Originally Posted by charleygirl

Thankfully for me I can drive both but have not driven manual for years but my brother and his wife both have automatic........ thank god.

Originally Posted by DDL

All this talk about manual/automatic cars has me worried!

I've been driving an automatic here in America since I was 15 years old - for 41 years now! I've never, EVER driven a manual and I certainly don't want to have to learn how to drive one once I'm in the UK because it will be hard enough for me to learn how to drive on the left!

Tony keeps reminding me that over there, manuals are not only much less expensive but that there are more of them, but I really really really hope we'll be able to afford an automatic and not a manual !

Originally Posted by trottytrue

Rodney.. all I can say is your friend needs to grow up. The list of people returning home is getting quite long and I find it difficult to keep track of everyone returning home. Just think 4 months and you will be back home I do hope you are well into your clean out phase and got most of that stuff out of your garage sorted out

The town just relvalued our homes, needless to say ours went down by over $100,000 so we shall have to rethink the selling price. Again At least ours is still above the price we paid for it but I do wish house prices in the UK would fall but they seem to be on the up.

For those just starting the process of going home maybe just thinking about it. Dont whatever you do spend money of items you will not be taking back with you even if you are not thinking of returning for a few years its still money down the drain. If you own a house only do upkeep jobs dont put money into big projects as you wont get it back.
If you have children you had better think about the age groups they are in and ask them what they want, if they are little you will have no problems but when they get to teenagers it will not be easy so better get out before they reach that age. I wish with all my heart that I had really made it very plain that I wanted to go home and not just keeping it to myself. Children up to the age of 11 can be moved but once you get over that age it gets tricky. Sitting on that fence did nothing for me just made things worse.
I still think that leaving grown children and Grandchildren behind is fine. My Grandchildren are so absorbed in their lives that coming to visit us is just a pleasant couple of hours and then back to normal. I am not about to sit and just wait for those couple of hours a month. Life today is not centered around the larger family group. I know from what my daughter in law says it who can babysit and who is there in an emergency. Her Mother and Dad just bought a home in Florida so they can get away from it all so I think that tells you alot.

Originally Posted by charleygirl

Yes they are a bit more expensive and I do know it was a little difficult to find one they could afford but my SIL ended up with a bright red Jeep!!!!!!

ED truck driver wow........

Originally Posted by DDL

All this talk about manual/automatic cars has me worried!

I've been driving an automatic here in America since I was 15 years old - for 41 years now! I've never, EVER driven a manual and I certainly don't want to have to learn how to drive one once I'm in the UK because it will be hard enough for me to learn how to drive on the left!

Tony keeps reminding me that over there, manuals are not only much less expensive but that there are more of them, but I really really really hope we'll be able to afford an automatic and not a manual !

Originally Posted by trottytrue

Seems so many are making the move in the next few months.

Katey70.. Goodluck on your move please keep in touch and let us know how things work our for you.

DDL.. I wish you all the best, just remember once your gone family tend to make other arrangements and your spot will be filled. I know its a cruel thing to say but it is the truth. You are doing whats best for you and thats good you only have one life. By the way I hope I am as organized as you are when the time comes for my move.

Charleygirl..Have you received your re-evaluation yet?

Wonder how Easterndawn and Aces1 are doing suppose they are both very busy. Just sending good thoughts your way if you look in and dont have time to post.

Rodney do you have an idea of those who moved back within the past year. I wish we could keep their names somewhere it would be handy and maybe have a map of the UK with pins where people went to live. So far we have people in Ireland, Scotland, Malta and I think someone is down in Dorset.

Originally Posted by charleygirl

Thankfully for me I can drive both but have not driven manual for years but my brother and his wife both have automatic........ thank god.

Originally Posted by DDL

All this talk about manual/automatic cars has me worried!

I've been driving an automatic here in America since I was 15 years old - for 41 years now! I've never, EVER driven a manual and I certainly don't want to have to learn how to drive one once I'm in the UK because it will be hard enough for me to learn how to drive on the left!

Tony keeps reminding me that over there, manuals are not only much less expensive but that there are more of them, but I really really really hope we'll be able to afford an automatic and not a manual !

