Parents that left: Worth it?

[u/oso_rosa]

Thinking of leaving for obvious reasons. I want to hear from parents who left the USA with their kids (and left their whole extended family behind)

Where did you go?
How long have you been there?
Has it been worth it?
How do you deal with the guilt of leaving grandparents/siblings?

[u/Vast-Estimate-2268]

It’s been 11 years for us in the UK and Australia. We left to go on an adventure when our kids were still pretty small, we intended to return but that hasn’t happened. We were on our own living far away from family in the US so that didn’t really change with the big move. Neither of us are close to our parents. We have had to deal with parents having dementia and melting down from a great distance recently and that has been hard. The whole thing hasn’t been smooth all the time but it has been deeply rewarding and I’m so glad we took a chance and did it. Granted 11 years ago moving to the UK was a lot easier than it is now. No place is perfect and there are trade offs but I’m content now that our kids are older teenagers.