All about me

Well not all about me obviously, this is the internet.

Vegemitevix

Vegemitevix

I moved with my three kids, my dog, cat, a guitar and twenty boxes of books, from New Zealand to North Hampshire in the UK in August 2008. Why in God’s name did I swap beautiful beaches for Blighty, pavlova for pork pies and sand, surf,sun for …. snow… and sleet…

You’d be surprised how often I’m asked that question, but in truth, I did it for lots of reasons – work opportunities, opportunities for my kids, but mainly for the love of my Englishman this crazy man I met and fell in love with in Paris in June 2007.

This is the story of our experiences, of our brave adventure. Sometimes they’re funny, sometimes they’re sad, but always – at least I hope so – meaningful.

This is our story about how to really live – wet-paint-on-your-fingers-live – in another country as an expat, a long way from the places, the people and the land you call home.

Contact Me

If you’d like to get in touch, I’d love to hear from you.  Either leave a message on this page, or follow me on Twitter @vegemitevix or email vix@vegemitevix.com

  • http://newdaynewlesson.wordpress.com/ Susie

    Congrats on your new page. Btw can't find an email to contact you anywhere on here. On purpose?

    Don't know what it is I just did, but on the right hand bottom of the your page there was a register button. Clicked , logged in and seems like I was then on a dashboard for wordpress but not mine. Any ideas?

    Also wanted to tell you switched my home page around so the link to my page is back to:
    http://newdaynewlesson.wordpress.com/

    will update your link in mine as well.

  • hadavis1966

    I came to England in 1991 from NY. All for the love of a man. I often wonder why I swapped it all. But hey I've been hear awhile now and consider myself an anglophile. Thing is I still sound like a yank so everyone treats me like one. I look forward to keeping with up with your blog.

  • vegemitevix

    Hi there! Thanks for tuning into my blog, it's great having you here. I think there are a few of us who've given up our homes to follow our men! I'd love to go to New York, have been only to the west coast, Utah and Nevada. Next stop the big Apple!

  • Jonathan

    Hi,

    We invite you to be a part of the BETA launch of The Travelpad.

    http://www.thetravelpad.com/betalaunch

    Look forward to hearing from you.

  • Anonymous

    Hi there, wow how are you finding life in London after Aussie? It is a change that’s for sure. Drop me an email at vix@vegemitevix.com and we can have a chat. Or jump into Twitter and follow me!

  • http://twitter.com/helloitsgemma Gemma Mathieson

    hi, I found you via Moments of Whimsey – 40 follow (I’m of a similar vintage so it is a self indulgent interest), and have tracked down your blog which I have very much enjoyed. Thank you. I will be popping back.

    • Anonymous

      Hi Gemma, not sure why I haven’t noticed these posts on this page and responded to them! It’s great to virtually meet you, and I hope you are still popping back as I do blog quite frequently. I’m in the throes of putting up a Vegemitevix Like’s page and a few other goodies. Cate at Moments of Whimsy is a great pal of mine – any friend of hers is a friend of mine! Vix xx

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  • http://www.marymcandrew.com Mary McAndrew

    Hi I too fell in love with a crazy and funny Englishman and dream of living with him in the UK someday. It’s so sad to be apart for 6 months at a time. I’m due to go back this Spring but worried about being turned away at the border because they gave me a hard time before, they said because I stayed for 4 months last time and want to stay 6 months this time then I must be setting up residence!!
    Any advice about getting married there in UK? Can I just go with no visa and we legally get married while I’m there? I heard if I have some kind of visa they may not allow it. We’re not ready to jump into marriage yet.
    Great blog, I hope to read lots of your posts. I have posts on my blog about my painting in Northumberland and the Lake District.
    thanks! Mary

    • Anonymous

      Hi Mary, sorry it’s taken me so long to get back to you! The whole immigration thing is a complete nightmare! My experience was horrible and culminated in an appearance at the Immigration and Asylum Tribunal Hearing. We won the case and I was granted Leave to Remain. My understanding is that if you want to come here to get married you have to actually apply for a visa for that purpose…it’s something like a prospective spousal visa or something. If you are here you cannot move from a visitor’s visa to a spousal Leave to Remain status, and that is the only way to go. Otherwise you run the risk of deportation or expensive legal wrangling. The best thing to do is to go to the UK Border Agency page and read through their details. It changes all the time so you literally need to keep in touch with that page. I wouldn’t recommend you go to an immigration lawyer. We had three in the end and only one of the three was actually useful, the others just cost us money. Hope you can find your way through the mire… Vix xx

  • Catlover

    Nice to dicover you, Vixi. I shall try to connect with Twitter to read your blog. As an older woman suddenly single and not knowing what to do! I appreciate tips…support… not feeling completely alone!

    • Anonymous

      Hi Catlover, great to meet you virtually online. Becoming suddenly single is
      so different, there’s so much loss to try and get your head around, but
      saying that I’ve learnt that there are some wonderful opportunities too.
      When I first became single (even though it was my decision), I grieved, but
      after a while I realised that it provided me with a chance to rediscover who
      ‘Vix’ is without the definitions of wife, mother, career woman etc. Now
      happily married I sometimes even look back on that difficult period of my
      life and realise that in the midst of all that pain there were gifts too. In
      NZ we like to exhort using the Maori phrase – Kia Kaha – which simply means
      - stay strong. Vx

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