Do retirees visit their home countries often or stay put in Thailand?

[Nolster]

It does make more sense for your relatives to visit you here. It opens up travel opportunities for them.

For the last 5 years, I have flown back to help care and visit for my mom. Now she was taken out of her home by one of 3 brothers. She is afraid of losing her home (It is in trust to the oldest brother). Nobody is willing to take her in, except me and my wife. Well, my girl was turned downed for a fiancee visa (being a tourist is not going to allow her to work), and now have decided to marry here and stay

We asked my oldest brother to bring her her here. All are welcome to visit. It would open up opportunities to get out of the Upstate New York winters, and record snowfalls.

My mom is 90, and has some minor medical issues.....she lives for the hospitals...(frequent visits, whether she needs them or not). Needs only checkups and subscriptions, which might be handled by the government, for the most part. I suppose her medications could be mailed, with the proper documentation.

Well....that is my answer. I used to go home and visit, but now I am hoping it will be the other way around. It sure would be nice to have my mom here, enjoying the weather and smiling neighbors. Sure would make everything worthwhile.

Wow, that's great! I am a Syracuse graduate myself. What type of visa your mom would get to come live in Thailand with you? I think you might be able to buy the same or similar medications in Thailand for a lot less. I am assuming that your wife is Thai and is willing to look after your mom, that's the Asian culture.

Yep..Syracuse. My brother was the Computer Analyst for the College of Forestry at Syracuse University for 40 years. Still works a few hours a week there.

I sent my brother the website and specified O-A Retirement.

Her Meds are force fed via Woolgreens....Automatically refilled and they notify her for pickup. She pays very little...but I need to check here. Mailing probably costs more than just buying the meds here.

Nothing unusual for people of her age. Water pills, blood pressure pills, thinners for the blood....etc.

My wife is pushing this. Her mom just died at 90 and she cared for her for 15 years (Altzheimers and paraplegic)

I think you are very lucky to have married your wife, my hats off to her!

[Nolster]

Sometimes I wonder about the questions being asked!! Use a bit of common sense!!! It all depends on a person's wealth and desires. Some people, like me, do not have the money to visit their own country, so desire is not an issue! I'd like to, but can not! Other people can afford to do it, so it comes down to desire. If they want to, they can. If thy do not want to, they do not!

Very true!

[ignis]

Returning to visit family and friends Tomb stones, is not in my plans, no let them rest.... the very few that are still alive are much younger and can come here if and when they want.. many family I have never met [8 cousins that I know of in UK and about 15 in Canada, guess many of these are married and have children and maybe grand children]

Sure living here in 11 years I have left Thailand for holidays, but longest flight 5 hours to Australia a couple of times, rest have been visits around Asia... even when living and working in Europe did not visit UK in 15 years, so have no reason to go to UK for visits

[Suradit69]

Retired in Thailand 8 years ago and haven't been out since then, nor do I have any plans to leave.

I left the US about 40 years ago. On two occasions I went "home" for slightly more than a year. Other than that, maybe 8 very short visits over 4 decades. During ten years in the UAE I went to the US once and spent three or four months a year in Thailand. Now Thailand is as much home as any other place I've lived. Actually it's the first place I've stayed in a long time where I don't have a spare room filled with trunks & cardboard boxes ready for the next move.

Overly sentimental attachment to largely fictional remembrance of things & places from the past seems to only make one unhappy about the present ... as all the whining on Thai Visa about life in Thailand illustrates. Keeping in touch with some people from the past is fairly easy these days.

Some farang living in Thailand are mentality still clinging to life back in Farang Land, usually inventing vastly over-rated memories of how perfect things were there compared to here. I expect for many of them a trip back home comes as a rude shock, especially those who've been away for three or four years or anything more than that. Things change. People move on. Unrealistic memories prove false.

As Thomas Wolfe wrote (and Taksin has discovered), You Can't Go Home Again. You might return to the place where home was, but thoughts of "home" is like a mental snapshot of a place, things and people, all at a time in the past. Nothing will be quite like that again.

[nzvic]

I've been visiting 2-5 months each year in BKK for past 5 yrs, but thinking of making it home, now that other son gone as well. It's taken me all this time to get used to the heat - phew!

[Eneukman]

Since I retired here, I have made short (no more than 10 days) back every 2 or 3 years. I'm going back next year but if the government take away my personal allowance, the frequency of visits may very well reduce considerably.

