Michael Wells, South Africa
Michael Wells moved from Durban, South Africa to live and work in the Isle of Man and has fallen in love with the abundance of opportunity, unbeatable quality of life and safe environment for his family.
How long have you lived on the Isle of Man and what made you move here?
My family and I moved to the Island from Durban, South Africa a year ago having researched the Island and subsequently fallen in love with the idea of living and working here. I was intrigued at the prospect of being able to progress my career in a place where we could be close to nature and experience a great work-life balance, spending more time with my family.
How was your experience relocating with your job and family?
I am an IT engineer at Derivco, a leading software development house in the online gaming world. My experience relocating was simple and straight-forward as the team at Derivco were very supportive and information was easily accessible. In addition, we were able to find a home and get our children set up in schools quickly.
How are your family settling into Island life?
One of the initial attractions of the Island for my partner and I was the safety. With an incredibly low crime rate, the Isle of Man is the safest place in the British Isles, which felt like the perfect environment to raise our four children.
A healthier work-life balance has allowed me to spend more time with my family, most recently we have been enjoying the longer summer evenings which encourage us all to get outside and make the most of the dynamic scenery.
Of course, we all miss our family and friends in South Africa, but the sophistication of social networks and the great Wi-Fi and transport links mean we are able to keep in touch easily and never feel too far from home.
Any regrets?
The Island is a place where making the most of a great quality of life goes hand-in-hand with working for successful, global brands and developing an efficacious and sustainable career, and I have been overwhelmed by the number of opportunities here for my family, colleagues and friends. We love living here and so do our kids.
Now fully settled into the Island, it is as if we have hit the reset button and we feel very lucky to have discovered the Isle of Man.
