Anybody emigrate from Ireland, return home, only to find they want to leave again?

boardy

Here's the deal. I'm back in the country 3 years (after 16 years away from home ) and still can't settle. The biggest problem is the weather, which inhibits the outdoor activities that I was use to in the States. I spent a year traveling around the world so I've seen 'other places' but I miss having the opportunity to having an outdoor life (in some sunshine) and a decent quality of life. I have family and friends here who will be missed dearly. Understand the concept: 'life is what you make it', but it rained the whole day yesterday, summer was one nice week last month ..... it ain't enough. The bad weather is only part of the problem, you are all well aware of the rest: crime, young thugs, begrudgery, rip-off Ireland etc.

Obviously, the negatives can be pitted against the beauty of the country, the humour of the people, and the craic.

Anybody emigrate from Ireland, return home, only to find that they want to leave again?

She-Ra

humour, craic and beauty isn't everything... you need to be happy

drunkenfool

I knew people that were in the similar mindframe then you, emigrated to the state, spent years there and came home. Hugely disapointed with life here and then proceeded to moved back to the states. Only to find that it wasnt the same as it was when they lived there ie friends had moved on, different job etc. Hence they decided to move back to Ireland AGAIN!! To be honest I still dont think they're settled, its all a mindframe. Tough to get out of, but things wont be the same if you move back!

boardy

To solve the problem that Drunkenfool talks about, I've been researching the best place possible to return to. I know that it won't be ideal, but at least I won't be going back to where I spent most of my time in the States. Plan to set up somewhere warm by the coast - spent a lot of time traveling so know a lot of good places. Even looked into moving to Perth or Brisbane (to offset social issues in the States), but the emigration process looks a bit daunting, and I'd have to start all over again.

As someone else posted, craic and family is fine, but you need to be happy.

CyberGhost

My father told me once a very good thing "never go back/return to the place, where you once felt great and happy, but left" you will be dissapointed

joejoem

Yeah I lived in the states and came home about 2 years ago, I was desperatly unhappy all through the winter but then got used to the fact I was home and love it now, although I allways miss New York, allways. I miss the food, nights out, women, people, money, weather (allways really hot or really cold, nothing inbetween) and pretty much everything.

boardy

That's my fear Cyberghost. And that is why I am looking at completely different alternatives (Australia).

drunkenfool

Give vancouver a shot. cant go wrong.

bucks

Yeah im in the same boat but i wasnt away long enough to be regarded as an emigrant.
Was living in oz for over a year, loved everything about the country.

Returned home and now this place is making me feel like packing the bags and heading back.

If you could put a roof over Ireland it would only solve half the problem, the cost of living and wasted money by the goverment is the other half.

At least i have the option now as i have got my residency so if it all gets too much im gone, i hate saying that as you shouldnt feel like this about your home but thats modern day Ireland for you.

Neuro

You need to get yourself down to Galway. Have a look at this article from The Sunday Times:

Galway’s the clear grinner
A new survey reveals for the first time just where Ireland’s happiest and least contented people live. Mark Keenan examines the reasons behind those smiling — or grim — faces

Ireland’s most comprehensive study into people’s quality of life and happiness has just been concluded by a team from University College Dublin.

We Irish appear to be an extremely happy bunch. In a report published last week by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, we were the second-happiest nation out of the 25 states and three candidate countries surveyed.

The latest study from UCD’S planning and environmental policy unit details where that happiness comes from. Not surprisingly, high on the list is where we live — our address and its immediate environs.

From the research conducted by Professor Peter Clinch, Finbarr Brereton and Dr Susana Ferreira, The Sunday Times has broken down the results to divide them county by county to see exactly where Ireland’s happiest people live.

Those questioned were asked to rate their overall contentment on a scale of one to seven, where one was described as “life is as bad as can be” and seven was “as good as it can be”.

It confirms what the European study shows, that as a nation we’re a generally contented bunch. Almost all the answers fell in the top end of the scale, between four and seven. However, there were some interesting variations.

