Around half a million people leave the UK to live abroad each year. A survey by the British Council showed 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 country. The i Paper’s Expat Files follows Brits who have taken the leap and settled elsewhere, detailing the ups and downs of their journeys. Here, Amy, 27 and a brand manager from Gloucestershire, tells Kelly Washington about life since she moved to Germany.
My fiancé and I have always talked about moving to another country. My parents live in France, my brother lives in Canada, so my family already live all over the world. We truly love our lives at home, but always imagined we’d move somewhere else eventually. So, when the opportunity arose, we jumped at the chance. My fiancé is a mechanical engineer, and was offered a job in Germany. In February this year, we packed up our home in Northleach in the Cotswolds and shipped our belongings to Regensburg in Bavaria.
I’ve worked for as long as I can remember, doing everything from potwashing to retail, before eventually building a career in marketing as a brand manager at Brita. I wasn’t able to work remotely with the move, so I had to give it up when we moved. At the time, I found this extremely scary, but I can honestly say I have no regrets. Salaries tend to be higher in Germany – in the UK, our combined salaries amounted to £90,000 per year, but my partner now takes home £100,000, and our quality of life has improved dramatically.
