Jeremy Kane has bucked the tough economic conditions to emigrate to Florida with his family, and he has plenty of advice for those thinking of following in his footsteps. Words Anna Tobin
“Relocating for us never seemed like a big deal. My wife Blanaid grew up in Ireland and then lived and worked in London and Brussels, while I’m British, but I’ve lived and worked in Brussels, Washington and London.
Back in 2007 we took stock of our life in England. We thought, and still think, that London is a fabulous city, but if we were ever going to move countries and do something different again it was the perfect time in our lives to do so. Our daughter Aislinn was 16 at the time and the twins Tara and Lochlainn were 11. They were all at transition stages in their education.
We first visited Sanibel Island, just off Florida’s south west coast, in 1987 and we just fell in love with the place. We kept returning for family holidays and eventually we bought a time-share on the island. Then in 2007 we bought a house over here. Florida is a wonderful place and Sanibel Island is lovely and largely unspoilt. There are no traffic lights, for example, but miles of bike paths, beautiful beaches and a very large area of the island, two thirds in fact, is a nature reserve.
If we were going to move anywhere, this was the natural place for us to go. So, in 2008 we left London and moved our whole lives over here. Having a family, we knew that we would both have to work here and we both enjoy the challenges of running a business. Blanaid and I have successfully run several in the UK and Europe, which we then sold on, and we were excited at the prospect of starting something here. We managed to get an E2 investment visa, which gives you two years to see if you can run a business in the US.
Read more in the November issue of Living Abroad Magazine.
