Leaving Vancouver Anxiety,
Jun 8th 2017, 11:38 pm
#31
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Jul 2016
Posts: 448
Re: Leaving Vancouver Anxiety,
Do you and your children speak fluent Swedish? Have you lived in Sweden recently? I onky ask as if you're concerned about xenophobia, bigotry and racism Sweden certainly wouldn't be top of my list of places to live, and I wouldn't say it was any better at all than the UK on that front - probably worse if I'm honest.
Prior to living in Sweden we had visited a lot, and spent a lot of time there. Living there permanently was completely different and we left as soon as we possibly could for elsewhere in Scandinavia. We're serial expats, and we've lived in some pretty, well, "interesting" places, including Jo'burg when is was going through another round of its troubles, but without a shadow of a doubt Sweden was the worst place I've lived, and the only place I've ever found to be truly intolerable to live in.
As others have said, have you thought about elsewhere in Canada? The Maritimes perhaps?
Prior to living in Sweden we had visited a lot, and spent a lot of time there. Living there permanently was completely different and we left as soon as we possibly could for elsewhere in Scandinavia. We're serial expats, and we've lived in some pretty, well, "interesting" places, including Jo'burg when is was going through another round of its troubles, but without a shadow of a doubt Sweden was the worst place I've lived, and the only place I've ever found to be truly intolerable to live in.
As others have said, have you thought about elsewhere in Canada? The Maritimes perhaps?
Jun 9th 2017, 3:20 pm
#32
Forum Regular
Thread Starter
Joined: Mar 2012
Posts: 181
Re: Leaving Vancouver Anxiety,
Do you and your children speak fluent Swedish? Have you lived in Sweden recently? I onky ask as if you're concerned about xenophobia, bigotry and racism Sweden certainly wouldn't be top of my list of places to live, and I wouldn't say it was any better at all than the UK on that front - probably worse if I'm honest.
Prior to living in Sweden we had visited a lot, and spent a lot of time there. Living there permanently was completely different and we left as soon as we possibly could for elsewhere in Scandinavia. We're serial expats, and we've lived in some pretty, well, "interesting" places, including Jo'burg when is was going through another round of its troubles, but without a shadow of a doubt Sweden was the worst place I've lived, and the only place I've ever found to be truly intolerable to live in.
As others have said, have you thought about elsewhere in Canada? The Maritimes perhaps?
Prior to living in Sweden we had visited a lot, and spent a lot of time there. Living there permanently was completely different and we left as soon as we possibly could for elsewhere in Scandinavia. We're serial expats, and we've lived in some pretty, well, "interesting" places, including Jo'burg when is was going through another round of its troubles, but without a shadow of a doubt Sweden was the worst place I've lived, and the only place I've ever found to be truly intolerable to live in.
As others have said, have you thought about elsewhere in Canada? The Maritimes perhaps?
Jun 15th 2017, 5:29 am
#33
Forum Regular
Joined: Apr 2012
Posts: 43
Re: Leaving Vancouver Anxiety,
Edinburgh is a great city my wife and I lived there for 5 years before coming to Canada. Great restaurants and pubs, the Edinburgh festival, the 6 nations rugby, 25 mins to airport from centre of town- easy access to Europe; highly educated population, steeped in history, 2 hrs to the highlands, great universities and schools, brilliant nightlife (Vancouver not even close). My wife and I constantly flip flop over what to do long term. We love BC, the mountains, rainforest, coast, wildlife etc. But the Vancouver housing situation is a joke. Renting an an overpriced shoe box for next 40 years is not that appealing. If I lived in the US doing my present job we would own a decent detached house. A lot of our friends have left Vancouver for other parts of Canada or went back to the UK/ Ireland. They just got sick of renting places and landlords selling. Not sure when or where we will move but not sure that our long term future lies here either. If you need any information on Edinburgh message me.
Last edited by muffback; Jun 15th 2017 at 5:43 am.
Jun 15th 2017, 11:23 pm
#34
Just Joined
Joined: Mar 2015
Location: Vancouver, BC
Posts: 12
Re: Leaving Vancouver Anxiety,
Renting an an overpriced shoe box for next 40 years is not that appealing. If I lived in the US doing my present job we would own a decent detached house. A lot of our friends have left Vancouver for other parts of Canada or went back to the UK/ Ireland. They just got sick of renting places and landlords selling.
