ducktastic

I live in the cotswolds and last year we managed to ski here on Cleeve Hill!!
Yep I do agree, part of the appeal of Vancouver for us is to be near those mountains

Aviator

I fly regularly though the mountains, some up to 14000 feet high, fly to remote lakes and inlets, land on the water and enjoy a tranquil day fishing, or pull up to a restaurant dock and go have lunch. Have managed to work in some remote locations and fly some really fun aircraft such as the Beaver and DC3, traveled for fun, gone further for lunch than the width of the UK, participated in aerobatics comps unlike anything in the UK. Owned a variety of recreational aircraft and boats that would have been prohibitively expensive in the UK. Participate many volunteer activities, live in an area surrounded by mountains, with snow year round.

George Holmer Kenya

Indeed. I echo that. I moved from Sweden to Kenya and sure, life here is clearly not identical to life in Sweden but when you think about it, you sleep, eat, sleep, work, eat, go to the looh, shout at the kids, then kiss them goodnight, watch some telly, kiss the wife and then back to sleep, eat...

joepublic

Having spent my working life in the army, at age 40 I'm shortly to be turfed out to fend for myself. I face the prospect of adjusting to civilian life, whilst trying to find a job and buy somewhere to live (we currently live in military accommodation). We're used to a nomadic life (having lived in UK, Germany, Canada) - we've nowhere to call home, we don't have a close circle of friends and our families have long been used to not seeing us for up to a year at a time.

So, the so-called 'dream' goes as follows......

Buy a detached house with a drive, a bit of garden and a bedroom for each of my 4 kids. Have a crack at life in the Canadian Forces (CF). Take a family road trip or two down the east coast during my summer leave. Maybe even learn to ski (properly) - the last time was Norway on army planks and it wasn't graceful.

Perhaps my eternal pessimism (I prefer realism) will prove to be a positive thing (how's that for irony). I've long had the opinion that life's pretty mundane at best of times, with the odd highs and lows chucked in to break the monotony.

I figure why not start a new phase of my life in Canada and see what happens, if it's crap then it'll be just like living here.....

Atlantic Xpat

There is the odd poster who I imagine living their Canadian life in a juicy fruit commercial......



Or thats what they think their life is going to be ......

Oink

Or in the summer.

dboy

I guess each to their own but why distance yourself from a home that clearly you love, family, your daughter and friends and the Cotswalds. Sounds like you are risking a lot for what amounts to closer access to the mountains? Vancouver can be a tough place to start over.

Good luck either way

el_richo

This is exactly what i was thinking.

Good luck with the move, Ducktastic.

ducktastic

Ah thanks for the well wishes and concern guys!

What I will add is, even though I can be flippant about it all, it is a very calculated risk. We are looking to shake things up a bit and have a go at something new.

Said daughter is flying out for Xmas, then joining us for good in June next year when she finishes her finals, so only a temporary separation, and I have some contract work to get on with too.

Plus we are fortunate that we are financially secure, as we have been working towards this and saving for 4 years.

dboy

Fair enough. if you need any info on Vancouver or the north shore, feel free to PM me.

ducktastic

Cheers Dboy, may just do that as the North Shore is where we are looking to buy.
Managed to secure a rental for a town house in Kits...so V excited about that!

Lorry1

Fair enough

dboy

Kits is great...my old hood. I would still be there if i could afford it. Mind you the north shore is nice and is closer to the mountains and takes me about the same to get downtown when not taking the car.

mardyarse

Our dream was to have a bigger house, more land, good schools, safer environment for our kids to grow up in, big SUV's, boats, ski doos, ski ing, downgrade my OH's job so he was more at home and less stressed and live mortgage free!!

Our reality is much bigger house than anticipated, 3 acres, good schools, very safe environment for kids, 1 van 1 small car (petrol prices!), boat, ski only twice last year, daughter modelling for an agency, son mad hockey player, I now don't work, fabulous British friends (a handful of them Canadian), holidays spent in US, shopping done in US (cheaper and better), swimming pool just put in, our mortgage is 3 times what it was in the UK however also earning x4 times what my OH earnt in the UK.

OH hardly see him as building up a new business and either working 13 hour days 7 days a week or travelling internationally. So no change there! However, realistically I always knew he wouldn't downgrade as that would have been crazy as he's a workaholic and loves what he does. He's very happy, I'm happy the kids are very happy and best thing we ever did.

But don't be fooled, we've had lucky breaks along the way with the exchange rate in 07, selling the house at a high, niche market for his job and skills set, kids took 2 years to settle. It would be impossible to live this lifestyle now if we hadn't moved when we did and OH's business doing so well.

You just need to know "Who you are? and What do you want?". We knew what we wanted but also knew we weren't ready to bang out or downsize or slow down just yet, we wanted to build up as much as we could in our "younger working years" and then capitalize when time for retirement.

MrsX

My Husband thinks it's shangri-la so we have to go. He's obsessed. He's been there a couple of times, but even so he thinks that ice-cream grows on trees and all the social services are 5 star.

Me, I've been adventuring around Europe for 17 years so I guess I'll go back if he wants to try it out. I told him I prefer living abroad because everything is a challenge - it's even difficult to buy milk. Buying milk is way too easy in your own country. Even turning the carton around to the french side each time won't trick me out of knowing I'll finally be home again.