Emigrating

[John Boucher]

There are amazing animals down under... Kangos are overblown!

Something seriously will have to change - my lord, Oranje doesn't sound too bad now....

[DieselFan]

Also it is extremely one-eyed to believe that the only animals in Oz are Kangaroos.

There are some other african countries I believe that don't have as violent crime.

PS That hitnrun case is still ongoing...

[Bennie Vorster]

Also find this link today: www.immi.gov.au
and http://www.immi.gov.au/skills/index.htm


I think it is all well staying in SA now, but not to far into the future I think the wheels is going to come off seriously. Been a father of two daughters I can't face the future for their sake in this country.

Haven't traveled a lot yet but the Italian life style surely got me impressed. Same for Monaco and even Maldives weren't to bad.

Only reason I'll go to Aus is coz there will be a lot of us over there that will be willing to defend that country like we did it over year. Though I think if it comes to the push they will be just so mush more adamant.

Any place that people still treat people like human beings and with respect will be the place for me.

I just hope that the wife will not hang on to what we have here for so long that we will not be able to take any thing with the day we need to jump the border.

[RV4ker (RIP)]

Harties, Garden Route, Ireland, NZ or on some island running trike flip or float plane operation barely breaking even but having a ball...

Have worked on 5 continents while doing articles and backpacking around. Then a stint with Alfred Dunhill in UK showed me Europe. Always felt SA was not the place for me. Only reaon i did degree was that at the time i could get into almost any country in world with it... Left SA with intention of finding the best place to settle down... Came back some years and many kms later and now like to go there on holiday to remind myself how lekka it is here... Below my 2c....
.
As said above USA is bigger and badder than them all. Have to work hard to make a living (plenty harder than here) Got moer'd plenty in Texas for telling them there was more o world than Texas.... The midnight rodeo in Amerillo (where I worked as hot air balloon backup crew) was a joll, but unless you nod accordingly when the Wrangler wearing cowboy who never even been 40km away from there, tells you that Texas is greatest nation in world you go down fast. Almost as fast as when you sokkie with his cowgirl.... I miss those teath but they were good times FOR A WHILE.... Southern states near the coast are nice if you have huge cash - Worked on Yacht on East Coast. Inland is similar to our platteland, just slightly bigger and northern states (incl. NY) are cold and unfriendly. LA and SF are huge smog infested traffic jams. Again nice if you have huge cash, else not so nice....

Canada was just too cold for me and the frechies were rude as hell if you cold not speak French.

South America was awesome, but if you don't speak the lingo or have drug money to spend you are a target. Never seen such extravagance surrounded by such poverty... Never felt safe there, although there is huge potential. it very much like Africa...

Uk
Working in UK was OK, but not nice people to do business with. tube and WX got to me. Different value system and slapgat. Happy to screw anyone for as much as possible and get out then take a 6 week holiday in "MAJORKA". Flying also so restricted (they all come here to fly and see the animals). It all about old money - I never liked history (it never changes). Not for me. Smaller towns more homely, but no bucks. London is where it at and it not for me... Ireland was the exception, but it would be a huge lifestyle change and one I am not sure I could make. Wife's family come from there and it was strange to visit a village where almost every shop shared her maiden name... Not sure I would be accepted and it would be huge adjustment for the kids...

Europe
Nice to go skiing, but would hate living like that. Also very expensive, cold and impersonal. There are obviously exceptions (amsterdam, but hey you need money to smoke weed all year, Switzerland where even breathing is too expensive for me)

Aus/NZ
If they didn't keep giving us a klap at everything we do it would make it so much easier. Spent some time working on Barrier reef gold coast (Rockhampton - Yeppon Island). Could def become a beach bum, but again def drop in standard of living. Change in lifestyle andnot sure I could do without what we have here. mommy would have to go back to work and I would have to wear a tie again....

Efrica
K@K place with huge potential. We have not seen anything like they have had in Efrica for years and we are still a long way off it. Things are K@k, but only in comparison to what we were used to. If you compare SA to other developing countries we right up there. Me I like it here...

