Mike
I hope im still your friend, so you have one ,even if we hvnt seen each other for years,like you im old now 68 and counting I wanted a quiet life ,which I get, keep my brain active with the 3 days of driving,and tinkering with a couple of old cars,I have more friends here in Sweden than in UK so im happy.I still have a house in UK ,but I think of Sweden as my home now.My Son and stepson look after the UK house
,they cant afford to buy or rent so they might as well have it now ,it will be coming there way when I pop my clogs .be happy we will meet again soon I hope 
Roger
deckboypeggy:
Hi 5th wheel ,very nice to be in such a nice country, however if you did not all ready know in the 1975/85/90.where, was the poorest country in europe as we knew it then where more shanty towns existed ,beggars with nothing… just like the romo,s…Lisbon!! where i live we have a very large portuguese community,who never want to go back there because the thrive and prosper here… nothing wrong with this good old ENGLAND.You all will be back one day.you can all ways be a orange box, but never a orange…
Deckboypeggy,the only way I will return to "good"old ENGLAND is in a box,I ,as a Christian,have no intention of returning to a country that treats its own indigenous people as second class citizens in preference to Muslims.
David
Hi all.Roger,of course you’ll always be a friend,time and distance are irrelevant,it’s what we have done and seen than bind all of us.It’s strange but several people[not all English]i have spoken to say the same,that they have made a lot of friends quickly and feel more at home here than in their countries of origin.
Like you i work a bit part time.I tend to work through the summer in the mine from about May to October.7 Days on 7 Days free so it only works out at 3 months.With that i make enough to see me through the year so don’t have to empty my mattress 
.It would be nice to meet sometime before we both fall off our perch. 
I’m off out in the Cold now to do a bit of ploughing with the quad.[my own land and road],we had about 10cms snow last night.
ps.Stick a pic up on here sometime of the truck you drive for us to drool over
My quality of life here is excellent.If were to go back to the UK at this time of Life i would only have problems.Yes i am English by birth but i am just an old man.I’m not from a third World country,or seeking asylum so no one would put themself out to help me.The system would only work against me saying ‘‘why have you come back now when you will only be a burden’’.
Dead right again Mike. Why the hell I moved back from Spain 3 years ago I have no idea. What a bloody idiot I am. Like you I have no family left but, luckily I do have some friends here although I am finding it very hard because my life was in Spain. But that is a personal thing and I am not at all sure that moving from one EU country to another cures anything. It may seem better in Portugal, or Spain or Sweden but, in fact, we are all controlled by the same bull+++t set of rules and we will all end up in the same mess in the end. I am very glad that I have no children because I will soon be out of this but I worry a lot for what the youth will have to face.
David
Hi all.David,you are correct when you say that maybe moving within the EU doesn’t cure the problem.I lived for over 30yrs in Holland and would probably have ended my time there.BUT,i was fortunate to be working for a Company that had work up to the North of Scandinavia.I fell in love with the country here for various reasons.The nature is Beautiful,and free.This after living in the Concrete jungle that is Holland.Property is cheap[up here]so i could buy something with land to live out my years [after living for 30yrs in a Concrete box].The people are relaxed and old fashioned[it’s like going back 40yrs [when honour and civility meant something].The lack of people is in itself relaxing[not for everyone of course].Here the county [Norrbotten]is 27000 sq kms,Holland is 41000 sq kms.Here we have 200,000 people,Holland has 17 million.The standard of living is good,ok,you must accept a more simple way of Life,much more revolves round nature.But if you don’t need the ‘‘luxury\status’’ type of Life then it’s great.
As i have previously stated here i work for about 3-4 months in the year.For this i bank app£14000.net With thisi can live a good,relatively simple live.What more do i need.I have the Beauty of nature around me and no stress.Mike
Hutpik, you are making me seriously jealous! You paint a picture that so many would aspire to!
Hi all.Bullitt,as i said though this sort of lifestyle is not for everyone,i have no family so don’t miss that.I live 90kms from Gällivare in a village of 5 houses so thats not for everyone.Also i was able,with my savings to pay cash for my house,car,snow scooter and quad.Ihave no debts so need less.If.like most people you want to live in a Town\city you will pay 150-200k for a house in Gällivare,but if you are prepared to move outside of the Towns,say 50-60 kms then the prices come down to 30-70k.It’s your choice.Remember the downside though6-7months winter
hutpik:
0Hi all.Bullitt,as i said though this sort of lifestyle is not for everyone,i have no family so don’t miss that.I live 90kms from Gällivare in a village of 5 houses so thats not for everyone
Well you are doing a fine job of selling it to me! Love the pic of your house, all wood and covered in snow, a classic Scandinavian picture!
If you notice on the left the most important bit of furniture for Lappland.A bloody great Wood burning stove
Hi to you all thank you ,what some off you must have done, OR diem to have been done to them by our system, or elected government i do not know.there seems to be more chips on shoulders than a load of biomass.
As a previous contributor said “we all make our own choices”, true,in all" my travels" and like many others world wide, i never ever heard of one person who could not wait to get back home,never.home was GB .
