Which comes first?
 

When you move back to the UK, but don't really mind which area you live in but Norfolk would be good, what comes first? Is it finding a job or selling your house? I would have thought selling your house, especially in our case when all our money is tied up in it.

Given that we have spent/wasted thousands moving and setting up home here we have very little left to move back with. It may not even be feasible.

So, what we need to look into is;
which areas are cheaper and decent to live in? (Norfolk, Linconshire maybe)
How much did you spend on returning? roughly, belongings, cats, initial rental etc
What's a reasonable wage to live on in the UK now? Thinking Norfolk again.

Just thinking about moving back, maybe next year, maybe sooner. Any answers would be much appreciated.

Re: Which comes first?
 

Oh my, this despite the nice new house?

Re: Which comes first?
 

Yep, the house is lovely, great gardens etc, but I am lonely and miserable. I get frustrated by Canadian ways, still.

I suspect we can't afford to go home as all we could afford would be a tiny house on an estate. I know I have felt better since I said the words "Can we go home?".

It's not a good time for me to make decisions right now, post op and everything so we will decide next year what to do. If things arent any better, jobs, friends, etc then we will see if we can afford to make the move.

Re: Which comes first?
 

Sorry to hear your feeling so lonely and miserable I felt like that a lot in Canada even after 8 years there:blink:

I hope things get better soon or you can at least find a way to make it back home.:fingerscrossed:

Re: Which comes first?
 

Our plan is to do some fact finding later this year, visit recruiters etc, and get a realistic idea of salaries, locations, time to actually get a job, and then put the house on the market next year based on that.

We don't want to actually leave until the house is sold because of the capital gains / principal residence issue. But I would hope to have a job offer and start date lined up before the house sale is signed.

Re: Which comes first?
 

But if you are happy does it really matter? I think we have just got used to the space we have here. We don't need it.

Re: Which comes first?
 

You're right, probably! We need to go back in the spring and look at the place again and then see. Either way I don't want to retire here and that's not long away.

Re: Which comes first?
 

Bugger! I thought we would celebrate our 3 year anniversary together on Friday??

Re: Which comes first?
 

Really interesting as that's just why we moved here :) We couldn't see retiring in the UK and we didn't even have to move as we already lived in "retirementville" there - Bournemouth!!

J :)

Re: Which comes first?
 

Was that the problem -- where you were?

We're the same as the OP. Looked ahead at retirement in Victoria and decided to run away. When we looked at coastal Devon it seemed like continuous retirementville, so we're going to try Whitby.

How's retirement in Calgary feeling?

Bev

Re: Which comes first?
 

Aw, sorry to hear this - though I completely understand your thoughts. Wish I lived nearer to come and say "hi" !

A trip back might well be the push or pull that you need. I'm guessing your skills could find work fairly easily?

Happy vibes to you. :)

Re: Which comes first?
 

I am celebrating by working yet another weekend.

The weather too hot or too cold is enough to send you home.

I can find work easily enough, I suppose.

Who knows, maybe by this time next year all will be well and we stay.

Re: Which comes first?
 

Hi Bev - No that wasn't really the problem -we loved living in Dorset and we didn't really "hate" living in England.

We just took a long look at what we thought it would be like in 10+ years (when we were due to retire) and didn't like what we saw. So we packed our bags and left!

We wanted to move whilst we still had some useful working life ahead of us ;) and so far it's been brilliant. We have settled in a wonderful neighbourhood, I changed career completely (from local government to venture capital ....), we now have time to play golf again and weekends are usually filled with outdoor activities with a range of new friends - young and old. We have taken up cycling (Calgary has a huge network of bike trails) - we are just generally enjoying life.

I don't know if Calgary is where we will remain when we retire but I suspect we won't be wandering too far afield. We made the move with permanency in mind (but we never say never!) and I don't know if that made us settle more easily or not.

Good luck with your move and enjoy the journey getting there!

J :)

Re: Which comes first?
 

Glad you're enjoying Calgary, Jingle. That's what it's all about -- finding the right place for us.

We don't rule out coming back to Canada, but it has to be coast. We just don't do well far from the sea, and having done 20 years of east-of-the-Rockies winter, we won't do that again. If we happened to return and choose Halifax (where we started out) we'd escape to Europe for the winter.

Bev

Re: Which comes first?
 

Hey Fledermaus! I lived in Norfolk (Norwich) for a couple of years when I was younger - I loved the area and if I was going back that would be one of my choices of places to live - not just Norwich but Norfolk on the whole - my Mum lives in Lincolnshire, which also has some nice areas too - my hairdresser has just moved to Mablethorpe and has bought a caravan on the beach for now until he decides what to do.

Sorry to hear your lonely and frustrated and I hope you find a solution to your dilemma.

hugs {{{{o}}}}