Push came to shove it would be NZ for me, but Mommy would want to return to Scotland/Ireland...That said farm overlooking the sea on the garden route with an airstrip would be it for me. Would be there right now if there we any school close by.... I have had family mugged, shot and assaulted. it makes living here tough, but personally what we are able to share with our kids can not be recreated anywhere in the world, not on my budget anyway. There are places in SA where you can still have it all. You just have to find out what "all" it is you want... I can honestly say I am living the dream.... We want for nothing and although it woul be nice to have electricity, roads and a clean Harties we are managing just fine....

[swiftprop]

I have recently met a number of ex Pommies, Germans, Dutch and even Americans who have moved PERMANENTLY to South Africa. Spoke to another one today who lived in Switzerland for a few years (a Pommie) and has now been living here for a year. These are mostly people with own businesses and say they will not trade their new home (South Africa) for anything. Have also met a bunch of South Aficans who until recently worked in various other countries for 3 to 6 years and say Boy are we gald to be back! Makes one think a bit does'nt it!

[Mogas]

I'm with Nkwazi on this one, SA has been good to me but Zim is home and I will be back in a flash just as soon as I am not an enemy of the state for being a "Marungu"
I have an Irish passport and could go anywhere in the EU if I wanted to. I have seen a lot of it but Africa still does it for me.

[slysi]

It is an interesting debate and I am sure there is no right or wrong answer. You have to take your own circumstances into account and decide what in your view is best for your family. Guzz makes a air point....what if something happens to you or your family. That is what scares the crap out of me. I have a UK passport and would be simple to go back "home" but after being here 27 years this is home. BUT what about my family and my responsibility for giving my kids a fair chance in life That is the question that I need to answer

[afskies scribe]

I would try stay in Africa as long as I can.
Got to have animals and nature. There's something about flying and seeing jackals, warthogs, owls in the late afternoon that makes all problems seem minuscule. Or going to the Kalahari and just listening to the night sounds.
South Africa provides me with the finances to do what I enjoy, I can't see OZ, NZ, UK, Can or even the US providing the same. Yes you can come on holiday to see animals but it's NOT the same.
Some people are happy with seeing sheep all the time and consider that nature or camping called nature. Nature is having Rhinos walk through camp, admiring vultures inflight playing with an AntLion in the sand and having mother spiders run up your legs. I doubt Kangaroos could keep you entertained for long. What would I spend my money on? Cars? TV games and cable? No thanks.
Nature and Africa make me feel alive - if that makes any sense.
Where else in the world can you even get a hint of that?!
Botswana perhaps deserves more investigation...

Ditto, ditto, ditto...

[Arnulf]

I would try stay in Africa as long as I can.


Botswana perhaps deserves more investigation...

Take a closer look at Nam!

[DieselFan]

I would try stay in Africa as long as I can.


Botswana perhaps deserves more investigation...

Take a closer look at Nam!

I'm not one for the fast east, they dig too many holes.

Actually planning a trip to namib next year...

I think it's great to have all these opinions, many times ignorance affects our judgment SO keep telling us about the various countries. Me I've neva been outa africa and dad is ex Rhod.

[The Agent]

Staying just here but if I had the money south of France or Spain.

[andreb]

Creed of the White Kid



We are sorry that our ancestors were intelligent, advanced and daring enough to explore the wild oceans to discover new countries and to concur and develop these.



We are sorry that those who came before us took you out of the bush and taught you that there was more to life than beating drums and chasing animals with sticks and stones.



We are sorry that they planed, funded and developed roads, towns, mines, factories, airports, all of which you now claim to be your long deprived inheritance so you have full right to change and rename these at your discretion.



We are sorry that our parents taught us the value of small but strong families, to not breed like rabbits and end up as underfed, illiterate shack dwellers living in poverty.