Alan

[hml367]

Retired in Thailand 8 years ago and haven't been out since then, nor do I have any plans to leave.

I left the US about 40 years ago. On two occasions I went "home" for slightly more than a year. Other than that, maybe 8 very short visits over 4 decades. During ten years in the UAE I went to the US once and spent three or four months a year in Thailand. Now Thailand is as much home as any other place I've lived. Actually it's the first place I've stayed in a long time where I don't have a spare room filled with trunks & cardboard boxes ready for the next move.

Overly sentimental attachment to largely fictional remembrance of things & places from the past seems to only make one unhappy about the present ... as all the whining on Thai Visa about life in Thailand illustrates. Keeping in touch with some people from the past is fairly easy these days.

Some farang living in Thailand are mentality still clinging to life back in Farang Land, usually inventing vastly over-rated memories of how perfect things were there compared to here. I expect for many of them a trip back home comes as a rude shock, especially those who've been away for three or four years or anything more than that. Things change. People move on. Unrealistic memories prove false.

As Thomas Wolfe wrote (and Taksin has discovered), You Can't Go Home Again. You might return to the place where home was, but thoughts of "home" is like a mental snapshot of a place, things and people, all at a time in the past. Nothing will be quite like that again.

Interesting post.

In the different places you have spent time, do you see the same thing as Chiang Mai seems to have; i.e. wanting to change many things mostly to the way it was "back home"?

Also, some people want to change the language apparently - and I mean the local language, not which language is spoken.

[Konini]

We left England in 1987 for a life downunder and in 1994 started to go home to see family every 2 years, which gradually crept up to every year as funds allowed, Since leaving Australia in 2007, we go back to England at least once a year, my father in law passed away recently so it's definitely going to be twice a year from now on, and we go back to Melbourne once a year to catch up with friends and for me to go and see the accountant and make sure everything that is legally required for the various government is attended to whilst my husband goes to Philip Island for a long weekend of debauchery camping trackside for the motorbike racing.

I'd hate not being able to go and catch up with people, but I do understand why some people just have no desire to return. Of course, amongst these may be those who would secretly like to go but aren't able to afford it. Money doesn't make you happy, but it makes living a lot easier and pleasant.

[lumply]

Sometimes I wonder about the questions being asked!! Use a bit of common sense!!! It all depends on a person's wealth and desires. Some people, like me, do not have the money to visit their own country, so desire is not an issue! I'd like to, but can not! Other people can afford to do it, so it comes down to desire. If they want to, they can. If thy do not want to, they do not!

Perfectly reasonable question to ask amongst expats, and interesting too. Just cut out the first two exclaimed sentences and your response could be considered ok as well

[lumply]

I make it back once a year but it irritates me when everyone expects me to tear around the countryside to visit them. Now I just inform them that I'm coming back for a while, great to see you all and you know where I am for a catchup. There are exceptions to this general attitude otherwise I would probably never see my family.

[quandow]

I go once a year to remind me why I left in the first place. The U.S. has become a police state inhabited by crafty wolves and ignorant sheep.

[Anon999]

About once every 3 years for some reason or another. Last time for a funeral and next year for the wedding of a grandson.

[Sheryl]

A lot depends on family and other relationships. I used to go back every two years but now do so every year, would do it twice a year if I could afford it but can't -- not because I want to go back that often but because I have an aging mother, aunt and uncle to consider/look after, none of them able to travel here.

I also have friendships I don't want to lose, many with people either not able or not inclined to travel to Asia.

[Tapster]

We left England in 1987 for a life downunder and in 1994 started to go home to see family every 2 years, which gradually crept up to every year as funds allowed, Since leaving Australia in 2007, we go back to England at least once a year, my father in law passed away recently so it's definitely going to be twice a year from now on, and we go back to Melbourne once a year to catch up with friends and for me to go and see the accountant and make sure everything that is legally required for the various government is attended to whilst my husband goes to Philip Island for a long weekend of debauchery camping trackside for the motorbike racing.

I'd hate not being able to go and catch up with people, but I do understand why some people just have no desire to return. Of course, amongst these may be those who would secretly like to go but aren't able to afford it. Money doesn't make you happy, but it makes living a lot easier and pleasant.

I'm sitting at my desk, here in Johannesburg, continuing with preparations for our move to Thailand in December. It's a bright spring morning and I'm enjoying my first cup of tea.

Am I becoming a grumpy old man?..............for I have been shaken out of my reverie by the post above which I'm entering for the award of.........

