When contemplating emigration, I considered primarily English speaking countries (perhaps it was narrow of me) and a few spots in Western Europe.
Ruled out Australia: too close to potential political instability and environmental disaster (i.e. Indonesia). Australia is drying and burning up and will soon run short of water. The Australian accent also grates on my nerves. Don't care for lamb - stinks up the armpits!! But if you like surfing, guzzling beer, walking about the beach without a shirt, and are allergic to work, good ole Oz might suit you just fine. Australians have a great sense of humour and won't be offended. All the same don't repeat this in a red neck bar.
Ruled out New Zealand: too remote. Economic opportunities are also rather limited because of the tiny population base. Lamb!! Kiwi's are great people though.
Ruled out the UK: The quality of life is poor and the climate is ugly. British employers are stingy - and class consciousness doesn't appeal to me. Penny pinching and wearing paper collars are no fun. British free speech and comedy is good though. I hear there's good curry to be had as well - but it's bad for acid reflux.
Missed Ireland: I actually forgot to consider the Emerald Isles - or was it because Angela's Ashes scared the Guinness out of me? I'm very fond of the Irish. Think their accent is cool.
Ruled out Sweden as soon as Ford bought Volvo and GM acquired SAAB. Never was too fond of IKEA- kitchen cabinets - now there's quality!! Swedes play great ice-hockey which I find most entertaining.
Ruled out Finland (see New Zealand minus the lamb). Poste Panke (i.e. the local equivalent of the POSB) are about the only Finnish words I can pronounce next to Oy (company) and Nokia. Every second woman is named Sirpa (which makes dating quite convenient really) and every second man is called Pekka (how rude!)
Ruled out Switzerland, Germany, Austra, Belgium, Denmark and Holland: Too serious.
Ruled out France and Italy: Not serious enough.
Ruled out Portugal: don't care for shrimp jokes. Learning Portuguese didn't seem worth the effort given that its useless practically everywhere else.
Spain: I'm considering retirement there. Spanish is a very useful language. Latin America is the next great growth region. 30% of US nationals are Spanish speaking.
Russia: Are you crazy? Worked there for a couple of years - lucky not to have pickled my liver or got kidnapped and murdered.
Strongly considered the US. Could have lived there. It's truly the land of opportunity, expensive health insurance notwithstanding. Didn't and don't like gun culture though. Didn't like the idea of my kids being drafted for combat - which is always a possibility with Uncle Sam.
Canada. By default - simply the best place on earth. Mind you, you'd better pick the city that caters best to your lifestyle. Winnipeg (Winnie the Pooh was named in honour of Winnipeg) and the prairies are so flat that you can watch your dog run away for 3 days.
