Diary

We duly told everyone of our plans, but they had a while to get used to the news. To be exact, the whole process took a little under four years. This included important letters going astray, and finally having to undergo a medical. This had to be done by a doctor on the Canadian Government recommended list. It was actually pretty basic stuff; we had to have a chest x-ray and had to give a blood sample. The husband distinguished himself by passing out on the doctors carpet. He left the surgery looking a little green around the gills.

The next hurdle was the sale of the house; the market had just gone down the toilet, and it was touch and go as to whether it was worth our while coming over. Its important to take the exchange rates into consideration, as well as all the costs of moving. Its very expensive to ship everything over as you are not allowed to pack anything; it has to be done by the removal firm so that they can produce a manifest for customs.

We had been told by friends who had already emigrated to Vancouver to 'bring everything', so we did. Even after a few weeks of selling all our electrical items on that very well known online auction house, we still had enough to fill a 40ft container. It would take the removal men three days to pack the house and load the container.

The day finally arrived, and three cheery men arrived to pack. I was a bit concerned about having other people pack for me, but I needn't have worried because they approached the job in hand in a thoroughly professional manner, with one of them wearing my old straw gardening hat while another danced around with one of my teddy bears. I have rather a large collection of bears; the husband calls them an 'infestation' which seems a little harsh. I just hoped that they managed to emigrate safely too. They were very hard workers, and soon there were boxes everywhere and furniture began to disappear under layers of protective wrap.

Its an odd feeling to wave off all your worldly possessions, not knowing where exactly you will be when you see them again. By this stage I had given up work, so I was unemployed, we were homeless with no keys of our own. The next few days passed in a blur, we had exchanged email addresses and promised to buy somewhere big enough for everyone to visit, and now we were at Heathrow, about to wave goodbye...