Jun 16th 2017, 4:12 pm
#35
"In cruce vincam"
Joined: May 2010
Location: Mill Bay, Vancouver Island
Posts: 3,232
Jun 17th 2017, 4:14 am
#36
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Thread Starter
Joined: Mar 2012
Posts: 181
Re: Leaving Vancouver Anxiety,
Jun 18th 2017, 4:16 pm
#37
Yo
Joined: Nov 2012
Location: UK
Posts: 24,474
Re: Leaving Vancouver Anxiety,
With luck we're heading for a softer Brexit now, so that may allay some of your return apprehensions. House prices are said to be softening (Brexit uncertainty related) but rising inflation will probably keep the nominal values steady. The big difference between housing affordability in Metro Vancouver and London is the availability of well paid jobs.
Jun 19th 2017, 12:03 am
#38
Dive Bar Drunk
Joined: Nov 2006
Location: Toronto
Posts: 8,648
Re: Leaving Vancouver Anxiety,
I personally voted to stay in the EU, but what you have stated here is far from the truth. I know plenty who have voted to leave and non of them are Xenophobic or racist. These labels are banded around far too often and in many cases they're unwarranted and a barrier to finding a resolution to very real issues that many people have.
They were however not the sharpest pencils in the case using reasons that still make little sense like:
We should be able to make our own laws
We can make our own trade agreements now
We pay too much money to the EU we should keep it
None of them could fill in the details if you pressed them on how the implementation of the above 3 will work or what the benefits are supposed to be.
Last edited by JamesM; Jun 19th 2017 at 12:05 am.
Jun 19th 2017, 12:07 am
#39
Dive Bar Drunk
Joined: Nov 2006
Location: Toronto
Posts: 8,648
Re: Leaving Vancouver Anxiety,
With luck we're heading for a softer Brexit now, so that may allay some of your return apprehensions. House prices are said to be softening (Brexit uncertainty related) but rising inflation will probably keep the nominal values steady. The big difference between housing affordability in Metro Vancouver and London is the availability of well paid jobs.
We're actually unlikely to see much forward movement with such a weak government.
If the Grenfell disaster had happened a week earlier the Conservatives would have completely tumbled.
Anyway I'll stop the thread drift. Edinburgh sounds marvellous!
Last edited by JamesM; Jun 19th 2017 at 12:11 am.
Jun 19th 2017, 3:57 pm
#40
Just Joined
Joined: Nov 2013
Location: London UK
Posts: 2
Re: Leaving Vancouver Anxiety,
I thought I would chip in as I went through a similar thought process last year. I moved back from Vancouver to the UK in October 2016 after being there for 3 years. I am so glad I moved back. I miss Vancouver a lot but with the generous UK holidays and with less expenses I can afford to visit Vancouver whereas I couldn't really do that the other way around. I'm loving being back closer to family and old friends and whilst I love Vancouver for its natural beauty and great standard of living I did find it quite boring at times and expensive. I don't have children though and I only had me to think about.
Whilst it might look like there are a lot of problems in the UK and Europe right now (Brexit, Tories, terrorism) what I have witnessed is solidarity in communities and an upsurge in young people caring about this country and its place in the world. The recent election results show that there is still hope for a softer brexit and a more humanitarian outlook in government. It's not all doom and gloom!
If you do decide to move, the best way I found to overcome the anxiety was to focus on things I was excited about like the TV I missed, the food I missed, seeing extended family. Oh and I just booked at short holiday to Portugal for less than it would cost me to go to Whistler
Whilst it might look like there are a lot of problems in the UK and Europe right now (Brexit, Tories, terrorism) what I have witnessed is solidarity in communities and an upsurge in young people caring about this country and its place in the world. The recent election results show that there is still hope for a softer brexit and a more humanitarian outlook in government. It's not all doom and gloom!
If you do decide to move, the best way I found to overcome the anxiety was to focus on things I was excited about like the TV I missed, the food I missed, seeing extended family. Oh and I just booked at short holiday to Portugal for less than it would cost me to go to Whistler
Jun 19th 2017, 4:48 pm
#42
Born again atheist
Joined: Jul 2005
Location: Europe (to be specified).
Posts: 30,259
Re: Leaving Vancouver Anxiety,
The voters I know who voted to leave weren't xenophobic or racist.
They were however not the sharpest pencils in the case using reasons that still make little sense like:
We should be able to make our own laws
We can make our own trade agreements now
We pay too much money to the EU we should keep it
None of them could fill in the details if you pressed them on how the implementation of the above 3 will work or what the benefits are supposed to be.