We are sorry that when they provided you with schools, you decided it looked better without windows or in piles of ashes. We happily gave up those bad days of getting spanked in our all white schools for doing something wrong, and much prefer these days of freedom where problems can be resolved with knives and guns.



We are sorry that it is hard to shake off the bitterness of the past when you keep on raping, torturing and killing our friends and family members, and then hide behind the fence of “human rights” with smiles on your faces.



We are sorry that we do not trust the government. We have no reason to be so suspicious and short sighted seeing that there has never been a case where any of these poor hard working intellectuals were involved in any form of corruption or irregularities.



We are sorry that we do not trust the police force and although they have openly admitted that they have lost the war against crime and criminals, we should not be so negative and just keep on hoping for the best.



We are sorry that we basically flung open our border posts, and now left you competing for jobs against illegal immigrants from our beautiful neighboring countries. All these countries that have grown so strong after kicking out the “settlers”, you should follow their excellent example and grow big and strong like them!



We are sorry that we don’t believe in witchcraft, beetroot and garlic, urinating on street corners or trading woman for cattle, maybe we just grew up differently. So sorry that when we are forced into sharing the same establishments, sometimes we lose our temper, that is totally uncalled for.



We are sorry that your medical care, water supplies, roads, and your electrical supplies are going down the toilet because skilled people who could have planned and resolved these issues had to be shown away because they were of the wrong ethnic background and now have to work in foreign countries where their skills are more needed.



We are so sorry and should really try harder to be more tolerant and learn to get along with EVERYBODY around us, one big happy family.



The Dumb White Kid

[skyvan]

Heading off the UAE now, until the kids have finished school, then probably south of France or southern UK.

I have three kids with no future here (unless I start a company, build it up, give half away to BEE, and then they may be able to work for me!), so the future is clear. We have to leave to give them a chance in the world.

The only difference between a refugee and am emmigrant is timing!

[KFA]

I like Africa, where else can you speed and get away with a small fee. My argument is that in Oz there are 20-30mil people of which probably 18-20mil are as clever as you are, but in sa you have 48mil of which only about 4mil are clever. My point is with the rate that clever guys are leaving, my money making oportunities are increasing daily.

[rooikat]

We'll probably go, me, girlfriend and the felines, but only for safety. If there is a dramatic change in the security situation, great, we'll stay. The good life is not the good life when life is worth less than a cellphone or a bit of cash. You know things are not good when people in Luanda, a city of shocking disparities in wealth and opportunity, say, "You people in South Africa need to solve your crime problem!"

I've travelled plenty and as I go I'm always wondering if I'm in a place I could live in...

So:

1. Somewhere on the distant edge of Escape Town, with airstrip near, and pref. view of sea.

2. Ireland. Been to Cork and travelled the coast for a couple of weeks. Sheep's Head? Would live there tomorrow. Girlfriend has Irish ancestors and she likes the soft rain.

3. New Zealand or Chile. Never been to either, but my diligent research is encouraging. Trouble is, Chile don't want no immigrants. And then there's the language...

4. Somewhere on the edge of the Med, on a boat if necessary.

5. Thailand. An amazing place, and the Thais are, on the whole, a lot nicer than anyone else in the Golden Triangle. Spent two months in Bangkok and dug it, but would head south if living there. Nice GA scene too, I hear.

6. Mozambique, probably Maputo. If it weren't for the corruption, I'd be there in a flash.

Lived four years in London. Went to work by Tube every day, pub every night on the way home. Really liked it, and I love London to this day. But it is really a young person's jol, and K@k expensive to live in.

Also owned a house in rural southern France. Nice dream, k@k reality. It was cheap to buy but that's because it was a grillion miles from any decent employment. The plumbing sucked (and you pay Paris prices for a plumber in these parts) and the house was slowly sinking into the clay.
France also has trouble coming, and you need big bucks to isolate yourself from it.

Canada too cold and remote, and in a couple of decades Oz is going to be a province of China.

On the whole, Id rather stay here.

Redcat