What needs to happen before we can leave, and which decisions are still open.
UK to Goa · The move in progress
The route becomes home.
We’re Rohit and Denise. We’re moving from the UK to Goa with two dogs and documenting the real version.
The paperwork, the house hunt, the pet travel, the costs, the doubts, the family history and the small practical choices that decide whether a dream can actually become a life.
Dogs · paperwork · house hunts · costs · reality checks
Start here
This is not a “we moved to paradise” account.
The Long Way Home is our family relocation journal. We are leaving the UK and trying to build a new life in South Goa, with two dogs coming with us and a long list of things we do not want to get wrong.
Some of it will be beautiful. Some of it will be admin. Some of it will probably be ridiculous. We’re keeping the useful bits visible: what we researched, what surprised us, what cost more than expected, what we delayed too long, and what we would do differently.
If you’re thinking about moving to India, moving with pets, working remotely from Goa, or just watching a family try to make a big life change properly, this is the place to start.
Where we are now
Before the move, while everything is still theory.
Right now the useful story is not the reveal. It is the preparation: the list-making, the questions, the second-guessing and the unglamorous work of making the move possible.
Vet steps, travel requirements, crate prep and the emotional load of moving pets internationally.
What we need from a South Goa home: shade, garden, internet, access, safety and enough space to settle.
The gaps between what looks simple online and what actually needs to be solved.
The journey
What we’ll keep track of as the move unfolds.
Leaving the UK, one decision at a time.
Timelines, packing, documents, storage, shipping, goodbyes and the practical mess behind a clean announcement.
The dogs are not luggage.
Flights, crates, vaccinations, paperwork, heat, routines and helping them feel safe on the other side.
South Goa beyond the postcard.
Homes, gardens, internet, roads, monsoon, village rhythms and the tradeoffs that matter once you live there.
The spreadsheet bits people skip.
Budgets, surprises, hidden categories and the numbers we wish people shared before they moved.
Returning is not the same as arriving.
India, Goa, family history, identity and what “home” feels like when you are both going back and starting again.
Field notes, not finished guides
Useful as we learn it. Caveated when we’re still working it out.
When we have enough real experience to be helpful, we’ll turn it into proper notes: dog paperwork timelines, house-hunt checklists, cost logs and what we got wrong. Until then, we’ll be clear about what is lived experience and what is still research.
Follow daily updatesFollow along
Same journey, different formats.
Short updates, longer videos, field notes and the bits that probably become checklists later.