u/Rough-Foundation9208

For me, it was a deep section carbon wheelset, utterly convinced it would transform my average speeds. Instead, living in an open windy countryside, I just spend more energy fighting to keep the bike in a straight line.

When I first moved from to France, the sacred two-hour "pause déjeuner" was quite confusing. In the UK I was used to a quick 30 min lunch at my desk. Now, my French office and pretty much every local business were completely shut down between 12 and 2pm!

3 years later and I'm a convert. I’ve learned to fully disconnect, enjoy an actual hot meal, and do some reading. Lunch is now like a collective agreement that life shouldn't stop for productivity's sake.

I'm an English-speaking native living in France. Even though I have been speaking French for a few years now, I still do all my thinking in English. Even something as simple as "I need to buy milk".

I miss talking to the people I like, being forced to get outside, the sense of working together as a team, and the free snacks.

I don't miss being constantly distracted, the long commutes, the endless meetings, the cold, and the small talk.

I live in a block of 12 flats and don't know anyone's name. I've been here almost 3 years.

I'm a UK national now living in France.

1. I wanted to push myself to finally learn French by jumping in at the deep end
2. I'm a history buff and love feeling transported back in time by all the historic sites
3. Nowhere in the world does baked goods better

I'm 43. I would say 10-20. Lots of friends, sports and laughs. Big family, very few worries - a roof over my head and food were never a concern. Special things like relationships, travel, my own home, and a career happened later, but 10-20 was pretty blissful (apart from some late teen woes, of course!)

I spent the first 36 years of my life in the UK, and I've been living now in Nice, France for 8 years. I would say I feel about 75% British, 25% French. I plan to stay here into retirement and I'm sure how French I feel will only continue to rise. Learning the language was a big turning point. For the first couple of years my wife and I struggled and missed home a lot. Now home is France for sure.

They say the average Brit works for 6-12 employers in a lifetime. Long gone are the days of a job for life.

I'm 41, and if I can remember correctly, not including my paper round, I've worked for 9.

I'd go with:

Netherlands (cool people, cycle-friendly, and English being very widely spoken)

Australia (sunny weather and gorgeous beaches, English-speaking, and friendly people with a similar sense of humour to Brits)

France (English less widely spoken but I'd like the challenge of being forced to learn French, historic sites, and the abundance of tasty baked goods.

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