Anyone on here emigrate and then move back? What was your experience? Regret it or best move for you?

Been in Canada 8 years and having loose thoughts of returning for various reasons

thanks in advance

Nope, still in Spain after 20+ years and no plans to return.

Yes NZ for 14.5 years. No regrets either way, never imagined moving back but now we have we love it. We may go again sometime but came back with an open mind and a view it was always going to be different so embrace the change. Happy to talk more by email.

Emigrated twice to Switzerland and came back twice …

Yup,13 years but never intended it to be permanent. Happy to have returned.

My sister emigrated to Canada, came back, then went back again. Lives in Calgary now

Came back from Switzerland after 5 years – big mistake. Only left as the job role was repatriated back to the USA, and I wasn’t going to move there.

We started in Calgary, in BC now, it hasn’t been a bad experience but would like to live where our families live.
Lots of people yoyo I think maybe thats what makes a lot emigrate in the first place…..restlessness

NZ for about a year, it never worked out work wise. I work internationally but NZ was too far from the assignments I was getting at the time. It was OK there but I’m not missing it really.

2 years in Cuba. Sort of miss it.

i went on a working holiday style trip with the plan to see how it would progress. after three years it didn’t quite go anywhere, so im back over a year, and haven’t settled and am looking at where or what to do next.

Home is always home regardless of where you go …

If you are not happy then come back otherwise you will only stress up yourself.

Mine was more going overseas for an 18month job, then forgetting to go back. I still don’t see myself as having emigrated even after 18 years.

Thought about going back after the end of the last contract, but here is too good, even if home is still back home.

Maybe I’ll go back after this contract, maybe I won’t. Maybe I’ll have little choice, thanks to the majority vote. I’ll work that out in 2019.

Leaving UK temporarily in 1999 was the best move I made though.

I lived in Australia for a few years but my job moved back to the UK. To be hones, given my parents’ health, the timing was perfect. I’ll stay here until they’re gone and then I’ll go again. Brexit Britain sucks.

“Brexit Britain Sucks”

Because everyone is moaning or because of what you think the fallout might intail?

Also in Canada and hopefully not leaving soon but 100% understand about the families thing especially as they are now aging and grandparents. Have had other colleagues who have moved back and expect a bit of culture shock if you return. Things change and so even moving back there will be differences to when you left. It probably won’t be as tough as leaving but it might not be plain sailing…

Yes. And no.

Came to Oz for a couple of years. Went back to UK for a year. Decided it didn’t feel like “home” any more and we felt happier in Oz, so we came back and now permy residents. There are aspects I miss but not enough to move back but certainly wouldn’t discount it, or consider another country as an option when the kids are old enough to decide where they want to be.

It all depends on what you think you would be returning to. Some things will be the same but much will be different and it definitely won’t be the place you have in your head.

Much like when you went to Canada you will need to approach the return in the same way in order to integrate back into the community.

Bbc expat returning woes

I left Australia when I thought I should head home and start a proper life then left to work outside of the UK (currently in USA) but I always hope that I will go back at some point or at least back to Europe to be a bit closer. Mind you I would still like to work in a number of other places first..

I would treat the return as a fresh start tbh, if it wasn’t for family I would stay where I am because it’s the easier option

One thing I will say for sure leaving gave me a new perspective and most the stuff I thought I could moan about in the uk is worse here

Also I miss the little stuff like dropping the kids at grandmas etc

We will visit in a couple of weeks which will help for clarity

Really appreciate the input by the way so thanks

10 years in Basque country.
Good and bad . The main bad is how pay and conditions in UK have declined in that time.

We went off to Oman for 3 years, but never really thought of it as a proper emigration move. From there we headed for NZ and stayed for 7. It was planned as permanent, but never dismissed coming home as a possibility.

Started well, but slowly we began to realise it was a very small place, a long way for anywhere, with little prospects for the kids future. Its a beautiful place, but you can’t eat the view. We also found that the many of the people we seemed to know were ridiculously aspirational. The opening line from an introduction at a social setting was nearly always ‘So where are you then?’ as in are you living on a street posher than mine? Hated that to hell. Though it was nice living on one of the poshest streets around, but at the end next to the council houses, not the waterfront. 😆

Been in NZ for almost nine years. Had two kids here, recently became citizens. We came here with a view to giving it a minimum of six months, ideally two years. Within a month we knew we weren’t going back. My experience appears to be the polar opposite of seadog101’s – most people are chilled out, life seems to take place mostly outdoors (we were shocked when we went back to the UK how much time everyone spends indoors by comparison). No-one cares where anyone else lives (or if they do, they don’t care where I live, never been asked in the context seadog describes…)

That said, there was talk of going back a few months ago, but that was due to a perfect storm of events involving my wife – six months after child No2 was born, she was pretty much housebound and struggled to get out socially (no friends with similar aged sprog this time round), missed work (both the career and the socialising that comes with it), it was winter, her dad had a health scare which brought home how far away we are. And having rushed back to the UK to see him, she saw how much time our nephews and nieces get to spend with their cousins and grandparents.

