el_richo

I've read many times on here how people are striving to live their "Dream" by moving to Canada. This often has me wondering for a couple of seconds, what IS the dream, and how close to reality is it?

So out of bored curiosity, i have two questions:

1, For those who are working through the emigration process, in simple terms, what exactly is your vision of your future life in Canada and do you think it's realistic?

2, For those who have arrived, have your dreams been realised or did real life get in the way?

For example:

"I want to move to Canada for the fresh air, mountains, slower pace of live, better outdoor opportunities for the kids, and a bigger house."

"I wanted to move for the above and got everything and more. I live next to the Rockies, i work less hours, my kids are excelling at sports, and we have a beautiful house on a few acres with no mortgage."

Or

"I wanted to move for the above but realistically it wasn't achievable for us. The limitation of options due to work opportunities has us living away from our dream location, the pay doesn't afford us the house we expected, i work the same hours as the UK with similar commute time, my kids are missing family and friends and their achievements are linear to the UK. It wasn't what we hoped for but we're happy."

Or

"Get me the hell out of here. What the f**k have we done?"

Funky Florist

We want an adventure. It's not just about mountains, fresh air, space etc. It's about challenging ourselves - not getting stuck in a rut. If it wasn't Canada, we'd look for another adventure. It's about feeling alive.

We still enjoy the UK, but want to shake things up in our lives and get out the comfortable ordinariness of it all. Canada is a great place, but we're doing it without rose tinted glasses, to see what it brings.

Plus I turned 40 and thought: "Where do I want to be in 10 years time?". That's enough to get anyone motivated!

el_richo

I think dreams are great and necessary. I'm just curious how close to reality they became for people.

Adventure is always good. Especially when you're really old

dbd33

I went abroad because I couldn't figure out how I'd make enough money to buy a house in London. I bought a house in Canada then, mission accomplished, gave it away.

Zoe Bell

Fundamentaly, I think that I am happier now than I was in the UK.
However it is kind of hard to say if that is solely down to being in Canada or not.

At the same time as emmigrating , I made a lot of life changes, not the least of which was giving up, what was for me, an incredibly stressful job.

I earn less money here ( probably about 50% less) but feel that my standard of living is much higher. By what criteria I'm judging that I'm not sure. Maybe its the view out over the lake I wake up to every day , or the sight of the CN tower looming above me as I leave for work. Like dbd has mentioned living in a simialr place in the UK ( nice apartment , city centre) would have been completely out of our price range , for ever probably.

Some things In Canada feel like they work better than in the UK , Somethings ( like the banking system) feel like they are about 20 years behind! On Balance though , I feel that I am in the best place. I'm a lot more optimistic for the future here than I was in the UK.

there you go , my morning ramblings

Lorry1

For us...our dream WAS -
big house.
loads of space.
less work hours in less stressful jobs.
more opportunities for us and kids.
outside living.
closer family doing stuff together.

The reality IS -
big house = more house work.
loads of space.
OH works about the same amount of hours in a very stressful job.
not really more opportunites, just different.
more time outside in summer, and probably winter too as alot less rain here.
Not really a closer family, same s*** problems, different Country.

I wish we would have taken an extended holiday instead of emigrating!

el_richo

Exactly what i was looking for. How many dreams become reality and stay a reality. Hopefully more do than not.

Thanks very much for posting.

Piff Poff

Our dream was to have a beautiful place, preferably our own business (we were thinking campground), a slower pace of life but more rewarding and working together.

In our impatience to get here OH accepted a job doing what he was doing in the UK.

5 years on, OH is still doing what he was doing in the UK but instead of working on other peoples cars in his spare time he works on his own. I now have two crappy retail jobs. I don't think I am any happier or unhappier than I was in the UK. I love living here and don't think I could give up the space, blue skies and slower pace of life or the dreams I still have.

We still want our own business and we have several thought processes there and are unlikely to do anything about them before teen leaves school now, I also dream of being of snowbird status as I age - something I never knew I wanted to be

I (this last few months) have had the thought process of we should have just kept Canada as a holiday destination, but now I have lived here I don't want to live back in the UK. I just feel unfufilled atm.

Almost Canadian

We moved for the space, England just felt too crowded. We certainly didn`t do it for the kids (how taking kids away from all of their relatives can ever be "best" for them is beyond me and, the longer we are here, the more our kids resent the fact that their extended family is not available for birthdays, Xmas, nativity plays etc.)