"Most Self-aggrandising Post ever on Thai Visa"

[uptheos]

We left England in 1987 for a life downunder and in 1994 started to go home to see family every 2 years, which gradually crept up to every year as funds allowed, Since leaving Australia in 2007, we go back to England at least once a year, my father in law passed away recently so it's definitely going to be twice a year from now on, and we go back to Melbourne once a year to catch up with friends and for me to go and see the accountant and make sure everything that is legally required for the various government is attended to whilst my husband goes to Philip Island for a long weekend of debauchery camping trackside for the motorbike racing.

I'd hate not being able to go and catch up with people, but I do understand why some people just have no desire to return. Of course, amongst these may be those who would secretly like to go but aren't able to afford it. Money doesn't make you happy, but it makes living a lot easier and pleasant.

I think you've hit the nail on the head why some people are so adamant that they would never go back.

[Konini]

I make it back once a year but it irritates me when everyone expects me to tear around the countryside to visit them. Now I just inform them that I'm coming back for a while, great to see you all and you know where I am for a catchup. There are exceptions to this general attitude otherwise I would probably never see my family.

That really annoys me too. Our families and friends are scattered all over the north east and South Yorkshire. After 2 or 3 visits, we gave it up and just announced that we were there, either at my mam's in Doncaster or at my mother in law in Teeside.. If people wanted to see us, they could make the effort. We'd travelled thousands of miles on a 26 hour flight to get to the UK, they can do the last 30 or 40 miles. We made exceptions for elderly great aunts and uncles who would have no way of getting to us, but sadly they have all passed away now, so we just announce when we're back.

We were going for a 'holiday' in England, and we were so stressed and exhausted we needed a holiday to get over it. At least that's not an issue now. And we always put on lots of weight - almost every night we were going out for dinner with people or going to their houses to eat, and it got to the stage where every night was taken and we were going out for lunch as well as dinner And that's not mentioning drinking every night - I was always the one driving the hire car home, so I had an excuse not to drink, but my husband complained several times that he didn't want to drink ever again, but he had to have a drink when we were out with the lads or family. If he were driving, I'd say no and drink orange juice, but he doesn't like any kind of conflict and wants to make everybody happy, which meant having a beer with them. Or two. Or three.. I found that while we were home, it was people who hadn't seen us for a year or two and going out was a big deal so we had to have a big night. Big nights are OK once a month or so, but the poor bugger was having a big night every night. It felt a bit like we were a whirlwind. We spun into town and kept spinning drawing people in and spitting them out and at the end of our month there the whirlwind just whirled away. We always joked that we need to go home for him to dry out, but it wasn't a joke, it was real.

[khunPer]

Been here permanently since 2006.

Been back a few days in 2008, as there were other things of interest my GF and I wished to see in Europe.

Been back two days in 2011 for business only.

See a lot more of my homeland friends after I moved, they love to come and visit me here…

[uptheos]

Been here permanently since 2006.

Been back a few days in 2008, as there were other things of interest my GF and I wished to see in Europe.

Been back two days in 2011 for business only.

See a lot more of my homeland friends after I moved, they love to come and visit me here…

Isn't that the truth, especially relatives.

Cheaper than going to the med as they only pay airfare and everything is on the house.

[The Usual Suspect]

I'm in the States right now due to my mother's illness. She's close to 90 and her condition is serious. If it had not been for that, I would not have come. I am retired and it costs me a month's income just for airfare, so casual visits on a regular basis are out of the question. In addition, everything is so freekin' expensive over there that I could easily blow another months income while I am there. With Facebook and Skype face time I'm able to keep up with the day to day happenings and see and talk to most of the relatives and grand kids, so the need for regular trips is not so important. Don't get me wrong, it's not all about the money. I can get more money, but I can't replace my family. However, life is full of difficult decisions and sometimes you have to do what's best for you. Besides that, most of my family could easily afford to come and visit me, but they would rather vacation in the Bahamas or Vegas or Florida, not someplace as foreign and scary as Thailand.

[Estrada]

I left the UK in 1994 as I considered it to be a Third World Country. I have recently been back and I still consider it to be a Third World Country. The UK Government treat expat pensioners like lepers. For that reason our pensions are frozen and now they want to end our personal allowances.

So, what is the definition of a 3rd world country and if you came to Asia in 1994 as I did, it certainly wasn't a step up.