We had lots of deep talks, but I suspected that the above combination of events was making her very homesick, and dragged it out a bit. Eventually spring rolled round, her dad’s health improved, she started back at work and could speak to adults other than me. She’s now set on staying, but it did make us realise that we have sacrificed a lot in terms of family access. However, everyone we talked to back in the UK, including both families, who have been out here and seen the lifestyle told us we were nuts to even consider going back. I agree.

We moved to northern Italy 16 years ago,did two years but the wife wanted to go back home(Lancashire)Did two years there but both decided we wanted to go back.Been here for 12 years now and have no intentions of moving back to the uk.

@WillH, I can agree with you on a lot of your points, the outdoor life, general lifestyle etc.

It seems that we also had a similar experience, but we were swayed to returning home. Things have turned out great for us, and have not regretted coming home at all… well maybe we do miss sitting in the shade of a pohutakwatree at an empty beach on christmas day.

I moved back from Northern Italy, Verona area. In fairness it’s only a couple of hours on the plane so I never felt disconnected from the UK, and I had a lot of good Italian friends (who I miss the most, along with the beauty of the region). But anywhere outside Europe would make me homesick I think. I plan to get some more freelance gigs and move to Split, Croatia for my next adventure.
But I’m single with no kids/commitments, as others have said, family considerations are massive on this issue.

FWIW I’m sure I would be a lot less happy to have returned to the UK if I had to work full time!

My parents/family went to Australia and came back (family reasons), that was in the 60’s so very different. No skype, even normal phone calls where so expensive it was letters only. Flights very expensive. My father has always regretted coming back and subsequently made applications to go back and to go to Canada. As he grew up in India he has never felt a really strong childhood type bond to the UK.

I have lived worked abroad in NY and Singapore and probably one career regret that I did not do that more. Have numerous friends who have gone and stayed in various countries.

My longterm mindset is to keep a place in UK not least as my children are there but plan to spend 6-9 months a year elsewhere

We went to Western Australia for 4 years, we never planned it to be permanent so never made much of an effort to socialise and came back when we had kids. We still miss it and wish we had done things differently. I took a massive pay cut and would go back out like a shot if I could.

What struck me in Australia was the fact the even the biggest dope head would be up for a bit of cricket or a surf.
In the uk it was a struggle to get my housemates to walk 10 minutes down the road to the pub.
That is pretty much why I started biking. A way to blow off some steam that didn’t involve trying to get 2 dope heads out the door.

12yrs in the Canaries.
Met the ex, had No.1, etc.
Came back because despite earning an obscene amount in relation to the average, as an “extranjero” you never get anywhere without a large amount behind you.
Even with saving a large percentage its very difficult to get on the property ladder.
Restricted mortgages, very large deposits, impuestos of 10% on top, etc mean you’re saving for a long time.
We were also very disillusioned with the place, the people (ex-pats not the chicharreros) making it like Blackpool with sun, cheapskate and ignorant tourists and more.
The reality is you aren’t at the beach every weekend, you don’t go out all the time, the pool is a cost not a perk, you get sick of the sun, etc.
Even shopping is a nightmare being surrounded by mouthbreathers…..

Within 12mths of being here we’d started the business, bought a house, No.2 was born and money was in the bank.

However divorce and changes in health, life have me getting out of this country as often as I can now.
Its going down the pan here.
Rule changes make running the business harder by the week, costs spiralling, HMRC are worse than ever with hoops they are throwing everywhere.
I’ve advocated being a proper limited company for years however now it is blindingly obvious why so many work as far away from the “legal” as possible.
Being a “non-dom” is suddenly an attractive proposition and to hell with it.

Read an interesting comment last night that as humans when we face problems our nature is to change something or runaway and as an expat you always have a get out or place to run to

I have just come back from Vancouver to the UK – number of reasons but mainly as I snapped my knee and leg and thought the NHS would do a better job in sorting me out and getting me back on my feet. Man was I wrong and this is was a bad decision. Getting decent work over there to pay for everything was also a struggle. I found my brain always comparing the UK to Canada and in the end thought my quality of life would be better back in the UK. As the months went by I began to think I made a big mistake. I miss the outdoor lifestyle so much I’m thinking of going back out after Ive saved some money. Honestly I felt more positive out there.

Been in Canada 8 years and having loose thoughts of returning for various reasons

I lived in Vancouver for 2 years, could easily have stayed but my heart just wasn’t in it. Partly because our lifestyle somewhat depended on me maintaining the salary I was on which meant working in an industry that seemed somewhat more ‘cowboy’ in Canada than in Britain.

Also all the local trails, mountains and outdoorsy stuff was brilliant, but getting further afield just seemed so much more hassle, I missed the Scottish mini-adventures on the train or bus!

