I used to think the UK was the country to live in. Yes Spain is nice and sunny, America is the land of the free and Australia is big but... Spain is rather backward in many things, American's have guns and violence and Australia has big effing spiders!

The UK was great. Okay so the weather was shit but the UK as a whole was great.

Then I started to look around.

Every place has it's pro's and con's but my God compared to the UK a lot of places are like Utopia.

The pro's of Ireland (Southern) FAR FAR out way the con's and the pro's of the UK don't come anyway near the con's. I've done nothing but complain about the UK. The politics, the cost of living, the price of fuel, the lack of this and that! Health care!

Things had to change!

And they have.

For me anyway!

This is my place: I can't go. I don't have a passport anyway. Plus, I have always found emigration rather sad (original sense of.) I don't just mean from here to elsewhere but from any place to another.
I like the way it is here underneath and I have to see the bad bits as temporary veneer and likely to change. My ancestors fought and suffered for years to make this place the way it basically is (leaving off the superficial stuff) and it may not be perfect but it's the way I want it. Yes, I'd like to see that basic culture more respected by natives and incomers alike.
I don't like the 'reality' television, expedient government and all the rest mentioned (except I don't care about the price of fuel I'm afraid) but I have to trust it will all pass.
Actually, I mostly like the weather.
I'm sorry it is getting you all down. I think this happens to us all sometimes. However, I hope your new lives works out.

In the words of Michael Jackson I'm a lover not a fighter

Well, it's a tricky one. I'm just about to move to northern Italy to see if that has anything better to offer than the UK and although I'm excited and can't wait for the challenge, there's a part of me that knows I'll return to the UK. I definately won't be returning for the weather but for the fact that all the people that I know and love live here; it has everything I've grown up with and all the people that I love to drink wine with. So, I think what I'm saying is that I'll explore other countries and I'll spend time in places that are warmer and have better tv but the UK will always be my home.