The term "Third World" is a left over from the cold war which referered to Countries not involved with either Nato or The Communist bloc, as such it is defunct. Nowadays it is used to describe Countries with high unemployment and little home based manufacturing. In 1994 you should remember that many industries and high street shops were closing down causing unemployment to rise. The UK cannot afford to pay it's pensioners the pensions that they were promised and paid for. It also cannot afford to fund the health service. Nor can it defend its citizens, their properties and businesses against ever increasing crime. At one time England was the greatest country in the world, now look at it.

I have been doing business all over the world for 40 years including Thailand from 1982. In Thailand there is effectively zero unemployment, and there are many home based manufacturing industries. In 1994 I moved near to Seacon Square/Seri Centre(Paradise) where we have better facilities than available in most UK towns all in one place. Tesco Supermarket, Carrefour, multiplex Cinemas, named brands fashion outlets. Golf Courses, Sport Centres. International Schools, Universities and Hospitals. These facilities are of a higher standard and more easily accessible and affordable than the UK.

So yes, Bangkok Thailand was a step up. And in the next 10 years you can expect it to be even more developed with the onging infrastructure development.

In 1977 I started helping to build Dubai from a run down town full of shop houses and sand and that was certainly third World. Now look at Dubai now.

[chickenslegs]

We left England in 1987 for a life downunder and in 1994 started to go home to see family every 2 years, which gradually crept up to every year as funds allowed, Since leaving Australia in 2007, we go back to England at least once a year, my father in law passed away recently so it's definitely going to be twice a year from now on, and we go back to Melbourne once a year to catch up with friends and for me to go and see the accountant and make sure everything that is legally required for the various government is attended to whilst my husband goes to Philip Island for a long weekend of debauchery camping trackside for the motorbike racing.

I'd hate not being able to go and catch up with people, but I do understand why some people just have no desire to return. Of course, amongst these may be those who would secretly like to go but aren't able to afford it. Money doesn't make you happy, but it makes living a lot easier and pleasant.

I'm sitting at my desk, here in Johannesburg, continuing with preparations for our move to Thailand in December. It's a bright spring morning and I'm enjoying my first cup of tea.

Am I becoming a grumpy old man?..............for I have been shaken out of my reverie by the post above which I'm entering for the award of.........

"Most Self-aggrandising Post ever on Thai Visa"

I really can't see what is "self-aggrandising" about that post.

Visits increased as funds allowed? More visits now that Mother-in-law is on her own? Annual trip back to australia to catch up with friends and visit accountant? Husband takes an annual long weekend with the boys? All seems normal to me.

Final paragraph is just the truth. Money does make life easier and some people can't afford to travel as much as they would like to.

My wife and I visit the UK at least once a year to see family and friends. If we could afford to travel biz class we would definitely do it more often.

[Tapster]

@chickenslegs:

The post grated against my happy spring-morning mellowness, clearly for reasons that are mine and which you don't share.

True, the post was exactly on topic but I've never been one for showing off and prefer to be understated. That's my type of British up-bringing.

I feel for retirees in Thailand who don't come close to the disposable income of the poster and, for one, I don't think it's necessary to mention one's accountant with all that implies about the possibly enviable financial position of the poster.

I just think it was over the top and it's OK for me to think that from where I'm standing, wherever that may be.

I have not defamed anyone, merely typed as I felt. The nature of the internet is often ephemeral. I'm sure my comment will be, too.

My involvement in this topic is now closed.

[Konini]

I (obviously) don't agree with Tapster that my post is a contender for an award in self-aggrandising. I merely told it as it is. And here is my right of reply. I'm afraid it's very long and rambling; often when I'm writing a I get so caught up in it I literally can't stop.

It's true that many Brit's are understated, but down at the bottom of the working class section, we just tell it as it is.

