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All you need to know about bringing a pet into Ireland

April 10, 2017 by Meg 20 Comments

All you need to know about bringing a pet into IrelandAll you need to know about bringing a pet into Ireland

bringing a pet into IrelandWhen we decided we were keen to move to Ireland, we first looked at how our furbaby was going to get over there. You see, we might not have any human babies but we do have Jack, and well, he is our baby. Jack is part of our little wolf-pack, and so he definitely was coming over – no matter what.

I mentioned in the previous post that there is no quarantine period when you send your pet over to Ireland from South Africa. However there are some steps you need to take in order to ensure a seamless transition into the country. Here is all you need to know about bringing your pet over to Ireland with you:

Talk to your vet.

We spoke to our vet before deciding to send Jack over and decided against giving him any drugs while he flew. We wanted him to be able to wake himself up and breathe easily – as these are concerns some Pugs have. Our vet also said that you should take into account your pet’s age. Jack was turning 3 at the time, so he was still young enough to travel. Our vet said that pets over the age of 8 or so, or pets that have ailments, it makes travelling with them a bit more tricky.

Allow 90 days for medical clearance.

In order to obtain access into Ireland, you need to take your pet to your local vet and get blood taken to check that they are up to date with their vaccinations (most importantly, the rabies vaccination). Ireland doesn’t have a problem with Rabies, in fact, your pet won’t need this vaccination whilst he lives in Ireland. So they are extra careful that any pet coming over to Ireland is fully vaccinated against Rabies. The trick with this blood work is waiting for the results. It cost us around R2000 to get the bloods taken and sent off. Your vet sends it off to a lab (In South Africa it goes to Onderstepoort), then you wait to receive the certificate that your pet is cleared to travel. When we sent off the bloods, Onderstepoort had been on a strike and was backlogged by one month. It took 2 months to get the certificate. *Important: You need the original that gets sent to your vet. From the day that the blood is taken, you have to wait 90 days before you can travel. This was a bit confusing for us, and the reason I ended up having to wait 3 weeks after Rob left to be able to send Jack and myself over (Also, it is 90 days, not 3 months).

Your pet needs to arrive within 5 days of yourself.

Either five days before or after you arrive. Any longer and it could be seen as you are trying to import a dog that is not your own. The problem when you are moving countries, you might not have a place set up yet. Although we had friends who paid for kenneling here in Ireland while they searched for a home, we didn’t want to put any unnecessary stress on Jack (so we made it kind of stressful for ourselves instead!). Rob flew over first and found a place for us to stay – then Jack and I flew over a day apart (I arrived before he did).

move your pet to ireland

If you can afford it, use a professional.

Although I am sure you can fly your pet over on your own, the hassle and stress of making sure you have all the right paper work is just not worth it in my opinion. We used Keringa Pet Wings (friend’s used them prior to us). I have to say, they were incredibly patient and understanding with all my questions and concerns. You simply fill in a form online and they will send you a quote to fly your pet overseas.

The quote includes costs for vet checks before he leaves (not the blood test), made-to-order crate for transporting, boarding while waiting for the international/connecting flight (we flew Jack from Durban to Johannesburg then onto Dublin – with a stopover in Frankfurt). You need to measure your pet and then they will make a crate that is the perfect size for them. The costs vary based on when you send them over, stop overs and boarding, as well as crate size. We paid R18000 to send Jack over mid November 2016.

keringa pet wings

Traveling and Crates.

