wilki

Id like to hear from people that are planing on moving back or are already back, are you looking forward to moving back, or are glad to be back. the people on this forum must make up for such a small % of the british here. its hard to get a true picture.

Sam Greenfield

Hi Wilki
There is a 'Back to the UK' thread on the forum - if you click on the Discussion Forum button on the top and scroll down - its about half way downish on there - hope that helps xxxxx

spain

lived in Spain for 6 years, moved back to UK in Dec last year and am happy and settled back here although its much harder for our son he is getting there

happybunny

hi we moved back end of march, not sure how long 4. dont regret moving 2 spain was great while we were there.

paintermujer

Do you think youd return to Spain or try somewhere else?

spain

wont return to Spain to live although we still have our house there .... think because we were there 6 years and our son grew up there a part of us will always be there, in fact we are going back to our village in just over a week and really looking forward to it

happybunny

not sure whether we will go back there to live. who knows

Hillybilly

One of the "risks" of being an expat is that the friendships you make are transient in nature.

When you move to Spain it's often tempting (or expected?) to socialise with other expats with whom, under "normal" circumstances you probably wouldn't wish to spend more than 30 seconds lol. So, when you do meet "nice", like-minded people with whom you hit it off (and who also happen to be expats) it's a bonus and those friendships are treasured and important. So now that there is a steady trickle of expats leaving Spain and returning to the UK, the chances are your friends might be amongst them

Some lovely friends of mine who I've known for over 5 years have decided to return to the UK...reasons purely financial. I went to their farewell party last night and it was very sad. They have done their utmost to integrate (there were more Spanish people at the party than expats!) and get work but it just hasn't happened.

Fortunately they still have a house in the UK, don't need to sell up here and still can just about afford to make the reverse move. On the negative side, they are now both "the wrong side" of 50 so are anticipating problems finding work back in the UK.

They did the "right thing" when originally moving to Spain with an 8yr old and an 11yr old by putting them into Spanish school, not having Sky TV etc but of course now have 2 kids, one of 13 and one just turned 16 who have lived a life of relative freedom in Spain and don't want to return to the UK, esp the 16yr old girl who has her first boyfriend and had her next 2 yrs planned, wanting to go to Malaga Uni to study law. Fortunately they've been able to find a UK college where she can study for the Baccalaureate so, if she still wanted in 2 years time to return to Spain to go to uni, she could.

So, two unhappy adults, 2 kids who are accusing their parents of ruining their lives and (insignificant in comparison I know!) I'm losing some good friends. Bummer!

paintermujer

A very sad story. My heart goes out to them.

lynnxa

sadly more & more each day, too

whitelinen

but how many of those going back will be in the same position as Hillys friends? who can boast of having their marriage intact, their health, 2 lovely and probably bi-lingual children and their own home to go back to in the UK.

IMHO It is not a sad story, far from it.

Its sad for Hilly because as she says, finding like minded people is extremely difficult living abroad.

bil

It's a very messy choice, and IMO sad, because I doubt that anyone in the family is really going to end up doing what they really want to.

One must just hope that it comes good in the end for them.

We are lucky. Our kids are old enough to make their own way in the UK and neither of us have aged parents living, so we don't have to worry about that side of the equation either.

They are damn lucky, I agree to have a property in both camps, - I just hope they are able to find the work they need in the UK.

lynnxa

this is true - at least they have somewhere to go back to & their marriage is intact


come to think of it I know many couples who came out here who are now divorced with one here & one there.........

but it is still sad that life hasn't panned out the way they wanted it to - especially for the kids

wilki

a few years back, we had a lovely house, in a lovely market town, my wife left me having a fling with a guy from college,the house was sold, she came back, said she didnt like the house or the town, so we moved to new zealnd, I retrained doing something I enjoyed, we had the money for her to do anything, but she just became house bound, didnt make any friends, we left NZ 2 1/2 years later. we came back with no jobs no house and very little money, i am now divorsed, The whole thing left a very very bitter taste in my mouth. all those years of hard graft, Now I havent got a pot to piss in.

paintermujer

Keep the faith.