Well i thought about Canada a couple of years ago, but the missus decided she didnt want to go at the last minute. But now things have changed. Were still happily married but my job situation is pretty bad. Got laid off in Feb and havent started anywhere else. So we have had a big chat and decided i should go on my own for 6 months with the wife coming over a few times on holiday to see if she will like it, if she does then we stay if not i will come home when work picks up in the UK.
Thanks to a few of the guys on here who have been very helpful with lots of info both a couple of years ago and recently. What i am now looking for is a company that will not only pay the flights but will pay for my licence as well. I can show the ÂŁ5000 needed for immigration but other than that funds are pretty tight.
BFS have been mentioned, and yeah although they have a pretty bad rap apparently they will pay for both. So any other suggestions? Looking to do big miles and would love those miles to be in America
The only other thing i was a bit worried about, is a police caution i got when i was 17 for nicking petrol out of someones car when we ran out in the middle of nowhere that was 17 years ago so i am hoping it wont affect anything.
Not fussed where in Canada i am based as i plan on living in the truck, but i wouldnt mind if it was reasonably near a big city, because my wife is Thai so i will be looking for somewhere that has a Thai community.
did i read right? you want a company to pay your flight and your test etc. but you might only stay for six months!
donât you think thatâs a bit of a cheek? or would you pay them back, or complain if they take it from your last paycheck?
STEVE OWEN:
did i read right? you want a company to pay your flight and your test etc. but you might only stay for six months!
donât you think thatâs a bit of a cheek? or would you pay them back, or complain if they take it from your last paycheck?
sorry I probably didnât word that right. I would be staying in Canada until work picked up in the uk which would be a couple of years. But I am hoping that the wife will like it and decide to stay after a few trips in the first six months. If she doesnât and I decide to come back I wouldnât have any complaints paying back any money that I still owed. Itâs just right now funds are a bit tight and I could pay for the flights and test as well as showing 5 grand to satisfy immigration but I wanted to keep hold of that cash as an emergancy fund. Now obviously if I was to come back because the wife didnât like it I would use that money to pay back anything I owed.
I donât think I will want to come back but I am a bit worried the wife wonât like it, but Iâm sure once she gets out there she will decide she likes it as well, which is why I am looking to move somewhere where there is a Thai community, so she wonât miss out on her Thai foods and Thai conversation. Even after 9 years of marriage she still complains about how cold it is in the uk. So who knows what she will think of Canadian winters!!
Living in your truck would be easy here. Some drivers already do that and many guys stay out for weeks anyway. Nearly all truckstops have coin operated laundry facilities and showers are free with soap and towels provided everywhere except some of the cardlock fuelling sites in Canada.
Its good that you want to do big miles as you will almost certainly have to achieve 5,000 - 6,000 kms a week to make a good living. That is something to give serious consideration to while you are thinking things over. Remember, over here its a case of no miles - no money.
If you are the kind of person who loves truck driving anyway then you will not mind and probably find the miles come easier here than in the UK as the speeds are much higher and the roads generally much less congested.
However if you are the kind of person who can take or leave truck driving and considers that you work to live and not live to work then there is a good chance that the novelty will very soon wear thin. If this was to happen you would soon get very disillusioned with your situation especially as you would be spending your entire life in your truck.
In short, we all spend a couple of weeks away at a time but there is a difference between having something to look forwards to at the end of a trip and what you are proposing to do.
Remember you would have no status in Canada to do any other kind of job.
Also you say that your wife is not keen and that you hope to convince her when she visits you but what do you imagine she will find attractive about the situation you will be showing her? To be honest the life here is very hard and quite lonely for the wives and families of new immigrants. Where we are very occupied getting the miles they have much more time to dwell on what they have left behind. This is especially true in the prairie provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba where the winters bring months of sub zero temeratures with no chance of respite till at least spring.
I have witnessed even the most enthusiastic of wives get disheartened with their husbands being away so much and leaving them behind at âhomeâ in a strange country without their families and friends to turn to. How much harder would it be for them if they had not particularly wanted to come in the first place?
Please do not think that i am deliberatly negative because i am not and i think you would have the same chance of making it work as anyone else. I am just urging you to consider everything carefully and not let your present situation in the UK lead you to make rash decisions.
For my part i have been here nearly 3 years and together with my wife and 3 kids am very happy but i would not be being fair with you if i didnât tell you that it has been tough at times. At times my wife has found it very hard going and she started off wanting to do it more than me even.
In any case, i wish you good luck with your plans what ever you do in the end.
Thanks wire that was a great post. I am already used to doing weeks away at a time, but I can certainly see your point about looking forward to getting home, and maybe renting somewhere might be an option.
As for the wife, well she never wanted to come to the uk, but after 2 years in Thailand I needed to come back as my funds were running low, she came with me reluctantly and for the first 6 months hated it but she percivered and she now likes it in the uk.
The problem I have is convincing her to try new things, things I know she will like but never tried. Thatâs why I am going on my own and she will come on holiday. Yeah it might not work out but you never know unless you try
were going to face our first test, Iâve accepted a job on the rock and roll tours for the summer, so we will see how we cope with me being away months instead of weeks.
daleyboy:
âŚYeah it might not work out but you never know unless you try âŚ
Exactly mate, itâs only a flight away. If it does go boobies up then just jump on a plane back to Blighty! Better to give it a go and it not work out than never go and spend your life wondering what might have beenâŚ
Take on board the sound advice from the guys in the know (wire, newmercman etcâŚ) and youâll be right.
but my job situation is pretty bad. Got laid off in Feb and havent started anywhere else. So we have had a big chat and decided i should go on my own for 6 months with the wife coming over a few times on holiday to see if she will like it, if she does then we stay if not i will come home when work picks up in the UK.
that was 17 years ago so i am hoping it wont affect anything.
