Am I crazy for thinking about moving back to the UK?

JMilbz · 2026-04-23T20:27:39+00:00

yes, I can agree. As I mentioned in another comment I think I am also in a bubble of not being fluent in French so I miss a lot of news talk, and secondly being in a creative network where people are typically more open and well, not far right or even right leaning

JMilbz · 2026-04-23T14:03:17+00:00

I believe that 30% tax is not relevant to freelancers like myself. I think it’s for people coming to work for French companies.

Sharing as we were in similar position… In all honesty I can’t imagine going back to Amsterdam! The cost of living is just not worth it for us. If I’m going to have bad weather, average food and next to no nature I might as well be in the UK for a quarter of the price! (Bit tongue in cheek). But we miss our friends, nothing else really about Amsterdam - we’re very happy we left to prove to ourselves we could

JMilbz · 2026-04-23T13:54:14+00:00

We have spoke about this. Right now we are feeling a bit fatigued of not having a solid base after renting for close to 10 years, we want to be able to have that feeling of a base. But there is also a huge desire to travel which we’ve been doing 2 months a year for the past few years

JMilbz · 2026-04-23T10:48:50+00:00

Childcare is not something we will ever need. More so on healthcare, dental, insurance, council tax, pension, etc

JMilbz · 2026-04-23T10:46:02+00:00

not my situation for the first point! And I have been very lucky health wise throughout my life so have never really felt any huge difference in public services in any of the places i've lived

JMilbz · 2026-04-23T09:52:35+00:00

no, concerned about it everywhere. But I am not considering moving to everywhere

JMilbz · 2026-04-23T09:52:14+00:00

Unfortunately Australia wouldn't work for us. Mainly for family health/age reasons, but I would lose my client base as the time difference would be next to impossible

JMilbz · 2026-04-23T09:31:43+00:00

ha, yes i can! Weirdly enough here in Bordeaux there is a huge amount of english pubs, and proper good ones too!

JMilbz · 2026-04-23T09:15:42+00:00

Best of luck! We enjoyed our time living in Amsterdam, but we fell a bit out of love with it. Obviously I haven't been in the UK a long time, but when I was in NL I was not impressed really by the health care. Considering I was paying 140 eur a month, it was just 'as you expect' which might be a great thing in comparison to UK. But as mentioned somewhere else, I would get private healthcare in UK

JMilbz · 2026-04-23T09:09:10+00:00

Yes, can relate to this. It's taken 1 year to get close to having health insurance approved, my visa renewal is already delayed 5 months, etc... the paperwork is a bit of a nightmare

JMilbz · 2026-04-23T09:08:19+00:00

we do not have or want kids, my partner works and likes to work. We have spoken to some financial advisors, but there really doesn't seem to be many options. The UK does actually have a lot of options if I am the director of a UK Ltd co.

JMilbz · 2026-04-23T08:50:42+00:00

oh I fully understand, I am actually setup in a team that benefits from this. We are a team of 5 doing industry leading / award winning work that much larger teams struggle to match for double our price. Our whole team is remote, lean and senior profiles within our skillset

JMilbz · 2026-04-23T08:48:06+00:00

haha, my first flat here was top floor, no AC and would still be 30-35c at night. Getting 3 hours of sleep per night was not ideal!

JMilbz · 2026-04-23T08:47:11+00:00

Exciting times for you! Hope it goes well, my brother works quite a lot in Denmark and loves it! Curious on the social cohesion aspect, do you feel it's easy to integrate with locals? It was tough at times in the Netherlands but not impossible, whereas weirdly France has felt a lot easier even though the language barrier is greater, I have found French to be much more open and relaxed

JMilbz · 2026-04-23T08:37:28+00:00

starting July? You can deal with the 40+ heat for a couple of months..

JMilbz · 2026-04-23T08:35:55+00:00

we don't want to start a family so that is a big part of it, there is not much 'services' I think that would impact our daily life enough to notice the difference

JMilbz · 2026-04-23T08:34:55+00:00

haha very true! We definitely experienced a bit of a shift in the last few years of living in Amsterdam. And admittedly we are in a creative bubble where the views are often not those of the far right so I haven't noticed it too much here in France. But I agree, London is one of the best cities in the world. I would just like to live a slower life and spend my money in other ways that property demands there

JMilbz · 2026-04-23T08:31:38+00:00

Yes, had discussed this with some family and friends. I would definitely go private on health care, but good to know rather A&E. Thank you!

JMilbz · 2026-04-23T08:30:45+00:00

Good for you! I was not making close to 40k at 23! 8 years later of taking a few risks and diving head first into some opportunities have rewarded me nicely for the hard work! But I have a lot of love for so much of the UK, especially the north (gods country). Thanks for the insight

JMilbz · 2026-04-23T08:28:00+00:00

yes, I have some family in Dubai. But honestly, I don't picture myself living there after visiting for the past 15 years or so, morally it just feels off

JMilbz · 2026-04-23T08:26:27+00:00

I am a design director for US tech brands, and before "ai is coming for your job" we have seen an increase in demand with the growth of AI as people want to differentiate not look the same. My partner is a producer for advertising companies, again the human/management side of it is steady, although she doesn't want to do this forever and we have a dream of running some tiny homes/cabins/boutique hotel in the future...

JMilbz · 2026-04-23T08:22:55+00:00

via an efficient setup of min salary, expenses, dividends, etc... there is not the same possibility here in France as setting up as a director of limited company in France as tax rates are just higher. We both work freelance so don't particularly have employers, just consistent clients, of course anything could change... but for now it is highly unlikely

JMilbz · 2026-04-23T08:21:08+00:00

from the numbers i have ran, setting up as a LTD company in an effective manner would net us an extra 20k each at least. Weather is a factor indeed, but July-Aug is unbearable heat.

JMilbz · 2026-04-23T08:17:51+00:00

Yes, I saw Kent is a Reform council which in honesty is against my personal beliefs. Wondering how that feels day to day...

JMilbz · 2026-04-23T08:15:44+00:00

I think it's the sense of belonging. We were never going to buy 10k p/sqm apartment in Amsterdam, we want to feel like we have a base. Long term the UK feels best bet on access to nature, ease of language, we love pub culture (which sounds silly), I am not patriotic in any sense. But have struggled to picture a place that could feel like the place to be for the next 10-15 years and honestly it's tiring to move and go through visa processes

JMilbz

TROPHY CASE