Two years ago almost to the day, we were at a crossroads in our life and we made a decision together to move to Singapore. There were many reasons for the move but also an equal number of reasons not to move.

Reasons to move include (1) my family in Singapore; (2) pressure from my family to return and help with the family business because my help may not be needed in the future but it was needed then; (3) starting our own little family in Singapore; and (4) support from W’s boss who gave him the opportunity to move on better terms rather than the (significantly) crappier one offered by the local branch of a multinational company.

Reasons not to move include (1) W’s career in the US as a move would mean an invisible ceiling in terms of promotions given the distance from the head office; (2) my rising career in an industry that was almost recession proof; (3) W’s family in the US; and (4) our beautiful 2-br we had recently purchased and the independent living associated with it.

Today, the reasons to move have become a little fuzzy and some have even become reasons to move back to the US. But we do not regret the move to Singapore because W says that if we hadn’t moved, I would have always wondered “what if” and possibly been guilt-ridden for not trying to be closer to my family. Sometimes you have to cross the fence to see for yourself that the grass is really not greener on the other side.