The_Griswolds

Wondering if I would survive going on a diet , NOT eating Fish, Chips and Mushy peas, Pies, Pasties, Pastries, Pizza, Dripping on toast and Lard sandwiches , missing out on the traditional Griswold staple of Stella Artois by the bucket .

I really must want to get to Australia

quoll

I dont know that it is about optimism and pessimism as much as risk assessment.

When I was younger I did outrageous things - lived in PNG, went overland across Asia, even came to Aus on my own in the first instance. Having kids with educational implications etc sort of put a damper on that but we were heading for the remote Highlands of PNG at one point before the job fell through and also put in applications for a job in Broome and Delhi over the years - pulled out of one and didnt get the other - just as well really cos the boys' education was at a crucial teenage point.

Anyway, if you want an analogy think rock climbing - great sport, everyone should do it, just that touch of danger (people get killed climibing rocks), what an adrenaline rush. However, ask any one of them who do it for the buzz whether they would do it without ropes and you would probably get a different answer because rock climbers are usually incredibly safety conscious. In this current climate you would be akin to a rock climber heading for the most precarious climb he could do and saying "bugger this, I dont need ropes" then taking his family up with him for the ride.

No one is saying dont "live the dream" (although that phrase rather does make me want to gag) they are saying live the dream but dont crucify yourself in the process, dont do it at the wrong time, dont burn all your bridges and be sure that if it all goes pear shaped you do have the chance to recoup. Australia is still going to be here in another year, 2 years, thousand years (well, probably, unless the govt really stuffs up)

bu1lder

Fortune favour's the brave.......

alandnic

Both my wife and I are packing in well paid and very secure jobs in the pharmaceutical industry to go to Oz with two kids in tow.

Not enough for you? We're going out there to nothing, although we do have family out there.

Still not enough for you? If we stayed put in the UK we would be given some land from my parents to build on and as a result we would have our dream home with no mortgage.



Bring it on.

iamthecreaturefromuranus

You are totally nuts.

alandnic

Dry roasted.

iamthecreaturefromuranus

Come on then, explain. What is it you think you are going to find in Australia that makes you believe taking that level of a gamble, and believe me its a huge gamble at the moment, worthwhile?

purple rain

For me it is because I know a lot of people who say if only......
I am an ICU nurse and have seen up close and personal how very fragile life can be. You only get one shot at it why not go for it, if thats what you want?
It might not end up the right thing, but hey, at least you gave it a go.
Jacqui

iamthecreaturefromuranus

I can understand that attitude at certain stages in your life but chucking it all in when you have a couple of kids as well is, in my opinion at least, irresponsible and a little selfish.

Grayling

Agreed.

G

viviennef

Go alandnic

I know a guy in the pharmaceutical sales game and its good money - he was a head master but gave it up to be a sales man because it was triple the salary.

My friend was offered a company by his Dad in Miami - he is a doctor and his dad said "you have proved yourself worthy my son, come take over one of my companies and run it as your own, whatever you make of it is yours"

instead he went as an intern in hornsby.

I agree though, its all about risk analysis. Teenage kids have to be catered for education wise, thats a responsibility. My children are young and I have more now to think about and so wouldnt leave myself destitute. I would leave myself skint though, meaning I can buy food, worry about money but keep afloat. I dont need bucket loads, I just need to be.

I find this recession mood in the air a bit miserable and if I am honest, quite boring. the last recession made me feel the same - like waving red knickers around above my head opposite all the people singing the end is nigh.

Its just a recession, life moves on. It will be ok. It is a worrying time, I met a really nice lady yesterday whose husband had lost his job, thats a worry if you cant get any social payment but lots of people who work hard, dont find themselves that up against the wall for a little while. And there are jobs, you may just not get your perfect one. As I mentioned in another thread, I have a first class honours in computer science and I was more than happy to wash dogs for a while. In fact I met some very nice labradors.

The last recession in 89 I had to hold on to a studio in reading for 7 years, what a drag. had to pay the mortgage that I couldnt afford while i lived somewhere else and deal with lodgers. But then I sold it and it was all ok.

Everyone knows the economies are in cycles, you cant get the good without the bad.

Viv

alandnic

We spent some time in Oz a few years ago and got married out there and to be honest we just think it is a better place for the kids to grow up.

Everyone will see it in a different way. People see a recession as anything from a blip to the Apocalypse. Although the outlook is bad at the moment, the current situation will turn around sooner or later. We have been planning this move for a long time and don't want to keep our lives on hold any longer. It is a gamble but it's always going to be gamble and in my case it is calculated. We have the help of family in Oz which is a great start, we can stay with them as long as we need to so we should be ok...

Twinset

Jeez,

I wondered how long before this would start to heat up.........

The point about the kids IS the point: none of us are doing this because it suits US: biggest gift we can give the kids is their quality of life (oh, and dual citizenship) i.e. choices. There are many things we could all be moving away from, but most on this forum are moving towards something they value.

Bigggest gamble is safety vs the unknown - when you get people who are prepared to put a lot on the line for something they hold dear, then "fortune favours the brave". And for people to walk away from financial security, they are moving towards a higher cause and not necessarily for the money, shocking as it may seem!! (PS, good point about the pharma industry)

And you think we are being selfish? How many of your kids have elementary lessons on not annoying the class rocket with the knife?

Recession and doomsayers be damned: when the going gets tough, the tough take their families to the other side of the world and forge their future!!

Mad or determined, makes no odds to me: muchos respect to all those of you out there who are prepared to take the gamble, wash the dogs, do what you need to do to scratch the itch......whether you think you can or think you can, you are right.

You got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em......

Grayling

This must win a prize for the most cliches in one post.

iamthecreaturefromuranus

I don't want to turn this into a history lesson but most people seem to believe that every recession just bounces back in a couple of years because that's how the last few are remembered... but that is NOT guaranteed.

The Great Depression in 1929 did not end in the US until the US joined the Second World War. Until that point the US was still mired in recession and was going nowhere... that's not just a couple of years, and it took another ten years after the war before the US stock market reached the point it had been in 1929. That's an entire generation.. and this latest downturn is being compared to 1929.

The fundamental difference between 1929 and the current problem is, that at the moment, governments world wide are pouring money into the system to prevent its total collapse.. but that can't continue for much longer and if it fails to work then this downturn will turn into a crash.