a bit like the N13 to Cherbourg don't you think

Thanks guys, we're not going until next july so plenty of time, think I'm just excited.

I was also thinking of gathering FSW application together ready to submit. Has anyone ever applied prior to their trip?

Yup, we did. We applied a month or so before we went on our recce - a bit backwards for some, but we felt comfortable doing it! NS recce opened our eyes a bit more, and we have had to re-think a few things, but we also know that we are doing the right thing.

Just thought i'd share a few pics from our trip we got back from on Friday

Thanks for sharing your lovely photos, how was your trip? From the photos i'd guess you did a fair bit of travelling?

We loved it there & can't wait to move over next year

We packed a lot into our two weeks there - our feet hardly touched the ground, our friends who we were staying with wanted us to see as much as possible in our time there - & we sure did

Great staying with friends as we got to see & get a real feel for the place (warts & all - wouldn't have done otherwise!).

Halifax is a lovely city - reminded us of a smaller Boston.

Looking to settle in & around the Porters Lake area which is about 20 mins from Dartmouth.

So what part are you looking to settle in - have you been over yet?

Love the photos - looks like you had a brilliant time

my husband has been out.. he stayed with one of his cousins in dartmouth. we'll be out for a proper reccie no later than may next year.. although we hope to get our ci application hopefully supported and in before the end of this year. dh is taking some exams at the moment so as soon as they're over we're going to get cracking on the forms! have heard porters lake is v nice so will be looking around there.. along with a general tour of NS when we go.

Lady Locket, in what way did you feel it opened your eyes, and how did you feel you were doing the right thing? Sorry for an intrusive question, just keen to see how it works for others. I am keen to get PR in but OH wants to wait!

Hey hobbitess,

We had to adjust our ideas a bit mainly about locations. When we discussed our dreams for a more rural life we were basing that on UK standards. Out there rural is extremely isolated, semi rural is rural by English standards, and even the smaller suburbs could be considered semi rural by the size of their 2-4 acre plots and small populations. Employment at the hospitals had to be re-evaluted too, as the diagnostic imaging facilities vary so much. We realised that we are 'thinking English' instead of 'thinking Canadian' and to make sure that we are choosing the right living locations, the right schools, the right recreational facilities and the right areas for employment for us we must understand the way Canadians view and describe these things. We had to see things differently, instead of making direct comparisons with England. I am sorry if this sounds a bit weird, it is kinda hard to describe!

In regards to doing the right thing - for us at least - that just came down to subjective feelings. We were very comfortable there, felt welcomed, and could see ourselves making a new life. Similar to way you feel when you buy a house you love - you just know that is where you want to be and you can already place your furniture in your minds eye. We know that what we can achieve in a home and lifestyle there is beyond us here in the UK. We know we can offer our future kids a better standard of life there than we can afford to here. And we know that our disposable income will be higher than in the UK, and thats with just one wage not two! We are still young enough to make the move and feel adventurous about it, and we don't want to look back in ten years time and say 'what if?'. So our heads say that it is a viable and finanicially sound manouvre, and our hearts say we love the place and the people. The biggest downside is saying farewell to friends and family here and not being able to pop over for tea...

But all in all, life is too short not to try. If we feel we made a bad decision and want to come back, what have we lost? A bit of money perhaps. If we don't go at all, what do we lose? At best, an interesting experience and at worst, possibly the happiest years of our life. No contest.

LL x

A very sensible way of looking at things. Good luck with your future plans. As you say "Life is too short........." Go for it !!

Thanks for that LL. Your rationale is as with us. We have a 9 y o and 3 y o. And at best the future is bleak for them. I am a slave to the NHS and looking to change.

My bro in law has been and tried for ages to convince us and his family to all go. They got app in then we lost my sis in law last summer. You are so right about time.

I cant wait to get there, thinking I may gather transcripts etc together to begin SW app as right now am on list 1. But concerned that the 10 year threshold for experience is passing by.

There is another thread running with some good insight.

Heres hoping

After all that did you choose your preferred destination (rural/semi-rural/urban)? It sounds like you have reached a level of understanding that we didn't achieve until we had been in Wolfville for a year or so. We thought we wanted to live in a rural/semi-rural location but eventually realised we were overcompensating for our dissatisfaction with UK city life. For now, Canadian cities suit us best.

Hey Deva,

We have decided that we need to be closer to either Halifax or Bridgewater for employment and facilities purposes, but that would still be happy with a commute if it meant we could home ourselves in a more 'village' location such as Mahone Bay. We loved the Annapolis Valley, and still do, but we don't feel that it can tick all the boxes for us. We would still like to be on the outskirts - living in the town or city is not for us. We enjoy growing our own food here in the UK and want to expand on that when we move, so space is important! There are a lot of areas to choose from that combine an easy commute to the city, with the peace of a village. We are hoping to go back in the spring to make more extensive searches on the areas we have visited, and new ones on the list.

So we were thinking rural - we are now thinking semi-rural leaning to suburbs... better for schools etc.

Wolfville seemed lovely, we spent a few days there. The university looked fab too! I hope you have found somewhere that really suits you. Hopefully we will too.

LL

Hey I laughed at that bit too and was confused about it, even the city is on hills. Up to the Citadel and down to the harbour.