My husband and son are Canadian and I'm from the north of England. I moved to Canada 30 yrs ago with my parents but have been back to the UK almost every year on holiday. I've been homesick the entire time in Canada.

Here's what I miss and wonder why I can't find it here in Canada after all these years:
-Lasting friendships with people who don't move every 2 years.
-Jobs that don't expect to be first in your life over your own family.
-Jobs that offer more than 2 weeks holiday per year.
-A cuppa with an elderly neighbour.
-A drink in a local pub where you know the people in there.
-A corner shop where the person behind the till knows you're name.
The list goes on and on and on.

My parents told me they brought me here to give me a better life yet while I've have a wonderful career, I can't really afford to go out every weekend like my friends in the UK. I go on a couple of camping trips per year with friends not trips abroad with room service.

My home is much bigger than that in which my friends in the UK live in yet my home is always empty and there's always full of company. Both my husband and I have 4 wheel drive vehicles yet the best times I've ever had have been a bunch of us girls piled into a teeny tiny vw & bombing down the road to Southport for a day out.

My priority is not a big house, 4 Wheel Drive, Wide open spaces ect... it's family, friends, company, get-togethers, rain, pubs, banter over the fence, etc.

I have talked my husband into selling up everything here and going to the UK on a 5 year plan (adventure) and while he stresses it's going to be a costly move, he's agreed!! I'm hoping it's forever!

I find Canada a very lonely place. Is it me?????

No

There's only one way to find out!
30 years is a long time. You've given it your best shot if your husband wasn't being supportive I'd think he was a selfish so and so. But the fact that he recognizes that you need to do this is great. And from the impression you give, this is definitely something you need to do, even if it is expensive, whats the point in having a fat bank account if you're miserable and lonely?
Obviously the UK has changed dramatically in 30 years and there's a good chance you'll feel like a stranger in your own land for a while. At least if you acknowledge that we can have rose-tinted glasses about the UK and suffer from 'grass is greener' syndrome, while recognising that your new life over there will have it's own challenges then I think you'll do fine.
You only get one life and it's precious, spending it in a country where you feel lost and isolated is really such a terrible waste of time. And as far as families go, I'm a firm believer in the saying that "if momma ain't happy, ain't nobody happy"

I'm not in Canada, but every word you said resonates with me. Especially this:

Things are just things. And a big house that's empty is just a big empty box.

Good luck and I hope to be following you in a year or so.

It's great to have feedback when you're a little unsure of your future plans. Tonight my hubby and I really talked it out and feel it's now or never to make the move.... Now to see how we get him over there as he's a Canadian Citizen... And will he be able to work??? There is so much to look into.
Is there anyone else in our situation? if so, how did it work out for you?
Lisa

I am not in CANADA but I could write the same thing regarding living in Australia !!!! lonely, big house, feeling lost an ssad most of the time .....

No, it's not you. You'd be as amazed as I was at how many people on this site left the UK as children and have returned or are planning to after many years away. I went to Canada as a child in 1966 and returned two weeks ago. Yes, it's different and I have a lot to learn but finally I feel I can be me again. That's got to count for something. Thanks for sharing your thoughts, good luck with your move and please keep us posted on how you're making out

We were in Canada for over 30 years, and I can't say that I was miserable, but there was enough of a lack that I wanted to try coming back, and my husband was okay with it. Our grown-up sons are still in Canada.

What's the situation with your son? Will he stay or come with you?

There are definitely differences and it's not all better here/worse there, no matter how you look at it, but you're dead right that big houses and vehicles don't mean anything. A big plus here is how easy it is to get to interesting things, and also to visit all over Europe, plus those longer holidays.

Bev

I'm so thankful I'm not the only one who feels homesick and just hearing your comments is giving me the strengh to finally push ahead and make this move. There is so much to do to get back there..... I'm amazed.
Our son is only 4 so of course where we go he goes. Our issue is getting my husband over there.

I started a blog to keep you informed of what we're doing to get home. Please share this journey with us and hopefully in the near future I will be posting a comment that we're finally there and it was the best move ever!

