What If I Had Never Left England?

On my "Expat Life with a Double Buggy" blog I published a post which pondered how different life would have been for my three boys had they been born and raised so far in England, instead of the Netherlands. It got me thinking about myself.....

What would my life look like now if I had not moved to the Netherlands in 2000?

I am pretty sure I wouldn't have taken the plunge into a writing career. I can imagine I would be plodding along in a Human Resources career in an office environment that sucked the life out of me. Becoming an expat gave me an angle and an inspiration to write that life in Watford just didn't give me. That aside, a move to England would have mean retraining for my husband and a serious career set back for him so money not passion would have been my number one concern for many years.

Harry the Hornet - The Watford Footcall Club Mascot
Photo: Watford Ladies FC

Talking of Watford, one thing I would still be doing had I stayed there is sitting every other week with thousands of others in Vicarage Road, home of the mighty (cough) Hornets. That's Watford football club to those unfamiliar with the red and yellow of the 'Orns...... I was a season ticket holder for a looooooong time and it was a wrench to give that up!

Where would I be living now had my husband and I decided that life in England was the way forward and he had moved there instead of me making the move across the North Sea? A question I can't even imagine to answer! Back to a place I grew up in like Rickmansworth or Croxley Green? Near where my dad now lives? It would have to be within the catchment area of the school we wanted our boys to attend.....

My social life would certainly have been richer (it's no secret that getting friendly with the locals in the Netherlands is a challenge in itself) over the last decade. The relationship with my mother may not have crumbled had I stayed living nearby. I would certainly have seen my extended family, particularly my wonderful grandparents, more often than now.

The big things in life would be so different to now - but the little things too.

I would still be consuming Guinness in the family orientated pubs that grace British high streets. Eating Indian meals would have remained a regular pastime and fish and chip suppers would have been commonplace. I would probably still be consuming Nik Nak and Wheat Crunchies crisps (do they still exist?).

I wouldn't be able to utter a word of Dutch.

I would have probably been driving a car around the English roads without a shred of fear (a blog post to come about this real soon).

Any new TV may have been purchased in the local supermarket instead of online or the local electronics shop. I would be buying my hair gel in the local Superdrug or Boots (my jaw just dropped when I googled Boots a Dutch site appeared..... online Boots for the Netherlands and a chemist in the Hague??!!! How did that happen without my knowledge?) and my magazines from WH Smiths (where in a former life I did a stint working on the pen counter).

Who know's how life would have looked but once thing is for sure - it would all look so different to life now!!

How would your life look now if you had not moved abroad?