dose to just calm them down.
 
We got a pheromone collar for our one that was anxious as hell. Also got a crate the size of what she would be travelling in and got her a bit used to it - fave toy and blanky which you should include on the day of travel, helps a lot. Also if possible, can't stress enough how important a direct flight is.

End of the day in my case the company turned out shyte which negated all the work put in to destress the dog but just go with a better company is all.
 
+1 on globalpaws

Also if your dog is anxious I would highly recommend you speak to your vet and hear if they think your dog would be fit for the flight. If you do decide to take your dog with, make sure which ever pet company you use, that they insure that the pilot of the airline on which your dog is flying are aware that there is a pet on the flight. This is so that the pilot knows how critical it is for them to control the air pressure in the cargo hold.

Our 8 year old english bull terrier which was still fairly young and healthy recently flew from jhb to melbourne via dubai, he was fine on flight from jhb to dubai but died on the flight from dubai to melbourne.

Every pet is different but since your dog have anxiety I can't stress it enough, be very cautious and consult a good vet if your dog would be able to manage the flight.
 
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staunchy20 said:
+1 on globalpaws

Also if your dog is anxious I would highly recommend you speak to your vet and hear if they think your dog would be fit for the flight. If you do decide to take your dog with, make sure which ever pet company you use, that they insure that the pilot of the airline on which your dog is flying are aware that there is a pet on the flight. This is so that the pilot knows how critical it is for them to control the air pressure in the cargo hold.

Our 8 year old english bull terrier which was still fairly young and healthy recently flew from jhb to melbourne via dubai, he was fine on flight from jhb to dubai but died on the flight from dubai to melbourne.

Every pet is different but since your dog have anxiety I can't stress it enough, be very cautious and consult a good vet if your dog would be able to manage the flight.
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Sorry to hear that. Must have been heartbreaking. Strongs.
 
staunchy20 said:
+1 on globalpaws

Also if your dog is anxious I would highly recommend you speak to your vet and hear if they think your dog would be fit for the flight. If you do decide to take your dog with, make sure which ever pet company you use, that they insure that the pilot of the airline on which your dog is flying are aware that there is a pet on the flight. This is so that the pilot knows how critical it is for them to control the air pressure in the cargo hold.

Our 8 year old english bull terrier which was still fairly young and healthy recently flew from jhb to melbourne via dubai, he was fine on flight from jhb to dubai but died on the flight from dubai to melbourne.

Every pet is different but since your dog have anxiety I can't stress it enough, be very cautious and consult a good vet if your dog would be able to manage the flight.
Click to expand...

That's horrible! Sorry to hear.
 
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