How I did it: Immigrating abroad was not really my own choice - I was fairly young at the time, in fact I'm still fairly young now, and it was my parents who made the decision to immigrate.

It all happened very quickly, we went on holiday to the country where my parents wanted to live - we were there for a month, and within that month found an affordable house, went back to the UK, sold our house as quickly as we could and moved abroad within 3 months.

At first it was a bit of a culture shock. Being as shy as I am, I pined for my friends back "home" and whilst I was friendly and amicable to the new people I met, I was not open to making new friends, and as a result, I was here for at least 6 months before I made any real friends.

It was hard to say goodbye to everything I had known before, but the move was rewarding. Since settling in I have fallen in love with this country and now call it home. The people are so welcoming, the lifestyle so rich and the weather so constantly pleasant that I could never imagine moving back to the UK.

Lessons & tips: Moving abroad, especially within Europe, you may find that things are done a lot more slowly and less efficiently than you are used to. However you will learn to embrace this relaxed outlook on life - of course, things do not have to be done RIGHT AWAY!

Nov 25, 2010, 02:02PM PST | 0 comments | 5 cheers