368 days and counting...

Me and my mum: taken a couple of hours before I returned to Argentina after Christmas in January 2011. I just look rough but mum's eyes say it all...

It has been exactly 368 days since I've seen my mum, dad and brothers. Living in Argentina, a country with a slowly devaluing peso and an out-right ban on the purchase of foreign currency, means that a flight to the UK can cost anything between 2.5 to 3.5 times my entire monthly salary!

Up until now, Mariano and I have scrimped and saved all year long to pay for a visit to the UK each Christmas. This year, with inflation reaching almost 30%, we just couldn't afford it. 

One of the main reasons why I want to return to the UK to live is to be able to see my family more. I can't imagine my future children growing up 7,000 miles away from their uncles, cousins and grandparents (a big, friendly, slightly insane bunch!). And with our family in Argentina consisting of just each other and Mariano's mum, our support network here will be virtually non-existent. Unfortunately, I can only wonder if the expense of bringing up children will mean that our yearly visits to the UK will soon become even less frequent...