I was super worried about this one. Jack had never flown before, nor had he ever been in a crate. This dog literally has a better life than most humans! He sleeps in our bed, under the duvet with his head on the pillow. I am convinced that if I don’t find a job, Rob and I would stop eating just so that Jack could keep eating his fancy, vet-approved meals. So I was super worried how the crate and flying would go. He loves travelling in a car (he loves the adventure and looking out the window), but honestly, he is happiest when he is with us.

pet travel

But I have to say that Keringa Pet Wings were amazing. He arrived on the other side, walked out of the crate and was his usually happy self from the get go. Here is a little video clip of Jack when he first arrived in Dublin:

https://thisisusliving.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/IMG_7947.mp4

If we were ever thinking of moving back to South Africa, or anywhere in the world for that matter – I would highly recommend using Keringa Petwings (and no, I wasn’t paid to say that!). Even if you just want to ask a million questions, they have been in this business for over 20 years – ask them anything, they can offer you some great advice.

I hope you found the tips informative, let me know if you have any other questions!

Unlock the simple life,

~Meg~

p.s. If social media is your thing (snap! It’s my fave too!), you should totally follow me on Instagram.

p.p.s. I try post varied content once or twice a month, to be sure you don’t miss out on the new post you should sign up and get all the news straight in your inbox – Sign up now!

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Filed Under: Irishlife Tagged With: ireland, irish travel, simple living, south africa, travel tips, travelling, travels

How we moved to Ireland

March 28, 2017 by Meg 28 Comments

how we moved to Ireland, and how you can too!

***Update: We have lived in Dublin for nearly a year now, and this is by far my most popular post – I thought it might be handy to link up some of my more recent posts that flesh out some of the key things you need to consider when moving to a new country, particularly Ireland. In each of the below sections, I have shared the link to the relevant post to help you find exactly what you might be looking for. As with anything on this blog, it is written purely from our point of view and from our own experiences. If you are looking to chat more about how you can move to Ireland, feel free to contact me, and if its technical info you need about your own situation, Citizen Information can also be a great resource.

I thought I would share how we moved countries, and what we thought about BEFORE we made the decision to move overseas. I tried my best to layout all the things you should consider if you are also looking to make the move. Firstly, I have to just say, this is what we did. There is not right or wrong way. Perhaps some of this won’t apply to you, but maybe it will give you some ideas and perhaps it will help you in some small way.

Here is a step by step account on how we moved countries:

  • Check your reasons – stand by them – you will get asked a million times.

We get this question a lot – How did you move countries? What made you choose Ireland? Why are you leaving us? We even had some people really shock us by saying the reasons we are moving must be because we were white and there is nothing left in South Africa for “us” – that was truly the worst. It breaks my heart that I have friends who think like this.

To answer this question for the million-th time: we did not move away because we have lost hope in South Africa. Quite the opposite. We love South Africa, but we also love to travel. So moving to a new country, wherever in the world we ended up, meant we could explore more and travel more. Simply put, we moved for the adventure – it was not to run or escape anything.

***Update: Read this post about the things no-one talks about when you move to a new country for a reality check, because let’s be real expat life ain’t all glam and roses.

  • Pick a country.

Truthfully, Ireland was on a list of about six other places. We drew up a list that would suit the skills that Rob has (he works in Tax). So we focused on countries where a lot of tax structuring happens (Rob’s lingo, not mine). Since I work in digital marketing, my job could be any where really – at a push, I could freelance online. Some of the countries on a our list were: Ireland, Canada, UK, some parts of Europe namely; Amsterdam, Switzerland & Luxemburg.

  • Find a job.

At our ages, and in our careers, we were not keen on taking a huge risk of going over and finding a job. We also were very flexible on where in the world we would live – so it meant we could throw the net wider in the job search. We made the decision that Rob would get the job first, and then depending on the rest of the criteria (Jack, cost of living, and the job market for me) we would make a final call on if that worked for us.

We updated our Linkedin profiles, and searched for international job opportunities. Truthfully, we had limited interest. What made it all possible in the end was when Rob put his CV out on a job portal specific to his job function (www.etaxjobs.com). He actually applied for a job in Luxemburg, and the recruiter job contacted him. They chatted about what jobs Rob was looking for, and that is when he was told about the job here in Dublin.

