englishrose

yes,we lived 20mins south of calgary,i avoided the deerfoot like the plague,absolutely manic drivers on a bumpy ,potholed filled road.

no wonder all the cars are wrecks !

aswell as not having to have MoTs ,death traps.

Danny B

Actually no, the 4 way stop sign at the end of my road is the highlight of my day, especially when we all pull up at the same time.

hudd

Paul

We moved back to England from Canada when we were 38 & 39 years old with 2 young sons. Being single you have nothing to loose going to Canada apart from what it will cost you. Money spent and possessions can be replaced if it does not work out.

We found Canada roads fun around Calgary and Toronto just like some parts of England to get around. Lived most of the time in Canada in the sticks, not a problem with traffic but a 300km+ round trip to go shopping or day out with the family.
The places you will find many of the well paid jobs in Canada will mostly be as expensive to live as the UK. We found our cost of living relative to my income higher in Canada and now I have a higher disposable income back in the UK.

Moving overseas is a great experience and if you can afford the investment, its worth a try. If you think it will make you better off, well in some cases you will be, but also you could end up worse of than you were in the UK.

We do not regret moving back. I got a better job starting next week, new house next month and my sons have passed the entrance exams today for a local Grammar School in Kent.
I hope you enjoy you move to Canada as we enjoy some of our time there.
hudd

Betty Boot

Hi Danny B

Been back almost 2 years now, I think we realised early on that would would not want to spend the rest of our days here but it is only now we have started talking about going back. I cant completely understand why myself, we have have a nice home, good jobs, kids have settled in well, etc so i will kick myself if it doesnt work out next time around in Oz:curse: I suppose i am just thinking long term and where i would prefer my children to grow up and where we would like to spend our time when we are older and no offence to anyone but it isnt here.

BB

Paul_Shepherd

Hudd

Thanks for your insight in to the various ins and outs of livng in Canada, and I hope your move back to England works out for you, at least you can rest easy and say "I did it" and have no regrets, it sounds like you are very settled and wont want to move back again unlike some.

Your right in the fact I have nothing to lose - in some respects, only money, but if it didnt work out, I could lose significant amount of money.. and as a result of that lose a lovely location and area that I presently live in the UK, after all the moving costs, I wouldnt be able to afford to buy a house in that area again, as Im mortgaged to my limit, so Im thinking of renting out my house when I head for Canada, as I will be living with a friend there until I get myself on my feet, so will have no massive outgoings initially. However that has its pit falls, as I dont think the rent will cover the mortgage and all other expenses that go with it! Maybe I should just go for it and sell up! - but I feel its a bad time to sell presently.

As for the traffic factor, my friend lives in the Bronte neighbourhood of Oakville, to be perfectly honest Ive been over to Canada 5-6times now and the only bad traffic ive seen in the GTA is on the 401 at rush hour - which is to be expected, I think I currently live on the outskirts of a very congested area of the UK (West Midlands) so traffic just seems worse here to me.

As for exspense....that does worry me, my friend says Canadians he has met generally have a higher disposable income per head, but I dont see how, as in my expereince of visiting there, both food and salaries are around the same as in the UK, I think perhaps because the two big outlays ie property and cars are cheaper over there freeing up a large portion of income, an advantage I would not see until selling my house in the UK.

Oh well there is only one way to find out.......make that jump!

Cheers
Paul

tillysmum

could you not extende the years on your mortgage to make cheaper payments or go for interest only payments for a while unitl you decide whether its for you or not? You might lose a lot less than if you sold your house now in this present house selling climate

crap coffee

you are not the only person feel like that way, so don't feel too bad about yourself.

if only you can afford to, and its getting increasingly unlikely that I can.

yes. I wish I could afford to live there

recently I just wish I could have lots lots lots of money.

bloody.........money is a pain of our life

JoolsB

We are in Melbourne-husband stuck in traffic hour & a half each morning and again in evening and local Safeway is hideous with crappest foods ever makes me want to cry. Tesco is but a distant and pleasant dream..... Crowds-yes please! - stuck out in the Melbourne 'burbs the only people I see all day are little old folks on mobility scooters

Give your itchy feet a good scratch-I will do the same here-mine are itching to walk into a crowded Tesco!

Paul_Shepherd

Its a nice idea - but Im already doing that! my mortgage payments are interest only at the moment, - it was the only way I could afford to have some sort of life as well as keeping the buliding society happy!.... I took out a little extra on my mortgage to move to a really lovely area, and could afford the repayments a couple of years back, but now unfortunately mortgage rates went thro the roof along with tax, council tax, fuel bills, food bills, and most other things, now Im really struggling. I feel its the wrong time to sell at the moment, and as I said I dont think renting would cover the mortgage and other bills... it all hinges on me getting a job quickly when I get to Canada, then renting wont be a problem, as I will have the money to supplement the mortgage and and bills shortfall.

cherry6

Its funny but I have that wish too.......I have absolutely no luck on the lotto no matter how hard I try [/I]

AudsFrmSA

Hi 'the elders' was happy to read your post about coming from SA and being in the UK, and that you have no regrets about being in the UK, always good to hear positive feedback especially from South Africans. We are in the process of 'selling-up' and getting passports organised and hope to be out of SA by early Dec., to move to Scotland, my biggest nightmare is that my Afrikaans hubby doesn't adjust and turns into a miserable grumpy old man that blames me for his unhappiness, but we have looked at everything realistically and know why we are doing this and those reasons will never go away, so I guess if we stay focused and positive, everything will work out fine. It's just a big step, but as you say, it's an adventure

the elders

Hi audsfrmsa

Emigration is hard. But the reasons for leaving our lives in South Africa were so numerous and one just comes to realise life is worth so much more than the trappings of SA eg maids, beaut homes, weather etc.

We were back in SA in Jan and it doesn't feel like home at all now, can't imagine living with all those security issues.

Good luck with your move, keep your chins up and remember the reasons you are leaving!

Tell your hubby not to be bedonnered!! ha ha love speaking Afrikaans here it is most helpful!!

dingbat

What will you do in Canada? Will it be a high paying job? The average wages are pretty crap here and cost of living in the main centres is equal (if not more) to that in the UK......

marcelle38

hi, i'm from reading also, I live in florida I did comtemplate on returning to the uk. not sure about reading though.

Paul_Shepherd

Im a draghtsman/mechanical design engineer, so no - not a high paying job, I have been looking on the Canadian job sites, but realise that Canadian culture isnt big on advertising jobs, its more about personally contacting individual companies. Anyway ive only seen a handful of salarys so far, and they are a bit below UK averages, however my friend who lives an hour north of Toronto is a service engineer (in packaging machinary) and is paid very well. As for cost of living...obviously I dont live in Canada yet but the way I see it is, ok salaries maybe a bit below the UK in some cases, but the two most biggest purchases a person makes is property and a car (and the fuel to run it) - and those are cheaper in Canada....freeing up a sizeable chunk of disposalble income...also I dont see that Canadians can be taxed any more than Brits currently are! (but ive yet to do research into this area - im not talking solely about the equivalent income tax - but other hidden stealth taxes etc) Also from my experience, the cost of food for example maybe be about the same - but you simply get more for your money...so it goes further, I think that applies to eating out as well (bigger portions etc). Finally from my visits to Toronto (Canada's biggest city) - I have not found that anywhere near as expensive as London during my visits there. As I said im not living in Canada yet - Im only going from experience from my visits there and what my friend tells me who has lived in Oakville now for the last 3 years, I also have have more research to do yet. I maybe guesing but you dont sound too impressed with your move - would you consider moving back to the UK?