Downshifting Abroad

How To Do It

Downshifting Abroad - The Book. 

 Would you downshift? Would you ‘downshift’ abroad? Here’s how.
 The ultimate downshifting philosopher must be the King of the Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan who has stated that the Gross Domestic Happiness is far more important for his country and his people than the Gross Domestic Product. If you even mildly agree with this piece of ultimate wisdom then you have the makings of a downshifter in you. You will be someone who supports the researched evidence that the link between money and personal happiness is weak and you will be someone who really would like some time to just ‘stand and stare.’Wanting to change your lifestyle comes about in response to a sense of dissatisfaction with your present life. If it doesn’t, then why change? Something is missing and this can be quite an elusive factor at times. But elusive or not, for some people, this feeling of dissatisfaction is so acute that unless something in their life changes for the better, actual physical and mental illness can result. Stress can and does kill. Frustration with even  everyday things can reach such a point that marriages and partnerships can become strained and stress can build up to the extent that you almost can’t see straight anymore and decisions taken are usually the wrong ones, made for the wrong reasons. You can end up feeling totally and utterly fed up with everything, but even worse, you can feel trapped with no obvious escape route from it allBut despite this, many who want to change their lives never will. They feel alone, especially as probably none of their friends are moving anywhere. They shouldn’t panic though. If you want to try downshifting abroad, you would not be alone. In 2005, 200,000 citizens of the UK left their country to set up elsewhere. 47000 of them went to Spain and 15,500 went all the way to far off New Zealand, where in fact you can’t go any further. In the argot of the social scientists who have to label everything and everyone, many of these are labelled as post materialists or ‘downshifters’. The UK government statistics on UK emigrants show that whilst 30% of emigrants specify work opportunities as a reason for leaving, 51% tick ‘other’. As you are reading this blog, you will probably be in the ‘other’ category. Some people downshift because they are of the baby boomer generation who are now in their 50’s and who may have lost their job and despite legislation see the only jobs on offer as checkout people or shelf stackers in the local supermarket. They reason that there must be more to life, but how to find that ‘more’ is the difficulty. Downshifting is an option. Downshifting abroad is something extra which could offer them their ‘more’ at a reasonable price with perhaps the sun thrown in. This tendency for those in their 50s and nearing retirement to downshift is not only because of job loss, but also reflects a trend which has been measured in the USA where 19% of this population within 5 years of retirement opted to take employment and a pay cut in order to balance their lives better. In Australia, the percentage rises to 23% of those between the ages of 30 to 60. The reasons given are that they feel a need to achieve more balance and control in their lives.For others it is more direct. They are simply, totally fed up with their lot. Fed up with living in a town where they daren’t go out on a Saturday night because of yobs on the street who would be treated as victims if they beat you up. Fed up with dreading Mondays. Fed up with dreading Fridays because the weekend is here and it will go in a flash and Monday will come again.

But of all those people who downshift, statistics show that 60% upshift again. Many because of failure in their chosen direction and most of the failures are simply due to lack of planning. I know that the whole idea of leading a simpler, happier life should involve less planning, less bureaucracy and less hassle, but the actual truth is that unless you want the hippy/traveller lifestyle (and even they have their problems), then if you are going to change, you must plan that change. Don’t get me wrong though. Don’t think about whether to change or not. If you are in the same situation as I was then this you must do without another thought, but do it with a plan because if you want heaven (which for me is sitting at a bar amongst friends at the end of the day, with a tapa of Jabugo ham and a glass of ice cold manzanilla in front of me), you have got to work out just how you are going to pay for that tapa. If you can’t, then your life will become far more stressful than before and so your lifestyle change will become a meaningless and life time wasting exercise. You will be in an even bigger trap than before, because you probably won’t have the funds to easily get out of it. So you need to Plan and plan hard. But how do you plan and what do you need to take into consideration. Downshifting will be a leap in the dark for you. It is so easy to say (as so many books on this subject do) that ‘if you have a dream, you can make it happen’, or ‘think positively about your goals and they can then be reached’. I’ve read many of these books and I’ve thought positively and I’ve had dreams and I’ve found that without the backing of a good, sound plan and a lot of damned hard work, you would be better off going down to the pub and drowning your sorrows. It would be cheaper and at least you get a hangover to show for it! Downshifting Abroad is for those who want or need to change their lifestyles by going abroad. It will encourage you all the way. It will show you how to plan your change so that your life is improved not shattered. It won’t tell you what to do in your new life and it won’t tell you (as do many texts on the subject) that ‘downshifting’ and moving abroad is all about going green, keeping chickens, growing carrots and working towards a healthier planet. It may involve all of these activities if you want, and for us, this is what we aspired to, but it isn’t anywhere near a requirement. Remember, a lifestyle change, whether downshifting or upshifting is all about the happiness and well being of you and your family. It isn’t necessarily about politics or green issues. Downshifting Abroad will even tell you why perhaps you shouldn’t Downshift Abroad. It is not all a bowl of cherries. In fact it can literally destroy you and your marriage. The book will help you put your present life into perspective and perhaps save you from making a rash decision. It can do this because the author has been through it all. I can see quite easily all the good reasons for staying at home. But if you are really sure about wanting to ‘get out’ and start living, then this is the book you need.The book simply offers practical, realistic advice on downshifting based on 15 years of experience. If you take in the book’s message and the practical advice that is offered, and mould it according to your circumstances, your downshifting plans will stand a far better chance of succeeding and you too will live a far better, more tranquil and more satisfactory life. So what is in the book? Here is the contents list.