I went back home after having lived in London for 5 years. During that time I had always gone home every few years for a holiday. Here’s some surprises that I encountered upon my , what I thought would be my permanent, return: * High cost of living, brought on by the fact that you HAVE to have insurance and you need to have a car. So many costs that you forget about when you live in a country with NHS and public transport. Just basic living is expensive, food, rent , etc and I lived in London! * Traffic! Holy shit! It seems to me everything just got more congested while I was away! * I was overwhelmed by the racism. Especially with my own friends and family, their ignorance and narrow mindedness was very disappointing. But also for the first time felt a type of tension ( racial , economic, I dunno ) I had never felt before. * Friends and family had moved on and were doing there own thing and I found myself incredibly lonely.

Now There is a great quality of life to be had if you can afford it. With what living expenses are now you need to be taking home R20K - R25K a month ( maybe more if you have a family). I mean , it depends how frugal you are. And if your friends and family are around then all the better! I could not afford it and returned to the UK after two years. It’s great to visit home for a few weeks but living there proved difficult for me ...