Going back ‘Home’

[Legalhelp]

To those people who lived abroad for a lengthy amount of time and returned home to Britain..are you glad? How do you find it? What made you return?

Yes I have retuned from 25 years of living in Australia been back two years obviously this year has been hard but always missed the Uk when I was living in Australia and came back every year or two years as all our family are here .
There are many things I do miss about Australia but I just feel more at home here it's hard to explain as of course many people are desperate to get to Australia and it's a beautiful country but for me I love the countryside, the humour , so many things

We returned last year after 15 years in Brussels for dh and 13 for me. we moved back as dh was retiring at 58.

I found it much the same; we moved back to our house that we had let out whilst abroad, so I know where everything goes (or should, I've acquired more whilst away); the people in the village are still here, the shops are much the same, my Mum is still in the same place.

I love that I understand here how it all hangs together; the bureaucracy makes sense; I don't need an ID card on my person at all times.

I miss my friends, the steak roquefort and frites at the fritkot across the road; the beer, the chocolate; the regularity with which shop displays changed from Christmas to Easter to Autumn to Christmas again..it was all very well ordered, but a tad too well ordered for me (you used to see women washing down their front doors, steps and pavements), and I used to get lost in the welter of Flemish and federal rules.

I am glad to be home - I coasted for 13 years and did sod all apart from voluntary stuff. I have got a job that I start in January, so I can pick up the threads of my life again.

We move back to the UK in February after 5.5 years in the Netherlands. It’s good to hear folks are happy to be back... I’m looking forward to being back but apprehensive at the same time.

@thegcatsmother I find it reassuring to hear you are working now you're back in the UK - I am looking for work as a trailing spouse as we're back in SE Asia for my husbands job and I am already panicking that I may never work again, here or in the UK!

We moved back to the UK for 3 years after 3 years in SE Asia, enjoyed it, but decided to come back out to SE Asia so we had better opportunities to travel - then Covid happened... also to have better chance to save money hence I am job hunting...!

I'm here after several years in NZ, guess I came back two years too early I love it there but I don't miss the remoteness of it all but at the same time I do miss that remoteness. I couldn't live in a big British city like I used to. Here feels like home most of the time but NZ also does. I miss being able to easily get to the coast there compared to here, it seems much further away here, there are so many places on the coast that are a decent size and have decent jobs there but here it seems like there are less jobs in coastal towns because the main places are nearly all inland.

We had no reason to stay longer, the mortgage was paid; we paid for ds to go to uni, so why stay busting a gut when there is no need to? Dh has rediscovered his sense of humour, and has lost that grey, pinched, about to have a heart attack from all the stress look.

We lived in DH's home country for six years and returned to the UK 11 years ago. No regrets. I'm really glad we lived there as I got to know DH, his family and his homeland better than I ever could've done if we'd just lived in the UK, but for us settling in the UK is the right choice (this past year notwithstanding, as it's been pretty awful in either country!)

Having said that, coming home was harder than I was expecting. We moved to a new area where we knew no one, so it took time to settle in and feel properly at home. We made a good choice though on strict criteria regarding commute, a nice, historic town and schools and 11 years on I absolutely LOVE where we live.

As to why we returned, it was always out intention, but the credit crisis forced our hand. DH lost his job and needed to retool his career. If we'd stayed it would've meant committing to another 5-10 years, so we made a snap decision four months later we were back here. It felt rushed a bit crazy at the time, but it was absolutely the right choice for us.

@GingerHanna

We move back to the UK in February after 5.5 years in the Netherlands. It’s good to hear folks are happy to be back... I’m looking forward to being back but apprehensive at the same time.

@GingerHanna I saw Your comment on this post and curious to find out how are you finding it back in the Uk after living in the Netherlands. We are thinking of moving back for variety of reasons, and I am struggling with the idea as I think Life in the Netherlands is great especially for the kids.