Three expats discuss why they can't afford to move home. One Colombian who left Canada seven years ago now fears she couldn't survive a month back without a food bank. Another worries about raising kids in North America's rising cost of living.
I'm Colombian, but I grew up in Canada. I wanted to come back and live here as an adult as a fun experience for like a year or so, but we've been here almost 7 now. I didn't sign up to come here forever.
If you were to move back to Canada tomorrow, would you be able to afford it? I mean, we could get there. I don't know if we'd survive a month without like the food bank.
I feel like everything in North America has gotten more expensive. Thinking of going back, suddenly it feels like a big leap.
Why is this question about moving back to Canada coming up now?
My financial situation kind of changed recently, then I feel like this desperation of, oh, I need to go find something else.
I mean, I can understand it. When things get hard, sometimes you just want to say like, I want to go home.
Yeah.
I don't want my kids to have the same life that I had where, you know, like I did a few things but later found out it was all my grandparents. I don't want to be 70 and working.
As you sit here and think about the numbers, what does it feel like to you?
I mean, the first word that comes to mind is hopeless. If I've gotta put more than that away, I don't know how to do that without basically just living for retirement and forgetting how to live my life right now.
