Alborg

Hi. I've been considering migrating to Australia ever since I returned from a working holiday there about 5 years ago. Since returning to England I've tried to re-adjust but can't help feeling different about England since my travels. It'll always be home but I just don't feel comfortable with the culture which, lets face it, involves working 9-5 mon-fri, pub in the evening and DIY at the weekends. Apparently thats called a "balanced lifestyle" and what I have to look forward to as I grow older.

I know anywhere can be what you make it but I think I try hard. I swim twice a week to keep the stress at bay and spend as many weekends as I can away from the city surfing in Devon. I've considered moving there as a compromise but the prospect of working in a cream tea shop serving DIY loving brits depresses me. Sydney, with its job prospects and miles of coastline doesn't even compare.

There are advantages of living in England. Its home. My family are still here, although they've never stopped me from doing anything before. Long term friends seem to be dwindling, finding their own place in life to settle. I guess what's holding me back is fear of the unknown. I'm currently single so don't have a partner to share my idea's with.

Could I really emmigrate to a foriegn country on my own and make a go of it? Is there anyone out there who has emmigrated alone who can share their experiences good or bad? Any regrets? Any pleasant surprises?

Look forward to hearing from you

mlbonner

I'm looking not to immigrate alone, but to travel over to Australia to be with my partner. Its still a scary thought, leaving everyone behind but thought of not going is a lot scarier.

I went travelling alone through NZ & California, had a ball of a time. Not quite the same thing as immigrating I know; but there was never a moment when I was alone, unless I wanted to be.

Why fear the unknown anyway, did you know what it was going to be like before you went travelling (I doubt it) and you obviously loved that, who's to say you wont love living there full-time.

Good luck in what ever you choose to do - if you had the time and money perhaps you could go back across and make sure it really is as good as you remember it

Alborg

Good points. I think my fear of the unknown was relieved because I knew it was temproray and I was with friends. I've seriously considered going back on a tourist visa to check it out again. I've also considered doing NZ for a year as I have that option still available. Thanks.

mercedes1

Hi. I know what you mean.
I first went out in '85, then '91 then '97 with littlun and again 2002.
Each time I go I wonder what on earth I'm coming back for!
I just never had the guts to go out on my own.
Partners have come and gone and so have situations, then getting trapped into work, therefore unable to leave.
I'm now with a 9 yo., no partner but a window of opportunity in life including the money to do it . I've moved recently away from the family, and its OK. In this new place we have no deep friends yet, so we're going.
Cheating in a way , coz I'm going out on a students visa - easy to get by comparison! Not selling up just renting out and telling littlun we're going till Xmas.
And we'll see!
We'll get homesick sometimes but for what I don't know. Hopefully not enough to send us back!
Good luck to you. I've spent 20 years waiting for the right situation for it not to come and deciding to bite the bullit anyway!

Simone

It can be done! There's a few on here who are doing it, I'm sure they'll find this thread soon (I think scutteruk is moving to Canberra)

I was just wondering: how are you going to survive if you're not doing 9-5? What are you planning to do there?

Pub evening will be different apparently, from what I've heard about the UK.
Don't know about the DIY though.

You'll be able to surf more though!
You should search for posts by bondipom, he should be awake soon too.

Alborg

Thanks. I wander what exactly I come back to everytime I go away. Maybe a student visa would be a good compromise. I've always been interested in studying Oceanography. I guess I'd have to fund the course fee's myself. Is all the info I need on the iimmi.gov.au site?

Alborg

I'm happy to work 9-5. I remember finishing work in Sydney at 5pm, changing into my boardies and in the sea by 6pm and forgetting i'd ever been to work that day by 8pm. A nice balance I guess. Yeah I've seen a few posts by bondipom. I think we might have a few things in common!

mlbonner

yup, www.immi.gov.au is a good place to start.

Theres someone on here (Lauralollipop I think) who was looking into a student nurse visa (changed her mind in the end). See if you can find some threads by her, might help you out

Alborg

Thanks. I'll check out her threads.

NickyC

I didn't migrate on my own - but I came here alone on an early WHV and managed to get PR (which you could do in those days) so I could stay.

I was probably just like you. After a year in Sydney, with a bit of travelling around Australia, the thought of returning to grey, old England and boring normality was more than I could bear. So I stayed, eventually got married (to an Englishman I met here), had two kids and I have never regretted it for a single second.

I do think that doing it alone is far easier than migrating with your family - you don't have anyone else's feelings or doubts to take into consideration, you probably don't have the hassle of selling up much - you basically only have yourself to worry about. If it doesn't work out, you can just drop everything and go back, without worrying about kids, spouses etc. The heart-searching, the dramas and the angst that I read about here - well it just doesn't apply when it's just you doing it yourself.

