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Living overseas

How did you figure out where to go back to?

33 replies

DolomitesDonkey · 24/04/2013 05:06

I've not lived in the UK for 20 years (aside uni - and even then I worked abroad in summer hols). However, we're now planning to go back - for all the usual reasons I suppose - searching familiarity and easier access to things we like (sports/clubs-related).

How do you figure out where you want to go?

I moved around a lot when I was a child and so there's nowhere which feels like "home". My husband is from a city renowned for its "difficulties" and he doesn't want to raise the children there.

We have no interest in the South-East and are not tied down for work.

Our options and preferences are right now as follows:-

  1. Wales - mid- or Cardiff-ish? Pros: Welsh Assembly, outdoors stuff, my family Cons: When my mum dies, I think my dad will go to scotland and we have no other ties in Wales
  2. Loch Lomond/Western Highlands - Free uni tuition, great outdoors Cons: A total pita to get to London for work-related stuff
  3. Aberdeen: Wild & wonderful - bit too far from anything else?
  4. Northumberland: Neither of us have lived there but we visit now and then and love the wilderness and the friendliness of Newcastle and have some friends there. However, no family there.

    We're not planning to move back until early 2015 but we said by the end of this year we'd like to have figured out where we're going.

    How did you make this decisions? Did you regret it? Did you end up moving back and then moving on again? I'd love to hear your stories.
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DameFanny · 24/04/2013 11:21

If I didn't have family ties or work-specific locations to think about, I would so move to Inverness. Just big enough for culture, small enough to not drown in. Also ice skating, and proper snow - I'm a cold-blooded creature Grin

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Weegiemum · 24/04/2013 11:25

Glasgow/West Highlands isn't too bad for London. It's 4.5 hours on the train from Glasgow Central (we live in Glasgow!).

I agree with DameFanny, Inverness is wonderful.

My ideas of "far" are a bit skewed as I used to live in the Outer Hebrides!

But for education, quality of life Scotland is brilliant!

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DolomitesDonkey · 24/04/2013 11:52

I lived in Shetland for a while so remote isn't a problem - in fact it's come upon our radar this morning. I'd like islands - I also love Inverness. There are mumblings of "chucter" though. Wink

I like cold, so Inverness would suit me fine. Shetland of course mild, wet and horizontal rain.

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DameFanny · 24/04/2013 12:27

I think the thing I like about Inverness is that it has restaurants and theatre etc, but is vv close to all things wild and beautiful.

I want to move now. Gah.

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Weegiemum · 24/04/2013 12:29

Well in that case, seriously consider Lewis or Harris! We know quite a few people who live there, and who commute to London on a several days a month basis. Even with the flights (and there's reduced rate on flights if you have an island address) its cheaper than living in the south east.

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DolomitesDonkey · 24/04/2013 13:03

See I don't give a toss about the "theartarrrr" Wink and I'm a brilliant cook - and an unsociable sod.

We like: riding, golf, rugby, fishing , you get the picture!

Would only actually have to go to London 1-2 times a year - or if in the highlands/islands go to Glasgow/Edinburgh every few months or so.

I was looking at houses on Shetland - nice 4-bed house for 160k with views to die for.

Also the ferry's cheaper than it used to be isn't it? In fact, all travel up there seems cheaper than it did back in the day. I heard it's now all heavily subsidised by the EU - any truth in that?

My husband has reservations about the islands because he's worried than the boys will grow up "too innocent" - I don't want them growing up being involved in gang fights in Glasgow like he was. :(

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DolomitesDonkey · 24/04/2013 13:10

PS Am loving this exchange of ideas - you two are totally on my page. Most people get a bit po-faced if I don't say London! Wink

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WallyBantersYoniBox · 24/04/2013 14:38

East Riding of Yorkshire - Beverly, York and around that region seems to be a lovely place to bring up kids. My DB moved there years ago and loves it. Everytime I visit I love it there too.

If I had the choice it would be near the sea or a Lake. A house on Robin Hood's bay, access to London via York. Bracing sea air! Or Whitby?

