I had just finished my plumbing apprenticeship and had gained employment with a local firm where Barb worked as a clerk. Our relationship started out as purely friendship and developed into boyfriend/girlfriend after about six months. After a year together we decided to get our own house, well a rented house as neither of us was earning much back then. Two years after that we got married.

Our lives plodded along like most people’s and after six years of working for the same company I decided to start my own plumbing business. This ended up being one of the best decisions I made (apart from marrying Barb of course) as I was suddenly working the jobs I wanted, in the hours that suited me and was soon earning more money than before. After only eight months I was in a position to take on another plumber to help out, along with an apprentice.

It was at this point that we bought our first home together, having lived in rented accommodation until this time. We purchased a small town house in a reasonable area of Calgary, close to where my business was based. Barb decided she wanted to leave her employment and she came to work for me (or was I working for her?) She was a godsend as by now business was very buoyant which meant that I had little time for taking phone calls or doing paperwork. Barb effectively became my personal assistant, booking in all the jobs, allocating the work, doing the bookkeeping and generally keeping us three guys in order.

In 2002 we moved house again, this time to a bigger property in a better area of  Calgary. Business was booming and we now had five employees working for us. During 2003, what is now known as the Alberta boom started to impact our lives. At first it was a very positive thing as it meant that there was plenty of work for us and the business was going from strength to strength. We were having a hard time keeping up with the number of jobs coming our way. We took on two more plumbers and everything was great.

This upward trend carried into 2004 and basically anyone who was in the construction trades was doing pretty well for themselves, including us. In June 2004 we moved house once again. This time we moved to the edge of the city to a lovely four bedroom detached property with a pool. It was the biggest and nicest property either of us had ever lived in and we felt very proud of ourselves for achieving so much in a relatively short time.

In 2005 three of my plumbers were offered jobs in other towns, which were also seeing the effects of the boom. Although they said they preferred to stay working for me, the other companies were offering more money, as they were so short of workers. Although our business was going well, we could not afford to pay the wages that other larger companies were paying and so they left.

This was a very strange time as work was plentiful, but I only had half my workforce and trying to recruit new workers when they could basically name their price in other companies and locations was very difficult. During 2006, although the company was still making a good living and we had no major complaints we still considered ourselves failures for having downsized the business albeit against our control. We saw other similar companies also experiencing the same issues and it became a major problem in the area. There was tons of work everywhere but no one to do it.

In the summer of 2006 Barb was talking to one of our neighbours who was thinking of moving to British Columbia to be near her daughter. Her husband had died the previous year and she lived alone. She told Barb the quote she had been given for the value of her house and we were both stunned. Although both our properties differed slightly, they were very similar and so would be worth similar amounts. If this valuation was correct it would mean we had made a lot of money from our house even though we had only lived there two years.

This put the idea of downsizing into our heads to free up some equity. We even broached the subject of taking a vacation, which we had not done in years. Barb decided to get our house valued and it turned out to be worth even more than we anticipated. The realtor suggested that the prices were increasing almost hourly and that he would have no trouble selling it.

The next few weeks we had to sit down and decide what we wanted to do. I was fed up with working all the hours of the day and so was Barb. One of my plumbers had previously asked about buying my business and we had laughed it off at the time, but now we had to decide if this was what we wanted to do. Basically we could carry on as we were, working all hours, living in a nice house and earning good money but having no time to enjoy ourselves. Or, we could sell the business and the house and walk away with a lot of money and free time. The trouble was we were still quite young and so the money would not last forever and also the house prices were rising all the time so even a property like we owned five years ago would cost a small fortune now.

After many weeks of sole searching we came to the conclusion we would be able to afford a much better property for a much smaller outlay in another province. Alberta was getting too expensive to live in and we felt we would get much better value for money and lower living costs elsewhere. My sister, Marcy lived in London, Ontario and we had often visited her and thought the area nice, so we decided to see what type of property we could afford and whether I could set my business up there.

Marcy did a lot of legwork for us looking at the business side of things and basically found out that I should have no trouble setting up a business in the area. There also seemed to be plenty of work about, so we made the big decision to move to Ontario.

Over the next few months we got the business valued and made arrangements to have it transferred to one of my employees. We spent two weeks in London with Marcy and spent most of the time house hunting. We found a really nice property in a small subdivision on the northern side of town that we really loved. It was a little smaller than our home in Calgary, but was still big enough for our needs. It also had a pool which we had gotten used to so did not want to have to loose, so that was a bonus. We put in an offer, which after a little haggling was accepted.

After this we went back to Calgary to tie up everything there. Fortunately Marcy kept an eye on everything for us in London, including overseeing the house inspection and keeping in touch with the realtor.

Our house went on the market in Calgary and amazingly we sold it within a week for more than the market valuation. In the end three parties wanted it so they ended up bartering between themselves and the price went up which was great news for us. The people that secured the house had already sold theirs and so they wanted a completion in three weeks. Although we would not be getting our London house for three weeks after this date we decided to accept this and Marcy said we could stay with her in the meantime.