That was a big nudge for us to start looking more intensely at Dublin. We were super critical, and I have to say, thorough in our planning. We wanted to make sure our life would be the same or better if we moved. A big question to ask yourself is; what do you want and what do you want to avoid? Understand that everything comes with a compromise, things will always be different somewhere new. But know the things that you won’t bend on. It makes it easier to scrap ideas that don’t fit with what you want.

*Update: Rob had a job and a work permit before coming over here, and that truly made things a bit easier to handle because what we didn’t know was that it would take me over 8 months to find a job and then go through 9 weeks of work permit application processing. Yes, I am eligible for a spousal dependent work permit, and I work in marketing, but I don’t think either of us realised how hard it would be and how long it would take for me to find a job.

  • Visas and work permits.

A big thing to working in a foreign country is understanding what the visa restrictions are. Rob has a SA passport, and I have a Canadian one. Ireland has no visa restrictions for both our passports, meaning you can come into the country for 90 days. This really made things a lot more cost effective for us. We have had friends who needed to pay up to R50k to apply for visas just to enter the country.

Work permits are a whole separate hurdle you have to jump through. And trust me, they can be super complicated. Especially because we are non-EU nationals.  If you have an EU passport, I think coming into Ireland is relatively easy for you. But in our case, both Rob and I require work permits.

*Update: Read this post on getting a work permit and how to find a job in Ireland.

  • Your pets.

A no brainer for us was that Jack was moving with us. It didn’t matter what it would cost, we were not going to break up the family. It absolutely kills me when I hear people say they put their pets down to move, or they gave them over to SPCA. For us, Jack is a family member. He is like our baby.

Having said that, do your checks on how easy it will be to get your pet over with you  – check all the facts before you make the final call. For us, we wanted a country that had no quarantine period. Jack sleeps in our bed, under the duvet, with his head resting on my pillow with me. He would not have done well in quarantine. and neither would we.

FYI: All the countries we looked at have no quarantine requirements.

***Update: Read this post on how to move your pet to Ireland. Also, read how a pet improves your life as an expat, because they really do.

  • Draft a budget (and expect to spend more).

Rob is pretty thorough when it comes to budgets. We did a lot of research online about what cost of living was going to be like in Ireland. We also had a few contacts who were over there already who were incredibly honest about what it cost them, and costs we could expect. A friend of Rob’s really broke it down, line by line for us (he works in Tax too, which explains a lot).

Be blunt, and ask questions. Ask as many as you can think of and be prepared to listen to everything. Some of it will apply to you, some of it may not. Some of it you will think won’t apply to you, and later you will learn it actually does. Figure out the big costs, like how much it will cost you to move over, monthly expenses in the new country, average salary you could be making. We even went so far as to build in what it would cost Rob to get his hair cut, getting my nails done (#priorities), and even looked at how much races were going to cost us. Everything had a line item, and we also catered for various circumstances; Plan A: Rob and I both have jobs, Plan B: I don’t have a job, Plan C: we have tenants in our house back home – every plan was accounted for.

Even with all of the planning and prep work we did, there were still hidden and unexpected costs. Plus, you are in a new country, and you want to explore. And you want to make friends, and do things. We have been very lucky in that my job back in SA set up a fixed contract where I continued to work for them while I moved over, that ends this Friday. Thankfully we have been able to save a lot. So, while we wait for confirmation on my Irish job statuses (I have recently been on quite a few interviews), we are OK financially. That was key for us – we did not want to get into any more debt moving over to a new country.

***Update: Read this post on the cost of living between Dublin and Johannesburg. Also I wrote a post about how to live on one salary – because life sometimes doesn’t work out how you planned. And if you are moving over with your pets, how to find a pet friendly rental in Dublin might come in handy too.

There you have it  that is how we moved countries! Have you ever moved countries? What is your one piece of valuable advice to someone looking to make the move?

