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

I think a lot depends on luck and whereabouts in a particular country you come to. I just know I would never have settled in West Australia, for example. Many reasons for that which I won’t go into. Same if you go to the UK - some places you feel
‘ at home’, others ,never.

If you were once in the system yogitree, you should find it easier to return. I mean if you have paid taxes there and made contributions towards a pension in that country?

Myself and DH sold up everything and went to live in Portugal. We found a home quickly and settled in. My mother's health deteriorated until after a few years it was clear we had to come back to help her despite the fact she had disowned me for leaving I regret that we did return with the UK in general being in such a state and sadly, thanks to Brexit we can't return there now.

I emigrated to France with my head in the clouds in my early 20s to marry my French boyfriend who I had met while at school there in my teens. It wasn't to be and I came home to London.
The love affair with that country never died, however, and I emigrated again to France in my 40s. During my later time there I learnt so much about myself as a person, and how to have a far more relaxed attitude to life.
But somehow the mental challenge was lacking, and once again London called me back to throw myself into a new chapter of work and a busier lifestyle.
Maybe third time lucky?! Maybe one more try? I'm half tempted to give it another go, but I now have 4 wonderful grandchildren in England who I would miss too much.
Luckily we still have a property there.

TwinLolly
You can take a girl out of Africa but you can't take Africa out of her heart.
Amen to that. Loved SA and everything about it [except the deteriorating political situation and high crime rate]. Emigrating from JHB to Oz turned out to be a disaster. Belgium was our next stop, but the biggest culture shock was actually coming back here after 44 years.

I arrived from NZ aged 10 as my NZ dad had died and my DM wanted to live in England. All my close relatives were in NZ.
I came to Scotland when I married my Scottish DH and have lived here ever since.
My DS emigrated to NZ 20 years ago.
I have a DB who lives abroad.

The world is a smaller place now so keeping in contact is easy. I don't have regrets apart from losing DH.
It must be hard for those who don't settle in their chosen home.

My parents emigrated to NZ in 1958. But whilst my father was a high school teacher in England he never taught here, instead he went back to University & began a new career in accountancy. He never truly settled, my Mum settled well, loved it here. It’s the only home I’ve known. Each and every day I’m unbelievably grateful for the courage shown by my parents to leave everyone & everything they knew and were familiar with to bring my brother and myself here.

I am glad I never had that decision to make. I am English and love being so, I would never consider leaving. Would have missed my parents too much.

I emigrated from South Africa to the UK because things were going downhill. Fortunately my parents were British and I had also been born in a former British colony, hence the passport.

Some years later I met and married my now husband in 2017. We got stuck in France with borders closing due to covid, and Brexit happened. Fortunately we had just bought a house. I had to apply for French residency because of potential over-stay.

I like where we live, and the rolling countryside. I battle with the language though.

In a way, I miss South Africa and its laid back way of life. Hakuna matata, as the Kenyans say! But I try to go back as and when. A visit is long overdue though. if things were better, I'd settle back there in a heartbeat. You can take a girl out of Africa but you can't take Africa out of her heart.

I have lived in France for 38 years now and have never regretted the change. I like the way of life here and no I don't live in a sunny region either.
Now that i'm 70 it hits home of in a sense 'abandoning' my
parents and depriving them of the contact with their Grandchildren. It does pain me to think of it as I have so much contact with my own Grandchildren.
There are good and not so good points here, higher taxes
but good infastructure. All in all it was the best decision to move.

Yes, I emigrated to Malta to marry my Maltese husband when I was 24.

My mum lived here with her Maltese partner so I had a lot of support when our four children were born.

Of course I missed my sisters and many friends back in the UK but we kept in touch by writing long letters and visiting as often as finances would allow. Friends were always happy to visit us as we had plenty of space to put them up plus a swimming pool. 😄

I’ve been fortunate to travel a lot and see so many lovely places but I’ve had the most lovely life living here. , I miss absolutely nothing about the UK and find it depressing to revisit and find it so changed from the lovely place I left, although it’s great to catch up with family and friends,

Even though I am now widowed and our two eldest have been living in the US for the past twenty years, I still have a son and daughter here plus my two little grandsons so there’s nowhere else I would rather live.

DH was offered a job in Canada in the 70s, out two children were very young and we thought they would adapt to the new life.
I discussed the move with my parents and my mother told me it was not an option as her health was deteriorating and my elder sister already lived abroad. I also was the mother of her only grandchildren and it would be wrong to take them so far away.
I often wonder what life would have been like.

I uprooted myself and have lived on the west coast of Canada for 12 years. My daughter, my Canadian son-in-law and grandchildren live in the neighbourhood. I have dual citizenship and return to the UK annually . I found the culture difficult to understand at first but eventually " tuned-in" to it. Canadians are polite and respectful people. I love the scenery and wildlife. What do I miss? The British sense of humour of course!

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.

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).

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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}

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.