Did you emigrate? Did you return? If so, why?

My siblings emigrated. One of them returned but then went back again!
The other remained.
They both have families there and a better life than they would have here.
They are in Australia...

We emigrated over 50 years ago. We left because at the time the political situation was dire. Electricity only 3 days a week, cold weather, no decent food available and ,well, we were just sick of it in many ways. That was under Ted Heath. It is hard at first because you know no one and things are different but we never regretted our big move,ever. The food was gloriously cheap here then and houses were reasonably priced. We loved the laid back, friendly attitude and just sort of ‘clicked’ with the people and places.

We emigrated to Canada from Northern Ireland 40 years ago. We did it escape the troubles and my husband was offered a better job than he could have in Belfast. We have returned occasionally for holidays and to visit family but I am happy with our life here and would not want to go back.

What do you miss? For me it would be our countryside, pubs, the BBC and even the weather.

I emigrated in 1949 to Australia as part of the £10 Pom scheme. I was too young to remember the experience but my family returned after two years for a variety of reasons including snakes, the climate not suiting me and the widespread mysogeny my mother said she experienced from the men she encountered.

I miss the historical buildings and sometimes the pubs as they were in the 1960s. That’s all.

I emigrated here! My grandparents on my dad's side were actually from Canada and England (Wiltshire) and being born in Southern California in 1952, I always felt some kind of mysterious 'kinship' with being English. When the Beatles and other English music groups came out in the 60's I was hooked. I used to sit with an encyclopaedia and work out pounds, shillings, and pence, and tried to pick up the different spellings and words. It took a very long time, but in my 30's (1987) I finally had my first visit here, staying with the cousins in Wiltshire. I loved everything, and finally after getting a divorce in the 90's I achieved my dream and moved here! Fortunately, being a nurse made it easy to get a job and long term visa. I got citizenship as soon as possible. As to missing the States, that never happened. I felt that so many things were wrong with the US government and culture at the time (90's) and had no idea how horrible they would become in the current era. Of course I missed family, but working here, I had between 25 - 40 holidays per year, and was easily able to fly to visit them once or twice per year. When I was a young mother, I lived in Maryland (East Coast) and my mum lived in California (West Coast). Flights were very expensive and with only 10 annual leave days per year, I sometimes went 2 years without visiting! In addition, being a paediatric nurse, I was appalled at the changes in medical pricing in the US between when I was a student nurse (70's) and the absurd charges that were happening 20 years later. Plus, I knew many young mums who had no health insurance and could not afford to take their children to see a doctor when they were ill, or themselves!
Sorry to be so long-winded, but I am grateful every single day to live in this country where medical care is excellent and free!! I also love the public transport systems (ok, not busses so much) but I have not had a car since I retired and get everywhere on foot or by taking the train. (In the US, people drive everywhere, and I mean even to shops 5 minutes away.)
I have also made many wonderful friends who are not as nosy or judgemental, and love the pub culture where I can pop in on an afternoon in town, and chat with the 'regulars' who are my friends, and not worry if I don't want an alcoholic beverage. And even better, don't judge me if I DO want a pint of lager. I am so happy that I emigrated to the UK, and if not for grandchildren, would never step foot back across the pond again.

My husband was a committed NHS dentist but the service was continuously being undermined. The Wilson Government was really bad at ignoring the Review Body's findings on dentist's pay.

Lots of Aussie dentists came here to 'bash the Nash(ional HS) and then leave without paying taxes.

The Australian Government promised us a job in an area of our choosing and a rented house straight away.

We arrived and were unceremoniously dumped in a concrete 'hostelle' and left to our own devices.

We had no contact from anyone so DH found a job and we bought a house.

DH was disappointed by the number of patients who came in asking for a full clearance and dentures so they wouldn't have to worry about costly treatments in the future. Something my grandparents had done 70 years previously.

Then, at Christmas, the children asked if we were going to see their grandparents and aunts, uncles and cousins.

We didn't want our children to have divided loyalties so we cut our losses and left.

We didn't think Australia was very sophisticated way back then but, ironically, DGS2 who is a talented chef, is in Sydney and has a job in a very well regarded restaurant at the Opera House.

I remember the Aussie dentists arriving here, kittylester, three set up in our town and my DB and SIL changed to their practice. Perhaps that's what gave them the idea that Australia would be a wonderful place to live, it certainly looked enticing from the brochures they received.

I emigrated to marry my Spanish Husband 32 1/2 years ago.

We have twin daughters, both married with children,
One emigrated to Zürich, Switzerland and the other emigrated to Genéve, Suisse.