They were however not the sharpest pencils in the case using reasons that still make little sense like:
We should be able to make our own laws
We can make our own trade agreements now
We pay too much money to the EU we should keep it
None of them could fill in the details if you pressed them on how the implementation of the above 3 will work or what the benefits are supposed to be.
Of course none of the terribly proper posters in the Canada forum know any of the xenophobes, but they certainly exist.
Last edited by Novocastrian; Jun 19th 2017 at 4:51 pm.
Jun 19th 2017, 8:23 pm
#43
Dive Bar Drunk
Joined: Nov 2006
Location: Toronto
Posts: 8,648
Re: Leaving Vancouver Anxiety,
That's about right. However the OP has been abused for stating that without xenophobic, borderline racist voters, the referendum result would have been different. That's also right: Certainly at the very least 2% of the leave voters fitted the OP's description (more like 10% IMHO).
Of course none of the terribly proper posters in the Canada forum know any of the xenophobes, but they certainly exist.
Of course none of the terribly proper posters in the Canada forum know any of the xenophobes, but they certainly exist.
Jun 20th 2017, 8:53 pm
#44
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Feb 2013
Location: BC, Canada
Posts: 3,874
Re: Leaving Vancouver Anxiety,
That's about right. However the OP has been abused for stating that without xenophobic, borderline racist voters, the referendum result would have been different. That's also right: Certainly at the very least 2% of the leave voters fitted the OP's description (more like 10% IMHO).
Of course none of the terribly proper posters in the Canada forum know any of the xenophobes, but they certainly exist.
Of course none of the terribly proper posters in the Canada forum know any of the xenophobes, but they certainly exist.
If you are honest, they've always existed in the UK .....
against the French
against the Americans after WW1 and WW2
against the DPs after WW2
against the people who came from the Caribbean countries in the 60s
against the ones thrown out of Uganda in the 1970s
against the people who've moved from Europe into the UK as a result of Brexit
against members of the Jewish religion
against Catholics
against Muslims
I met all of those racist and xenophobic people when I was growing up in England.
The rants against the people from the Caribbean and the Ugandan Asians were as bad as anything you hear now against "Muslims".
And the refrain was always very much the same ..........
"they're not like us"
"they're taking our jobs" etc etc
BUT ............... none of the people who I know voted for Brexit fit into those categories. They're actually very tolerant people ........... like you seem to think you are!
If you really want to meet xenophobic racist people, go visit the southern states of the US and meet some of the people who voted for the president. Been there, done that, one reason why I won't go back to the US
Jun 20th 2017, 9:46 pm
#45
Born again atheist
Joined: Jul 2005
Location: Europe (to be specified).
Posts: 30,259
Re: Leaving Vancouver Anxiety,
If you are honest, they've always existed in the UK .....
against the French
against the Americans after WW1 and WW2
against the DPs after WW2
against the people who came from the Caribbean countries in the 60s
against the ones thrown out of Uganda in the 1970s
against the people who've moved from Europe into the UK as a result of Brexit
against members of the Jewish religion
against Catholics
against Muslims
I met all of those racist and xenophobic people when I was growing up in England.
The rants against the people from the Caribbean and the Ugandan Asians were as bad as anything you hear now against "Muslims".
And the refrain was always very much the same ..........
"they're not like us"
"they're taking our jobs" etc etc
BUT ............... none of the people who I know voted for Brexit fit into those categories. They're actually very tolerant people ........... like you seem to think you are!
If you really want to meet xenophobic racist people, go visit the southern states of the US and meet some of the people who voted for the president. Been there, done that, one reason why I won't go back to the US
against the French
against the Americans after WW1 and WW2
against the DPs after WW2
against the people who came from the Caribbean countries in the 60s
against the ones thrown out of Uganda in the 1970s
against the people who've moved from Europe into the UK as a result of Brexit
against members of the Jewish religion
against Catholics
against Muslims
I met all of those racist and xenophobic people when I was growing up in England.
The rants against the people from the Caribbean and the Ugandan Asians were as bad as anything you hear now against "Muslims".
And the refrain was always very much the same ..........
"they're not like us"
"they're taking our jobs" etc etc
BUT ............... none of the people who I know voted for Brexit fit into those categories. They're actually very tolerant people ........... like you seem to think you are!
If you really want to meet xenophobic racist people, go visit the southern states of the US and meet some of the people who voted for the president. Been there, done that, one reason why I won't go back to the US