Sorry to hear Dynastar’s experiences, I didn’t like the GP service in Vancouver much (it was just a little bit too obvious how much they were coining it in) but you could get appointments quickly, and when I walked into the North Van A&E with what later turned out to be a prolapsed disc they had me seen to within a couple of hours and offered me a choice of CAT Scan or MRI. I shudder to think how long it would have taken to get either of those in the UK, let alone be offered a choice!

Anyway, long story short, loved Vancouver, do miss some aspects, but also very happy to have returned to Edinburgh 8)

Just in NZ in the process of looking for jobs in the UK. All the key have been covered. I personally can’t wait to go back to see family and friends. What people don’t always realise is that whilst you post great photos on Facebook or whatever and assume life is great, it can be quite hard starting life afresh.

I will never regret living here but feel at least for now it’s time to return. I think if we had gone to Canada which was the original plan we would have stayed. Flights home are much cheaper when it’s half the distance.

@ali69er – good luck with the move back: just be prepared for a bit of a roller coaster. I found the huge excitement to see friends and family soon dwindle after a few months. Its tough to adjust and is something I never even contemplated.

Folks moved to Bahrain for money with a plan to stay 5 years, live like monks and come back with a pile of cash to retire early on, that was 15 years ago – funny thing is that I don’t think they really like it – Mum spends more time here than there, Dad works 6 days a week and rarely does anything else, they made the classic mistake though of letting their lifestyle catch up with thier income – I know they’ve still got a decent pile of money saved up and invested but they spend a bit too – it’s greed really.

Dad had a heart valve replacement and a pace maker fitted (here) a month ago, I think that might make them reconsider he even said “it’s only money” once although he was on morphine at the time.

My Sis graduates form Oxford in summer, Dads job pays all the fees etc, she mentioned doing a masters but she might have to “miss out” she might feel hard done by – but she’s had a very long, expensive education already – she’ll do okay.

Mrs SR and I moved to the West Indies from Canada back in the 1990s. It was supposed to be for a minimum of two years, with the prospect of extending to permanent.

We lasted one year.

It was too much of a culture shock, we were too lonely, and as beautiful as it was, it was difficult to adjust to having no seasons.

We then returned to Canada where we stayed for five years before moving to the UK.

Migration is both hard and exciting at the same time, but you must know what you want out of it and be prepared for the fact that it is never as easy to live in another country – even if they share similar values to yours – as you might think.

We did it – 6 years in the states, daughter was just under 2 when we first went out. We planned to stay, but our marriage wasn’t doing well at the time, so we came home to the family safety net.

If you do come back, be prepared for some reverse culture shock. It took us over a year to get re-acclimatised to life in Britain. At one point we were even looking at moving back to the States again. Don’t underestimate it. My wife found the ‘Art of Coming Home’ helpful.

It’s been nearly 13 years since we moved back now. We’re happier now than we’ve ever been (although a 2 year separation probably helped us both). And on the positive side, we’ve still got great friends in the States and between occasional work trips and holidays we do see them a fair bit.

I think the only real regret I have now is not doing enough while we were there. Too wrapped up in work, and we didn’t make the most of it. That’s the one thing I would change if I could go back and do it again.

I know my daughter would rather have grown up a Californian girl though!

If you move to another country you have a better chance of settling down if you have all the followings:

(no particular order)

1. Your partner comes from there and s/he does not want to be here.
2. You have moved there when young.
3. No more family ties or friends etc in the UK.
4. Want a clean break from past.
5. Your children are born and grew up there.
6. Career … I am not so sure because you need your heart there.

If you do not fulfill the above then you are temporary there as a long term “visitor” because your heart is not there fully. You have not gone “native”.

I have seen many people in my home town migrated to other countries (for western lifestyle) only for them to return at old age because they cannot cope with the isolation. They did not study or grow up there so find the lifestyle difficult to cope. Added to that is failure to communicate properly … language is one of them …

We emigrated to Canada in 2002 and the first year was great, every season something new and plenty to discover. The second year was not so good as we’d ‘seen it all before’ to a degree. During this time we came to see the limitations of what we had locally, no network of public footpaths or ancient rights of way, lots of activities very seasonal. During the summer time advance pre-booking of things we fancied doing meant that we were very restricted in the spontaneous way we’d behaved before.
I was lucky in that I had kept my seniority from my job in the UK but my wife was bottom of the (very big) pile and only had 2 weeks vacation a year. We didn’t have the free time to explore the best of what I’m sure Canada has to offer the tourist. And it was very expensive to travel internally.
We really came to realise what diversity we have in this small island and how close we are in the UK to some very different cultures that are relatively cheap to experience. Especially so when seen from the point of view of us coming back to the UK on vacation.
Eventually the monotony became a bit tedious and we made the big decision to expend lots of money to ship our life back here.
Do I regret emigrating to Canada? Not one bit. Do I regret coming back here? Possibly sometimes but generally no – the grass isn’t really greener, just different.
I can without a doubt say that, if we had children, we would not have returned. We perceive Canada to be a much better place to raise children but, there again, we don’t have any so what do we know!