[DemolitionRed]

Originally Posted by Marsh.

Life isn't really that simple though.

You can't just pack a bag and go to another country.

Why not? If that country has visa restrictions then its going to take a lot more planning but what's to stop a single person or childless couple packing a bag and heading off to Europe?

I've lived in France, Italy and the US. France was easy because of my French relatives and the US was easy because I had friends but I was 18 when I went back packing around Europe and ended up living and working in Trieste (Italy) for a year.

[Cherie]

Originally Posted by DemolitionRed

Why not? If that country has visa restrictions then its going to take a lot more planning but what's to stop a single person or childless couple packing a bag and heading off to Europe?

I've lived in France, Italy and the US. France was easy because of my French relatives and the US was easy because I had friends but I was 18 when I went back packing around Europe and ended up living and working in Trieste (Italy) for a year.

It can be done but obviously if you have kids it needs planning, and you need to know you can support them

[Johnnyuk123]

Originally Posted by Cherie

It can be done but obviously if you have kids it needs planning, and you need to know you can support them

But Cherie there are many people who leave their family behind and just leave the country. If only they cared enough to think about their children.

[Cherie]

Originally Posted by Johnnyuk123

But Cherie there are many people who leave their family behind and just leave the country. If only they cared enough to think about their children.

Not everyone can do commitment Unfortunately Johnny

[Johnnyuk123]

Originally Posted by Cherie

Not everyone can do commitment Unfortunately Johnny

Thats true. not many can cope with commitment.

[Marsh.]

Originally Posted by DemolitionRed

Why not? If that country has visa restrictions then its going to take a lot more planning but what's to stop a single person or childless couple packing a bag and heading off to Europe?

I've lived in France, Italy and the US. France was easy because of my French relatives and the US was easy because I had friends but I was 18 when I went back packing around Europe and ended up living and working in Trieste (Italy) for a year.

Because, as I said, life isn't that simple.

For a teenager on a gap year maybe, but it's quite a broad question being asked in the OP. The majority of people will have baggage/barriers in the way.

Not many people can turn a backpacking trip into a brand new permanent life in a new country.

I never said it was impossible, I said it's not simple. And it isn't.

[DemolitionRed]

Originally Posted by Marsh.

Because, as I said, life isn't that simple.

For a teenager on a gap year maybe, but it's quite a broad question being asked in the OP. The majority of people will have baggage/barriers in the way.

Not many people can turn a backpacking trip into a brand new permanent life in a new country.

I never said it was impossible, I said it's not simple. And it isn't.

My husbands parents are artists and decided on a whim that they'd go and live on a hippy commune in Spain. Three small children, my husband being the eldest who had just started school, were packed in a van along with the canvases and water colours and set out on a new adventure that was to last eight years. The kids were home schooled (mother was a school teacher) and lived with their parents in a troglodyte in Andalusia.

He always speaks about his wonderful young childhood right up to the point of coming back to the UK where he and his sister and brother found it extremely difficult to fit into a conventional school. For him, the east end of London was a grim place in comparison to what he'd been used to.

In his case, moving to a new country at the age of four wasn't a problem but moving to a new country at the age of 12 caused some massive problems in his young life.

So no, people need to consider the implications and it very much depends on the children's age and what stage of schooling they are going through.