kmthor

i was wondering how long people give it in their adopted countries before coming back to the UK. i posted a similar post on another forum and i was amazed to see people of 30 years going back..id also like to hear what people feel after being back for a while, you know once the razzmatazz has worn off..

why do people move back ? is it a case of not feeling part of the adopted country or culture or ???? (fill in the blank)

I've seen in every country iv stayed for an extended time a sub culture of people that just do not want foreigners do thise have an effect on your decision ?

In South Africa some people refuse to speak English to you even though they know you can't speak or understand Africans... yet they speak English
In New Zealand there is an Anti Asian culture... so much so that its affecting the foreign student income... i was once told that the foreign students income accounted for more than 30% of GDP don't know how true that was
Australia there is what seems to be an Anti American culture plus the F OFF we're full brigade..

I've moved around a fair bit but I've never gone to a country with the attitude that ill grow old and die there, as we never know what's around the corner

just for the record im not having a crack at anyone or any country. I understand there are swings and roundabouts were ever you go

Beedubya

If you were to read the posts on the "over 50's and 60's returning to the UK" you would be REALLY amazed at the stories on there.

Just a few months back Rodney returned to the UK from the USA where he has lived for over 30 years.

Today Jackie has returned after 34 years in the USA.

And I myself will be leaving Australia in 30 days time after living here for 30 years.......

There is also a lady living in Scotland in her 50's who hadn't been back since she was 14, I believe the longest away from home though was a person who had been in Australia for 50 years.....

LOTS and LOTS of us around, explore this site a little, check out the above thread plus one or two in The Rovers Return.

penny farthing

I have often wondered why some people -ex pats-living for many years in Canada, USA ,Australia for example, talk a whole lot about going home to UK.
Eventually they do go back to UK and then after one or two years living in UK they up sticks and return to the country they left!
I have never found out why UK didnt work for them.
I am indeed puzzled and would be very interested in the reasons the UK was not what they thought it would be and was in fact bad enough for them to go throught the whole effort of moving again
btw -I too have thoughts of returning.......

Mallory

If you look at the "big picture," it's not just British moving back to Britain. There are Aussies, Canadians, and Americans in the UK, that move back to their respective countries too! People are always on the move for one reason or another.

kmthor

yer i get that i just wondered why somone would after 20 or 30 year away.. im not nocking it by any means just interested...iv been away from the UK close to 24 years now and i have no intension of heading back ... im not saying wont but right now i dont feel the need. i have lived in 3 defferent countries and traveled a fair bit in this time maybe that makes a diff..

Beedubya

For me personally it's was facing up to how I REALLY feel because of personal circumstances, no more stuffing down and suppressing feelings and just getting on with it..........

kmthor

so was its always there? and the personal circumstances triggered it... or was it a trip back to the UK or maybe an epiphany..

km

chris955

I first came here as a baby with my parents in 1962 but have lived in the UK a few times for varying amounts of times. I support England in sport and consider myself 100% English. I think the fact that I am so English is the reason we are returning later this year. My wife is English and has never wanted to live here, my kids were both born here but bizarrely consider themselves English. I was only saying to my wife today that although we have a comfortable life here it just feels empty and unfullfilled. The UK is such an exciting vibrant place, it just sort of pulls you back.
Of course some returnees don't stay but that is true of every nationality, I know of Aussies that can't settle in the this country.

Bevm

With us and Canada, there was an element of suddenly realizing we'd "been here, done this" and wanted a change. After 30+ years, back to the UK -- different parts -- was enough of a change.

We'd moved around Canada a lot, too. Some people are rooters and some people are rolling stones. We've moved a lot in our lives. Off to uni, then moved to another place for work, then Halifax NS, then Montreal, then Ottawa, then Victoria, plus traveling by car and train across Canada and up and down (up to Churchill.)

In practical terms, we realized a few years ago that we wanted more variety in easy reach. We can find something different and interesting in England, never mind Britain, within a couple of hours travel. It took us twice that long to travel from Victoria to Vancouver! Yawn.

Then there's the continent. We're spending January in Spain.

No contest. But we're Canadian citizens with grown up kids there. We might go back. Probably won't, but no bridges have been burned.

We are older, so don't need to choose a location for jobs.

Bev

Beedubya

All of the above, it was always there but suppressed because this is my bed and I must lie in it, made worse by a 12 month trip back home where I just felt so alive, but came back here and once again just got on with it, then there was the epiphany of a family member dying at a young age that shook me up and I thought life really and I mean REALLY is too short...........

Beedubya

Hi Chris, whereabouts in Oz are you and the family? It's funny how some people just FEEL more English inside than others no matter how long they have lived in another country..........

chris955

We are in Brisbane, I grew up in Victoria but have been up here for 10 years now. Even after all these years I just don't feel Australian and my wife never will.

Beedubya

I have been here 30 years and I know how you feel, some things will never change...........there is no good pretending.......we/you/they have given it our best shot but sometimes it's best to call it quits..........

chris955

Yeah, this country just doesn't give us what we want. We aren't beach goers and our kids aren't sporty and spend more time indoors than out. This country just doesn't provide the spark we want and need.

beachgal21

I think it has a great deal to do with age. At some point everyone reaches a point where they are suddenly struck with a sense of their own mortality, maybe you're just not there yet.

Regarding wanting to return home. For me, I want to be where I feel I truly belong. I want to be with people that have a shared history with me ... people that know what I'm talking about when I make a joke about a Blue Peter badge. I want to be able to talk to people about the state of the country without them becoming almost anal in their defensiveness.... I want to be with my own tribe