Will We Move Abroad Again?
In June 2019, Colin, Ellie and I packed our lives in Vancouver into four suitcases, two backpacks and a dog carrier and moved to Prague, Czech Republic. We were supposed to stay for one year, but thanks to COVID, our time was shortened. Just shy of 10 months, we returned home to Vancouver.
Our time in Prague was always supposed to be temporary. We only had one year visas and Colin had taken a leave of absence from his hospital job in Vancouver. Of course, we were disappointed to have to pack up early, but we never intended to stay past June 2020.
We had an incredible time living in Prague and travelling throughout Europe. It’s one of the best experiences of my life and, while we have a few regrets, I would never trade it for anything. I loved living abroad.
But will we move abroad again?Â
Returning to Prague
Sadly, it’s unlikely we’ll ever live in Prague again. As much as we loved our (almost) year living there, it’s not somewhere we plan to live again. For starters, the Youth Mobility visas we had were only for one year and can only be applied for once. If we did have the opportunity to live abroad again, I would prefer to try somewhere new. We learned a lot about Prague and I’d love the chance to do that somewhere else. Of course, we’re planning to visit Prague in the future and walk down memory lane, but we probably won’t be signing a lease.
Work and family
Colin works as an x-ray technologist and is part of the hospital union here in Vancouver. His job is not exactly portable. While we lived in Prague, Colin originally got a job as a hotel receptionist, and then quit that to join me working online. He did it for a year, but that’s about as long as he could last. Colin loves his job and I would never ask him to give it up permanently so we could live abroad. While it might be possible for him to work as an x-ray tech elsewhere, it would be very complicated (we tried to make it happen in the UK and failed!).
Another reason why moving abroad would be tough is our family. Almost all of our family members live in Vancouver or Toronto. We already don’t see my Toronto family as often as we’d like to, so it’s hard to think about leaving Canada long term when most of our loved ones are here.
Parental leave
One idea we’ve had for a while is to travel during our parental leave. I work freelance, so won’t be getting a paid maternity leave. But Colin will get a paid paternity leave from the hospital. Our plan is to stay in Vancouver for a few months to introduce our baby to friends and family, and get all of their immunizations. From there, we’d stop in Toronto for a few weeks so our baby could meet my family and then we’d be off!
We love the idea of spending a month in a new place for 3-6 months, living off of Colin’s paternity income and some of my freelance work, while we introduce our baby to the world. I’ve dreamed of adorable apartments in the Algarve in Portugal, Spain’s Andalusia or the Balkans – or perhaps crossing more of South America off our bucket list in Colombia, Argentina and Brazil – or going the budget and tasty food route in Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia. I love the idea of instilling travel in our child from a young age and introducing them to different languages, cultures, people, etc. I also love the idea of having that bonding time for our little family and having other loved ones from Canada fly out to visit us.
Of course, all of that is very hypothetical. We don’t have kids and who knows what kind of child we’ll have. While I would hope my travel genes pass on to them, we won’t know until they get here.
Living elsewhere in Canada
Another idea we had was moving out of Vancouver, but still living in Canada. That way, we’d still be close to friends and family, and Colin might be able to work. We love the idea of moving to Montreal, since it would be a big change from Vancouver, has a European vibe, and gives us a chance to work on our French. But Colin wouldn’t be able to work in the hospitals without being a fluent French speaker, so that’s a challenge.
We’ve also talked about moving elsewhere in BC – to places like Victoria, Squamish or Kelowna. All of those places have their pros and cons. I imagine as our lives change and our family grows, we may have more reason to look outside of Vancouver. But for now, Vancouver is the perfect place.
Future plans
Despite the fact that we’re not planning another international move, we definitely won’t stop travelling (post-covid, of course). And long term travel is something we want to do again. Besides the parental leave trip, we’d love to spend weeks or months, and not just days, on the road exploring a new country. I could see Colin taking a month-long leave of absence from work every couple of years, or maybe moving to Europe for a season so our future child could learn French or Spanish or German. I’ve already planned out our New Zealand road trip and I know I would want at least a month to tackle India.
