This is me this week! Pushing on through the wobbles to the other side.

Absolutely! I think I am feeling more positive today now I have thrown myself into badgering the solicitor to exchange contracts! I think it gave me new focus once I had a conversation with myself about exactly why we put the house on the market to start with.

It is a big step in the process though isn't it? Your post certainly hit home with me (pardon the pun). You are lucky to have sold your house so quickly though so that's all positive stuff.

Hi Rubie
So good to see that the wobbles are subsiding you seem so much more positive now ,onwards and upwards as they say

Thanks for starting this thread Rubie, it has sparked some really good responses and I have really enjoyed reading through them all.

Glad to know that I am not alone in my thoughts.

Just waiting for my husbands sponsorship docs to be approved and then it really does become real!!!

Thank you. I am feeling more positive now I think.

I am focusing more on just getting on with things rather than worrying about everything that may not work out and clinging onto the familiar.


Aww that's ok. I knew I couldn't be the only one especially when it comes to worries over the children; ironically they seem to be much more adaptable to change than me sometimes!

You mention that you are going over to Canada next year; does that mean you haven't been over yet as an adult or is this a further recce trip? Do you know where you are hoping to settle?

If you are really unsure= don`t sell your house in UK, rent it out!!! Thats the mistake we made, and we really regret it!!

QUOTE=Rubie;9011168]Hi All

thank you so much for all your replies and sound advice. It's comforting to know that everyone feels the wobbles at some point in this endless process.

When I am thinking rationally, I know that emigrating with a family is a massive change and that it will inevitably bring feelings of upheaval and questions about why we are doing it, when we could just carry on with our little lives in our comfortable home going through the normal day to day routines. It's just as you say Nikki, that at certain times you realise that it is much more than a paper exercise no matter how much you have imagined each stage in the process.

I know that if I push on through the 'wobbles' and focus on the end goal I should be fine but think that another trip may be worth the outlay in the end even if it is to settle my mind. However you never know, I may be fine again in a couple of weeks.

Thanks again for all your help.[/QUOTE]

Rubie - I am glad you have had the wobbles! As otherwise you might not have started this thread! So thank you and I hope the wobbles are subsiding a bit! Since we have 'definitely' decided to move to NB, I have felt permanently vaguely 'sick and queasy'. The posts on here have been really great, they have mirrored most of my sentiments, at some point of another.

Rubie, if I were you (and I'm not) I would go to NS for another look and to reassure myself - before this adventure is over, you will have had lots of other opportunities to lose all sorts of money, it's a big move if you aren't sure, so the money spent on another trip is an investment in your future.

I 'know' Canadians, I have been married to one for the last 17 years, and I've visited Canada a few times, but I'm still pretty scared, but I think it's growing into excitement. My husband is from BC, so this move is a bit of an unknown for all of us.

I am particularly worried about our son who is nine, but I know, know, know, in my heart that this is the best thing for him - he will have a far better future in Canada than he would here in France. You can't ever give your kids a perfect life, just trust yourself that you are trying to do your best. My son will be scared, but he knows we love the socks off him; he will adapt.

I cannot but agree utterly on 'mindset'. Every time I feel a bit negative, I give myself a mental kick up the bum - I tell myself, I'm in the process of having another big adventure, and I will have to lose some things from my present life that are good, but because I'm going to make changes for the better, and that life will be great - but I'm not always sure I believe myself!

As they say here Bonne courage! Rubie, thank you once again for this thread, it's just so comforting to know one isn't possibly going nuts all by oneself, and that we all get the same terrors!

me too, i am so pleased to see we are all feeling similiar. And its a nice idea to rent your house, but ours is a 110 year old Victorian high maintenance house that I cant hang on to and will feel like another constant worry

Right now, its pristine, hence we can sell it, one year of tenants and it could look different.

anyway, rolling onward with the wobbles towards the new life ahead x

I have also been reading this thread with interest. I moved here in July with a 16 and 12yo, to join OH who came in Nov 2009. We had challenges getting the 16yo into high school - she had just done GCSEs and the school insisted on her meeting a local adviser first which meant she missed the first three days of school. It was the best thing that could have happened - she was granted enough credits to go into Grade 12 if she wished and some excellent school and general career advice.

