Hi folks. Hope everyone is having a good weekend so far!
So my husband and I found out the other day that he’s been accepted for a job in Calgary, Canada.
Ever since spending a year travelling in Asia about 10 years ago we always knew we didn’t want to stay in the UK- and despite having never been I’ve always liked the idea of Canada.
So my husband applied for a job at Christmas that fit in perfectly with the research he has been doing for his PhD. So it’s the perfect next step for him- so I couldn’t be happier for him!!
I’m also very excited for us!! I have worked solidly for the last 9 years so he could do his PhD etc with no worries about finances. So now we’re excited that he’s now going to be able to support us on his own and I can maybe begin to find what I want to do in Canada!
The move is in September- so we’ve got 6 months to sort our life out.
But I was wondering whether anyone else had done anything like this? Or know of anyone who has and how you/they went about it? any tips etc?
Looks like I’ll have to get rid of my Folksy shop then too which is sad. May well still use the forum though- love the community on here.
I have done a boat load of research on the place itself- but how you go about actually emigrating I have no idea! He’ll be speaking with the HR department next week so hopefully they’re able to provide us with plenty info. But it’s quite a daunting task…despite it being exciting!!
Hi Susannah. Wow that is amazing!! If I was going to live anywhere else I’d love to live in Canada, it looks so beautiful and not over populated!!! You had better stay on this forum in case I need to pick your brains about social media again!! You got me into Instagram and have created a monster, I love it on there so thanks for that!!! So exciting many many congrats to you. xxx
Wow, congratulations, I think there should be a clause in folksy for British people who have to move abroad with there husbands as long as there had a shop for a certain length of time… not sure how that will be policed! We’ll miss you
Hahah yes- let’s put that bit of small print in!! Haha
Thanks for all the congratulations guys! Just really happy for my OH getting a job in his related field so soon after finishing his PhD! He wasn’t confident to the fact! Haha
So yeah- now I have to sort my life out! Wondering what sort of job opportunity I will have out there- I work in a school here in pastoral/welfare/support etc so given how big the city is I’m sure there are similar opportunities there.
How brilliant.
I’ve never taken myself off but my daughter did in 2010, with my 2 year old grandaughter and pregnant with my grandson. They had a fantastic 2 years in Melbourne, made lots of lovely friends from all over the world but fortunately for me she came home again after 2 years - they never had intended to stay but I was always concerned they would.
Go for it. do it while you can is the way I live my life.
I’m sure you’ll find outlets for your art wherever you go.
Joy xx
That sounds cool! Good for you that she came home though! Haha
That is something we don’t plan on doing!!
I am definitely going to have to change focus- I somehow don’t think North Sea related artwork is going to sell at least a 7 hour drive from the nearest coastline! Haha that’s quite a scary thought!! But I’m sure I can find a way to change themes once I get settled! Apparently there’s quite an arty community there so will have to have a nose around and see what’s about!
Wow how exciting. I have been to Canada a couple of times and loved it. There is plenty of beautiful scenery to paint over there and I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a market for paintings of the “quaint english seaside” over there as well. Good luck - looking forward to reading all about the move on the forums
That’s a brilliant opportunity for you both. Grab it with both hands. You never know what doors will open for you once you are settled, your own art shop perhaps. At least you will be with Folksy for a few more months. Good luck.
Congratulations to your hubby, you must both be feeling great that all the hard work has be worth it and bearing fruit. I have family members who moved abroad and they have never looked back. Will you be taking lots of your personal items with you? I’m not very materialistic and would quite happily leave lots of my things behind if I was going somewhere so far away.
The new company should be quite helpful with your relocation. Well done to both of you
To be honest, due to our time frame I think we’re going to go through everything and try and sell a fair bit.
We moved house in November just last year, so had a bit to a ruthleless clear out which is pretty good.
So now we sort of have stuff we want/need. But I think furniture wise we’ll sell- as we have quite a few unusual/handmade pieces. Then I think we’ll go through all our nicknaks and package up what we definitely want to keep and store it here in someone’s house till we’re settled and ready for those to be sent over. We have a lot of original artwork from around the world and I don’t want to lose them!
