British Expats - Thoughts after one year in Nova Scotia.

Hello all. Yes, a year today (May 5th) here in Nova Scotia. My brief observations. It is a lovely province with still a lot more for me to explore. I love having the space around where I live.

Jobs are difficult and I am in a fortunate position of not having to find one but it could be tough here in a rural part of NS that I am in. Things are a little more expensive than I had budgeted for largely owing to the exchange rate as my income is derived from the UK.

Grocery shopping is expensive compared to the UK but I appreciate that one must not really make that comparison but you can't help it. Petrol is cheaper of course which helps the budget. I love my wood stove and wood furnace and if needs be, given where I live, I could be self-sufficient in wood here, so cost of heating could be very low.

Alcohol is very expensive and I really don't like the rigorous controls around it. I mean, you can't even by alcohol in a supermarket.

Car insurance is also steep but I have simply got collision only. I don't think anyone who might be considering coming over here, should be under the illusion that things are going to be easy. Ensure you either have money or a good job lined up. Always ensure you have money for that rainy day. You can live here cheaply if you wanted to as I do.

From my point of view when I wake up in the morning I still feel very lucky to be here. Whether I would feel the same if I then had to go out to work, I don't know. There is very little I have missed about the UK. Having said that, I am being enforced to make a return there and for the foreseeable future will be using my house over here as a summer house.

However, I will have completed a year and a half of residency by that time and it should be pretty easy to reach my two year or 730 requirement in order for me to legitimately re-apply for a PR card. There we are, just a few thoughts of mine.