We did it. WE. DID. IT.
Once we had made the decision to leave the UK and emigrate to another country it took us less than a year to make it happen. It felt like a now or never situation so we acted quickly and now we live on an idillic little island called Tobago where others come to holiday.
We’ve been here many times and even before we got married here in 2010 we talked about emigrating here one day. Having two small boys (3 and 5 at the time) and all the recent global events made the move away from London feel like more of a necessity than a dream and now One Day is today.
It all started when we came for an extended holiday over Christmas and got to thinking; could we really, actually live here, would the boys adjust easily, could we emigrate and leave England for good…?
The answer was a resounding Yes!
When we returned to our tiny flat in London it was mid January; cold, wet and miserable and the Yes grew even louder. Hubby threw himself into work, already aware in his own mind we needed to put some money in the bank. I picked up where we left off with the cold, wet school runs and we continued to ask ourselves the question over and over; why are we here?
It wasn’t our house, it wasn’t our jobs, it wasn’t our lifestyle, it certainly wasn’t the opportunities, convenience or glamour that London has to offer (apparently). None of those things were important to us anymore. What was important to us was the constant stress and struggle of daily life, food and energy price rises, an increasingly unreachable housing market, the education system, the government, and of course, the weather.
The UK was and is fast becoming an unattractive place to live.
Yes you can have pretty much anything you want whenever you want it (assuming you can afford it of course!) whether you’re into shows, sports or soft-plays, Vietnamese food at 1am or a Harry Potter themed Christmas tree you can get it (at a price).
But what we wanted for us, and more so for our children, was safety, fresh fruit off the tree and neighbours who say hello. An education system that doesn’t feel the need to push agendas onto small children and a climate that allows you to be outside for more than two months a year.
Of course there was another question; how would our families and friends feel about our decision to leave England and move to another country? This was the hardest part by far, it wouldn’t be easy saying goodbye, but it also wouldn’t be forever; we could come back and they could visit and technology would make it easy to stay in touch.
And so Hubby made a bold move and booked us all one way tickets to Tobago (in hindsight this was an error because you always need a return ticket when you travel to another country but more on that later!), there was a point to be made and he made it.
We spent the remainder of the year preparing for our life adventure; he working hard and me packing up (there is no better motivation than moving abroad to have the biggest declutter of your life!).
We left the UK in October having not found a place to live or any idea how we would support ourselves long term. Having family on the twin island on Trinidad certainly helped, but for the main part we stepped forward in faith believing we were doing the right thing and everything would fall into place when we needed it to.
And it did (for the main part).
Our journey has only just begun but 1 December we moved into the most perfect house with the most wonderful landlady and now, in January (just one year since we left here with a permanent move abroad in mind) here we are; up when the cock crows, living a simple, unadulterated life in the tropics.
We haven’t got it all figured out yet (and the journey to get here wasn’t all plain sailing) but we will, because going back to a life in the UK is not an option for us now.
In just the few short months since taking that leap to leave the UK and move abroad, our quality of life has improved immensely.
Because what we have learned is when you turn your back on All The Things your life becomes much simpler and when you can’t get whatever you want whenever you want it (there is no Amazon here!) nothing is taken for granted, gratitude replaces expectation and you start to find joy in the little things; the cool morning breeze, eating homemade bread with local honey and Sunday picnics on the beach are a few of my favourites :).
So this is our journey discovering a new(ish) land, and more importantly, a new way of life, we’d love for you to join us through the highs, lows and everything in-between.
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