We arrived in Toronto and Marcy collected us from the airport, we were now officially Ontarians. As arranged we stayed with Marcy whilst we waited for our house to complete and for one week after so that we could do some decorating before moving in for good. We spent our first night in our new house in October 2006.

We decided that we would not do anything regarding the business until after Christmas and so spent a couple of months getting used to the area. It is very flat around here compared to Calgary where we could see mountains in the distance. This took quite a lot of getting used to, there just isn’t any scenery here and not so many winter sports. We both love skiing and were used to driving a short distance to many different ski areas, but here we have to travel longer to find them. The fact that we are only a short distance to either Lake Huron or Lake Eire is really nice. There are quite a few really nice beeches about and so our summer activities have increased.

In 2007 I finally set up my business again and started off as just myself and Barb as my right-hand-woman. The equity we released from the sale of the Calgary house and business has been invested for our retirement, apart from some we kept back to live on and have holidays with.

In February 2009 we went back to Alberta for a skiing trip and Marcy and her partner Pete came with us. We had a great time but were not too disappointed to leave, so felt content that we had made the right decision to move.

In late 2010 we had our first child, Sarah, who was a bit of a surprise as we hadn’t actually planned to have children, but once we knew she was on the way we were really pleased.

As I write this Barb is pregnant with our second child. We don’t know the sex and don’t want to know until the birth, but a boy would be nice. I don’t think we are planning any more children after this one, but as we have found out, you never can tell what is in the future.

My business is doing well and I have one other person working for me. I could expand, but we decided a couple of years ago not to do that again and to stay smaller. We now seem to have the work-life balance about right. In Calgary it was all work and no time to have fun, but here life is more relaxed.

All in all we are very happy with our new house and new location. If we could throw in a few mountains it would be the icing on the cake, but you can’t have everything in life, can you? I feel much more relaxed in my work, although in Calgary I had lots of work and was earning more money, I didn’t realize how stressed out I had become until it all stopped.

I think our story proves that things can be just as frantic and frightening moving from one side of the country to another as moving from overseas. We were lucky to have Marcy to help us, I really feel for people who move to Canada and don’t know anyone, it must be really hard.

Back in 2002 the couple, then both in their early thirties moved to Canada as permanent residents. As they had had to wait a couple of years for visa approval they had done a good deal of research including two trips to Vancouver.

“We really loved the vibe of Vancouver,” says Cheryl, “everything about the city was wonderful to us and we decided that this would be out chosen destination. We had made a good amount of money from the sale of our London home and felt that money invested into property in Vancouver would be well spent, despite the high prices.”

During the summer of 2002 they moved to Vancouver

So in the summer of 2002 they moved to Vancouver and employed a Realtor to find them a property whist staying initially in a hotel. “We really needed to find somewhere to live as staying in the hotel was quite costly, even though I had accrued a lot of free nights with my loyalty card.” says Jimmy. In his work as a salesman in the UK he travelled extensively and made sure he had lots of hotel points before making the move to Vancouver.

In the end it took them three weeks to find a suitable property and another eight weeks before they could move in. “Our furniture and personal effects from the UK had arrived a  week after us and had been in storage, so it was nice to finally move into a home and have our belongings again.” says Cheryl.

They continued their lives and Jimmy found a job as a salesman, a very similar job to the one he had in London but this time covering southern British Columbia and Alberta. “The pay was not as good as I had been earning before, but our living expenses were lower, so it evened itself out. Also once Cheryl got a job things were going okay.”

“I got a job as a bookkeeper for a local company.” says Cheryl with a look of distaste on her face. “I had been an accountant in London on very good money and both the job and the money were a letdown, but I figured any job was better than nothing. I kept looking for other more suitable jobs whilst I was there.”

The couple had a passion for outdoor activities and all their spare time was spent either mountain biking, skiing or hiking. “We loved the fact that just a short journey from our home we could explore vast countryside, mountains and even beaches. Just about everything we wanted was nearby.” says Jimmy.

As part of his job Jimmy travelled around both BC and Alberta and in the summer of 2003 took Cheryl to one of his business locations – Calgary. “I had often travelled to Calgary and really liked the city. It was similar in some ways to Vancouver with the mountain backdrop but so different in many others. We spent five days in the city then travelled to Edmonton because Cheryl wanted to shop at the famous Edmonton Mall.”

“Oh my gosh,” exclaims Cheryl at the mention of this mall, “I have never been to anywhere quite like it. No one would describe me as a shopaholic. At best I am a “know what I want and run in and get it” kind of shopper, but this place blew me away. We spent about six hours walking around the mall and I still don’t think we covered it all. There is a theme park, ice rink and swimming pool in the middle of it, can you believe it? I had the most fun I had ever had shopping there.”

