Plenty but maybe Whenurhappy may wish to add to the downsides of an overseas lifestyle
I've spent the last week on the road in my area doing a bit of military tourism; stopped in for a rather grand Trafalgar Night at an Embassy on Friday night (think 'Carry on up the Khyber') and have just got back home after staying in a dodgy array of hotels and Government Guest Houses. Great fun except: I now have to scan (or fax -
fax) travel claims in for everything; provide justification for all 'ents' expenditure over £25, for example. I have to deal with dodgy accommodation (the freezer has packed up sometime over the last 5 days) and the power has gone off twice this morning (as I type this message) and the Management Team will have to be called in as the landlord won't speak to us directly. But so much for these 'hardships'. COLA was reduced by £10,000
imi £10,000 on 1 Apr (equivalent to a Teaching Assistant's salary); on 1 Oct it went up by £2300. Fluctuations, you see. MTL no longer Business Class; no longer able to convert these to the equivalent costs and go somewhere else than London even though that was part of the package.
And let's no even mention the considerable daily inconvenience of the changing security state - the awkward 7 point car checks in car parks; ensuring someone always stays with the car, the body armour and trauma kit in the boot 'just in case'; have neighbours and others wonder why our cars look an awful lot heavier than normal...the routine closing of the Mission due to threats, wiffs of tear gas on a regular basis, the constant risk of 'sharing' of our phone calls and emails with our, err, 'hosts'.