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 Britons who have taken the leap and settled elsewhere, detailing the ups and downs of their journeys.
As wildfires ravaged Bordeaux, on Sunday, clouds of smoke reached former chef Diane Kirkwood, 62, her carpenter husband Bob, 60, and their home 200km north-east of the blazing city, in a woody area in Dordogne. Originally from Chelmsford, the couple moved here 25 years ago and now run an off-grid forest retreat near the village of Piégut-Pluviers, renting wooden cabins to holidayers. Depending on how the wildfire situation evolves, they might consider changing the way their business runs to avoid the heat, but shutting in high peak summer would weigh on their finances.
I woke up Sunday morning and the sun was eerily dark, like an eclipse. The sky was misty and hazy, it was totally foggy and it smelt of wood smoke. I was scared – that smell of burning wood would make anyone panic.