Unlock the simple life,

~Meg~

p.s. If social media is your thing (snap! It’s my fave too!), you should totally follow me on Instagram.

p.p.s. I try post varied content once or twice a month, to be sure you don’t miss out on the new post you should sign up and get all the news straight in your inbox – Sign up now!

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Filed Under: Irishlife Tagged With: discover dublin, discover ireland, ireland, irish travel, irishlife, life, travel, travel tips, travels

10 Crazy Facts About Ireland

February 20, 2017 by Meg 3 Comments

Ten crazy facts about Ireland!

Ten crazy facts about Ireland!

facts ireland
Since moving to the Emerald Isle, I have learnt a lot about Ireland and some things I found rather crazy/weird. I thought it would be fun to share with you, all the things I now know about Ireland.

Here are a few crazy facts about Ireland:

    • Ireland is it’s own COUNTRY! Seriously, everyone seems to think we are part of the UK. Northern Ireland is part of the UK, but the Republic of Ireland, which is where we live, is separate to the UK.
    • Ireland is the only EU country where abortion is still illegal. It blows my mind. {EDIT: in May 2018 Ireland voted to repeal the 8th Amendment, paving the way to legalise abortion in some circumstances. This is a huge move in the right direction for the country, and I felt it only fair to update this post with this news}.
    • There are 26 counties in the Republic of Ireland; and 6 counties in Northern Ireland.
    • The capital of Ireland is Dublin (but don’t tell anyone from Cork that!)
    • There are a little under 4.8million people in Ireland (compared to 55 million in South Africa)
    • Phoenix Park is bigger than all the parks in London put together and twice the size of Central Park in New York.
    • Halloween is IRISH! It dates back to a Celtic harvest festival.
    • Ireland is crazy small. The furthest distance would take 8 hours to drive from the top of Ireland (Malin Head, county Donegal) to the bottom (Mizen Head, county Cork)
    • South Africa is 17 times bigger than Ireland! Literally, Ireland is smaller than one of our provinces, KwaZulu Natal – can you even imagine?!
    • There are no snakes in Ireland!

What random crazy fact do you know about the country you live in?

~ Meg ~

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Filed Under: Irishlife Tagged With: dublin, ireland, travel tips, travelling, travels, vacation ideas, wanderlust

{Travel}: Weekend Exploring Bray, Co. Wicklow

February 15, 2017 by Meg 8 Comments

So many things to do in Bray, county Wicklow. Just a short train trip from Dublin. Bray to greystones cliff walk, the oldest pizzeria, and a walk up bray's head - plus more!So many things to do in Bray, county Wicklow. Just a short train trip from Dublin. Bray to greystones cliff walk, the oldest pizzeria, and a walk up bray's head - plus more!

bray wicklow

Bray is a quiet little seaside town, it is similar to Dun Laoghaire in it’s set up. I think it relies on passing tourist trade for the most part – although it definitely is a lot bigger than I thought it was! Most people who live in Dublin will tell you to go to Bray and do the Bray to Greystones Cliffwalk (followed by a stop at the Happy Pear in Greystones). But after some further digging about what else Bray has to offer, I realised there is so much more in this town to do! It helped that we stayed the night there, so we got to fit in a lot more than most.

How to get to Bray: We took the DART (train) down to Bray; 34 minutes and you are there! You can also travel on a bus, that would make the trip there a little over an hour (from Dublin City).

Warning: Once we arrived in Bray, we did a HUGE amount of walking! I am sure it would have been quicker in a car but we stuck to walking (plus walking is free).

