The effects of Analysis Paralysis.

You mention that you applied due to being enamoured by Canada as you'd holidayed there yet don't mention any reasons for leaving the UK. So possibly the UK still gives you all you need and Canada can be your twice yearly holiday.

If you decide to go, embrace it.

LOL you totally forgot the "If you dont try you will never know / deathbed regrets" reply too

I'll stay firmly on the fence, Toms the only one who can really decide which way is best at this point. At least its just him though, with no family to consider. I think any sane person would go through a period of doubt and confusion at some point, given time to think about it. Its only natural.

That was pretty much why we immigrated. Had a vacation liked it, moved here. Could not see anything wrong with the UK then or now, we just prefer the Canadian way of life and surroundings. Only used to go back for work, don't have to do that now.

wooooohoooooooooo
Life is way too short to think about stuff sometimes
We came out with hardly anything and believe me we have young ones as well, would we do it again knowing what we know.............erm yeah
Been a hard couple of months for our family with personal issues, but it has taught me that you have ONE LIFE...........Enjoy it

LB

Dammmit Iank that was my next piece...gonna do it any way

You don't want to look back and have a load of what if's!!! At least if you try and think it wasn't for you, you will have some good anecdotes for your mates on here. Needed to get a different slant in.

It is your choice and if its any comfort I do get paralysed by analysis.

Aaaaah but that works the other way too. "If only i hadn't........."

The only problem is, you never know until you follow through with your decision

Thanks again, all. It's funny, I only thought I'd start the thread to show my current state of thinking and how I'd reached it. It wasn't really about getting advice 'cos - as has been amply said - it is my decision. I should have guessed it would bring a big response, though! Not complaining... it's all been good.


Yeah... unlike a lot of expats and would-be expats, I have no particular gripe with the UK. There are far worse places in the world to live. We moan about the economy, the government, the house prices, the taxes, the feral teenagers, the drunkenness, the crime... but we still have it pretty damn good here. We have relative freedom of movement, of association and of speech. We have universal healthcare - a creaking ship though it may be - and a private healthcare alternative for those who can afford it (unlike Canada). And there's a Welfare State to support us when we need it. Even on the lower rungs of the ladder, our lives can be reasonably comfortable by many standards. So no (and before this sounds like a sales pitch for the latest model UK!), I don't have any special reason for leaving. Except, maybe, I don't feel 'at home' here, and never really have - a legacy of moving around a lot when I was a kid and never being able to put down roots. I'm a contradiction, really: restless, but scared of change - again, something that's partly to do with my Asperger's. I travelled across Canada years ago and became captivated with it. I've visited several times since - most recently to a part where my maternal grandmother lived for a few years as a young woman, back in the early 1900s. If she hadn't returned, who knows... I might have been born there. Going to that place, though, instilled something in me: a sense that perhaps I could call this home. Someone said it could be a memory trace passed down in the genes, which may be fanciful and may not. Apart from this, most of my cultural interests - history, literature, art, sport - are biased towards North America in general. So... the UK's OK with me. But home? Well... who knows where that is... One way to find out is to try looking, I guess...

I do, incidentally, feel very 'at home' in France - despite the language barrier (Je parle Francais pas bien). I love the French way of life. Quebec, anyone?

I'm glad you think I'm sane, mate, 'cos I sometimes wonder...

Cheers for the offer, Pincher. May well do that some time.