According to the research, this year an incredible 75% of Britons have considered moving abroad. The main reason for wanting to go was the economy (cited by 31% of respondents), followed by 23% who pointed to poor job prospects at home.

Most popular target destinations were found to be Australia, then Canada, the United States, New Zealand, Spain, France and Thailand.

The last such survey conducted by Currency UK was in 2005. That one reported a much more moderate 25% of respondents were considering leaving Britain.

Sounds terrible doesn’t it, as if the country has really gone to the dogs in the last five years, and a mass exodus is imminent. Maybe. But I have a couple of cautionary observations:

1)      Survey results are fallible. The outcome depends on the question asked, and so it is easy to skew the response according to how the query is phrased. So 75% is probably an over-inflation of the number of people seriously considering emigration.

2)      What the survey does highlight is a link between expatriation and current fears about the UK’s economy. In other words, things seem bad at home, so let’s move abroad. But this is to overlook the fact that similar – if not worse – problems are happening elsewhere.

Moving abroad is too-often seen as a panacea – offering an escape from all the woes of life at home, and the prospect of sun-filled, carefree days ahead. But it’s essential to be realistic. Recognize there are both pros and cons to living overseas, and make an informed decision on that basis.

The chances of finding happiness – whether at home or abroad – then become a lot higher.

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1. British Summer
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3. European Quality of Life Advantages Called Into Question

However, in the UK it is one of the major events of the calendar – Guy Fawkes Night (also called Bonfire Night).

It commemorates the discovery of the Gunpowder Plot in 1605, when a group of leading Catholics planned to blow up the Houses of Parliament in an attempt to assassinate King James I and replace him with a Catholic monarch. Guy Fawkes was supposed to execute the plot, but was discovered in a cellar underneath Parliament along with the gunpowder.

Ever since November 5 has been celebrated with large bonfires and firework displays – nowadays some are huge public spectacles; others are private celebrations in people’s back gardens. As a child in particular though it is a night of high excitement.

It’s one of the things I miss about living abroad, the gatherings with family and friends, the chance for our children to share in the excitement the night brings. Spain certainly has its own share of wonderful fiestas. But it’s still hard to beat the traditions of home.

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1. A Midsummer Night’s Dream
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3. Mass British Exodus Waiting to Happen?

At the time I remember thinking ‘Blimey, that’s the life.’ Writing a few hours a day and then trailing around the French countryside the rest of the time.

Hardly a deep, or unique reaction I know. Everyone thought the same, which was why the book went on to sell so many copies and turned Peter Mayle into a rich and famous man.

What was perhaps different was my next thought – ‘That’s what I want to do.’ Become a writer, first and foremost. And live abroad.

Well, I’ve done the moving bit all right – first to the States, and then six years ago to Spain. But now, at last, I’ve got a book coming out too, which I hope will be the start of an even more wonderful journey.

There is, after all, a certain kudos to being a writer.

Millionaire novelists like J.K. Rowling, John Grisham and Stephen King spring to mind. Or perhaps the literary cool of an Ernest Hemingway, Jay McInerney or Zadie Smith.

And the non-fiction arena is an even bigger market. Self-help bibles, business success stories, health and fitness guides, even cookery books have the power to turn their authors into celebrity figures.

And even if it doesn’t make the New York Times bestseller lists, a book can act as a badge of status that a writer can leverage for speaking engagements, workshops, coaching programmes and a host of other money-spinning activities.

No wonder so many people dream of becoming an author.

But the traditional publishing world has an uncertain future.

There are the big success stories of course, with millions of copies of certain titles – not least the Harry Potter series – flying off the shelves.

Nevertheless, reports indicate that for years the general public as a whole has been reading less and less. It doesn’t bode well for your business then if demand for your product is steadily falling.

Plus publishing has an idiosyncratic business model. For while the publishers bear the expense of producing and – less frequently these days – promoting their books, any unsold ones can be returned by the retailer without having to pay for them. The publisher then has to find warehouse space to store them, or pay for them to be pulped.

In other words, they face all the risk for the success or otherwise of their products. Can you imagine any other business working that way?

So it’s no wonder publishers are keen to focus on what they think will be surefire successes – the celebrity writers with marketable names, and established literary big guns with a track record.

Which isn’t to say new writers can’t break in. Arguably those that are good enough, and keep submitting, will get noticed by agents and publishers, who are full of talented people as keen to sign the next literary superstar as the writer is to be one.

But it’s not easy for the aspiring debutant. And the rewards for all that work are often pitiful.

Meanwhile a mass of mediocre books continue to hit the display stands, largely on the strength of the author’s name blazoned across the top.

But an alternative future is emerging … which I’ll come to in Part II.

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1. Expat Book: The Long and Winding Road
2. Expat Living By the Book
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Like so many other journalists, I too have been dreaming of that publishing deal that would set me on the road to literary fortune. In fact, my journalistic career was more happenstance than design, a by-product of my early book writing efforts, rather than the other way around.

The impulse to write has been with me since my exercise book-filled scribbles at infants’ school. But it wasn’t until a backpacking trip around Spain with my wife in 1997 that I took the all-important step, and committed to become a writer. And that means consistently putting pen to paper.

I remember it now. Sitting in front of our tiny tent under the pine trees and stars, enveloped in the warmth of a Valencian spring evening, I opened my newly-bought notepad and with a cheap ballpoint began to recount our adventures.

In the 12 years since I have written something practically every day.

In amongst the hundreds of magazine and newsletter articles for my day job there has been that original backpacker’s tale, several novels, a host of short stories, TV programme pitches, and a work-in-progress screenplay.