Unfortunately real life stepped in and the couple headed back to Vancouver living their lives as normal. By now property prices had risen again and the couple realized they could sell their home and make a decent profit. The trouble was all property in Vancouver had risen so the property they would purchase would also have risen. This led them to consider moving to another location that was cheaper, allowing them to sell for a profit and buy at a lower cost giving them financial security for a year or two. The questions was where?

Jimmy continues the story. “We looked around the Vancouver area but realized we could never afford the type of property we really wanted for a life-long home. We then looked outside Vancouver and still could not decide on the best place to live. So then we decided to look much further afield, even to another province. We spent hours on the Internet researching: It was like moving to Canada all over again”

Eventually in early 2004 they decided to move to Calgary, but to rent rather than buy, at least at first. “Housing prices were high but not as high as Vancouver, and Calgary still had many of the things we loved about Vancouver.” says Jimmy. “There was lots of outdoor activities and we could still mountain bike and hike nearby. I was able to continue with my existing job, but this time work from the Calgary office and Cheryl found an accountancy job she enjoyed in the city.”

But one thing the couple did not fully take into account was the weather

But one thing the couple did not fully take into account was the weather. “Our first winter was brutal for us.” says Cheryl. “By then we were both working in the city and lived on the outskirts and sometimes there were several feet of snow on the ground. We just weren’t used to that and didn’t really like it. In Vancouver we had gotten used to the rain, but could still carry on with life as normal. But in Calgary we could not go out on our bikes for several months of the year and even decent skiing was a couple of hours away. After about eight months we felt we had made a terrible mistake and started to look at moving again.”

It was around this time that Cheryl saw a job advertised within her company for an accountant in one of the Ontario locations. “The job was in London,” she says, “which was quite ironic as this was where we had lived in the UK. The job was for an accountancy position paying good money and so I decided to pursue it. Fortunately I did not have to visit London for the interview, instead I was interviewed via video conference from our Calgary office. After three weeks waiting I found out I had been offered the job and could start in a month.”

The timing was good for them because it coincided with their rental agreement ending and so after careful consideration decided to move to London, Ontario in July 2005. Jimmy gave in his notice and plans for the move were underway. “This was a much bigger move that the one from Vancouver to Calgary,” says Cheryl, “We had to have all our possessions shipped, but fortunately my company helped with the logistics and some of the costs. They also put us in touch with a rental agency to find temporary accommodation.”

So that summer they stepped foot for the first time ever in Ontario, landing in Toronto and spending a couple of days there before moving onto London and their new rental home. “Our new house was the largest place we had ever lived in, it even had a swimming pool in the garden.” says Jimmy. “We had a rental agreement for six months with the option to extend, but as Cheryl loved her job almost the instant she started we decided to look for a property to buy and set down some roots.”

They found that their dollars went a lot further here than either Vancouver or Calgary and instead of looking for small, two-bedroom town houses were looking at large four-bedroom properties with pools and basements. They soon found a property in a sub-division in the north of London and moved in just before their rental term ended. Jimmy also found a job he enjoyed during this time and so for the first time since moving to Canada the couple were enjoying their jobs and their home life.

“I really liked London,” says Cheryl, “we were very close to two malls and had ample grocery stores and other amenities so it worked very well for us. We did find the local countryside to be a little flat and certainly couldn’t truly mountain bike around here, but we liked to drive to the lakeside either to the north or south and cycle along the coastline. We were also told that there were many skiing opportunities nearby so looked forward to the winter months.”

Indeed the couple did find that London suited them very well. Both had good jobs they enjoyed, they had a nice house that they could call home and the location suited their needs, so a perfect end to their story? Well, no not quite.

After living there for three years Jimmy was offered a promotion which would include more money and more perks but there was a catch: It was in Ottawa. “We had visited Ottawa a couple of times since living in Ontario,” says Jimmy, “and we liked it. The job really was a great opportunity, but it was a big decision to make. Cheryl really didn’t want to move again and by doing so she would be out of a job, but my extra income from the promotion would almost make up for her salary. In the end we decided to go for it.”

So one again in 2008 the couple were on the move yet again. It was a tearful goodbye this time as they had settled far better in London than any other place. After a farewell party held by neighbours they moved to Ottawa, having not yet secured a sale of their London home which happened a few months later.

To cut a long story short, or at least a little shorter, they have been now been in Ottawa for two years and are looking to move again as they have never felt truly at home. They plan to move back to London, Ontario and as soon as the winter months are over will put their house on the market and sell. Fortunately Jimmy will be able to transfer his job and so will still have the security of good income coming in and a job he enjoys. Cheryl never really liked her job in Ottawa and so will be looking for employment once there.

“I will contact the company I used to work for,” she says, “but I doubt that it will work out that easily, but you never know. Now that we have made the decision to go back to London I feel much better as I never settled in Ottawa. As soon as we sell we can move because Jimmy can move between the two jobs with very little notice. Hopefully this time we will settle there for good as I really want to stop all this moving around. It gets very stressful.” she giggles.