By Emily Parker,Swnsemily Phillips emily Phillips,SWNSEmilyPhillips Emily Phillips
Copyright manchestereveningnews
A couple who moved to Zimbabwe with their children to try and find a better work life balance say they have now found their new home and are unlikely to return to the UK. Natalie Furk, 35, and her husband, James, 37, felt they were “working to survive” in the UK and so decided to make the move to Zimbabwe in March 2024, to live in James’ childhood home, with their two children, Isabella, nine, and Harvey, seven. Despite Natalie’s bakery business taking off during the pandemic, she found it left her working 18 hours every day, with James also working a full-time job in the automotive industry. After living in Harare, Zimbabwe for 18 months, the couple say they have now “settled in” and found a “better standard of living” than they would have in the UK. Never miss a story with the MEN’s daily Catch Up newsletter – get it in your inbox by signing up here Natalie, a content creator, originally from Leicester, said: “With James’ job and my business it was just so busy and we had no time with the kids. “All we were doing was surviving. I just knew if we moved to Zimbabwe everything would change. “We just got home one day from the unit where I worked – it had been a stressful day – and I just looked across at my husband and said ‘what are we doing?’.” The couple sold their four-bed house in Ringstead, Northamptonshire for £500,000 in December 2023 before packing up their belongings to send 5,000 miles away in a 40-foot shipping container to their new home in southern Africa. The family moved into a home owned by James’ mum, Lynn, 67, and built an annex adjoining the building where she now stays. James continues to work remotely in the same job he had in the UK and only has to travel back four times per year. Now Natalie and James say they are able to send their children to private school for £8,750 each per year, alongside paying staff to clean, garden and cook for them. In comparison to paying around £70 per month in the UK on the family’s water bills alone, Natalie says they pay just £90 altogether for utilities now, with water bills equalling around £20 per month and all electricity being powered by solar panels. “We don’t pay really for electricity of water that’s two big bills gone,” Natalie says. “And because we moved into James’ mum’s house we’re not paying a mortgage either so that takes away a big cost.” On top of this the family does also pay around £450 per month on healthcare, however Natalie says this is “really good” and claims treatment processes in Zimbabwe are much quicker than in the UK. But Natalie admits the move did bring some difficulties, calling the first year in Zimbabwe “difficult”. Natalie recalled: “When we first moved it felt like a holiday but as the months were going on and I realised I wasn’t near my family anymore I panicked and thought ‘what have we done?'” “It’s hard to make friends. Most of my friends are foreigners from other countries who are in the same boat as me. “I’d have the odd cry, but I only went back to the UK in August to see my family.” Natalie also admits she expected her two children to settle into their new home quicker than they did. However she adds they have “settled in nicely now”. “Moving over I thought the kids would settle in quickly but it’s been the opposite,” she says. “Obviously they’ve got an accent and they say people at school look at them like they’re weird, but they’ve settled in nicely now.” She added: “In the UK kids grow up quickly and with social media there’s a pressure to look a certain way or use certain products. Over here there’s not really any of that – kids are just kids.” But while the move may have brought some struggles, Natalie says after returning to the UK to visit family, she felt the move had been the “right decision” for the family. It was only when I came back from the UK trip I realised this was home now,” she says. “It hit me that I had made the right decision.” Join the Manchester Evening News WhatsApp group HERE
