Hypermum1

Hi all. I am new to this board and am in the very very early stages of planning my families escape from the UK. We are thinking Australia in 5 years time. No idea how yet but working on it! So, question for those of you who have escaped to Oz, do you love it? Or regret it? Is it the best thing you have ever done or would you come back in a heartbeat? Its a huge move for our family so any thoughts appreciated!

mikelincs

To be honest, you will get both answers depending on whether it has worked out for them, it will be very difficult to make any sort of decision based on any answers you get.
Bets thing is to do research, not believe the 'Wanted down Under' type programmes as they only really paint a positive picture. There is masses of information about the various locations on the internet.
First thing though is to decide on what type of visa to want/can get, and remember that, in 5 years, the requirements can change.

Hypermum1

Thanks. I have no idea as yet what type of visa would apply. My husband has his own business. he is an award winning and highly successful photographer over here. However, he has built his client base up over years so it seems a little unrealistic to be able to go over to Oz and start a studio up straight off. I did think about approaching some studios over there to see if they fancy taking him on (I know its nowhere near that simple!). As for me, I have a background in finance but no formal qualifications. So, in preparation, I am planning to spend the next few years getting one! Either accountancy or some kind of business finance degree. (again, any input here would be good!). We have children who will be 12 and 14 by the time we look to move. I do have family in Perth, although not immediate (uncle and cousin) so not sure they could act as sponsor?? Hmmm, seems like we have a lot to research!

mikelincs

Lots of information here.

http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Category:Australia

and in this forum

http://britishexpats.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=32

you need to study and get experience in one of the categories that would be needed.

Bermudashorts

There will be a complete mix of people that love it and those that don't. I am perfectly happy with my life here.

It might just be a figure of speech but your talk of escaping is a worry. UK and Australia are both first world countries and most rational people living here will see pros and cons of both.

Photographer is on the CSOL at the moment which means it is eligible for state or employer sponsored migration, however I don't think I have seen a state offering to sponsor this occupation. So this would mean employer sponsored is the only option and he would need to find a studio willing to bring him over.

Ther are business visas, the turnover requirements are pretty high and he would need to run a business employing other people. This may or may not be suitable.

As it is a long term plan, at the moment it might just be that you are the best option for getting a visa if you take some formal qualifications. Of course things change all the time so hopefully it would be something you are happy to do anyway.

Buzzy--Bee

In my own very limited experience gained almost entirely from frequenting this and other forums, I find that those "escaping the UK" are significantly less likely to make a success of their emigration than those choosing a new country for what it can offer them (and what they can offer it).

The challenges you experience in the UK also exist here, and adding the stress of emigration just increases them.

For us, we enjoyed life in the UK, and if there had been no other options we would have happily stayed there. However the opportunity was available to us to experience life in Australia, and we embraced Australia for what it is. We learned, and are still learning, to fit in in a foreign country. We did not expect it to offer us some sort of golden ticket away from another country we didn't like.

We love our lives here, we do things that we could never have done in the UK and we are 100% glad we made the move, but we didn't expect the move to solve all of life's problems.

BB

Pollyana

Its not an escape, its a move to another country with the same issues, problems, highs and lows.
Same brown stuff, different bucket

Hypermum1

Thanks all. Its not "escaping" as such, perhaps thats the wrong terminology. My sister has moved to The Cayman Islands and we visited this year and it just got me thinking of experiencing life in a different country, where the sun does actually shine! I don't for one moment think it is going to be a world of milk and honey, but was hoping it could offer more of an outdoors kind of way of life, i.e., better weather, kids can get out and do more rather than sitting in glued to telly or xbox as its peeing down outside.....again!!!!

Pollyana

Be warned, depending on where you end up there's still likely to be a fair bit of rain - and you have the opposite problem of the weather being too hot to go outside. Worst heatwave here in years at present, people only go outside to go from the air con at home (if they are lucky enough to have it) to the air con in the car, to the air con at work. Oh for a day below 30 degrees......

Not trying to put you off, but....

Bermudashorts

Whether you live an outdoorsy lifestyle or not is all you ...not the country you are in. Australia does not make people sportier or more outdoorsy. I have many friends in the UK that live far more outdoorsy lives than I do.

There is this myth that it doesn't rain in Australia, definitely not true. Sydney has more rain than Manchester and so do many other parts of the country, the middle is pretty dry though. Last couple of years have been really wet, I have seen more rain in last 2.5 years than in the 40 years previously put together. And Australia rain, now that can keep you inside.

Come for the experience, it is great to do something different. Just don't expect it to change who you are or to make your life better purely for having gotten on a plane.

rasen78

Excellent post Buzzy and pretty much our thoughts and experience (so far) to a tee

frankrizzo

I've been in Australia for 4 years and while I've found my place here, I definitely have regrets. The first time I came down here was 20 years ago and I thought that it was the most underrated place on earth. That's not the case anymore.

Everything is horrendously expensive. I find the people to be unnecessarily impatient and aggressive - and I came here from New York City. Real estate prices are so ridiculously high that I feel that I should move my young family back to the US because in many ways my life here isn't as good. But then again I have anchored myself to a company and the community.

carolinephillips

I've been here for 4.5 years now, and came over with a 12 year old girl. It may not be that easy to move the older child if she is 14 and has established friendship networks. Better to do it before she gets to the teen years.

DD had finished Y7 in the UK, but went back into the last term of Y7 here as the school year runs from Jan to Dec. It was more important for her to socialise and make new friends than to be pushed to do academic work from the Y8 syllabus, even though she had actually done a lot of it in her grammar school.

Anyway, she is thriving- now going into Y12 and making Uni choices, she has kept in touch with her BF by Facebook and Skype, and has made a lot of new friends. BUT a lot depends on temperament- a family with an older teen as well as one Dd's age and one a bit younger lasted a year. (They had been in Aus when the kids were younger and then ponged back to the UK before trying Sydney.) The older girl hated it.

Me? well I'm a bit happier out here, and actually have a tan this year!! OH is happier in his job in the CBD, so much nicer than the 2 hour commute into London and a dreary grey concrete wall to look at. Yes, some things are pricey out here and we are less well off than we were in the UK where we had a very comfortable lifestyle, but we have a 4 bed house with pool, can afford school fees- and uni ones next year- and are generally happier than we were with all our posessions and holidays in the UK.