Originally Posted by trottytrue

Denise I had a big clear out over the past week and when my sons came I had a box full of some of their stuff, things my Mother had sent them over the years and books and stuffed animals, they turned their noses up at the lot and the only interest was in items they thought they could sell on ebay. So keeping all the sentimental stuff is a waste of time and space. On saying that I do have all the cards sent to me when I had my children and birthday cards sent to them. I have decided to decoupage some boxes with the cards and I am in the middle of making myself scrapbooks of all the the school stuff and sentimental items I just cannot throw away.
I took a hardbacked binder and put all the letter I have recieved over the 30years I have been away. They are so interesting to read. Many of those writing the letter have died so its a way of being able to keep a piece of them with me.

Originally Posted by DDL

Yes, we're very excited but the likes of taking a ferry to the Isle of Wight sounds heavenly to me for I'd love to go there someday. You never know Rodney, once Tony and I get settled in to the UK we might just have to get in touch if we're ever down that way. You are going to be amazed at how fast the next 4 months are going to be for you! You must be getting a bit excited about it yourself.

I think it will definitely help that I've lived in England before even though it was only for 18 months but we've also now been together for 7 years so I think that will help as well. During those initial 18 months when I first met Tony and lived with him in London, I was just coming off a divorce after a 25-year marriage, so it was a bit of a rocky road for us some of that time. Now that we both are settled in, it should be much better this time around.

I think we've taken care of everything at this point.

• We've received and scanned in all of our medical records and important documents (hand-carrying paper copies of only the most important of the important) onto our laptops and also onto a portable hard-drive that we're carrying with us
• Utility companies have been given their cut-off dates
• Copies of important papers have been given to a friend and also a set to my daughter
• We're leaving a signed General Power of Attorney behind with my best friend in case, for whatever reason, it would need to be recorded/activated. (She and I are both Legal Secretaries - it's nice to be able to draw up our own legal papers when we need them!)
• Prescription medicines have been topped-up and will be hand-carried with us on the plane
• Address changes have been made on magazine subscriptions (I'm having them sent to my girlfriend so she can enjoy the remainder of my subscriptions)

And the most important thing ....

• Prescription for Transderm (seasickness patch ) filled and ready and waiting for my husband!!!

Everything's been sold (cars, furniture, etc.) - except the house.

We gave it our best shot, but nothing's happened and we are not going to put our lives on hold just for a mortgage company in Jacksonville, Florida so we signed a Listing Withdrawal today with our realtor and we're walking away from it. As Judge Judy would say, "Put a period behind it and move on!!" It's not a decision that we came by lightly; it just is what it is.

My son and his wife will be here this week-end so I'm taking them, my daughter and her husband and their kids all out for a good-bye meal. There will be 10 of us. I'm looking forward to all of us being together; it's the "good-bye" part that's going to be tough. But I knew this day would come.

We also decided that we didn't want any drama on the day that we leave so we've rented a car so that we can drive ourselves to the airport.

Phew!!!

Originally Posted by dgjamison

Hi Trottytrue, how right you are, I have loved getting back to see my kids and grandkids, and they have been just fantastic, and also their husbands for putting up with us, but I do feel in the way, although they say not I know they need their space. Things are taking longer than I thought and I just would love my own place, to be honest, for us it would be cheaper to rent in somewhere like spain, as we can get a furnished apartment for under €500 including everything, and of course petrol, food ect: is a lot cheaper than here in N. Ireland, to replenish our very low bank account. The houses here in N. ireland are at an all time low, so selling is not an option, and the UK, I honestly don't know I know London and places on the south coast are still expensive, but the banks are still not lending, so I can't see the properties rising anywhere any time soon. I am so sorry about your house, it is soul destroying, thank goodness you are still ahead of what you paid for it, unfortunately that is not the case with one of mine, and they are still falling, thank god they are rented out, and giving us an income, Kids do lead their own lives, and as you say they love to see you for a while and its back to their own lives (suppose we were the same) so I have told my husband we need to get involved with a community now, should it be Ireland or Spain, i want to meet people of my own age, with similar interests, be able to invite them to have dinner, play cards, bbq, walks, restaurants just socialise, and of course see our families when they can visit. I feel it is important for them to see us independent, and not depending on them too much, I feel mine would be really happy if they saw us have a good social life. Good luck with the house will keep my fingers crossed for you
Denise

Originally Posted by Easterndawn

Welcome back Relocateme, thanks for the info re pensions in Canada. Still haven't changed my licence yet will have to do that next month. There is nothing on my licence that says that I can drive automatic and standard, so are they going to give me a hard time about this?