Galwegians are far and away the happiest people in Ireland, and given the previous Economist worldwide survey, arguably the happiest in the world. The highest happiness score — almost full marks with 6.93 — came from Co Galway. And Galway city wasn’t far behind with 6.65, the second-highest score in the republic.

Wicklow dwellers were next, with a very smiley 6.32, and are followed by Tipperary — Ireland’s next most contented county with a sunny score of 6.12. Surprisingly, Limerick city comes next with 5.96, demonstrating that Shannonsiders are a resilient and cheery bunch despite the reputation their city has gained nationally for crime and social problems.

Overall, however, the biggest revelation is what impact rapid growth, urbanisation and congestion can have on morale.

With an overall score of just 4.97 and the only county to duck below the 5 mark, Dublin is completely blue.

Clinch said: “They’re not unhappy. A score of 4.97 is “reasonably content” rather than “happy”, but it underlines that the notion that Dublin has benefited most from the Celtic Tiger is missing the point. The overall objective of economic growth should be to improve quality of life and although incomes in Dublin have grown rapidly, they have not compensated Dubliners for factors like increased traffic congestion, living closer together in more confined spaces, increased costs of living and lack of amenities. These factors lead to lower levels of happiness in Dublin.”

Within Dublin, figures are broken down by local-authority jurisdictions. The unhappiest residents — and also the unhappiest nationwide — are in the South Dublin council area, taking in large tracts of West Dublin and lower income areas such as Tallaght and Clondalkin. The happiness level there of 4.59 is Ireland’s lowest by far.

Northsiders proved happiest in Dublin, with a lukewarm rating of 5.57 for Fingal, closely followed by the city’s most affluent quarter, Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown, at 5.21. City-centre dwellers registered a stoic 4.72.

Outside Dublin, the scenic but isolated, boggy and underpopulated county of Leitrim was least happy with a rating of 5. However, as the study group from Leitrim was unusually small, this might be an unfair result.

Donegal, beautiful but exposed, large and isolated, turned in a rating of 5.17, easing into the bottom five. Perhaps similar factors influenced Cavan’s low rating at 5.2.

With its growing city experiencing some of Dublin’s problems, Waterford turned in a rating of 5.07, making it Ireland’s third least contented county.

While the survey team did not examine reasons for unhappiness county by county, it would not be difficult to speculate on why Galway is Ireland’s breeziest.

Professor Clinch said: “Most of Co Galway is relatively prosperous economically with a good mix of different employment types. The bulk of Galwegians live in areas within or not far from population centres which are large enough to hold varied facilities and a selection of employment, but not too large to cramp lifestyles significantly or allow access to space and fresh air.”

The scenery in Galway is among the best Ireland has to offer and the presence of sea, lakes and mountains must have a role to play. With its two near-perfect happiness ratings, it seems that Galway comes closest to offering the best of all worlds.

“The survey results suggest that, everything else being equal, the ideal location for an Irish person to live is a small town — somewhere relatively rural, not too isolated, with facilities, services, scenery and worthwhile employment,” said Professor Clinch.

But other points of the survey also helped to determine which factors contribute most and least to happiness.

“What we have discovered is that income, while a factor in determining happiness, is not a major factor.

Up to a certain level additional income could improve happiness but it does not make a difference beyond a certain point.”

But the survey does show that the affluence of the neighbourhood we live in also has a bearing on our contentment.

“Keeping up with the Joneses or even surpassing them is important. Everything else being equal, up to a certain point, the higher your income relative to that of your neighbours, the happier you will be. It is obvious that how well off we feel depends on how our neighbours are doing,” said Clinch.

The type of accommodation you live in and your ownership status will also influence your level of contentment.

Not surprisingly, those with mortgages or paying rent were far less happy than those who owned their homes outright. Generally, the larger and better the home you live in, the happier you will be.

