It all comes down to perception bias. Every country has its own problems, but you tend to notice the ones in the place you live much more clearly because you experience them directly.

For example, Australia and parts of Southeast Asia are often talked about as if they are some kind of escape from the UK, but they have their own significant challenges. Australia has very high housing costs in cities like Sydney and Melbourne, along with cost of living pressures and inequality between urban and regional areas. Southeast Asia can offer a great quality of life in many respects, but there are still issues such as job insecurity for foreigners, visa restrictions, pollution in certain cities, and large disparities in income and infrastructure depending on location.

The same applies to places like Dubai, which is often framed as a tax-friendly haven. While it does have financial advantages for some, it also comes with trade-offs such as extreme climate conditions, much stricter legal and cultural frameworks than many Westerners are used to, and a labour market structure that is very different depending on residency status.

The UK certainly has its own problems as well, but the broader point is that most countries are not objectively “better” or “worse” in overall terms. They just have different trade-offs. You also tend to hear far more negative commentary about your own country, which can create the impression that everywhere else is doing significantly better when in reality you are mostly seeing a filtered, selective view of other places.