But otherwise I think we’ll take very little with us. Especially if we’ve made a bit of money selling our bits and bobs here. Then we’ll have some extra cash there to buy essentials and I think we’ll look for a fully furnished place to start us off- just to make life easier.
That’s fantastic news, congratulations to you both. You will definitely have to stay in touch on the forum and Instagram so we can all keep up with your new crafting experiences. Enjoy the rest of your lovely weekend
Thanks!! Yeah- I’d like to stay on here. Even just a link to th UK craft movement/market will be nice.
I’ll have to see what’s going on over there!! I’m certainly not going to be able to take most of my printing equipment over there though- my press is certainly too heavy for that! Haha maybe I can just take the carving tools! I’ll have to hunt out an awesome art supply shop too- that’s some thing that’s definitely lacking where I currently live!
Such brilliant news, Susanna.I am sure you will find a whole established art scene out there, maybe learn some new techniques / crafts / ideas, and I am sure everything you do already will be well received, maybe you can show them ‘how to’ too!
Seize the day girl.
Suzzie x
That’s awesome, so exciting! Congrats to you both!
I’m from NZ and moved to the UK nearly 10 years ago. We basically packed up our lives when we left NZ. Sold most of our stuff and stored what we wanted to keep with family (it’s been so long now that I’ve actually forgotten what we have stored so it will be like Christmas when we finally get it all back out again!).
We spent a couple of months living in Greece and then moved to the UK where we stayed with friends in London for a few weeks. We found jobs and a house a little further south, in Horsham and moved into our house here with two backpacks full of clothes, an airbed and a couple of sleeping bags! It was the easiest house move I’ve ever done! We literally walked from the B&B where we had been staying, dumped our stuff on the floor and we were moved in. The harder part came later … like how to buy a whole house-worths of necessities when you don’t yet have a car (it’s amazing what you can carry on public transport when you really have to!).
I would say, treat it like what it is, a big adventure! As long as you’re open minded (which it sounds like you are) you’ll have great fun. It does require a bit of work setting up a new life in a new country but it’s not really all that difficult. You’ll be settled in before you know it and then you’ll have a whole new country to explore and enjoy.
The hardest part for me is being away from family and friends. But even still, I’m only a plane ride away so it’s not all that bad. And visiting home is always fun … it really makes you appreciate what you have in both the place you live and the place you’re from. I’m going back to NZ for a visit next week in fact (mmmm sun, here I come!).
I’ve heard Canada is absolutely stunning. It’s certainly on my list of places I’d like to go one day. Have a great time, I’m sure you’ll really enjoy it!
That sounds awesome! Thanks for that!! I sort of feel the need for a bit of an adventure so trying to just see it as that rather than just a big scary ‘move your whole life abroad’ sort of thing. And I sort of just say to myself- people emigrate every year and love it, so there’s no reason why this will be any different for us.
I don’t have any ties to my family here. My husband does a bit, but his family I know will come and visit us. And we’ll be substantially better off over there so we’d be able to afford to fly back every now and then to see friends.
We’ve already got friends and family wanting to use us as a base for a holiday- which is really cool! So I don’t think in the first 2 years there will be any shortage of friends coming by!! Haha
I’m much more of an introvert than my husband. But he makes friends everywhere he goes, and me and my OH get on so well we end up just becoming friends with the same people. So I know once we’ve moved that will all happen fairly quickly. And yeah- I guess in terms of technology the world is a much smaller place than it used to be and keeping in touch with people is so much easier.
I just feel quite excited now!! I feel like everyone around me is being so positive it’s just helped pick us up!! Haha I was at our local tonight- just got back in fact. We’ve spent forever going there, from when it was an early struggling business and I was talking to the owner tonight and he wants to hold a leaving party for us which is where we also had the first part of our wedding reception right on the seafront- so I know it will be awesome! But it made it a little more scary real when he was talking about dates!! Hahahah
I so want to keep in touch on here though because you guys are all fab!! Super helpful and super supportive!!
