It has occurred to me, as it will everyone else on this journey at some point, that people have been emmigrating for decades, long before the internet.

I can only imagine how hard it must have been, so I salute you

Is there anyone on here who had to do it the hard way, or had parents that might have.

I'm interested to hear your/their stories.

It will make the rest of us look like a bunch of pansies I'm sure

1998, Got a job offer, got on a plane. No research really other than two days here for the interview. There was this big building in town, full of books. Called a library or somesuch thing. Got a little info there, but not much.

Seems to have turned out OK, I think many people overthink and try and micromanage every little detail now to be honest, and it just ads to the stress rather than reduces it.

My grandfather emigrated to Canada in 1912. He was fortunate to not have internet. If he had, he would have sorted his travel timing a bit better and not missed his intended ship. The Titanic.

Looked at trade paper.

Australia, long way away, what if we don't like, how will we pay to come back?

US, takes weeks to get a visa and there's no healthcare.

Canada, how about Canada? They speak French there.

And so, a couple of weeks later, we were in Canada in the clothes in which we stood, carrying a cue and a pair of skis. We had no luggage, no money and so no option but to stay and make it work.

One friend, now retired, came to Canada as an immigrant in the early 60s. No job, nowhere to live, no internet, phones prohibitively expensive. He walked out of the station in Montreal and said to himself, "right, this is the rest of my life. I'd better get on with it."

And he did.

We immigrated in 1999. The internet did exist then. I had an account with AOL. But sites like this did not exist. For which I am very grateful.

Sounds about right, it was 1963 for me and my father.
Don't know about the phones although long distance rates were prohibitive.

1977: Applied for and was offered a post-doc job in Southern California. OH and I stuffed a few clothes into two rucksacks, hopped on a Laker Air flight from Heathrow to JFK (cost 50 pounds one-way) and then travelled by train from Grand Central to LA via New Orleans.

1982: Drove from LA to Canada (with newborn son in the back seat). Arrived in Toronto after a couple of weeks.

Are you sure about those dates?

Oops. 1977. Edited, thanks.

No probs. I'm sure you are familar with peer review. And pedant's.

Thought this was rather cool.

Early Computers

I came to Canada from my Mummy's tummy.

My mom's parents came to Canada from Scotland after WW1 (like a lot of Scots did). Times were bleak and Canada advertised 'opportunity' so the family caught a ship and settled in Hamilton.

On my dad's side, my great-great-great-great grandfather immigrated to Newfoundland from Dorset in the 1740s. I'm still trying to piece together why he might of done a crazy thing like that!

He was probably fed up with all the drunken chavs adding to the general malaise of sink-hole Great Britain.

For the kids i reckon.

Thank goodness COMPUTERS weren't around then, we all know how people get slated around here for that.