I would not return to live in France. We make a trip to France yearly- That is all.

Frenchgalinspain

I emigrated to marry my Spanish Husband 32 1/2 years ago.

We have twin daughters, both married with children,
One emigrated to Zürich, Switzerland and the other emigrated to Genéve, Suisse.

I would not return to live in France. We make a trip to France yearly- That is all.

I love the Madrid Capital and love Spain ..

I miss Marks and Spencers!

In the mid 70’s DH had a sales job that took him to a number of different countries, one of which was Canada. Often, on his return he would say what a wonderful place it would be to live…..but I would turn a ‘deaf ear ‘ because we had a nice quality of life in England ….a very nice house, good schools, really nice circle of friends and parents living fairly close by. Over a period of two or three years he kept coming back with this same message, and I eventually agreed to try it out - but only if he could get a job offer that would give us the same quality of life we were enjoying at that time. And thats exactly what he did and we left for Ontario.

The early months certainly weren’t easy….trying to acclimatize to the lifestyle and the culture, but we made friends with our neighbours who seemed to adopt us as family and our kids settled easily and gradually so did I. fast forward 50+ plus years and without question it was the right move at the right time in our lives. We have moved around this big country over the years but Canada has provided us, our grown children and our grand children with many wonderful opportunities. Nowadays I travelled back at least once or twice a year to see old friends and remaining relatives- and they are very enjoyable holidays - but I love my country of Canada.

We have emigrated twice officially [and legally] but have moved countries and Continents six times. Now back in England and not liking what we see, and the attitude here. Would gladly return to Europe but Brexit prevents that.
Wish we had stayed put and not returned here. {sigh, sigh}

I emigrated to The Netherlands in 1994 from Scotland, with my husband and 4 children. It wasn't always easy and we did divorce 3 years later, but I have no regrets. The only thing I miss is my family.

Absolutely fascinating reading all your posts.
We haven’t ever emigrated but came close a few times, as at age 20 in 1974 and newly married my OH was sent to work in South Africa, we stayed a year and a half, on contract. We had the most wonderful time, living on the Dolphin Coast in Kwa Zulu Natal, overlooking the Indian Ocean. Quite a few Engineers and their wives did stay on for good.
Then a few years later once again due to husbands job we were sent to Houston, Texas. After 3 years contract and the offer of a permanent position, we decided to sell up in the UK and move to the US indefinitely, but on returning to the UK to sort our house out my husband got offered a good job and we decided to return to the UK permanently.
We’ve been here ever since and have no regrets about coming home.

Yes, I emigrated. I chose as a young adult to move to the country my mother came from (Denmark), as throughout my teenage years I had felt more at home in Denmark than in Scotland.

It was hard at first, not so much because I had changed countries, but because any 18 year old can feel homesick when far away from parents and sister.

However, I was never tempted to move back, and still would not consider it, or want to move anywhere else.

No we've never emigrated. Never moved house either.

Would be wonderful to live in Italy or Sweeden, however the my husband's work is here - we'll just happily travel the world.

DH is one of 4 boys.

The eldest now lives in Thailand, another emigrated to Canada twice but came home again and another lived in South Africa.

Did consider the £10 pom deal in early 60s when first married. Made extensive enquiries, contact with family members of friends who had emigrated. Had to wait a couple of weeks for letters to return giving us info to our queries. What made me decide it was a No was the herding into camps on arrival. That was apart from the sea journey again being herded. Just didn't think I'd survive as I suffered from terrible motion sickness. Decided to try other areas in UK instead.

We lived in Florida and then California in the 80’s with my husband’s job. I was incredibly homesick and couldn’t wait to return back to England. A few years later he was offered a job in California, and although I fought returning, we did, and have been here now for over 35 years. We are US citizens whilst still retaining our UK passports. I love my life here and until we are unable to make the journey back to the UK for visits, I feel we have the best of both worlds.

We considered moving to NZ when we first got married, but decided against it when I found I was pregnant. Some of my closest friends did emigrate, and though they have criticised things about NZ, they said they wouldn’t come back to the UK.

We emigrated to New Zealand in 1997. We were a young family and thought the grass would be greener. I embraced the culture and our two kids settled in well. My then husband missed his family and chose to return. I came back really because I thought it was the only option I had. I wanted us to stay together as a family unit. We divorced less than a year after returning but I never went back (other than for a holiday in 2010).

I should add that we were there for four years. I do miss my kiwi friends. When you decide to emigrate, there's always going to someone you miss.