Agreed! No more toying!

UK OR BUST

Ugh, have had same here. Ignoring the b#&$*%ard

Look at it this way, if you don't do it you will miss out on the party of the century over at Miss Betty's

I haven't met Miss Betty yet. Do you think she'll mind if I gate crash?

Not at all! And if you have not met her yet you need to make your way over to this thread. Grab a cuppa first and prepare for some belly laughs

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=785824

And sometimes, just sometimes, they may not be all that settled and they are threatened by the mere mention of someone saying they want to go home. When I first met my only Brit friend here, she was desperately wanting to go home but didn't want to seem like she'd "failed" to all her friends and family back home. Thankfully, she no longer worries about that.

Believe me, if mum was still alive she would STILL be telling me that it's "just me". I realize now, though, she said this because she didn't want me to leave but her words didn't help me at all.

I agree with your son. Just "do it"

I am so glad she no longer worries about that. I think that comes from getting a little older, too. We become more sure of who we are.

I haven't met many Brits where I am but the ones I have met don't like it. I am sure there are a few that do, though. Oddly, it's always the women who don't like it. The husbands are rather indifferent. They are not over the moon with it but are quite matter-of-fact about it.

I think meeting each other helped convince us both that, in her case, it didn't matter what they thought at home, and in my case, it didn't matter if I didn't have anyone back there to welcome me home. We help each other out

Thanks for that reading recommendation! I couldn't put it down!

Thanks everyone for all the encouragement. You make me feel like I'm not quite as mad.

So, Friday morning I walked into my pilates class and one of the women who I've become quite friendly with in the last couple of months (only been doing the same class with the same people for about 2 years) asked how my house sale was going etc. I gave her a brief run down of The Plan and she said, "Why don't you go now and leave the sale of your house to the realtor?" So now I have an addition to The Plan:

F. Go directly to England, do not dally.

This is by far and away my favourite (why didn't I think of it?) but - and of course there has to be a but...... if I leave my job while I still have a mortgage to pay it will eat into the money I am saving for the other side of the pond.

I hate having to be practical and sensible. I really want to say 'to hell with all of it' and go but I also don't want to go home broke. I'll have the money from the house sale but I don't want to touch that for living expenses.

Patience really is such a bitch. She is not invited to any of my parties. No jelly and ice cream for her.

Another thing I have to consider is my dog. She is nearly 13 and, until last year, was always in excellent health. But now she has advancing kidney disease I thought we were going to lose her in December but the vet pumped her full of fluids for 2 days to flush out her kidneys and hydrate her and she's been like a new dog. He said it was likely to be months rather than years before she became ill again and she's starting to turn her nose up at her food again which is really not a good sign. I love my dog and I don't ever want her to die and neither do I don't want to sit here waiting for her to die so I can make my move.

And another thing..... not wanting to be a complete and utter downer but this has become such a big part of my life and consideration about anything I do... some of you may know this and some not.... my eldest son's brother in law was killed in the Aurora theater shooting and it is just one thing after another for the family. Today we learned, not really to our surprise as the family has regular contact with the DA, that the DA is seeking the death penalty. My daughter in law sent me the timeline for all the motion deadlines, culminating in the trial starting on 3 Feb 2014 to last 4 months. It won't start then, that's almost a given. How can I leave them? I am a support for them, they know they can count on me. I know there are others who support them as well but after today I just don't know how I can walk away.

I skyped with my family this morning while they were having tea round at my nephew's new flat and I wanted to be there with them so badly. My niece arrived back after 10 years in France and Montreal and my emotions have been off the chart crazy wishing I could go now too.

I read MissBetty's Troppo thread and I have that same feeling of loneliness that so many others expressed. I live on my own, I am a sales rep so travel a lot which means I am in my car on my own, then I go to a hotel room on my own and I come home to being on my own again. I get on well with most of my customers but the amount of time I spend with them is a fraction of the time I spend in the car. Half the time I am driving across Wyoming or Nebraska or Kansas thinking "How the *&$k did I get here?!" Colorado is beautiful and I have seen some amazing things on my travels but I would rather be driving through Scotland or the Midlands or across the Downs.

And now my dog has just thrown up on the carpet. That is so not a good sign. And I'm a blubbering mess.

Oy....pull yerself together matey...Essex girls don't blub.. just cuss a bit, drink a beer and just remember that eventually you will get back to where you need to be!


Hugs honey ..xx

Ok I should be a workin but I just read through your thread so thought I'd chip in!

Well I am so in the same boat as you, I live and work in the tropics which is incredibly beautiful and everyone thinks I am mad to go home - hmmmm!!!

I work at a single officer station for 178 hours straight its well paid but knackering, due to the money every man and his dog wants my job but, like you, I have no one here and I'm very lonely! I go home to an empty house on my days off and most of my friends just fit me in when ever they have nothing better to do and their partners are away or working. The Aussies are not that friendly IMHO, I have made some friends who are great but my best friend here is a male South African - he's my evil twin and we get up to all sorts of mischief lol! Without him I'd be lost - seriously!

I read back through some of my old threads on here and I must have changed my mind a million times re storage/shipping etc, at one point I was selling my flat in the UK and putting my stuff into storage here. The flat sale fell through, I cried and I then I just had a "ta da!" moment and rang my Mum at 3 in the morning saying "take it off the market, I want to move back in!!!" I shipped all my stuff back to the UK in Dec as my lease here ran out and moved into work accomodation, my stuff arrived last Friday in Blighty!

I first decided to leave about 18 months ago. I was supposed to return in Dec 2012 then March this year and now I finally have my flight booked for May 27th - at last!!! It took me ages to get here, planning, saving, worrying, crying and stressing but I've had a lot of laughs along the way too! You will get there mate, I promise you. I truly believe that fate always finds a way of taking a hand in things and you end up where you are meant to be. I had a bad bad break up 2 years ago and for ages I thought I was just running away. I stuck it out, got my citizenship and some money behind me and now, 2 years down the line, I see things with a lots more clarity and now I know for certain I am leaving for ME - no one else.

Hang on in there and if you ever feel lonely come on here for a chat, people on here are brilliant, so supportive and helpful and we can all relate to what everyone else is going through as we have a common goal - to go home. Hope your dog is going be ok and wishing you lots of luck!