The mention of the accountant wouldn't surprise any Aussie or Kiwi reading this. They have been doing income tax self-assessment for years, at least 27 that I know of, I don't know how long before that, but when we migrated it had been standard practice for years. Most people I know have an accountant. The people I know from work who would consider themselves middle class (class in Australia seems to me to be based on income and the suburb you live in rather than what school you, not to mention your parents went to) because they are white collar workers all used an accountant, as did the many more friends from my husband's various workplaces - he is a very likable person and makes friends very easily - is a toolmaker by trade but ended up doing maintenance work on high speed packaging machines, and worked as a contractor for several years so moved to different workshops and factories a lot and made lots of friends. We were always being invited to barbies or weddings or christenings or parties. The people he worked with were electricians, fitters, welders, boilermakers and production line workers. Every year I would be asked if there were any new things they could pass on to their accountant (going into battle with the tax man was a hobby of mine) and I shared my knowledge with them for their benefit. Factory production workers with a tax accountant. I know that would be unimaginable to anyone in the UK until they went onto self-assessment, and possibly still unimaginable to the bottom end of the working class where we come from, but Australia isn't the UK, and earnings are much higher for everyone. My husband had an apprentice at one time who was working in a supermarket stacking shelves to make up for the very low wage apprentices get. He was being paid $20 an hour. As we have members from all sorts of countries, I'll convert it to baht. 569 baht an hour.

He was working a 4 hour shift at night, which means he was earning 2,280 baht a day. He worked 4 hours 5 days a week and 8 hours on saturdays. He was earning just a few baht short of 16,000 for a part time job, stacking shelves 28 hours a week, and he'd often be asked to work Sundays as well. That was about 12 years ago, wages certainly haven't gone down in Australia, I don't know how much they've gone up by as I'm out of touch with such things. Even he had a tax accountant. Imagine that. An apprentice having an accountant. It wasn't a display of peacocking on my part by using the word accountant, I didn't think it through before posting, and didn't think that in other countries people might think only the middle class or highly paid people would see an accountant. If I had thought of that, I would have worded it differently and qualified it for the benefit of others.

I tend to ramble when I'm writing, that's why my avatar says I'm a meandering member. Due to balance problems related to back surgery, my husband says I don't walk, I meander and to prove it to me he once took video of me walking down a long corridor without me knowing. Sure enough he's right. I zigzaded my way down the corridor. I'm afraid you'll have to bear with me as I meander or just don't read the posts, I can't help myself.

Our accountant who sadly for us retired earlier this year always joked that he should be the one paying me for filing our income tax returns because I was always finding little things in the smallest of the small print that he could use for other clients. Every July when I went to see him, he opened with 'What have you got for me this year?' He said I should be nominated for an award because I'd found the only possible way to claim for travel costs for going to work. It worked out to be a $10,000 deduction, for my husband, which is a significant amount no matter how much you earn. Everyone thought it was impossible, but it was in there, hiding, just waiting to be found. The UK went onto self assessment a few years ago, and I think a lot of people are starting to see the benefit of using a tax accountant as they know all the sneaky ways to squeeze extra money out the tax office, and they would almost always gain more than they were charged in their (deductible) cost.

We left England with GBP 1,200 in our pockets, worked like cart horses for 20 years and retired in our early 40's 7 years ago. That isn't boasting, it's the way it is, and the coal mining village I come from, we are brought up to tell it the way it is.

​That final paragraph put things into perspective I think, again telling it the way it is. I really believe that many people who say they don't want to go back home would love to if they had the funding. I really feel for these people, not in a patronising or condescending way, but in a really heartfelt way. It must be very difficult to be unable to visit family. My husband got the phone dreaded but long awaited phone call on 29th August this year and was in England on 31st August to have a final few days with his dad, and more importantly to support his mam and do the running around whilst his aunt organised all the things that have to be organised when someone dies and just be with mam in what was probably the most traumatic time of her life. I couldn't possibly imagine what would have happened if we weren't able to get him on a flight straight away. It would have been horrible for his mam, and he would have the guilts for years for not being there for mam when she needed him most.

I can't even begin to imagine what that would be like for anyone who couldn't just pull the money out for the ticket, and as I said, without any patronising or condescension, I really feel for them.