Weather variations are also a factor. A lower mean daily minimum air temperature in January and a maximum in July are both negative influences on happiness.

Kilkenny, a county that appears to have almost all of Galway’s advantages, only features tenth in the survey — and Kilkenny has both the coldest and warmest temperatures in Ireland.

One surprise is that almost all the wettest counties came near the top of the happiness table. “This may be explained by the fact that Ireland’s wettest counties are generally the most scenic,” said Clinch.

But what are the actual benefits of knowing exactly how happy or unhappy people are? Why spend years of research, the resulting costs and exhaustive interviews with 1,500 people to let the rest of us know which Irish citizens are most smug with their lot? “If the purpose of economic growth is to improve contentment, we need to know what matters most to people so we can set priorities for economic, social, environmental and planning policies. Traditional measurements such as GDP do not tell us whether government policies are actually improving people’s wellbeing,” says Clinch.

“The fact that the increased incomes of Dubliners do not compensate for the adverse effects of economic growth and development on their city shows it’s no good being paid more if you spend more time getting to work, sitting in traffic and pay more for a smaller home in a cramped area with poor amenities.”

The UCD report will surely highlight flaws in government policy to redistribute the benefits which are seen to be unfairly accruing in the greater Dublin area.

Indeed Clinch’s research shows that, if it weren’t for those poorer quality living conditions, Dubliners would be as happy as those living in the regions and therefore government policy should focus on improving urban living conditions. Proof also that Dubliners are not moaners by nature and that happy Galwegians may feel differently if they lived in the greater Dublin area.

For now, Clinch believes that lower levels of happiness among the city’s population may already be reflected in an increasing drift by Dubliners to country areas in search of contentment.

“The fact that a significant number of people are already leaving the cities for the country in droves underlines what they already know — that on the whole a rural life, with a good job, lower house prices and good amenities is a far happier lot than a well paid existence in a fraught city environment.

She-Ra

CyberGhost wrote:

My father told me once a very good thing "never go back/return to the place, where you once felt great and happy, but left" you will be dissapointed

smart man

drunkenfool

She-Ra wrote:

smart man

I second that.

To be honest though, ive done alot of travelling and ive found ALOT of places that ive said "i could see myself living here", makes you realise that Ireland is ****e! But thats why i love it!

CyberGhost

Thanks

CyberGhost

drunkenfool wrote:

makes you realise that Ireland is ****e! But thats why i love it!

lol, well you know how the saying goes "I prefer my ****e to your gold"

She-Ra

lol, tis true! you'll always complain but you always come back!

Irishstabber

I have...moved to America, came back. And now I want to move to Germany.

drunkenfool

Irishstabber wrote:

I have...moved to America, came back. And now I want to move to Germany.

Munich was one of thoses places that i found myself saying "i could live here"

Irishstabber

Thats the plan...2007 is my target. Munich all the way.

boardy

Drunkenfool talked about Vancouver as a possible spot. It so happens that I spent the whole of last night looking into it, checked out their boards, visited some sites. It looks like it could a contender. Anybody with Vancouver experience?

crazymonkey

Yeah i have a friend in same situation, 10 yrs in america, married there, left wife came home, after 3 mths went to Australia, now spends his time between the two 3 mths in each, when here wants to be in Australia, when there wants to be here,,,

Sparky

friend came back for a year, and wondered why he did, so he went back to australia.
he couldnt get used to the weather, or tv

BizMaker

Any more stories about unsettled expatriates? Keep them coming ..... they are very helpful. At least, I'm not alone.

boardy

Yup BizMaker, there seems to be a few of us ('the unsettled') out there.

Nightwish

i didnt get very far-just to Edinburgh. Wanted to leave Ireland the day I came back.
Was nice to see everyone for a few hours then it just started getting mundane,

boardy

Hey, it's Saturday morning and it's pouring out there. What the feck, you got to be kidding me ..... it already rained at least once this week. This is our weekend - go away rain.

