Am off mate 🌏

I’m leaving the UK for a year or 2 in 10 days, and if I had my own way, it’d be forever.

(Logistically that’s kind of difficult as I’m a UK tax resident and my family/friends/clients are all here who I love to bits)… 😥

But after having spent years on end in different countries now, experiencing different cultures, meeting people from different nations, eating their food, speaking their language etc, here’s what I’ve noticed about us Brits 👇

Simple as that.

We LOVE to complain. Infact I’d argue it is in our cultural DNA to complain (because there’s so much TO complain about). 🙄

If there’s a quiet moment in a conversation, or we’re having small talk with a stranger, or we’re cracking a joke, you can guarantee someone is going to make a negative comment about the weather, the task at hand, or way worse; about another person 👎

When abroad, people from other countries are so confused by:

A) our desire to complain

B) our ability to SEARCH for things to complain about

We are so used to things being dull and bleak, that we actively try to find them even when there aren’t any. 🤬

We are missing OUT.

We are all:

• sleep deprived

• socially deprived

• sun deprived

• exercise deprived

• nutrient deprived

We are deprived of everything that in my opinion creates good health. 💤

➡️ Most of our social occasions are revolved around drinking… 🍺

➡️ Most of our food is highly processed, high in trans fats/added sugar, and/or from fast-food sources… 🍕

➡️ Most people are walking around with Vitamin-D/Iron deficiencies, so many brits have IBS, and on the whole, our government nutrition recommendations are wildly outdated.

Our working days are long, our commutes are long, and although we’re FINALLY turning the tide with more working from home, so many people fill their time off with personal admin tasks they didn’t have time to complete during their school week. 👖

NONE of the above is normal.

Like that’s not ‘just how it is’, or how it works in other countries. ❌

Working days are shorter, minimum wage is higher (relative to cost of living), food quality is higher, fast food is less accessible, and government recommendations are more health conscious. 🥦

We’re at an automatic disadvantage for physical & mental health due to poor weather and longer working hours. ⛈️

So if the cost of living was lower, or access to nutrient-dense food was higher, or there were more government schemes to encourage exercise (subsidised gym memberships/more sports facilities open to the public etc), then that would cancel it out and I could forgive the system. 🏋️‍♀️

But housing prices are going up, cost of food is going up, and to go run round a bloody athletics track a few times, you now have to pay £5-£10. This ISN’T the case abroad. 👟

I love british people. We’re by far the funniest, and easiest to get along with people on the planet. 💝

We stick together, we’re hard-working, and we’re very selfless (well, us northerners are anyway).

We also have the NHS (or at least, had…), and I will never not be grateful for our healthcare system.

But I cannot wait to get the fuck out of here

I’m aware my job affords me this privilege and I’m seriously grateful for it. 🫡

But even if this wasn’t the case, I’d rather work 30 hours a week for minimum wage abroad where my money goes further and I have lots of disposable time to work on my hobbies and my own development, than work 60 hours a week, with 6 hours per week commute, getting no sunlight, and not actually saving any money because meal deals at tescos have inflated up to £6.

But hey that’s just MY opinion.

Cheers,

Sheep 🐏