Around half a million people left the UK to live abroad last year, and it’s not just retirees. A survey by the British Council showed that 72 per cent of 18 to 30-year-olds would consider living and working overseas, with cold weather, the high cost of living, extortionate childcare, a lack of work-life balance and even poor romantic prospects among their motivations for leaving the UK. The i Paper’s Expat Files follows Brits who have taken the leap and settled elsewhere, detailing the ups and downs of their journeys.
Art Director Olivia Woodgate, 31, left the UK for New Zealand in 2021, with her partner George, 31. Now, back in London, she tells Maybelle Morgan why she couldn’t wait to come back.
***
It was the sudden news of a best friend’s engagement – broken to us over a patchy FaceTime call with a 13-hour time difference – that made us realise we needed to go back to the UK. We had been living in New Zealand for the past two years, truly making the most of all the breathtaking nature, landscapes and outdoor adventure it had to offer. But as time went by, and news of friends’ milestones and engagements started pouring in thick and fast – as they do when you hit 30 – we started to feel unbearably isolated.