We like the space, we have a similar sized house here and I have the potential to earn more money here, but that is not a massive factor for us.

I worked in and around Birmingham and while Calgary is supposed to have a similar population to Birmingham, it doesn`t feel anything like that.

We have achieved what we set out to achieve but I hate the fact that is is always a struggle to easily source information about anything outside of Canada/USA. For example, I used to participate in and watch a lot of sport in England (watching on the TV). If, for example, the Commonwealth Games were being shown in England and, for example, athletics was being shown, all the events and all the atheletes from around the world would be shown. I remember when Vic Davies beat Adrian Moorhouse in a Commonwealth Games swimming event. Over here, unless a Canadian or well know US athelete is participating, the event is not shown. Ditto for world news.

Other than that, life is good, but then it was good in England too.

Atlantic Xpat

I moved because Mrs AX wanted to move home. Our dream was of being close to her family, a larger house, fresher air, more space, lower crime, access to the great outdoors etc. Moving here as a place to raise children was also a big thing.

The reality is that living near the family hasn't turned out to be what we thought it was (seperation, death, people moving away have all seen to that), we have a larger house and the acre of land we could never have afforded in Essex, the air is fresh, crime is not a concern (although I have been burgled here but not in Essex) and we do get to do a certain amount in the great outdoors. (I have an ATV for example.) We have a wonderful daughter, good childcare support from family, friends and daycare but the realisation that she will not know her grandparents, aunts, uncles and neices other than via Skype and a visit every few years.

We gave up my family and friends, decent beer, career opportunities for myself, the ability to travel cheaply and often and reasonably priced cheese.

If you'd have asked me 2 months ago was I happy, I would have categorically replied 'no'. A job I hated and no permanent teaching position for the Mrs combined with a very enjoyable visit back to UK in the summer saw to that. Today, with a new job I enjoy* and the Mrs having a permanent position, things are immeasurably better and I would say I'm happy at present. I recognise the limitations of life here, but on balance we like it here and would prefer to be here than the UK. That's not to say that we couldn't be happy in the UK though.

* One important factor in my new(ish) job is that it's a global company and I have global responsibilities which will involve travel off the Rock to points East and South from time to time. Being stuck in a relatively isolated area with no opportunity to visit other places from time to time is something that we both find difficult. So the Mrs goes to Ottawa a couple of times a year to stay with her sister and I get my business trips.

Lorry1

you're welcome

ireland2canada

Being a cynical and practical sort, I didn't really have a "dream'. I wanted to do something different, I didn't want to get old and regret never taking the chance. My father and other assorted people in my life have all lived abroad, worked abroad and have travelled.

I didn't leave home because I disliked it, not at all, but there are plenty of reasons I could list as being "push" factors in wanting to live elsewhere. In fact, the whole notion of emigration is historically usual for my part of the world so it didn't feel like a ridiculous thing to consider.

All in all, things have worked out. Job, home, friends, activities. I was much more insular back home for a variety of reasons and that has changed somewhat. I feel like there are more opportunities in terms of employment and activity here, whether that is true or just my perception is up for debate but what matters is that I like it here! I think that people who have high expectations will generally end up disappointed, whereas those who just wing it have a better chance of adapting to whatever comes their way...good and bad.

JonboyE

Nicely put. Come with no expectation other than it will be different.

MrsDV

Ok, moving to Canada was never a dream of mine, Canada was never even on the radar in terms of placed I wanted to go.

In fact, when Canada was first mentioned as an option my thoughts were more nightmare than dream - I thought frozen wasteland and people who don't know how to dress (I had had a few Canadian friends by this point )

The reality is, thankfully, not the nightmare I first envisioned. Yes, some days (months!) I still think frozen wasteland but, more often, I've thought beautiful, vast wilderness. I'm happy to have had the opportunity to ski and hike in the Rockies and to see Moose, bears, ospreys, eagles etc. in their natural habitat. (arguably, this could have been done in a couple of holidays but it is nice having it on your doorstep)

Every day life is neither dream nor nightmare, everyone ticks along quite happily doing the things they would do wherever we were - school, work, sports etc.

We're happy here, it's been a good experience, but I don't think Canada could ever be my dream destination.

Oh, and with my third winter around the corner, the novelty has truly worn off

dboy