Homeward Bound

One of the biggest things Susan, Daniel and I are facing this year is a big move back to Scotland. We are currently going through about a mile of red tape, mainly with Susan’s visa, I have already applied for my son’s British passport which we should have next week. Once I have his passport I will start the application for my wife’s settlement visa.

We are aiming for June/July 2009.

The settlement visa I have heard is a long slow process so better to start sooner or later. We need to wait for Daniel’s passport as we had to mail all our original documents for this; passports, birth certificates, marriage certificate and my change of name document (yep that’s right I was formerly Andrew Logue before I took my mum’s maiden name Scott).

The main reason for this move? Well, my health for one!

Coming in at number one is my hip, of course. Basically I am waiting and believing for a miracle! But I need to get my weight down as quickly as I can, because the excess weight on my hip is speeding up the process to a plastic hip.

Second on the cards is my lower back, again a weight related problem. I take caution in everything I do, the slightest mistake I make in bending over will result in a week in bed, a week I cannot afford.

And thirdly, my pet peptic ulcer. I say pet because I have been trying to get rid of the little bugger for the last 8-9 years without success.

If I was to stay in Indonesia with the salary I’m on (even with a 100% increase) I would not be able to afford the medical attention that I need, while in the UK, I’ll be able to have this all done on the NHS for free!

So it’s a no brainer choice to be going home.

This will also have benefits for Daniel as he reaches schooling age, as he’d receive a better education in the UK.

This is a big thing for us all; Susan will have culture and a new language on her 24/7, and I’ve lived in Indonesia for almost 6 years now and will need to get back into Western culture.

Well that’s that folks, I’ll keep you up to date with the going on’s of our move.

Comment by David on February 15, 2009 at 9:34am: Good luck Andrew, as I agree with you that health and family come first.

Comment by Lisa Newton on February 15, 2009 at 8:53pm: I hope all the planning goes well. I know visa can be a little tricky with all the i's dotted and t's crossed. I wish you good luck and the best. I agree with David, health and family come first...................:)

Comment by Andrew Scott on February 15, 2009 at 10:24pm: Thanks guys for your encouraging comments. It was a big decision to make as we love living here, but Daniel coming first we need to make that move sooner rather than later.

We are very optimistic (despite the current world economy) and have also some business ideas up our sleeves, here's a sneak peek; http://thehumanframe.co.uk, but more on that coming soon :-)