I also love the idea of us retiring abroad. That’s pretty far away, but I can already see us sitting in beach chairs by the water in Mexico or Thailand. I’m not sure how I’ll stand the heat, but that’s a problem for 70 year old Riana to deal with!
So no, we are not planning to move abroad again. Saying that out loud does make me a little sad. I always envisioned living a very international life. But reading our plans above, and knowing travel will always be in our future, puts the smile back on my face.
And who knows! If you had told me a few years ago that I would live in Prague for a year, I never would have believed it. So maybe a few years from now, we will be packing up to move abroad again. Never say never!
I really enjoyed this post! I too have the travel bug (and live in Vancouver) and can’t wait until it’s safe for travel once again (hubby is high risk). Thanks for sharing.
Thanks, Jodie! Nice to e-meet a fellow travel-loving Vancouverite. Hope we can get on the road again safe and soon!
Living in Vancouver is great, but I don’t think I’d want to raise a child here. I like the idea of spending 3-6 months in a place, to get to know it, but then move on.
Also I didn’t know you were pregnant somehow?! Congrats!
Oh not pregnant! Just planning ahead for our future 😉
I grew up in Toronto and enjoyed growing up in a big city, so I think Vancouver will work for us when the time comes. But definitely love the idea of spending 3-6 months in a place. Will have to see where life takes us!
I loved getting a look at your thoughts on moving abroad! Travel is so much fun, but there is a solid feeling in coming back to the place you have the strongest connection to: home.
Thanks! Yes, I’m realizing the importance of home more and more these days.
I would love to live abroad again! It’s interesting to read your thought process and how you’re making these decisions. What an amazing opportunity you will have with the paternity leave. I’ve lived in both Victoria and Vancouver and, if you have the travel bug, Vancouver is definitely the better/more accessible option. Victoria is beautiful though and has a small town vibe that is nice for raising families 🙂
Thanks so much, Alison! Yes, I do wonder if Victoria would feel too small town and isolated for us. Good point to consider!
I’m the same as you. The next time I’ll live abroad is when I’m 70 too. Somewhere In France or Italy. The paternity leave idea is great, though may be hard to travel with a young baby. I found from 6 months it got easier.
Thanks so much, John! Yes, I don’t think we’d leave before six months as we’d want to get all the vaccines done, spend a bit of time with family, etc. Fingers crossed our baby travels well!
This is amazing! I’ve dreamed of living abroad, but like your family I have so many ties that keep us here. I dream to visit many places in my lifetime though.
Thanks, Brigit! I hope you get to travel lots once we safely can 🙂
After spending a month in Florence, I always wanted to live in Italy but, you know, life happened! Maybe one day, when our daughter has flown the nest. Lovely post, I hope you get to move abroad again some day, when it’s safe to do so 🙂
Ah living in Italy would be such a dream. Sounds like a great place to retire 😉
I completely understand and relate to your day dreaming. I’m you guys, just add a few decades. As an older and wiser version of your itch to travel and be somewhat nomads is, you never know what’s around the corner in terms of career opportunities or life changes. It’s hard once you had that taste of it.
Thanks, Renee! Yes, life has certainly been surprising up until now so I don’t think that will change. Will be exciting to see where it takes us!
Sounds like it would be exciting to live in another place even temporarily. But same as you, the thing that would hold me back is family. Really the time to do it is before kids. Our kids are so bonded with local family and it would be so hard for them to leave.
Thanks for your thoughts, Jennifer! Yes, can definitely see how it would be tough to go long-term after kids. Good point for me to think about.
The ten months you were able to spend in Prague will always be cherished, I’m sure! I’m sorry it was cut a bit short due to the pandemic. These sorts of moves and life adventures typically happen at random so you never know! You may be sipping coffee in Paris in 24 months! 🙂
Thanks, Kevin! Yes, our time in Prague was so special and we certainly cherish it. But would not say no to sipping coffee in Paris in two years 😉
I’ve thought about moving again at some point but for now I’m happy in Vancouver. We talked about retiring in Thailand or somewhere else, and I’d love to live in Europe again at some point, originally being from the UK. I always had a dream to live in Paris at least once. Loved this post!