I grew up in Wales, and of course there are some beautiful areas there, but I find it a little bit stifling when I go home.

What a lovely thought that you can just choose somewhere to live so randomly Dolomites!

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Weegiemum · 24/04/2013 14:59

Well we live in Castlemilk in Glasgow now and our dc have no involvement in gangs!

Our dc started life in the Hebrides and aren't "innocent" at all! Though they've had lots of their life in Glasgow (we moved for work reasons!)

We have a house there (not for sale!!) that's 3 bed huge kitchen/diner/lounge, large lounge, bathroom, laundry, with 1 bed granny flat, 1 bed stone built holiday cottage, 1/4 acre garden. Recently valued at £280k the lot.

Seriously I'd consider it (we left as I couldn't get work up there but we go back lots). I'd go back tomorrow but it doesn't work for us right now.

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magimedi · 24/04/2013 15:09

I don't know where you live now, Dolomites - Italy I presume!

I did live in Aberdeensgire for a couple of years & it was indeed lovely, but the very short days in the winter were hard to bear. DS lives in France, he's been ther e6 years now, & even coming back to SE England in the winter he really notices the daylight being less.

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DolomitesDonkey · 24/04/2013 15:48

Wally Now Yorkshire seems to be a bit of a conundrum. Some of the most beautiful countryside anywhere (as featured weekly on Countryfile/My life in the country/Let's go for a fucking walk in the country etc.) - but it also seems to house some of the shittest towns in the country. :( Wink Part of me wants to be by the water - I remember bunking off school and sitting on the beach watching the seals... but then a part of me is terrified about the boys!

Weegie I don't think they'd grow up too innocent either - I know my friends from school certainly didn't - illicit weekends away in Aberdeen were the things of legend! My dad went a bit bonkers when he went away to Aberdeen for uni - I think a lot of them do, but we all grow up. As for my husband... likes a bit of trouble he does!

magi I'm in The Netherlands so probably on a latitude with London or so - so the long winters would be tough. However we're both scots and the summers make up for it.

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magimedi · 24/04/2013 16:41

If you're both Scots you know what it's like then - in the nicest possible way. It was the first time I had lived as far north & the winters were a great shock to me, mainly for the lack of daylight.

Aberdeen is a great city - we lived outwith it but I remember (was in my 40's ) having loads of great friends & a wonderful social life. And the countryside was amazing.

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Pootles2010 · 24/04/2013 16:49

You cheeky fucker re Yorkshire! Grin It's ace here. Don't go to South/West yorkshire and you'll be fine Wink

We live in East Yorkshire, not far from beverley, and it's really lovely. Scenery not the most amazing in Yorkshire (ie Dales, Moors etc) but still v nice, we have towns like York, Beverley, Malton that are lovely.

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WallyBantersYoniBox · 24/04/2013 16:52

Sorry my mistake, of course Robin Hood's Bay is in North Yorks isn't it?

They do't half get territorial up there, it was all new to me until my brother moved, all sorts of nicknames for people in each county. I thought it was just Lancs that held the fiery temper, but I was wrong!

But some people think of Yorkshire and can't get past Hull to be fair Pootles.

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Chandon · 24/04/2013 16:57

We did this

We looked at:

  • within 1 hr from our work
  • close to family, easy to get to
  • good local schools
  • 4 bed houses in our price range
  • countryside on our doorstep, as we missed walks


Just make a list of things that matter to you.
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fussychica · 24/04/2013 18:00

We were offered a rental from a friend of the family, liked the area so after 6 months landed up buying a place on the other side of the town. It wasn't anywhere we had considered prior to our return but sometimes things just fall into place.

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DolomitesDonkey · 25/04/2013 08:44

fussy That worked out well! I think renting first is definitely a good idea because of course we don't have any recent experience of any of the places on our bucket lists (bar mid-Wales) we don't really know what to expect. Something which looks beautiful on rightmove might be just down the road from something awful, the schools might be shit, etc., etc.

Chandon Mountains! Grin

I think my heart is in the islands but because we want horses I'm thinking of that never-ending wind... and the hassle of shipping them up from Aberdeen. So many things to consider.