I can declare right now that we are not rich. We are comfortable, but not rich, and we are still solidly working class. My mention of the word account was ill thought out and should have been qualified. Every Aussie and Kiwj would understand because they have been doing taxation self assessment for years, at least 27 that I know of and it seemed to be well established when we migrated. On Christmas day 2006 we were on holiday in Phuket and I sat down with a pad and a pencil and did the sums. We have no children to pass things on to, and even if we had chose to have children we would want them to stand on their own feet and make their own money. There seems to be a lot of people around my age waiting for their parents to pass on because they'll inherit the house and whatever money they had in investments. I find that very sad. I did an object conservative financial forecast of how much we need to live on and how much we needed to cover that until we reached the age of 80. We were already well ahead of that. The aim is to die penniless, having thoroughly enjoyed our retirement. I forecasted to 80 because I figure we've paid enough tax over the years, and will continue paying tax for a long time to come for us to say the Australian government can take care of us. I was brought up in a socialist country, government taking care of you from cradle to grave. In Australia there is no state pension as such. In the early 1990's the government and unions and employer got together and nutted out a deal in return for some concessions from the unions, employers would pay a compulsory amount, starting at 3% of basic wages into a superannuation fund, either self managed or with a financial institution. After 2 years (I think) it went up to 5% and continued going up until it got to 9% and the Liberals, who are the equivalent of the Conservative party in the UK or the Tea Party set in the US got into power and stayed there for a long, long time. They put an immediate halt to the, but wouldn't dare take the 9% away. This means that kids starting out now will have, at no cost to themselves 9% of their wages throughout their working life paid into a super fund and they should have a nice nest egg to retire on. A lot of Baby Boomers and Generation X's haven't had very many years of that money going in and will have a short fall in income which will have to be subsidised by the government. I have no objection at all to my taxes going to people on pensions - I don't have children, but I have no objection to my tax dollar being spent on schools, I have medial insurance but I don't mind paying taxes for hospitals for those who don't have health insurance. I'm a product of the county I was brought up in.

When we got home on 2nd January, we spent a week tidying up the garden and doing odd jobs around the house, called the real estate agent and he said the first to see it will buy it, which is the kind of thing you expect to hear from an estate agent. 3 hours after he left, he phoned and asked if someone could have an inspection. They offered full asking price on the spot, and when they found out we were leaving the country, bought the contents from us too. They wanted the house the way it was, complete with all of the furniture, wall paintings, ornaments, cleaning equipment and everything else, and offered a very good price for them, much more than we would have got if we'd had to advertise and sell them separately. We walked away from the modest house that we'd built with our personal possessions and not much else. We kept my husband's ute and left in it his golf clubs and motorbike riding gear and helmets and a few bits and pieces, mostly cooking equipment that I just couldn't bring myself to give to the buyers, and so kept them just in case we didn't like being on the road like gypsies with no fixed abode.

A good move as it turned out, we got bored with the travelling after about 2 years, came to Chiang Mai for a two month stay and never left. Over the last 5 years, every time we've been back to Australia we've flown back on Air Asia carrying the maximum weight allowance of 40kg each and brought back my cutlery, knives, the stainless steel pans I paid a fortune for when we first got married, and I'll still using them 30 years later and will continue to do so until the day I drop, food processor, coffee grinder, deep fat fryer, slow cooker, pressure cooker and various other top quality kitchen things - cooking has always been my hobby, and I still cook and have a meal on the table at 6 o'clock every night.

That the house was sold with a price agreed on only 4 hours after the estate agent coming was pure luck. I took loads of really good photo's of the house, and nobody ever got to see them . Right time, right place. Everything else has not been luck. It's been bloody hard work. Long, long hours, doing without fancy cars and a big house and days off let alone holidays except trips back to the UK to visit family for the first 14 years, then as I could see we were well ahead of schedule, easing back a bit in 1999. Still not spending any money we didn't have to, we started going on short 1 week holidays, mainly in Asia, checking out places we might want to visit again for a longer time when we retired - the goal, set in 1984 was 45; we beat it by 2 years. No luck involved. Hard work, obsessive saving, and very thorough reading and researching on investments so we knew when and where to invest what we saved. Very conservative investing too, no risks, bottom of the market flats where there will never be a shortage of tenants and there's a limited amount of damage a tenant can do to concrete walls, concrete floors and concrete ceilings and blue chip shares, buying when they had a bad day and waiting until they had a good day and selling them at a small profit, or if they were approaching the recording date for dividends which happens twice a year, keeping hold of them and making money on the dividends too. No risk as it was always the top 10 companies in the ASX, and should there be a shuddering in the share market, we might have lost on paper for a few months, or even a few years, but they will still pay dividends and we know that our money is as safe as it could possibly be, either in a blue chip company or in the bank waiting to be go into the sharemarket. Small profits from buying and selling because we weren't greedy or looking to get rich quick, a couple of hundred dollars is a good day's work, so small profits but lots of transactions that really add up.

