Better quality of life

[Patf]

This phrase is used often, as a reason for moving to France from the UK. I would really love to know what it means. I'm not being sarky or negative about it, [Www] I just don't understand it.  Can someone explain?

[raindog]

'ere we go......[:D]

[jon]

perhaps everyone[who so wishes]can define their interpritation of "better quality of life"???????????

[Anton Redman]

For me it is space and time. I find London frenetic and incredibly crowded. In France I have a choice about whether lunch takes 25 minutes or two hours.  Going out for the day in the car a pleasure rather than it being a penance. The climate (at least in the Gironde) suits me. The article below has a quantified view. Interestingly I have spent time if four of their bottom ten and enjoyed myself there but am glad I’m not living there permanently. 

http://form.internationalliving.com/qol06/Index.html

[jon]

Yes I agree Space and time.....able to breath....only been here two months and all the sinese problems seem to have vanished.

The Gironde is puntuated with all types of scenery, cities and towns.

[raindog]

Interesting to see Vienna high up on the table of Best Cities To Live. Our sons lived there for 2 years and we visited four times. We quite fell in love with the place.

[Tresco]

[quote user="jon"]...The Gironde is puntuated with all types of scenery, cities and towns.[/quote]

Don't forget the 4 Nuclear Power stations.[6][;-)]

[DerekJ]

I don't believe that anyone can define what is a better quality of life for someone else. It's entirely personal.

What might appeal to me may not appeal to you.

[Bugsy]

For us in rural Vienne, it's,

Peace, lots of space and very quiet.

Lovely neighbours and a real village community.

Good, traffic-free motorcycling roads.

Loads of animals.

Great food and wine.

The ability to find snow, sun, beach, mountains etc without having to catch a ferry.

[:)]

 

 

[cooperlola]

I'm pretty sure that my better quality of life has as much to do with the fact that I don't have to go to work in the mornings, than where I actually live...

But I love the quiet roads, the fact that my house is not glued on to somebody else's and the fact that the Centre of the Universe (avatar) is half an hour away.[:D]

[Logan]

[quote user="DerekJ"]I don't believe that anyone can define what is a better quality of life for someone else. It's entirely personal.

What might appeal to me may not appeal to you.

[/quote]

I agree DerekJ.

We all think and act independently within an environment we create for ourselves. Our lives are very personal and generally speaking should come fairly close to satisfying our needs. My environment and personal life suit me but it would be very unlikely if it would suit you or anyone else. Why should it?

Quality of life is subjective. It depends entirely what you want for yourself. Perhaps getting that sorted might be a start. Living in France does for me produce a good quality of life. However so does living in North Yorkshire, North London, Portugal or anywhere else if it suits your needs.

Horses for Courses.

 

[SaligoBay]

[quote user="Tresco"][quote user="jon"]...The Gironde is puntuated with all types of scenery, cities and towns.[/quote]

Don't forget the 4 Nuclear Power stations.[6][;-)]

[/quote]

I think nuclear power stations fit into the "all types of scenery" category, Tresc.

But have you seen them? Such quality!!!! ;-)

[The Riff-Raff Element]

[quote user="Tresco"][quote user="SaligoBay"]

 But have you seen them? Such quality!!!! ;-)[/quote]

Yeah. I love anything with black and yellow stripes. Reminds me of my Haçienda days.[:D]

[/quote]

I think that the ones up near Chinon are nicer than the Gironde ones - far too moderne for my taste. The Loire collection have a far more Olde Worlde feel about them. And a certain amount of cracked concrete, which may or may not be important.

Having given the matter an appropriate amount of thought I think that the single most significant improvement in my QOL is that I don't have to get up at 5.45am in the middle of winter to go to work. I can if I want to, but I don't have to, and sometimes I do just to remind myself of how little I like doing it.Summer is fine, but winter, no. But I am very, very shallow. Deeply shallow, in fact.

[Clair]

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[jon]

A situation/place which helps you feel good;either about yourself/and  what you are surrounded by appeals to you.

Most of the negative things which were with you seem to evaperate when you are embraced with that life style/area.

Perhaps what you had before was causing too much presure and was strangling true happiness...persuit of happiness or a career/activity long awaiting you.

 

[Deby]

Hello SB, havent seen you on here in ages..... i though you were languedoc gal too?!

The OP question is very interesting, we moved to france for a better quality of life...... and it certainly was, I had one small child - 1 yrs old and both my husband and i had jobs to go to in France.  The jobs had CDI contracts, my french was rubbish, but I had learned German at Uni, so had a good grounding in languages, plus I had lived abroad before.  Hubby was fluent in French.  We also moved to a city with lots of facilities.  We had a great life.  We moved after 4 and half years to rural France, which was a complete shock to the system.  By then I had good enough french to integrate, but even so, I was not prepared for the differences in lifestyle.  Whilst we have a beautiful place and it is a nice part of France, raising a family in rural france is hard and not particulary idyllic, certainly not a better quality of life.  So there it goes.....

I now love where I live in the UK and have a good quality of life there, I seek out all the amazing things that there are to do on my doorstep, most of the people who have lived here for years do not take advantage of what is on their doorstep but instead tend to complain and wish for a better quality of life.  I also stopped working full time and cut out areas of excess in our life, like having a smaller house, with a smaller mortgage and this alone gives us more financial freedom.  Some people just simply move countries to obtain this and fail to look at their own lives and ask more deeper questions. Moving to rural France usually means a bigger house which some equate to having a better quality of life, think again! Life is a learning curve.  Our life and move to France was a great thing, but we had jobs, language skills and very small children not yet in the educational system.   I see so many people making the move to France because they are so unhappy with their lives in the UK.  The question they should ask is Is it the UK that makes m them unhappy or is it their lifestyle? A flippent response is dangerous.  It is easy to say the UK is dreary, crime-filled, fast-paced and unfriendly. What about not understanding what is going on, unable to communicate, having no local transport, no social circle, no or fewer friends and family, no pub, no take-away, no 24 hr tescos, no cheap clothes shopping, no choice of supermarkets, no library, no english film cinemas, no after school activities, no drama or sport in school, no nativity play, no teenage activities, limited technology, no customer service, no english speaking newspapers. For some, all the aforementioned are things taken for granted in the UK, how would you feel when they have gone. Be honest, we probably dont really shop at tescos at 2am in the morning, but probably rely on nipping to the shop to get a loaf and a tin tomatoes at 9pm in the evening.

France is a great place to live, but when raising a family in France, more pertinent questions need to be asked.

Deby

 

[Logan]

Excellent post Deby. Horses for Courses again. I am retired and age and experience brings it's own rewards. So living in relative isolation in the very rural SW at this stage for me is the best it gets. However I would have hated it when I was in my twenties/thirties and making my way in life. I often see young British people stuggling with their lives here with young families, trying to make ends meet. Can they really agree they have 'quality of life'? Perhaps that is the way they see it for their own individual reasons. However I am often left with the feeling they have to justify their move constantly to themselves and others. Quality of life is an over used term. I would suggest that if you cannot find quality of life where you are, it's unlikely you will find it anywhere else. Moving to another country is not a quick route to nivana, despite all the publicity to the contary.  

[raindog]

Perfectly put Logan.

[Patf]

Debby and Logan - very thoughtful replies. And the two people who included not having to go to work - I thought some would say that, though I know there are others who are going mad with boredom and would love to have a job to go to. For myself, I wouldn't use the phrase quality of life, but love living here for the same reasons as most of the people who like life in the beautiful peaceful countryside. However I would probably feel the same if we could afford to buy a cottage in the countryside, or seaside, in the UK.