What makes a young South African couple decide to move to a country they've never even visited? And, after nearly a decade abroad, what makes them choose to return home?

In this episode, I had the pleasure of speaking with Hester and Johan Pieterse, who originally left Cape Town in 2016 for Ireland. They didn’t know anyone there, and hadn’t even visited Ireland before making the jump – talk about taking a leap of faith! Over the next nine years, they built careers, started a family, and eventually became Irish citizens. But as you’ll hear, the pull of family and sunshine drew them back to South Africa.

Unlike most of the conversations I've had with other South Africa emigrants, Hester and Johan never planned on relocating permanently. My wife and my plan had always been to make the move for good, so it was refreshing to talk to people with a completely different experience of relocating.

“You can go and come back. You’ve got nothing to lose” - Hester Pieterse

00:00 Introduction

04:36 Visiting South Africa

06:55 Cost of living in Cape Town

12:31 Getting Irish citizenship

18:27 Would you have done anything differently?

19:46 Underestimating the red tape

20:46 Considering safety in South Africa

23:50 The decision to return to South Africa

26:07 Do you have any local friends considering emigrating?

27:18 Shielded from local politics

28:48 Advice for relocating with kids

31:41 Things we miss about Ireland

This podcast was produced by the team at Zapods Podcast Agency:

https://www.zapods.com