As I said, no luck, just hard work and rigorous saving and conservative investing. That was the life we chose to have. All of our friends and workmates have children and many of them are now grandparents. They are very happy and content with their life and couldn't possibly live the way we do, flitting here and there all the time. They could maybe do it for a couple of months then give it up as a bad idea because having a home, a nest, and children is all they ever wanted. The life we live is the one we've always wanted. We love children, and they like us because we're the crazy aunty and uncle who live this really exciting life living where there are tigers and elephants, but we only love them in small doses, and can give them back when we get bored. Our 2 nephews and 2 nieces on my husband's side have 12 children between them aged between 18 months and 11 years old. I really love them, but I also love to give them back. I couldn't imagine being a mother, housewife etc and being responsible for another human being - the very thought of that sends shivers down my spine. Fortunately my husband thinks the same way I do, and we've never regretted not having children even once. People told us we would when we got older and saw our cousins and friends having grandchildren, but it hasn't made any difference We still have no regrets.

I apologise for the long, meandering post, more rambling on than usual because a couple of hours ago I took some very strong painkillers completely forgetting that I'd already taken them, and I'm floating very nicely around the room and rambling on and off topic. It's a nice feeling, but I hope it wears off soon; I'm a control freak and don't like not being totally in charge of my senses, the reason that I very rarely drink alcohol.

To summarise, I really don't think my post or this one is self-aggregating, boasting or look at me, look at me. It's statement of fact, plain and simple, told the way it is. And I really do feel for those who have been shafted by the UK and now Australian governments by having pension frozen or benefits stopped because they live overseas. From an economists point of view I understand why - you're not spending the money in the country. The money you spend in the supermarkets to buy food and the in shops to by shoes and clothes keeps shop workers in jobs, which in turn keeps distributors and transport companies in work, which keeps production workers and farm hands in work, which in turn keeps white collar workers in work to see to things like taxation, vehicle registration, driver licences etc in work. From a pure economic stand point the government are doing the right thing for the economy, but from a moral standpoint they are being unnecessarily unkind.

And back on topic, I still believe that some of the ones who claim that they don't want to go home would jump at the chance if they hadn't been caught out by changing of government policy and very negative fluctuation with exchange

[Nolster]

I make it back once a year but it irritates me when everyone expects me to tear around the countryside to visit them. Now I just inform them that I'm coming back for a while, great to see you all and you know where I am for a catchup. There are exceptions to this general attitude otherwise I would probably never see my family.

That really annoys me too. Our families and friends are scattered all over the north east and South Yorkshire. After 2 or 3 visits, we gave it up and just announced that we were there, either at my mam's in Doncaster or at my mother in law in Teeside.. If people wanted to see us, they could make the effort. We'd travelled thousands of miles on a 26 hour flight to get to the UK, they can do the last 30 or 40 miles. We made exceptions for elderly great aunts and uncles who would have no way of getting to us, but sadly they have all passed away now, so we just announce when we're back.

We were going for a 'holiday' in England, and we were so stressed and exhausted we needed a holiday to get over it. At least that's not an issue now. And we always put on lots of weight - almost every night we were going out for dinner with people or going to their houses to eat, and it got to the stage where every night was taken and we were going out for lunch as well as dinner And that's not mentioning drinking every night - I was always the one driving the hire car home, so I had an excuse not to drink, but my husband complained several times that he didn't want to drink ever again, but he had to have a drink when we were out with the lads or family. If he were driving, I'd say no and drink orange juice, but he doesn't like any kind of conflict and wants to make everybody happy, which meant having a beer with them. Or two. Or three.. I found that while we were home, it was people who hadn't seen us for a year or two and going out was a big deal so we had to have a big night. Big nights are OK once a month or so, but the poor bugger was having a big night every night. It felt a bit like we were a whirlwind. We spun into town and kept spinning drawing people in and spitting them out and at the end of our month there the whirlwind just whirled away. We always joked that we need to go home for him to dry out, but it wasn't a joke, it was real.

I am with you. Although I live in the US I have so many relatives in the UK that I usually don't tell them when I visit; otherwise I will be spending all my time visiting them and frankly speaking I do not drink, an occasional beer in six months if any. I am always offered some form of alcohol or invited to the pub, of course British pus are different, but that's not what I enjoy doing.

[kinmaew]

You probably should attach a poll if really interested - it will vary greatly as some return often and others do not - my last exit was about a decade ago.

bloody hell 51k posts!! you are legend. Hope all going well.

[Nolster]

You probably should attach a poll if really interested - it will vary greatly as some return often and others do not - my last exit was about a decade ago.

bloody hell 51k posts!! you are legend. Hope all going well.

Yeah, roughly 12-15 posts per day