I don't know how this works - I'm just trying this out. Here is the link to the blog. But if you can't find it, it's under:
Lisa, Jay & Aj To The UK.
http://britishexpats.com/blogs/ToTheUK/

Lisa

Bev, I can honestly say that I am miserable. Friends and family in the UK call me a "people magnet" yet here in Canada, I don't even like myself. Everyone is so "Guarded" here and eveything is always "AWESOME". It just doesn't feel real to me.
Our son is only 4 so where we go, he goes.
I started a BLOG on here so I can post post our entire journey and hope that a year from now..... we will be in the UK and very very happy.
BLOG: Lisa, Jay & Aj to the UK
Lisa

Was it the right move for you? How "Different" is it?

Hi lkelly,
I am planning the return after 40+ years away and agree with you on the big house thing. I live in a great place but hardly ever see even my best friends. Everyone seems to be tied up with their own life.

I wanted to say that there have been lots of posts on immigration info as you need for your hubby. Just look around the threads or post one yourself and someone will respond. I think it's called ILR (Indefinite Leave to Remain) but not sure as I don't have to deal with that.

Good luck on your journey. I know you will make it happen.

I was just reading another thread and I think this is what you need:

http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk/en/howtoap...ettlementguide

You can bet your life it's different! ......it's now 2011 and although we are allegedly ruled from Westminster under the auspices of a democratically elected* Parliamentary system many aspects of our lives here in Albion's Fair Isle are now governed from Brussels and Strasbourg, and the majority opinion of the British people on so many issues are regularly over-ruled by unelected members of the European Union Commissioners whom seem to wield more power and influence in the way many of us wish domestic matters to be effected here in the UK...a good case in point at the present time is the issue of allowing most, but not all, "guests" languishing at Her Majesty's Pleasure in our prisons and penal institutions full voting rights in all national elections such as the General Election....we as Britons don't want that to happen, but Brussels insists that we allow it under the dictates of the European Court of Human Rights.

Britain is far more cosmopolitan than it was all those years ago....under the last Labour Government a virtual open door policy permited huge numbers of immigrants, both legal and illegal, flooded into the UK, and once most Eastern European countries, formerly part of the Soviet bloc, were admitted into the EU very large numbers of their people similary flocked to this country on the basis that their EU membership allowed them automatic rights of entry and to live and work here.

Many districts of our metropolitan areas are now taken up by immigrants, and even in rural areas your local bus driver or assistant at the deli counter in Sainsbury's is more likely to originate from Poznan or Tallinn than from Livingston or Leatherhead. There are not even quite so many (idyllic?) Midsomer Malhams around any more in the depths of the gentle and innocuous English countryside (Midsomer is essentially quaintly English isn't it?)....some people may be happy with that, and some not quite so thrilled for whatever reason.....but hey ho!.. change is all part and parcel of modern life in Britain now, isn't it? You takes the rough with the smooth as they say - blossoms are blooming, the birds are nesting, the sky is blue and the grass is green and everything just looks so rosy.

*Even the way we elect our Parliamentary representatives looks set to change, too - if the AV (Alternative Vote) people get their way following the UK wide referendum on 05 May. The easy peasy way of just putting one single cross on a ballot paper and hoping for your man or woman to get the most votes among all the candidates and then a ticket to the House of Commons, we may have to put a "1" alongside our favourite man or woman, then a "2" against our next favourite and then a "3" and a "4" and so on (or you may just say - bugger this for a game of soldiers - and just put a "1" against Mr, Mrs, Miss or Ms Right on the ballot paper and bung it in the box and hope for the best.

The problem will then lie with the counting officials who have to sort out this complicated process of counting, elimination and distribution of votes, sometimes three or four times over until some kind of final winner hopefully reaches the minimum 50% goalpost. What fun that willl be on election night...it rminds me of the ten little ni.......oops! This is PC Britain....I almost forgot! I musn't say that or PC PC Plod will be ringing my doorbell.....yes, things have changed.....big time.

Don't be downhearted - Britain has very many good points, some of them quite unique.

Having spent so long in Toronto and New York where immigrants are an integral part of the rich fabric of the culture, I was pleasantly surprised by how multicultural Britain had become.

If people could look at the positives instead of the (half of them made up) negatives all the time, they'd notice how much more vibrant their country is, how interesting the food has become, how rich the culture is now. Instead, all the seem to do is moan about the downsides. Then again, I guess that's Britain for you!