For various reasons, she has started in Grade 11 but will be doing at least one Grade 12 class next semester and so far we are very pleased with how both are settling in school, having gone through some of the same worries and concerns about uprooting them from a settled life in the UK.

The advice of maintaining a positive mindset is very important - try to stay confident that it will work out for you, although perhaps not how you planned it. Also having moved a couple of times before (although within the UK), my advice to myself has always been to never refuse an invitation offered by a new aquaintance (within reason!). Even if it's someone you don't immediately take to, or you think 'I'm not a coffee morning sort of person' - still go - you meet other people and start developing your own 'network' of contacts.

Finally, one friend from the UK (who incidentally had never strayed more than a few miles from her roots) said ' you'll be fine - you're taking your world with you' and she was right.

I love this sentence!

Thanks to all who have posted your experiences. The posts have genuinely been a pleasure and a comfort as you all have had or are in a similar situations and concerns to me.

Shelley - I'm sorry you regret selling your house; is that because you returned to the UK? Selling the house was always on the cards for us whether we get PR visas or not as we do not intend to stay in our current area, however, I think the upheaval of just a house move has made me realise just how big an upheaval emigration is.

I am Canadian and have family over in Canada. We visited Vancouver ith the possibility of relocating there but on our recce we discovered that we wouldn't be able to afford or offer the same lifestyle that we currently have here in he UK to our children. My husbands work has really led us to Quebec and things really have started to move up a notch for us now. I can't wait to take the boys over next year to see what they make of it.

Our biggest dread is having to break the news to the children. I am swatting up on the internet nd have various books on order on how to break the news to your kiddies.

Rubie how do you get the italic info at the bottom of your thread??

[QUOTE=PhilJillMaxJoe;9015180]I am Canadian and have family over in Canada. We visited Vancouver ith the possibility of relocating there but on our recce we discovered that we wouldn't be able to afford or offer the same lifestyle that we currently have here in he UK to our children. My husbands work has really led us to Quebec and things really have started to move up a notch for us now. I can't wait to take the boys over next year to see what they make of it.

Our biggest dread is having to break the news to the children. I am swatting up on the internet nd have various books on order on how to break the news to your kiddies.

Rubie how do you get the italic info at the bottom of your thread?? [/QUOTE]

Absolutely no intention of deflection this thread (constantly quoting the comments to my wife who is feeling the same), but how do you put that "bit" on the bottom of your posts?

Sorry - deflecting

I too think you should pop over to NS to put your mind at rest, we have been here two and a half years, and love it more all the time, but friends of ours came to live here just over a year ago, without really exploring properly imo, and they have already moved back to England - with huge furniture/dog shipping costs etc to worry about. Also, they have a house in NS that hasn't sold, real estate moves pretty slow around here, so it could be a very costly mistake if you are not sure.

We had our first baby, who is now 13 weeks old, so no worries about him hating us for moving to Canada, he doesn't know any different! but the guilt that he doesn't see his nana, granny and all our other family is awful. Just putting that out there as something else to think about...

That being said, the move to NS was the best thing we ever did for ourselves, we are truly happy and love it, love it, love it!

Good luck x

This thread just gets better and better! I demand information! I'm just like rivingtonpike, I can't get little bits at the bottom of my postings either!

In reality PhilJillMaxJoe, we are in just your situation, I have a super house here, a bigish home with a big river frontage, but I could only afford a postage stamp in BC where my husband is from. NB means we can have a decent sized house with a good garden. I can't just turn to my son and say 'sorry kid we're in an appartment now, welcome to Canada'. He loves France but France doesn't love us, or more particularly, my husband. I do also, from prior to marriage, have a house in London, but after years of being rented it had been rented into the ground - I would always say Sell when it's in a good condition.

rach_woz99, I'm so pleased things are going well for you. You have made me desperate to get going and join you all in Canada. I am feeling so so ready. I passed my medical yesterday! Having a baby in a New Country really makes it home! Although, I'm not planning that myself you understand!

Rubie, thank you once again for getting this thread going!

To get the bits at the bottom, go to "my profile" and then down on the left hand side you should see "edit my signature" you can out your timeline in here and it will show at the bottom of your posts