I think we need to start planning some road trips.

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fussychica · 25/04/2013 18:54

Yes it has worked out well Dolomites but I wouldn't put it past us to move on again at some point.
One of the great things about this forum is that if you are interested in somewhere there is usually someone who knows it and can tell you what it's like - good or bad. Whilst we were renting we still thought of other possible places but they either didn't live up to expectations or it was such a hassle to go and view somewhere miles away we often didn't bother.
Good luck whatever you decide.

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ProbablyJustGas · 26/04/2013 11:24

Aberdeen is nice - another small city, so it has some activity but not so much it'd swallow you. It's well-to-do - there are a lot of Audis on the road and the cost of living can be very high compared to other parts of Scotland, but the energy industry has kept the city ticking over during the recessions. There are sports events like road races, some music events, occasionally a street market. The country is right on the city's doorstep, so easily accessible. Or you can live in the country in Aberdeenshire and commute in. There are a lot of horsey people in the area, so you would have company there.

Schools are pretty stratified here - the city itself has some of the best and worst academies in Scotland, if you judge by exam results tables, so you would want to pick your neighborhood carefully. Most of the private schools are excellent.

It does take more time on the train to get from here to there - ~2.5 hrs to Glasgow, several more than that to London - but if you are planning to go back and forth to London for work, there are direct flights from Aberdeen airport.

Traffic infrastructure is not what it should be. I know traffic is a fact of life everywhere, but it gets really bad in Aberdeen because there's no highway around the city, so all of the traffic has to go through the city centre. E.g. you would not want a job south of the river and a house north of the river - your commute would be at least an hour each way. Traffic coming in from more rural communities can get really heavy too.

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Mosman · 27/04/2013 09:10

I'm considering Scotland if we go back to the UK, how keen are the scots on the English ? My mum is Scottish and she doesn't think we'd be welcomed with open arms.
Also the job situation oop north, how's that at the moment, generally ? I'd be looking for a £25,000 sales rep kind of role.

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specialsubject · 27/04/2013 11:24

I looked into this and ended up in Shropshire - not too far from anything, beautiful countryside, lots to see and do, lots of history, fantastic open spaces, friendly natives, uncrowded roads, all the facilities. Just outside the day-trip range for London, so feasible house prices, lower living costs.

don't tell anyone, will you? :-)

generally the eastern side of the UK has more extreme weather, and popular places such as Cornwall and the Lake District are very green for a reason. North Wales is beautiful but it takes ages to get anywhere, funding problems with health service and if you don't speak Welsh you are barred from many public sector jobs. South Wales seemed just as busy as the south-east!

wherever it is - rent first.

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DolomitesDonkey · 27/04/2013 11:38

mosman my very English mum had always claimed the Scots had it in for her - however I'm told times have changed and even shetlanders return with an English spouse in tow.

The highlands is full of Brits escaping the rat-race.

I'm told there's plenty of work (far, far north) for those that want it.

I'm in quandary again, I'd still love the islands but it does rule out horsey competitions.

I love the edge of Shropshire - Presteigne direction - but fear too pricey.

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DolomitesDonkey · 27/04/2013 11:45

probably if we were to go Aberdeenshire it would likely be Dufftown direction. Would that be a killer commute?

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ProbablyJustGas · 28/04/2013 00:18

dh informs me Dufftown is a fair old bit away. It's out past Huntly so would take more than an hour to get to the city without traffic. he reckons an hour and a half or maybe an hour and 45 minutes at rush hour. depends on timing though. It takes about 20 mins to go two miles at around 9 in the morning if you're out by the airport. a lot of people i know try to start for work earlier than that.

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scottswede · 29/04/2013 07:13

We are in the same situation about where to move to. We are thinking of Angus area, though I would like Inverness area, dh thinks it will be too cold. It is so hard to narrow down an area. My criteria are; No more than one hour from an airport, Coastal.
We did not research the area when we moved here which was a huge mistake and has probably lead to the return to the UK.

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