Seriously though, how do you natives handle it?

gurramok

Whats the big deal about the rain?...all it does is affect outdoor pastimes, most people stay indoors for their work, leisure(gym), nite-life etc...it rains in every other european country at this time of year bar the Med.
America and Australia are unique countries, you can't compare any country to those countries for weather and quality of life as every european would want to emigrate there !
Just think that people from hot countries come here to escape the sun and searing heat and some of our natives want to get burnt in their countries!!

jm2k

if you're the type of person who needs a tan & loves the sun, ireland isn't for you. but if you can look past the weather, you'll have a ball. spent a week in achill last month, pissed the whole time & had the time of my life.

drunkenfool

gurramok wrote:

America and Australia are unique countries, you can't compare any country to those countries for weather and quality of life as every european would want to emigrate there !

I really really doubt that to be honest, I know plenty of people that would never emigrate to the states or australia. Especially looking at the views of the Europeans towards the Americans at the moment, I dont remember ever seeing a country so hated then the states under bush. Tis crazy, go to ANY public toilet in any country in europe and you'll just get a taste of the hatred. I dont think the states is all its lived up to be either, too many social problems, and i thought that the people were way way to money orientated, its all about the dollar over there!

And to answer your question about vancouver, tis the most beautiful city in the world, has everything on its doorstep. As they say in vancouver you can sail/beach in the morning and ski in the afternoon and be home in time for dinner!! But the weather is a factor there, its fairly similar to the weather here in the winter, but the summers are much nicer, alot alot more sunshine, and dont get me started about the women!

Coney Island

CyberGhost wrote:

My father told me once a very good thing "never go back/return to the place, where you once felt great and happy, but left" you will be dissapointed

This is damn true! I moved to Dublin from Italy few years ago and lived there for 4 years and loved every minute of it. Then last year I moved to Limerick and although I miss the great times I had in Dublin, I also know I would never go back to live there because I am sure I would be disappointed.
I will always remember Dublin though as the city in which I had the best time of my life.

Looking forward to move to a brand new country next year

pickarooney

I left Ireland to live in France for a year. Loved it. Came back to Ireland for a year, and couldn't wait to get back to France. Moved back for another 18 months, but it just wasn't the same. Back to Ireland for three years, and it was great while it lasted, but I really had enough of the weather, the prices, the lousy infrastructure... moved to Holland. Never really settled here - weather's not much of an improvement, people are very uptight and unfriendly, yadda yadda yadda. So, I'm going to give France one last try next year, but I guess I'll always want to be wherever I'm not.
But you get a shedload of holidays in France

StupidLikeAFox

are you some sort of millionaire?

pickarooney

Me? I don't go out much

lili

pickarooney wrote:

Me? I don't go out much

bien sûr:D

Pepe LeFrits

pickarooney wrote:

I left Ireland to live in France for a year. Loved it. Came back to Ireland for a year, and couldn't wait to get back to France. Moved back for another 18 months, but it just wasn't the same. Back to Ireland for three years, and it was great while it lasted, but I really had enough of the weather, the prices, the lousy infrastructure... moved to Holland. Never really settled here - weather's not much of an improvement, people are very uptight and unfriendly, yadda yadda yadda. So, I'm going to give France one last try next year, but I guess I'll always want to be wherever I'm not.
But you get a shedload of holidays in France

Nice, whereabouts in France did you live?

Living in France is definately on my list of things to do, just not sure how high up

Stompbox

I love Ireland so much. I ve been to lots of countries but count down the days til I get back

Nu-shooz

Like others have said, it really depends what you want out of life and big changes are usually quite scary to make. I´ve lived away from Ireland on and off ( I´m from the North) for the past ten yrs or so, firstly in England for a few years and then I returned to Ireland a few months ago, thinking that was it - no more moving around for a while.

However, much and all as I love my family, friends, country, I just couldn´t settle for longer than 3 months. I made a list of things that were important to my quality of life, ambitions, that kind of thing and then wondered if my next move should be to warmer climes/outdoorsy type lifestyle.

