Scoobsta

From reading numerous threads, is 'missing the family' the real reason for moving back to the UK ' ??? .... surely this would have been thoroughly thought about before moving? ....

flashman

Precisley. It's predictable and it can also happen if you just move within the UK.

callé

Everyone has their different reasons for moving in the first place. Some to live with their new spouse or some move because of their jobs. I moved because my parent brought me here. Even those who move for the adventure or to try a new life can underestimate the power and strength you get from a loving family.

ladylisa

Yes many consider missing family as a pause in their decision to move away. However until your actually away and missing family the impact cannot be fully appreciated when your still surrounded by loved ones. Maybe you would like to let us know how you feel about this when you're in Canada.

Tom Masters

Have to admit, this made me chuckle. Spoken like a true would-be expat that hasn't actually made the move yet!! Of course people throroughly think through how they will feel about missing family - to suggest otherwise, is crazy.

Thinking about it and experiencing things such as missing family, homesickness and culture shock are two completely different things. You may be confused at the moment, but I can virtually guarantee the confusion will lift when you experience immigration for yourself.

Chris

JAJ

Doesn't it depend on how 'close' you are to family members in the first place?



Jeremy

Tom Masters

Not necessarily. I'm sure each situation is unique. People react to immigration in different ways. The point I'm trying to make is that you won't really know how you will feel until you move.

Chris

flashman

The following criteria may help.

1) How often do you see them? Once a day or once a year.

2) What do you talk about when you get together? Personal and private stuff, general gossip or other trivia.

3) How much do you help each other? Look after each others kids, help to cut the grass, help to decorate.


If it's minimal. Then you probably ain't going to miss them

Scoobsta

ok ok .... i get the picture, but I know that I will extremely miss my family, without a doubt.... however, this will be the price im going to have to pay if I want something really badly .... I was taught that life is all about sacrifice while growing up ... but yeah, lets see hey?

MrsB

I wasn't close to my mum and dad at all. Saw them once every 6 weeks or so.

Before I left the UK, I thought webcams and Skype would do.

Only when I got here, did I realise that a fuzzy face on a computer screen, and a stilted echoed conversation does not make up for the real thing.

But, you can only find that out AFTER you have emigrated.

I haven't seen my mum and dad for 8 months.

To me personally, the sacrifices you have to make are just not worth it.

So, to the OP, you'll never know how you are going to feel, until you do it. It may be ok for you, but for lots of others, it isn't.

dewdrop

Just read the thread and thought I'd say that my parents immigrated from the UK to Canada, in the 70's and they never really decided to move back because of family, it was a decision they made to stay in Canada, we visited UK about 5 times as I was growing up.
But, let me say one thing, if you have little ones now, and you take them away from family, their heritage etc etc. They may want to move back to their roots, one day. I am just one of many who are looking to move back with family to my roots. If may see stupid to some, but it's how you feel on the inside being taken away from it all....To me family is more important by far. So in conclusion, it may not happen this generation to move back but it may hit the next generation. cheers, good luck with your decision.
Dee

proo

I think it depends on how 'homey' you are and how much you need to see your family. I think it's the fact you can just jump into the car/train at a moment's notice. You still could from Canada I guess but it's more expensive.
I'm pretty independent and have already moved countries and am not bothered by it. Now we're off to Canada, I do feel a little pang of homesickness as it's much further away. But the parents have said they'll come and stay for a month instead of the odd weekend. Not sure if that's a good or bad thing yet!

sibsie

I think there's more to it than just missing frequent interaction with family. It's about being with or near to people who "get you". People in Oz, NZ, Canada and the US may talk like you, look like you but they really aren't going to get the in jokes that you get back home. The sense of humour will be different and the mindset will be different. It's that feeling that can kick start a feeling of isolation and wanting to be around your own kind.

Strangely I feel more homesick now that I'm in the US than I ever did in Spain. Spain was just so foreign that there was no way to compare life in the UK to it but here in the US, it's almost the same but not. Probably makes no sense at all, but there you go! I suppose it's like the elephants who eventually trek back to where they originally came from to die. No matter how happy you are in your new country, is it really a place you want to end your days in? For lots of people, the call to home is a powerful one and for most, it's an enevitability and as such I do think it's about more that missing family.

My whole family have emmigrated at one time or another. Dad left Canada to move to the UK, mum left Ireland for the UK. My brother moved to NYC and then moved back and my sis lived in LA and moved back. It does make it easier for me to talk to them about why I'm feeling the way I am about wanting to go home.