I am another one , just returned to live in the uk after 20 years in oz and have found it really hard, I did expect it would be hard as I wasnt too unhappy in Oz but wanted to come back and spend time with family here and for various reasons this was a good time to make the move. We bought a house in a typical english village in the countryside and its very pretty and there is alot of things that I appreciate here , the tv is better and the radio, shops are great much more choice, lots of lovely pubs and walks, plenty of things to do and feel part things much more but I do personally find there is an air of doom and gloom here that I never felt in oz and we have experienced plenty of hassles in getting things organised here and it can be very frustrating .

Its still early days for us but I miss my old life and the familiarity of everything , change is hard and sometimes I feel like I am too old and I cant be bothered probably should have done it years ago !!!!

OK so getting back to the original post..... its great to hear everyones thoughts and comments.

I understand that everyone has a different view of the UK (and world) and we have all had a life of different experiences, so maybe its important to focus on ourselves and what we truly want from this life, whether its in the UK or elsewhere.

No one else can tell you what to believe/think!

I think we are going to give it time with a 2 year plan and then see where we want to be. Also more research is needed of different places in Canada and maybe some in the USA(although its a harder place to gain access to).

Still interested to hear your comments and experiences!

I'd suggest asking this question on the Canada forum to get more responses. BC's huge and where you end up in BC will determine your experiences. Life in downtown Vancouver is much different than living in Vancouver's suburbs or in the more rural interior parts of the province like the Okanagan and Kamloops. BC's a huge and varied province (with many different climates and landscapes depending on where you are, from rainforest to desert and so on). It's definitely the most diverse province in Canada in terms of that kind of perspective. It certainly offers a different lifestyle than Atlantic Canada! And you don't have to drive very far to get a different setting. And yes, the concerts are a nice feature, but only if you live in Vancouver. Athough I suppose even Victoria, Whistler, and Kelowna get big acts in ever now and then.

I am a bit like you Ihave lived half my life in the UK and half in the states and things are a bit messed up to say the least,I have 2 kids in the states and one here in the UK I have no idea where I am meant to be and a bit lost really although I like the people and government much better in the UK so that's why I am here,maybe I will try somewhere else one day but for the moment I am home or at least I think I am ha ha god I am messed up

I get shocked by being around culture again when I'm in the UK. Is that what you mean by culture shock?

Shocked in a good way?

I don't know why it shocks anyone when they know exactly what UK is like.

I was being facetious. Shocked by the presence of culture after the absence of it in Australia.

Yes i know..the culture thing will happen in OZ oneday. When we are six foot under no doubt

Whatever our own personal experiences, there is one thing we all tend to have in common and that is to want a satisfactory life.
The trouble is that when we are in one place, we can't help but think that the grass might be, or was, greener elsewhere.
I grew up in UK, Algeria and France and at the age of 22 was experiencing what a lot of you are describing! So I came back to the UK! 18 mths later, I wanted to go back to France! I stayed in the UK and 20 years later am putting together my family application to move to Canada!
You have to accept that your life is made up of experiences which shape what you think.
What I have drawn from my experience and am taking with me when I eventually make it to Canada is that things are not always what you expect! My perception of Canada in the first few months of being there will form the basis of my life long impression of my new country but not everything will be rosy and there will be times I will hate it and forget the reasons I wanted to leave the UK!
BUT I'm going prepared for surprises good and bad... and this I think is where a lot of people make mistakes! Canada is not necessarily the promised land! Just another adventure you can make the best or the worst of...

I have been out of Spain for nearly 10 years. I moved here when I was in my 20s and had been an anglophile for many years. I didn't know anything, but it didn't seem to matter at the time: cashback, Christmas crackers, Only Fools and Horses, supermarket reductions, the long dark winters when it gets dark at 3 pm and the way people move away from you if you stand on a shelf in a shop next to them.

I need to remind myself (many times) when I go back to Spain not to expect cars to stop for me in pedestrian crossings, shop assistants under 40 tend to look miserable, there's never a seat on the local bus, and there's no 9 pm watershed concept, which has resulted in some embarrassing moments during the years!

But if I had stayed in Spain I would have missed everything I know and love about England, and if I hadn't moved from Spain, my world would have been smaller.

Now that it's time to start thinking about where to move in the mid-term, I take comfort that I could adapt somewhere else. There will be some creases to iron along the way, but no pain no gain, and there should be a better life waiting for many of us somewhere else. As my husband says, it's only another city in the same world with people.

I was in Canada for nearly 5 years and felt like an alien on a different planet for a few weeks on my return, but it didn't last. Six months down the line it's as if I never left the UK in the fist place.

I'm interested in what people think are the factors that determine whether/how easily people re-assimilate to life back in the UK? I still feel like a stranger in a strange land a lot of the time (been back three and a half years now)

I settled straight back into the swing of things in UK immediately. Lived here all my life (apart from 3 yrs in Perth) so knew what to expect. No big deal.
IMO those who don't settle (ping pongers) search for something they will never find.

I spent six years in Canada, the first few days back felt like I was in some sort of dream, then I realised it was real and it felt like normality had returned.

One thing both of us have commented on is how young people working in the banks and shops seem compared to when we left. I think it's more of a case of us getting older (both now 40+3).

Out with the old, in with the new

Circle of life so they say.