The other side of the Scottish postcard

It's an interesting experience to live abroad, but you stay away from your family and friends. Also, it's more complicated to raise your kids when the closest people to you can't help you.

Good question! I'm from The Netherlands and moved to Scotland about 2,5 years ago and I love it here. Scotland really is like the prettiest postcard you can find: beautiful beaches, scenic lochs, rolling hills, steep cliffs and the uniqueness of the islands and Higlands give you the feeling of being a tourist, no matter how often you have seen them. The fresh air, the salty wind on the beach and the wonderful products at local farmers markets: LOVE IT.

Now, having said that....  Of course moving abroad brings challenges, and no matter how well you've prepared for the move,there will always be things that turn out differently than expected, and there will be things that catch you by surprise.

Of course there are some things that you prepare for: like missing friends and family. I prepared for it, but miss them nevertheless. I guess that's only natural (and a good thing too).
Making new ' friends'  isn't always easy; and I realize that this is probably because of my own circumstances: I work from home, we don't have any children so we don't meet people through school, and my work requires me often to work at odd hours, and therefore it isn't easy to join a club or something. 
As a new person in a new country you also have to be patient to get through the bureaucracy of getting a bank account, insurance and registered for health care, etc.  (typical in our case: to be able to rent a house we needed a bank account. To get a bank account we needed  proof of address in this country :-)

Then there are some of the oddities that you'll have to get used to when moving abroad. For example: I was getting my weekend groceries on a Friday morning, and had some beer or wine in my trolley. At the checkout I was told that I was not allowed to buy alcohol before 10.00 in the morning (or after 10pm for that matter)! That's a law in Scotland! I felt slightly embarrassed when everyone looked at me as if I were the local alcoholic who couldn't wait until 10 and needed his shot NOW! 
Another thing that confuses me to no end is that they seem to call a lot of food/drink related activities "tea".  I'm still figuring this one out. Tea can be having a drink in the afternoon (tea for example), it can be what I would call "dinner", or  a snack in between. I think. I'm still not sure :-)
Of course in Scotland, some people speak with very strong accents. Now you can only ask politely "sorry?" a couple of times before nodding in a friendly manner and say something affirmative and hope that was the correct response. :-)

Also,  everything in the first months is fantastic and pleasant and new. For example simple things like getting groceries is great; look at all those new products! Even things that might have gotten you frustrated back home are handled with ease and are interesting. Once that time is over, and I guess this time is different for everyone, you might experience that things aren't always much different compared to your home country and that some things might start to get to you. (Groceries? What, again? They have these tiny parking spaces, and don't even have my favorite brand of chewing gum!) Once you get through this period, you'll be alright :-)

Anyway, I didn't encounter anything that made me regret my decision to move to Scotland. I wouldn't want to have missed the experience of moving to a different country; speak in a different language and figuring new things out. I have the option to see the most beautiful scenery right on our doorstep or a bit further away when we feel like it.
I truly feel that it makes me richer as a person.

I realize that I am lucky to be able to do this, and am proud of myself and my wife that we had the guts to DO it. Many people talk about moving abroad but never realize their dream. Of course everyone has to think things through and do sufficient and honest research. I say 'honest' because it is easy to look at all available information with 'dangerous' optimism, only to find out after a while that things aren't as rosy as you expected them to be. Be honest and decide whether moving abroad is something for you. Be honest about your chances of a job, be prepared, do research, make sure you have some money for unexpected events, ask questions to people who've made the step already, and you will be fine!

(okay, some of this might have gone a little out of scope of the subject here, but hey. You got me started... ;-)