I also believe that people on their own are more likely to make friends quickly. People feel sorry for you and tend to invite you to more places! I had no problems whatever meeting people and had more invitations and interest than I could handle. Probably wouldn't have been half so forthcoming if I'd had a partner/friend/spouse with me.

Go for it.

jwatsonoz

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Alborg
Hi. I've been considering migrating to Australia ever since I returned from a working holiday there

Do it...get the visa.

Whats the big deal...just treat it like a long working holiday and make your decision in, say, 2 years.

Perhaps leave most of your stuff in the uk until then.

brisnick

well, i did it. the only time i had any second thoughts was when i was unable to find work for a couple of months.

now i'm settled here, and have a gorgeous aussie girlfriend, and don't regret it a single bit.

stuie72

I've recently done exactly what you are considering. Did the working holiday a few years back, spent all my time wishing I could move to Oz permanently, and then finally did something about it.

The truth is that living here as a permanent resident is very different to being on a working holiday. Yes, the weather is fantastic (over 20 degrees every day at the end of Autumn!), and the beaches are as great as always, but it's much harder to settle when you're not a traveller.

You need to accept that you won't be living in a hostel with ready-made friends and you can't chuck in your job and get on a bus to the next town when you get fed up. Well, I suppose you could but...

People I've met have said that it takes a couple of years to really develop a circle of friends comparable to what you have left behind. There are some real benefits to moving here, and there's no doubt that you will have a better work/life balance, but bear in mind that you could have a tough time settling into your new life, at least for the first few months.

scutterUK

OH that'll be me then

hi alborg. Yup i'm in the process of doing just that and hopefully will be heading out to canberra aug/sept time all on my own.

I know what you mean about the 9-5 lifestyle but it exists globally and there's very little we can do about it. But as you say being able to finish at 5, get out in the fresh air and do something you enjoy is what life is all about. I'm not a surfer, but i live for riding my bike. Here in the Uk i feel i don't get enough time to get out there and feel my taste of freedom which i need to survive. I'm hoping, just because oz has a lot drying weather, that this will be more easily done than here.

I can't comment about the DIY as i actually love it. having just finished a 2 year restoration which is now funding my trip to oz i can't really complain, but living and breathing it for the last two years 24/7 (in between riding) really gets to you after a while.

My advice to you is this. If you're single and are thinking about it, then you must be mad.....especially if you're a surfer (dude). Don't think, just do it! Go! get your visa and fly! You're single, you've got nothing to lose. If you get there and change your mind just come back again! i know it's easy to say that but at least you don't have a family and partner in tow. it will only be your life that is affected if you change you mind and I know I can live with that. Think of it as a life experience!

Being single and emigrating is a lot easier than you realize. You have only yourself to please and if you make friends easy then you're laughing. In a way i'm in the same position as you, my friends in the UK are slowly disappearing (or ‘settling down’!!!) and i feel there's less and less reason to stay. Having friends in canberra will help me but i'm really looking forward to getting out there again and meeting new people.

at the end of it all, you half to decide what you will gain from staying here, and what you will gain form moving to oz, see which offers you more opportunity and a better quality of life. Or you could just do like i did and apply on impulse and then worried about it all later.

Good luck in which ever road you take.

Leigh

lauralollipop

Oh yes, can harley wait, beats going into the North Sea and freezing my tits off, not to mention all the nice pollution and rubbish that floats by you every now and then!! Ha,ha!!!

Wont it be nice not having to wear a full wet suit??? I just got back from Miami and Orlando, the surf wasnt that good, so I got a body board instead, was so nice not having to wear a wet suit, the water was 24 degrees, and the people who lived there were saying it was cold that day??!!!!

Anyways hope you got sorted out, if you managed to look back at my threads about student visas (which I was looking at as I am so impatient) you will see that it will cost you your whole life savings and more, for something which you can do here at more that half the price and get student loans etc.....Oceanography sounds brill, my other half wanted to study that, he ended up studying geology though as he didnt get on the ocean course........
But thank God he didnt, as now we can apply to go to Auz as soon as he has done 2 years work exp (in jan yipee)!!! And I hear that there are lots of jobs in the mining and geology industry.

If you are single and you can get the visa just go now, why hang around here, you will be sure to meet lots of intersting people in Auz, you never know you could meet a nice Auzzie and get married!!!
Once you get PR I think if you still wanted to study in Auz you get student aid and rent assistance, not to mention lower fees, so its worth holding out.

What do you do now? Will you have enough points to go now, or are you needing a degree to get the points?

Anyway, good luck with whatever you decide

love

laura
xx