OK before I start the ball rolling in earnest, is there anyone here who has moved to France, specifically to renovate and live in an older property?
I think my truck driving days are over and am looking at this as a retirement idea.
I’ll fluff this up ,Harry. I’m interested too about France but the fashion now ,after the £’s catastrophic demise , is to settle in UK & take cheap flights to visit Memory Lane .
For instance ,before the crunch £100k in EU was worth £100k ; after the crunch be lucky to get £65k for it, but its still worth £100k today in UK.
Fact & figures correct at time of going to press but may change minute by minute.
PS: You don’t give trucking up - trucking gives you up . You will wake up one morning realize its no fun anymore & you will look at it as a game that is completely played out & its time to move on. Speaking personally, it was mostly non-stop adventure for years & then it wasn’t . It became mind numbingly boring & no amount of dosh would get me back in the saddle now. Hi-vis, seat belts, digi’s, speed controllers, radar on traffic lights, handing yer keys over to RDC pongo’s, drivers sat in their cabs all night watching pocket sized tv’s … not to mention breathalyzers : As i said ,no fun. 
Can’t afford to buy anywhere here but could buy a detached cottage with a fair bit of land for £60,000 so it’s tempting. Could then spend the rest of my days bimbling around putting it right and living off savings.
I hate the job now, it has changed out of all recognition and I can’t see it ever getting better, all the continental work has disappeared and the only jobs about are those where you are treated like ■■■.
Seem to think healthcare could cause a problem as they have changed the rules!
In case you do not get any definative replies have a look here…
french-property.com/guides/f … etirement/
Dickie Osborne
I think healthcare is only a prob if you retire early ,like 50 or something. Keep your options open .I go to Thailand because of the climate & its cheap but you cannot buy land there, only apartments. Truckers seem to fit in well there ,its kind of extension of your carreer without the ■■■■■■ truck. Good healthy climate plenty of gals, cheap food, cheap booze, & cheap accomodation. But be warned: Plenty of grim Brit ■■■■■■■■■■■■
Cave man is the chap to talk to as he lived over there and drove for nobbies .
harry:
Good healthy climate plenty of gals, cheap food, cheap booze, & cheap accomodation. But be warned: Plenty of grim Brit ■■■■■■■■■■■■
Funny you mention that, out of half a dozen Thailandophiles I can instantly recall, they all seem like that, both home and abroad. add a few kiddyfiddlers to the list too. I have never visited but have no wish to do so from the people I do know who go there regularly.
Wheel Nut:
harry:
Good healthy climate plenty of gals, cheap food, cheap booze, & cheap accomodation. But be warned: Plenty of grim Brit ■■■■■■■■■■■■Funny you mention that, out of half a dozen Thailandophiles I can instantly recall, they all seem like that, both home and abroad. add a few kiddyfiddlers to the list too. I have never visited but have no wish to do so from the people I do know who go there regularly.
Thailands great but I would not want to live there, I just got back from a 2 month visit to my favourite beach,which was in low season and I more or less had it to myself.
As for SOME of the westerners you meet there, creepy slimy dirtbags would be the best way to describe them.
But I have had 10 years practice in avoiding where they hang out,so I always have a great time in the land of smiles.
Yeah, there are some choice b’tsards out there. The only thing I have in common with a lot of 'em is they speak English.
Experience tells you where to avoid. First timers are chucked in at the deep end. Just like the first day you wake up in Tangier docks ,I suppose; every hustler & thief in town wants to be your friend.
Misconceptions about Thailand: Age of consent is 18. Even if the girl has false ID papers the police will not take that into account & penalties are severe so don’t believe everything you read about the Land Of Smiles. Whatever idea you have of the place will certainly be turned upside down if you ever go there.
Reading about Thailand & forming an opinion of the place is the same as reading a book on how to drive a truck but never actually seen one. Thaibashing is v.popular with the media & sells newspapers but take all the bull with a pinch of salt.
harry:
Yeah, there are some choice b’tsards out there. The only thing I have in common with a lot of 'em is they speak English.
Experience tells you where to avoid. First timers are chucked in at the deep end. Just like the first day you wake up in Tangier docks ,I suppose; every hustler & thief in town wants to be your friend.Misconceptions about Thailand: Age of consent is 18. Even if the girl has false ID papers the police will not take that into account & penalties are severe so don’t believe everything you read about the Land Of Smiles. Whatever idea you have of the place will certainly be turned upside down if you ever go there.
Reading about Thailand & forming an opinion of the place is the same as reading a book on how to drive a truck but never actually seen one. Thaibashing is v.popular with the media & sells newspapers but take all the bull with a pinch of salt.
Oh I agree with your sentiments, Harry, but I grew up with some of these tossers. mini bus loads of fat blokes going to the airport with wads of money 
I know who you’re talking about & where they go. I think a lot of 'em get their info on how to travel & where to stay in LOS from the mates they meet in jail .If they come as tourists & spend their money the Thais leave them alone ,altho they hate them, but if they try to get up to any of their old traditional criminal/violent tricks the local plod more than over re-act! LOS has more than its fair share of knuckle-draggers but you can avoid scrotes. For me its patio doors open 24/7 ,swim in the pool @ 0700, off to the ranch to see the horses, down to the beach to see my dog,…ect. My whole life is spent outdoors but in UK its a lockdown TV Winter.
PS: I hope this helps you living in France, H?