I have worked with lots off men who should have never ventured out of this country ,but did and they could not wait till they got home .the same went for 100%of the euro drivers wherever you met them all the talk was about getting a load home…so this festive season ,stay where you are then,…the “grass is not greener just different shades.” and stop moaning about what ifs… i and many millions will stop here and take what comes.like all the brits since year dot…
Where you are born in this world is pure fate.
I happened to be born in South Wales so Britain was my home when I lived there. Home was in Sweden when I lived there and now home is Thailand. Surely home is where you lay your head!
Incidentally, I last returned to the UK back in 2008 and spent 4 months there. I was totally depressed the whole time there and couldn’t wait to get back to my home in Thailand.
Worse case scenario would be if I was forced to return to the UK to live out the rest of my days.
So DBP, here’s one Brit who has no desire to ever set foot on UK soil again. I’m sure there are plenty more!
Hutpik brilliant pics , Sweden sounds/looks like a good place to live , learning the language must take a bit of time though?
Hullo Ron, Good to see you on here mate. I hope all is well with you and Ruang. All the best for the Holiday Period and I wish you both a very Happy and Prosperous New Year in Kanchanaburi. Chokdee.
Hi all.Smoggie.I think as Ron said home is where you lay your head or where you choose,for whatever reason,to reside.Yes i am content here but the simple life,isolation and climate is certainly not for everyone.Like Ron [who has also seen enough snow]i think the majority would prefer warmer climes.As regard the language,it is moderately easy to learn any language if you want to. I Think the most important thing is that you feel comfortable and feel you want to be there in the country you choose.This make integrating and fitting in easier and this in turn makes people warm more to you and more willing to help you.The same applies anywhere.I lived for many years in Holland also.Learning the language and a bit of the Culture\history of the chosen country make people understand that you have chosen to be there.
DBP was wrong to state that ‘‘everyone’’ is desperate to return,or be in the UK if they are brit born.People move for a variety of reasons and many are content with ‘‘new lives’’ abroad.National pride is a dying thing.Yes,you can be grateful to have been born in a 1st world country but pride in the way the country is run or how people are treated by their own governments is another thing.You think because i have a British Passport that people would be standing at immigration saying ‘‘welcome back sir,we have missed you,how can we help you’’.
Hi HUTPIK good comments ,but however your view people, i did not say that anyone was desperate to be back in the uk if they lived abroad .if you live abroad outside of your birth country , and willing chose to leave it ,and live elsewhere ,fine ,but stop moaning about how that country is run and how people are treated, stay here and use your vote…easy. Does any one in any adopted country get a say,or vote, NO?? unless you take a oath of allegiance.THEN YOU CAN MOAN ABOUT YOUR NEW COUNTRY , BUT LEAVE US OUT OF IT…
Hi all.DBP.I am not '‘moaning’'as you put it,merely stating the truth.As person who has lived for many years abroard it would neither be easy or benificial for me to return to the UK as a old man and as an old person i would not be particularly welcomed back into an already overburdened system.
If you move to another country and become a '‘legal’'taxpaying person. you DO have the right to vote and have a say without taking an oath of allegiance as that does not apply here in Europé,neither do you have to change citizeship.
PS It was not me who started this thread if you look i merely contributed my thoughts and please note some of the things i said are FACT,not hypothesis.
Hi Hutpik ,yes sorry i do apologize, it was no your persificial moaning, i just got reading the thread and came to the wrong conclusion that all people who have left here,the UK,… and start crying wolf and shooting us down ,should not have been here in the first place…maybe a dictatorial start somewhere in the pacific.
Your house looks good any way, ill come up to see you in 2015 if you let me rgds DBP.
Set the Moose on DBP if he ever gets near you,Mike, which I doubt 
I started this thread as an interest, not for arguments DBP,how old are you anyway if your an old codger like Mike and myself you would understand ,that taking it easy after a full working life is just the ticket,so stay in the Uk Buddy ,and don’t knock us that have left.
Roger
Hi DBP.don’t worry.That’ what the site is all about,a frank exchange of views between all of us. We drivers all have our own opinions and we all tend to express them forcefully,If your up this way you are ,of course welcome.And i won’t set a moose on you [maybe a bear] .
Hi Roger.I hope your settling in for the Xmas.Will you be back in Sweden for the New Year celebrations.Don’t forget,stick a piccy of the truck and your house up on here so we can all be jealous.Your good health my friend.Mike
Sweden is a lovely place, not the first place you’d think of moving too, which is probably one of the better reasons to move there. None of the Costa del Sol little Britain mentality and funny looks from the natives as soon as you open your mouth.
I have a couple of Swedish mates here in Canada, both have been back for a visit and both couldn’t wait to get back “home” to Canada. I have another Swedish friend here who has no desire to go back at all.
Funny old world isn’t it, you’ve got Brits moving to Sweden for a better life, Swedes and Brits moving to Canada for a better life and every mongrel on the planet trying to get to England.