Expat gripes are minor when compared to the benefits

Jetting off and never looking back? You will, but you’ll still be glad you made the move.

You can be a Brad Pitt lookalike lottery winner with a PhD in rocket science and a villa in the Andalusian hills and you will still be permitted the odd gripe here and there…

It is human nature to find irritants everywhere one turns – the smart thing to do is to move somewhere, do something, or surround yourself with those who lessen the frequency with which you encounter frustration.

Which goes some way to explaining why so many Brits snap up a property in Spain every year. By owning a home in the world’s most popular country, Brits can retreat from the rat race of home, enjoy fine weather, a healthy lifestyle and greater opportunity to widen their social circle.

However, life is rarely as rosy as painted in one’s subconscious, and gripes will rear their head wherever you live. VIVA has blogged about this very topic often, preparing expats for the reality that a life in Spain still brings some downs with its many ups.

But a recent expat survey by the Telegraph has managed to put most of this into perspective. In asking its six most trusted expat contributors what really irked them about life in their new country, the results were incredibly tame, proving that even when pressed, even the most verbose and gregarious types cannot really think of anything more serious than the wrong kind of hot drink…

Peter Grey, who works as a “wine taster and blogger” in Italy (no wonder he’s happy) has a problem with Italian bureaucracy and mosquitoes. “Nothing in Italy moves fast, apart from Italian drivers,” he said. “My application to swap my UK driving licence to an Italian licence took a staggering nine months. And we all hate mosquitoes. We apply creams, burn citronella candles, and sit around slapping each other’s arms like Bavarian folk dancers.

Alison Trainer, an American expat in Switzerland who identifies herself as ‘Grumpy Expat’ managed to raise a grumble, at least, calling Switzerland’s culture “sexist and backwards” and bemoaning the lack of good shopping and an absence of superficial friendliness.

A Brit in Canada, Emma Langham, said that Canadian taxes made her grumpy, calling the personal tax ritual “endless and confusing”, but did add that the positives outweigh the negatives.

One gripe that many Brits in Spain could perhaps identify with is Chantelle Howell’s complaint that everyone she meets while living in the Seychelles assumes that life there is like one permanent holiday. “Wherever you live in the world there is still everyday life to deal with,” she writes – sound advice, and well worth heeding if you’re contemplating a move to Spain.