The investment of a lot of time, a lot of work and a lot of hope. It’s been a long, and at times frustrating, journey. Indeed, given my lack of publishing fame and fortune you’d probably be justified in thinking it’s about time I gave up.

But although the dream of being a full-time author has seemed a million miles away at times, I have never lost sight of it. So I persevere.

Still, rightly or wrongly – and I’m sure there were glaring deficiencies in my work that merited the stack of rejections – I haven’t had much joy thus far with the traditional publishing world.

Which is why for “Should I Stay Or Should I Go,” my guide to the pros and cons of expat living, I decided to go down the internet route by writing an e-book, and setting up a website to support and sell it.

The internet is a fantastic evolution in the spread of the written word. For it has provided the opportunity for anyone with a message to reach out to a global audience, even if at times it can be difficult to get that message heard.

But the thing is, you never know when someone is listening. And that’s when one of those serendipitous events occurred to me.

Somehow Bea Stanford, founder of global network community Inside Twente (http://www.twenteinside.com/), stumbled on my website and signed up for my Moving Abroad-opedia newsletter. Apparently she liked what I wrote and asked if I’d share my blog posts on her site.

Through Bea and Inside Twente my book reached the attention of Jo Parfitt, the author of numerous bibles on expatriate living, including “Expat Entrepreneur” and “A Career In Your Suitcase” (http://www.joparfitt.com/).

And I have Jo to thank for referring me to her publisher Lean Marketing Press, who in turn got in touch expressing interest in my book. As a result, we’re now working together to produce a print version of Should I Stay Or Should I Go, which we hope to bring out shortly.

It’s been a strange, circuitous route to publication – certainly not how I imagined it would occur. Nevertheless, it is an immensely exciting prospect, not least because I believe – and many other writers have similarly argued – that the model adopted by companies such as Lean Marketing is the future of publishing. But I’ll go into that another time.

Related posts:

1. Expat Living By the Book
2. Book Publishing: The Future … Part I
3. Expat Book Publication

According to new research conducted by YouGov for Legal & General, and reported in the Scotsman, 19% of Scotland’s five million population would be prepared to move abroad to escape the sharp rise in living costs stemming from the credit crunch. And an estimated 550 people a week are thought to be leaving Scotland for a life overseas already.

But while the UK is undoubtedly an expensive place to live, it isn’t the only nation to be hit by escalating living costs.

Food prices around the world are soaring thanks to a combination of forces, including long-term droughts in Australia and more US farmers turning their crops over to biofuels. Meanwhile, oil continues to trade around $130 per barrel, compared to an average of $20 – $30 over the past 60 years, which has caused petrol and fuel costs to rocket everywhere. And because oil powers so much of the world’s manufacturing it has fed through into price rises for a welter of other goods.

As a result, inflation is once again rearing its head on a global scale.

In response, the European Central Bank raised eurozone interest rates to 4% last Wednesday, double what it was just 18 months ago. ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet indicated further rate rises could follow too. Not got news for borrowers.

And with the euro remaining strong against the pound, any money transferred from the UK to Europe will not go nearly as far as it once did. Popular British expat destinations like Spain, France and Portugal are no longer such cheap alternatives then.

In addition, while you may find moving abroad gives you a lower cost of living, you also need to consider what your earnings are likely to be in your new location. Yes, your living costs may go down, but if your income decreases by a similar amount how much better off will you really be?

Of course the expense of UK living is a concern for many people. But it is a global phenomenon. Better therefore to think before you jump. So if you’re considering a move abroad, make sure your decision is based on a real heart’s desire to experience life overseas, rather than in response to external – and potentially temporary – factors.

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1. Britain’s Immigration/Emigration Debate
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Indeed, the latter point appears to be gaining increasing significance, according to the National Statistician, Karen Dunnell. Her research, reports the Daily Mail, reveals that from 1992-96 (when the Conservatives were in government) ‘natural change’ as a result of people living longer or having more children was the biggest contributor to UK population growth. This accounted for an additional 582,604 people, compared to 143,112 from net migration and other factors.

However, under Labour, points out the Mail, net migration has taken over as the primary factor behind population growth. From 1997-2001, migrants and other factors added 532,652 people to the total, whereas 416,471 came from natural change. And from 2002 to 2006 net migration climbed to 932,999 people, almost double the 528,429 increase that stemmed from natural change.

On the flip side, the most recent figures from the Office for National Statistics show that 207,000 British citizens emigrated in 2006, the highest number since current records began in 1991. And from 1997-2007, a total of more than 1.5 million Brits moved abroad. The figure was jumped on by Conservative immigration spokesman Damian Green, who claimed the exodus was a reflection of a decade of life under Labour.

Certainly there is a connection in many people’s minds between the two flows (particularly if you browse through the Daily Mail and Telegraph reader message boards). Immigration is making our densely populated little island even more overcrowded, putting more pressure on our already stretched housing stock, and on our health, education and transport systems. As a result, disgruntled Britons are fleeing in their droves in search of a better quality of life elsewhere.

This seems an illogical argument to me. You’re fed up with people moving into your country, so you’re going to move to someone else’s instead! And how do you suppose the local population in Spain or Australia or Canada feels about it? Would you blame them if they reacted with hostility to your incursion?

I too jumped ship and left England five years ago, so I can understand the motivations involved in migrating somewhere in search of a better life, wherever that may be. And I can only say I hope any legal immigrant to Britain is welcomed as warmly as I have been by the people here. After all, what’s sauce for the goose …

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1. Immigration and the UK’s Population Growth
2. Credit Crunch the New Incentive for Emigration?
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