I´m now in Catalunya, took a lot of thinking and weighing up the pros/cons to get here but I´m happy and I feel like I made the right decision.

The way I think of it is, you´re only young once - if you´re single, flexible about employment and looking to have some new adventures, I´d highly recommend taking the big leap. With the internet, email etc it´s much easier to stay in regular contact with family etc in Ireland and one last thing ... Ask yourself, if I don´t make this next move will I possibly end up regretting it further down the line ? Tough one I know, but listen to your instinct - it´s not often wrong in my experience.

Good luck with your plans :cool:

pickarooney

kaids wrote:

Nice, whereabouts in France did you live?

Living in France is definately on my list of things to do, just not sure how high up

You answered the question before you even asked it (Nice).
Well, that's where I'm headed for next, previously I lived near Marseille.

Weekend destroyed by crap weather once again here - paragliding cancelled and the funfair is a bit of a washout
Definitely my last shîtty summer.

GOAT_BOY

i can't stand Ireland tbh, i will hopefully move to Canada sometime in my life, if i can, but i have responsabilities here for the moment, but i definitely do not want to stay here for the rest of my days.

Vancouver or Toronto are the places i'm aiming for I'd love to visit the states but i'd never EVER live there. Australia? meh, if Home and Away is anything to go by then i'd rather not tbh.

Hobbes

After 2-3 years you tend to be absorbed into the culture of the other country. So when you come back its "not the Ireland I knew".

I felt the same way when I came back from the US (after 3 years). Took a long time to adjust back to the culture, and sometimes I still don't. Would probably leave again if chance arose.

boardy

Responding to a couple of comments ......

Drunkenfool: I know that the weather in Vancouver can be miserable in the winter, but at least they are guaranteed a Summer. In Ireland, we are lucky to get a couple of good days strung together.

And I don't agree with the other poster who said that most things we do in Ireland are indoors. What about the poor misfortune who had to cancel his paragliding session over the weekend because of the rain? I have fair skin and burn easily so it's not the sun that I've after.

Pickarooney: I visited Nice last year and really enjoyed it. Do you plan to live in the city when you return? Any other good locations in that region (besides Monte Carlo)?

Nu-shooz: Where in Catalunya? Barcelona is one of my favourite cities. And it's close to the South of France, so I have been investigating that area also. My problem with moving to Barcelona would be learning 2 new languages: Spanish and Catalan. It's a bit much. However, I just got back from Barcelona last week and the city is just one big buzz. Where else can you find a happening city within walking distance to many fine beaches?

Thanks for your responses lads (and lassies). Keep 'em coming.

comad

Before,throughout and after university I got to live in 4 different countries before coming back to Ireland to do a postgrad. For the last few years I've only viewed Ireland as a place to get free uni and save up to head away. As I'll need a few years experience in IT before I have a chance of sponsorship/residency then I'm stuck in Ireland or the UK. No way would I live on the continent again.

Out of everywhere I've been, I don't think I'll ever beat the lifestyle I had in Sydney. City centre apartment with views of Port Jackson bay, Kings X, Oxford St, Hyde Park, amazing nightlife (heading to clubs on Sunday at 9.30am!!!), the beaches, the food, the cheap cost of living, friendly people....

So I'm gonna chill out here for a while then contemplate a return to Sydney or maybe somewhere new like Canada or California...Well I can dream!!

boardy

I checked out California about 4 months ago ...... my Aer Lingus jet made an emergency landing in Canada on the way there from Dublin (but that's a whole different posting). Anyway, from Santa Barbara down to San Diego, I checked out all the cool places. Skipped LA, because of prior experiences but Orange County had some fantastic coastal cities. The county itself has some great stats regarding quality of life and very low crime. But the downside was the cost. No chance of buying a house (except in crappy places), state tax is high, and services (electricity etc) were expensive. It has the best weather in the world though with temps averaging between 18 and 23 degrees Celsius all year round. Never gets too hot along the coast. And the beach/surf lifestyle was very addictive. Cool place to hang but not sure about living there for good though.