Thanks so much, Emma! Happy to hear you’re at home here in Vancouver too.
How long is paternity leave in Canada? (Something you hardly ever hear about in the USA). DOn’t give up your dream to move abroad again. Colin could find a place to work in Australia or New Zealand. You never know! ANd looking around Canada is a good idea, too. We always forget that no matter where we live, there is still more to discover in our own country.
I believe the max you can take for parental leave in Canada is 18 months. It’s not your full salary, of course, but it is some and your job is guaranteed. So we’re very lucky to have that option. Thanks for the encouragement! I will admit, Australia did cross my mind the other day. Who knows where life will take us!
Ah I imagine it’s such a sad feeling knowing your year was cut short and you likely won’t get the chance again but I love the idea of a month somewhere new for a while when you’re on leave! I hope the future child travels well for you to be able to make that possible! x
Sophie
Thanks so much, Sophie! Haha fingers crossed our future kid is a great traveller!
I have never heard of the YMV but so glad I just did! We are planning on moving abroad in the next year or two and excited to have a solid thing to start my search for visas now. I am in the U.S. but it seems we have quite a bit fo YMV also (hopefully they are there after covid).
So glad I could introduce the YMV to you! Yes, I believe the US has ones with Ireland and Australia, and I’m sure a few others too. Canada actually has 30+ partnerships and I’m a bit sad it doesn’t look like we’ll be taking advantage of anymore before we hit the age cut off. Excited to hear about your moving abroad adventure as it unfolds!
Oh no! It is a bummer that you will not be living in Prague again. Hopefully the situation can improve so you can maybe move to an even better place. Even then, I am glad that you’re still looking at local options within the country. I actually liked that idea – I had considered on getting a rental in Hawaii and just working remotely there.
Thanks so much, Nancy! Ooo living in Hawaii would be awesome!
This is such a great post. Loved reading all about your thoughts on traveling abroad. I haven’t travelled much internationally at all so I love reading and learning through blog posts like this one!
Thanks so much, Charity! Hope you get to do some more travelling when it’s safe to do so.
I definitely relate to this – I spent a year living in China and it was an incredible experience, I adored it but also I really love Scotland and so don’t see myself living abroad again anytime soon (I say that, I’m going into teaching which is a very flexible career and so it means if I do want to move, I should have plenty of options).
I’m so glad you can relate. It seems like most people who live abroad do it on a longer term basis so it’s interesting to hear about people who just do it short term.
Sorry your year in Prague was cut short. It’s such a beautiful city. Even if you don’t live abroad again, you can always go on vacation!
Absolutely!
I wish I had two lives: one for just living and one for exploring. I definitely connected with this post. Travelling is great but I love having a place to come home to, one with friends and family. I’m so sorry your Prague trip got cut short, but I’m happy that you and Colin are moving into another chapter equally as exciting! As long as you two are happy with where you are and where you’re going, that’s what really matters.
Looking forward to the end of this pandemic and reading about your future travels. On the bright side, we’re 10 months closer to travelling again than we were back in March!
Thanks so much for reading the post and leaving such a sweet and thoughtful comment, Lilly! It means so much. Yes, can’t wait until we can travel again!
I love your idea of living abroad again for the maternity/paternity leave. That is genius!
We’ve been having similar thoughts. I’d like to stay in Canada a bit longer (and attempt to become Canadian…) but after that it would be nice to go back to the UK for a while to live closer to family. I also quite like the idea of moving to NZ for a bit.
If you ever fancy another year of living abroad (and if Colin doesn’t mind another career break to teach English…) You could try the JET program to live/work in Japan for a year. The program pays well and is set up to work well for people that fancy a career break (although it’s mostly aimed at people straight out of uni…) I have soooo many friends that did that. Just be aware, it may tempt you to stay longer as it’s such a fun place to live. 😉
Thanks so much! I hope these trips all work out.
I’ve heard of JET and a few of my friends have done it. I don’t think it’d quite work for us, as neither of us like the idea of teaching, but it’s such a great opportunity to live abroad. And living in Japan would be the coolest!