5 things you HAVE to do in Bray:

  • Promenade and ice cream: I think Bray and Dun Laoghaire might have a secret battle on who has the best ice cream. Bray also has a Teddy’s (not the original I am told!) but a ton of other shops along the promenade offer ice cream – including a Gino’s (which we have yet to try!). Grab a cone and hit the prom for a bit of a walk, I loved that there were pebbles on the beach! I have been dying to see that sort of beach here. Coming from Sunny South Africa beaches and which are filled with hot sand dunes, it is a real treat to see pebbles!

bray promenade

  • Bray’s Head: Google maps will tell you is a 1,2km walk to the Bray’s Head. But dont’t let that fool you – the walk is tough! There are no paved pathways, you are literally hiking up the hill. On the day we did it, it was wet and raining. I don’t think I would recommend to people who are not steady on their feet. It was a challenging walk up the hill, but like everything in Ireland – the view was incredibly sweet. The walk down was a bit tricky to manoeuvre, with loose ground and rock to walk over. But I definitely think the view makes it so worth it.

bray head

  • Bray to Greystones Cliffwalk: The walk is really do-able. It is on an actual path, and not at all strenuous. It is about 6km, and most people walk one direction and then take the train back – which is what we did. I think next time, I would be keen to walk there and back. Rob, ofcourse, is keen to run both ways! A popular pit stop in Greystones is The Happy Pear. It is owned by twin brothers, and it is a vegan restaurant. They even have a recipe book – and are a bit famous here in Ireland. We tried to stop here but the lines out the shop were almost down the road! Like I said, it is very popular. I would be keen to go back and visit, they have a beautiful outside area around the back which I think would be even more congested in summer!

bray cliffwalk

  • Pizza’s n Cream: Following a tip about visiting a vegan, healthy spot, why not suggest to rather stuff a large pizza in your face? (Don’t mind me, I am a fitness blogger who advocates a balanced lifestyle!) But seriously, the pizzas here are well worth a cheat meal or five. They claim that they are the oldest pizzeria in Ireland. (sidenote: I absolutely love that every irish establishment is the oldest or best or highest or longest in Ireland – they are all very good at choosing a highlight and marketing it well!) The menu selection is broad, the wine is good, and I found the prices very affordable.

bray pizza

  • Harbour Bar: or what I like to call “the inside of Rob’s head”. This place is incredible. It is filled to the brim with knick knacks and loads of nooks and crannies; all while playing great music tracks. It has several seating areas: bar; lounge, outdoor area, upstairs area – and all of them offer something different dependent on what you are looking for. We popped in for a pre-drink and chill. We sat upstairs listening to pipe music. It felt like we were at home. Downstairs there was a band playing, and a party just getting started. We will definitely be back.

bray harbour bar

  • Random bonus: And if you are a silly tourist, just looking for quirky finds, this is possible the prettiest McDonald’s I have ever eaten at (yes, we had breakfast here!).

bray mcdonalds

Would you believe that we ran out of time, and so we have to head back (and soon) to visit Bray some more, here are things that I know we need to still see:

  • Kilruddery House: We walked out to the see the house (which is owned by the Earl and Countess of Meath) but it was closed for winter and will reopen in March. There is also farm market, 9am – 3pm every Saturday. It was also closed for winter – but I am very intrigued to visit the market soon!

killruddery house

  • Dockyard No. 8: is THE spot in Bray for the best brunch. This restaurant is right next to the Harbour Bar, and is on the other side of town, away from Bray’s head which is where we were going that day. We ran out of time with only one morning to visit, but I will be back!

Have you done the Bray to Greystones Cliff walk?

~ Meg ~

p.s. If social media is your thing (snap! It’s my fave too!), you should totally follow me on Instagram.

p.p.s. I try post varied content once or twice a month, to be sure you don’t miss out on the new post you should sign up and get all the news straight in your inbox – Sign up now!

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Filed Under: Travels Tagged With: bray, cliffwalks, ireland, irishlife, travel tips, travelling, travels, vacation ideas, wanderlust, wicklow

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Hey! My name is Meg. I blog about the life I share with my hubby, Rob; our furbaby, Jack and the newest family member, our daughter Riley. In 2016, we moved to a new country, cut down on clutter, and started focusing on unlocking a simple life, filled with travel and adventure. Read my story here

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