BizMaker

Yeah, the emergency landing in Canada might have been an omen? Have you considered other places in Canada, besides Vancouver? Toronto, Montreal?

is_that_so

I spent my time in a variety of countries and it took me over 5 years to get used to being back. Every time you change country unless you take the ex-pat approach you have to readjust. Coming back here was like "being a stranger in a familiar place". But you eventually do unless you have been away for 10 years or more. Most of those people just want to go away again. But I reckon that anyone who has lived somewhere else and enjoyed it will always have that temptation to head off again.

boardy

I've heard that it takes some time to adjust being back home after being away for so long. "A stranger in a familiar place" is a good way to describe it.

Regarding the second last post: yup, I've been to Toronto. Thought that the people were fine but it was just like a big American city. I'm leaning towards a smaller city (hopefully to avoid the social problems), but somewhere that has a lot to offer, with abundant amenities, good social scene, decent weather, lively populace……..

I’ll let ye all know when I find it. (When is the next shuttle taking off? Maybe I’ll have some luck up there.)

Nu-shooz

Hi Boardy,

Yep, I´m in gorgeous Barcelona, it´s warm, the quality of life is amazing and you can live here very reasonably. As regards the language bit - I´ve been advised to concentrate on Spanish first which is easy enough and then tackle Catalan. If you´ve learnt French in the past, Catalan is much easier, it reads like a cross btwn Spanish and French.

Good luck miss "itchy feet"

boardy

Nu-shooz (on anyone else): any tips for moving to Barcelona? Decent areas to live/where to get work etc.

boardy

Hey, did anyone see that? Boards changed my 'r' to an 'n'. How did they do that???

Anyhow: Nu-shooz (or anyone else): any tips for moving to Barcelona? Decent areas to live/where to get work etc.

Tharks.

Nu-shooz

There's a lot of nice areas to live here, the main one you want to avoid is around the Raval district and La Ramblas, cheap accomodation but full of junkies, petty criminals etc.. A couple of nice areas would include Gracia, Barcelonetta, Borne and further out of the city in Casteldelfells.

As regards work ...it depends what type you're looking for, there's certainly a lot around and I reckon that anyone with a decent brain can make themselves a few quid - no problem, speaking Spanish is a bonus too.

If you've any more questions,just send me a pm and I'll do my best to give ya a helping hand :cool:

vector

Ireland wishlist
more trees
green areas in houseing estates should not be constructed on slopes
housing estates should not have more than 5 identical houses in a row
overhangs to be constructed over footpaths extending from shops so
pedestrians can walk around town when raining without an umbrealla
a nationwide train service (with underground stations in cities)
tighter border security
reduce tax on petroleum
abolish VRT
decrease VAT to 17.5%
reduce tax on alcohol
surface roads properly

keevita

Nu-shooz: Where in Catalunya? Barcelona is one of my favourite cities. And it's close to the South of France, so I have been investigating that area also. My problem with moving to Barcelona would be learning 2 new languages: Spanish and Catalan. It's a bit much. However, I just got back from Barcelona last week and the city is just one big buzz. Where else can you find a happening city within walking distance to many fine beaches?

Thanks for your responses lads (and lassies). Keep 'em coming.[/QUOTE]

i just got back from bcn yesterday, catalunya is a wonderful place to live, true u have to have a grasp of spanish at the very least,(people in provinces like girona speak pure catalan, but like all big cities the language can sometime get diluted in bcn, many things like menus, newspapers, roadsigns are in spanish also) but i completely agree on the buzz of the city, especially in gracia where i live. its also a good place to travel from, as u said there is france about 2 hours away, in the months i was there we also drove to portugal, north africa and gibraltar. 3 countries in one day-woo! back now,good to see family and friends, but getting itchy feet already...