Why England? Why not?!
Since arriving in England people have been asking us "why would you move to England?"; Even people we meet that are from England ask us this.
Here's why:
In August 2014, we woke up and realised we weren't as happy as we could be. We're not saying we weren't happy with our lives overall, but we felt like we were in a bit of a rut.
We looked back at our life together so far to see what we loved the most about it; we kept thinking about our vacations. We came across a quote, "build a life you don't need to vacation from" and realised that we wanted to do that.
While it would be impossible for us to retire at this point in our lives, we've gotta pay the bills somehow, we knew there could be a way to live the life we wanted and not go bankrupt.
We looked into going on a holiday for a month. We had our decision down to England or Australia. While this is a great way to experience a place, we still wanted more.
Our friends who were moving back to England had told us we should come visit them. We agreed that we would visit. Someone jokingly said we should just get a working visa and move in together. (I can't remember whose suggestion that was. Maybe it was a bluff?).
Over the next couple of days we thought long and hard about applying for a visa. When would the appropriate time be? We met up with our friends one last time before they moved and they said, "If you move to England, we could move in together." This ended up working out for all of us by sharing living costs.
We researched the YMS visa to move to the United Kingdom. The YMS visa is for people between the ages 18-30 and is valid for two years. This meant we had to do it now, or we'll never get this opportunity again. It was easiest to move to the United Kingdom as we had friends there already and it isn't much of a change in climate from British Columbia. Another reason we picked the United Kingdom is because there is other countries that allow temporary workers to be between the ages of 18-35. Meaning we could go on another visa somewhere else if we wanted. A list of Countries and their age requirements for Canada is listed here.
What else we like about living in the United Kingdom is the close proximity to the rest of Europe. You can live and work and go on fairly cheap holidays to other places in Europe compared with the cost of having to fly from Canada. Plus the culture is interesting here. Experiencing the similarities and differences is fun and quite the learning experience.
Thank you for reading. If you enjoyed this post you may like "What We Learned in Our First Year Living Abroad."
Here's why:
In August 2014, we woke up and realised we weren't as happy as we could be. We're not saying we weren't happy with our lives overall, but we felt like we were in a bit of a rut.
We looked back at our life together so far to see what we loved the most about it; we kept thinking about our vacations. We came across a quote, "build a life you don't need to vacation from" and realised that we wanted to do that.
While it would be impossible for us to retire at this point in our lives, we've gotta pay the bills somehow, we knew there could be a way to live the life we wanted and not go bankrupt.
We looked into going on a holiday for a month. We had our decision down to England or Australia. While this is a great way to experience a place, we still wanted more.
Our friends who were moving back to England had told us we should come visit them. We agreed that we would visit. Someone jokingly said we should just get a working visa and move in together. (I can't remember whose suggestion that was. Maybe it was a bluff?).
Over the next couple of days we thought long and hard about applying for a visa. When would the appropriate time be? We met up with our friends one last time before they moved and they said, "If you move to England, we could move in together." This ended up working out for all of us by sharing living costs.
We researched the YMS visa to move to the United Kingdom. The YMS visa is for people between the ages 18-30 and is valid for two years. This meant we had to do it now, or we'll never get this opportunity again. It was easiest to move to the United Kingdom as we had friends there already and it isn't much of a change in climate from British Columbia. Another reason we picked the United Kingdom is because there is other countries that allow temporary workers to be between the ages of 18-35. Meaning we could go on another visa somewhere else if we wanted. A list of Countries and their age requirements for Canada is listed here.
What else we like about living in the United Kingdom is the close proximity to the rest of Europe. You can live and work and go on fairly cheap holidays to other places in Europe compared with the cost of having to fly from Canada. Plus the culture is interesting here. Experiencing the similarities and differences is fun and quite the learning experience.
Thank you for reading. If you enjoyed this post you may like "What We Learned in Our First Year Living Abroad."
Sounds very interesting, and it was perfect that you had friends moving to the UK for you to house share with. That certainly cut down on bills.
ReplyDeleteIt made it much easier to have them to move in with!
DeleteMy family is here and I want to live close, but if I didn't have ties to my area, like you said - why not?
ReplyDeleteWe had a lot of ties where we were. But we figured it was a once in a lifetime opportunity.
DeleteI haven´t had the change to meet a lot of place since I am a busy mom at home LOL but I know i will whe she turns older! that is something I´ve always wanted, travel around the world!
ReplyDeleteWell I hope you get to travel one day. It is the best thing ever! We wouldn't give up travelling for anything.
DeleteWow! This is a great story! Glad that you were able to get your YMS visa so quickly!
ReplyDeleteYeah, we didn't realise we would get it so fast.
DeleteAlthough I don't think I could ever move away from Florida, simply because my family and my husband's family are all here and we are very large and close, I would love to travel around Europe. England has always seemed like a great place, and I have a friend who is from there and I have always wanted to see it for myself.
ReplyDeleteEngland is amazing. We loved living there.
DeleteVery interesting. I have never been to the United Kingdom so I really can't have an opinion. If you love it that is all that matters :)
ReplyDeleteWe loved every minute of it.
DeleteI liked England! We lived there for 3 years. My husband is in the military, and it was a nice area. I wish we could have explored more, but our son was wild, and there was no way we could travel. One day I hope to get back and see more things!
ReplyDeleteWe hope you make it back as well. So much to see.
DeleteI love that you shared your story about why you guys chose the United Kingdom! I'll look forward to seeing where you choose next and why!
ReplyDelete:) We can't wait to see where we choose next as well!
DeleteI wish I was as brave as you guys were and just move to an whole other country. Reading this was very inspiring. I want to do something similar but after my kids are probably out of the house. LOL! I can't wait to explore new places. Right now it isn't exactly possible but it will definitely happen. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteWell, we hope that you get a chance to do it. It was the best thing we have ever done.
DeleteI love the idea of moving to the UK! If I had money or was unattached that's where I would go!
ReplyDeleteWe found jobs really easy in the UK, so I would focus more on becoming unattached! :P Just kidding.
DeleteThat's great that you are in such a great place to be able to go on all kinds of adventures. London feels like a perfect starting point to make all kinds of small journeys to places.
ReplyDeleteWe loved how close we were to the rest of Europe. It was a wonderful experience.
DeleteI love England and I am glad that you chose to call it your home after fate intervened. Life moves in mysterious ways, it is great your visa was sorted quickly x
ReplyDeleteWe were glad to have ended up in England. Would still like to spend some time in Australia though.
DeleteThis is an such an amazing story. I'm glad you found an adventurous place that you can call home.
ReplyDeleteWe had a great time. Thanks for reading.
DeleteThe culture does seem very interesting in England! I'm happy to hear that you love living there :)
ReplyDeleteWe did. It was a lot of fun.
DeleteEveryone needs a new adventure from time to time. I understand completely and hope you continue to grow and do different things.
ReplyDeleteWe hope to move abroad again! It was such a great adventure.
DeleteI love your determination to live the life that you've always dreamt of and here you are definitely living it. It's a lovely choice to go to the UK and spend your time there, it's also perfect for when you want to visit the other countries in Europe.
ReplyDeleteEngland is in the perfect location. We would move back in a heart beat.
DeleteI definitely think UK is a great choice. It's awesome that you have friends going there as well, it was perfect timing for all of you. It's nice that you were able to acquire a working visa too!
ReplyDeleteYeah it all worked out really well.
DeleteEngland is such a lovely country! I'm all about travel and exploring so I would totally pick up and move! Now only if my hubby was equally as open about new adventures as I am
ReplyDeleteAwe, that is a shame. Hopefully you can get him on some holidays though!
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