Moving Home

[countryroadsss]

Have lived in the UK for over 10 years now. Married a British man and have 2 little kids, preschool age. Work in health care so not too worried about jobs etc. Never had the desire to go home until recently. Just wondering if anyone made the move home after a long period away? Did you move home home or just back to Ireland. There isn't much where I'm from so don't know if it would be worth moving all the way and still be an hour or so away from family. I also obviously have to think about the kids and their future. Interested to hear peoples stories!

We moved back to Ireland in 2015 after living in England 10 years. I could write a long tract about it but I'll try and summarise. We are both education professionals with one child.

Pros: able to buy a large house an hour's drive from Dublin for about 200 thousand pounds
Got jobs on the East Coast easy enough
Near family and old friends (not always a pro with annoying family...)
Great place to bring up a child - safe neighbourhood- GAA and lots of cultural stuff
Bringing up a child with same accent and cultural touchstones as us

Cons
Life is a bit more expensive. We earn well but still need to be careful. Lots of price gouging in Ireland.
Public transport has improved a bit but still not great
The West of Ireland was shite for getting permanent jobs when we tried there.
Sometimes miss the vibrancy of London although lots of good stuff here too.

That's it in a nutshell. 7 years later we're well settled and doing OK.

The weather is about the same as the UK although the UK is hotter in the summer. Doesn't bother me but it's horses for courses.

We moved back to Dublin in 2010 with small DC after 20 years mostly in London.

I much prefer the education system here, plus there is a lot for the DC sports-wise.

It wasn't that easy to find a house to buy, and it's a hell of a lot more difficult now. Our first purchase fell through so we had a very short timescale and we paid over the odds in order to have a quick move. The sellers moved into rented.

It's much slower paced than London but the public transport isn't great so I drive much more and the traffic is very variable. Sometimes I can get to my Mum's house in 15 minutes, occasionally it's nearly an hour. DS is old enough to have an electric bike so he's reasonably independently mobile but I still have to ferry DD around because the busses aren't frequent and don't always go where she wants to go.

We're a mixed heritage family and sometimes we stand out a bit. There hasn't been much in the way of nastiness but we don't blend into the background in the way that we did in London. DS was the only non-white child when he started primary school and it didn't seem to bother him much, I think it did bother DD a bit more although by the time that she started there were a few more non-white pupils.

My husband and our 2 kids are planning to move to Ireland next year My choice!
I have been away from Ireland, home, for 20+ yrs and in my heart it's now where I need!!! to be and want!!!! more than anything.

I have a fear of moving back and a feeling of not being accepted, not by my family but, by my old friends - I was an absolute drunken stupid youngsters and sadly didn't keep in touch with any of my friends or them me

Has anyone else felt this?