I have done this a few times. The first time was a snap decision. I chose to exile myself from South Africa in late 1986. I was no longer prepared to do military service for a regime I believed was doing the wrong thing. I made the decision in 20 minutes and booked a ticket 3 months away and left. This decision was not too complicated as I had the right to live in England. I had only my wife and I to consider and we did have to sell our house (which my wife did)

The 2nd decision was to move to Australia. This was a longer thought out process as I wanted to move to a lower cost country so I could retire early. I was approached by the manager of our Australian business to help out with some problems he had and I came visiting in July 1999 and moved in May 2000. Because it was a move inside the business, getting a visa was not too complicated. The move was quite a lot more complicated as I had a wife and 3 children (all at school) and a house to sell. I was comfortable that education in Australia was as good as any in UK.

Now in 2010 I also started the process of moving to Thailand. As it happened, we lived there for a while and came back because of changes in the job market for my (now) wife.

What has that taught me - it is doable and the more you do it the easier it becomes.. It does not have to be difficult. Apply the D's of action
D - Desire
D- Deliberate
D- Decide
D- Do

There is a price to pay in losing contact with all your memories - friends, family, familiar places, etc. Social media helps plug those holes well and airfares are so much cheaper nowadays.