It was certainly a dream for us for the first 3 months, selling our house in the UK and shipping everything over left us all dazed and confused when we arrived in Kamloops!

4 of us living out of a Motel room while our house purchase was going through wasn't fun. Luckily it was summer so kids had no School.

We eventually moved into our house, I found a job and it went from a dream to doing everything the same as in the UK but with different scenery.

I have job that I really enjoy, mortgage, bills, moany kids, good social life, all of which I had in the UK but now I'm here in Canada.

Don't get me wrong, I love it here, but you can hardly call it a dream. Maybe if I moved in with Hugh Hefner for a few months, now that would be a dream

Didn't think Hugh would be your sort, Danny

As soon as I posted that comment I knew that someone would call me up on it

I meant to say, sharing a house with Hugh would be a dream. Not for him, but for his girlies.

I am glad that things have worked out for you and you are enjoying Canada. I guess some things are always going to be the same as the UK! Can't get away from works and bills etc...

Hopefully the people are better though!

Thanks for sharing

Anyway.....his house aint big and he only knows a couple of ladies

I’m in the process of moving permanently to Canada and I don’t have much to say about the thread but still I felt that I can add something to the many interesting inputs that I read today.
First, I would say that life is not always fair regardless of the place you are living in; therefore I wouldn’t blame Canada for anyone bad life.
If you are in the UK, Canada or anywhere else, and you are a truck driver, you will live the life of a truck driver. You shouldn’t expect to earn a salary of an engineer. You should accept the facts and try to improve your life by working hard and not waiting for free opportunities which may never come.
Myself, I have a thousand questions in my head and I can’t stop thinking if I’m doing the right move leaving a good paying job for an unpredictable adventure but hey, do I want to spend my life working in the same job, same place? No for sure. I want to live my life to the extreme in such a meaning that I want always to make a change. I don’t want to be that old man who will regret why I didn’t try this and why I didn’t do that. Making money is important but we should live our life and enjoy every moment in it. In one seminar in Dubai, I met an Australian professor who was lecturing and we had a small chat. When he knew that I work more than 15 hours per day he laughed and said a sentence that I’ll never forget. He quoted that no money in the world can buy my time which I CAN NEVER BUY IT BACK.

Back to the thread, I don’t think many of the immigrants are coming to Canada chasing a dream but for a reason which is a better life for them and for their kids. So I would rephrase the question and ask people who are already in Canada for more than two years, are you having a better life? Or are your kids having a better life? If the answer on any of this two questions is yes, than you made the right move.

There needs to be more to it than just bigger house, toys, bling, and such.

The intangibles are often the things that make people happier here.

e.g. are you going to change your life(style) ? Do some/more volunteer work ? Help change society ? Make an impact outside of work ? There's no excuse for not changing your life in some way - Canada seems to embrace that, and has (generally) a more positive attitude to volunteerism, social contribution, etc.

Ya know, that seems to be the big difference to success/happiness. If you move to do the same old same old, eventually you'll get bored. Some of the endless rants and moans on here are from people who moved to the city and are unhappy with their lot. They take their misery out on the price of cheese/chicken, quality of TV, etc. Well whaddyer expect ? Same+same=misery

R.

Reminds me of this story floating around on the internet

One day a rich American who had made millions from speculating on the stock market was strolling along the beach and saw a fisherman pulling in his boat with his meager catch.

The rich American stopped and remarked “not much of a catch today”. The fisherman replied “yes not much” but explained that his small catch was enough for him and his family.

The rich American asked, “But what do you do with the rest of your time?”

“I sleep late, play with my children and have an afternoon’s rest under a coconut tree. In the evenings, I go to the local pub to see my friends, play some music, and sing a few songs….. I have a full and happy life.” replied the fisherman.

The rich American ventured, “I have an MBA from Harvard and I can help you…… You should start by fishing longer every day. You can then sell the extra fish you catch. With the extra revenue, you can buy a bigger boat.

With the extra money the larger boat will bring, you can buy a second one and a third one and so on until you have a large fleet. Instead of selling your fish to a middleman, you can negotiate directly with the processing plants and maybe even open your own plant. You can then leave this little village and move to a city from where you can direct your huge enterprise.”

“And after that?” asked the fisherman.What a poor Fisherman can teach you about Retirement

“After that? That’s when it gets really interesting,” answered the rich American, laughing, “When your business gets really big, you can start selling stock in your company and make millions!”

“Millions? Really? And after that?” pressed the fisherman.

“After that you’ll be able to retire, move out to a small village by the sea, sleep in late every day, spend time with your family, go fishing, take afternoon naps under a coconut tree, and spend relaxing evenings with friends…”