Dream it DO IT

Ever wanted to live somewhere different? These three women reveal how challenging - and rewarding - a big move can be

- SHARON WRIGHT, BOBBY TWIDALE, MEG CLOTHIER.

Bobby Twidale, 57, and her husband Marcus, 58, from Melton Mowbray in Leicestershire, had the opportunity to move to Minneapolis, Minnesota.

"If we don't say "yes" now, they won't ask twice - and we'll always wonder, "what if?" That's what I said to my husband Marcus when he told me about the three-year job he had been offered in the USA. It wasn't the answer he expected.

No one would ever have described me as a risk-taker. In spring 2021, with the pandemic still raging, I had just completed a master's degree after 30 years as a teacher. Our sons Isaac, 28, and Gus, 26, were building careers. They wouldn't be coming with us. We would also leave behind our ageing parents, so the wrench would be tough. But it was a definite 'yes' from me. Marcus was promoted to be the president of a leading fishing supplies company after working at a UK brand within the same group. It was a great move because it's a hugely popular sport in the US. We visited in November 2021 for three days, and found and purchased a house. This was a massive leap of faith - I wasn't sure if I would be allowed to work. It wasn't an automatic right when we applied for the visa but a month before we arrived, the rules changed and my right to work was the same as Marcus', meaning my new career as a freelance journalist could continue.

We arrived in snowy Minneapolis in March 2022. The goodbyes had been hard - there are still tears every time I leave my boys - and when my best friend of 50 years visited last summer, we hugged and cried uncontrollably at the airport. But the locals, whose warmth is in sharp contrast to the brutal Minnesota winter, quickly embraced us. Still, when on the third night in our new home, Marcus away on business, my phone lit up with a tornado warning and I found myself sheltering alone in the basement, I did question the sanity of our decision.