Hi Steve - your story mirrors mine somewhat.....in both aviation and personal life (im engaged to a Filipina, and live central Scotland)
Ive been doing my training for NPPL(M) up in Perth with Jim @ Alba Airsports on the fixed wing EV97, just recently done my first solo and enjoying the lessons there
Id say you should visit the likely airfields and see how they feel to you - maybe do a couple of trial flights
I cant really help you with the specifics of upgrading, if you go down the NPPL(M) route, but I imagine a few folk have done that here and will be able to give some more detailed information
Cheers
Cal