kbryant

" If you knew then what you know now would you have moved to Oz?"

Answers on the back of a postcard please......

As someone thinking of moving to Oz, I would be very interested to read your comments .

Thanks,

TigerFeet

Good question but I cant fit in on the back of a postcard!

However you could read my previous posts/threads and that may give you an indication on my views......( v )

Its one of those things though isnt it? You can never know unless you try yourself. One persons poisen is anothers pleasure...if you get my meaning!

Best thing to do if you are not sure is weigh up the pros and cons.

Then the emotional side of things, ie family left behind,etc

Have you been before?

I could go on!

Hope this helps,

TF

markeh

Yes, but sooner!

Bye
Mark

psb182

your not going to get your answer on this thread because none of the people that are going to reply are YOU.....EVERYONE is different with different situations.......I have been an expat for 20 yrs and understand who fits the profile........THE "best" profile for an expat is a rather selfish person without great relationships with their family and friends......the worst profile for someone wanting to migrate is a person that has a very good bond with family and friends and is not interested in STUFF i.e big house pool nice cars...

everyone is different and for some it is the best thing in the world for others it's a nightmare.....I belive you have to look at yourself and ask yourself

"do I fit the profile"......I belive if you value people more than an envioroment then you could be in for a hard time....you only live once and the biggest risk in life is to take no risks at all....good luck

lacey21

Well said psb182,
I can just see you typing that, kicking back in your chair lol

lace x

LIVE IT, NO REGRETS!

Centurion

In a word....YES but as above sooner! But there are other people here who will say not. Everyone is indeed different and what floats my boat may sink another.

kbryant

I totally agree with what you're saying, yes it does take a certain type of person, I lived abroad pretty much all of my life (diplomatic expat brat!), had to go back to Uni etc and then left the UK with my other half 5 years ago, having spent 3 years in the Middle East we moved to Canada which seemingly is NOT the place for us (the type of people who seem to come, like it and stay are as dull as the locals themselves). I just wish I had found a forum like this on which to see people's opinions of Canada before we moved here, it is also very interesting to see different people's perceptions of the same country - in the hope that I am unable to make any similar comparisons between OZ and here !!!

Cheers

jad n rich

Agree 100%.

RReed

Yes, and I wouldn't have been as stressed and worried about up-rooting my family and heading into the unknown. No regrets.
Rachel

RReed

Your 'profile' is interesting. I agree that those who are close to their family and friends (who they will leave behind) will find it hard. However, I feel that I have brought the family I am close to - husband and kids - I don't need anyone else to make me happy. I miss my mates - the the good ones stay in touch and we will meet again. I don't agree with the 'stuff' thing. We don't have more, or bigger stuff here (no pool or flash car). But, we both work part-time and spend more time with each other and the family doing interesting things (scuba diving, kayaking, walking, beach etc etc).

So, we have not moved here for the stuff, and people are more important to me than environment - but I love it here. Having said that I guess you could argue that I am selfish because I didn't really consider anyone outside my immediate family when I chose to move.

Rachel

phoenixinoz

And I disagree 100%.

I have a FANTASTIC relationship with my family. My parents came to visit for 3 months which is a long time to live with each other with no fall outs. It's called respect. I don't rely on them as I stand on my own two feet in the world. They taught me to be self sufficient and not to be emotionally dependent on them or anyone else. I have made a success of living in Aus as I have embraced the Aus culture for all its good and bad and have stopped myself hankering after a former life in UK and remembering it through rose tinted specs. I can see the good and bad about both countries and just get on with it in a positive way. Is this selfish?

I also have a FANTASTIC relationships with my friends in UK infact one who I've known for 20 years came here for a month and we visited Sydney together. She plans to do the same next year and come for another month, something she could only dream of as a single parent. That's on top of my Sis in law, my brother, my UK boss [who's also now become a friend] and various other people from UK visiting us. Hardly relationships built on selfishness are they?

As for being interested in "stuff" as a reason for likeing Aus; I have downgraded my Aussie house [UK was bigger] and we now have one car as opposed to two in UK. We haven't had a holiday in over a year [two holidays abroad each year in UK] and I earn a fraction of what I earned in UK. No need for designer gear or nice cars any more and a much more simpler lifestyle over here without Asda/M&S etc.

The reason why some people are more successful than others is not becuase they are selfish or don't have great relationships with their friends and family. It's simply that they have accepted as part of living 12,000 miles away that this is something they must learn to live with. They get on with it without whinging, complaining and comparing and make the best of the situation by thinking of ways round it.

They also like what they have found in Aus and accept Aus is not utopia.......... and they are realistic enough to know it was never intended to be.

Perthforme

Yep would still move and am movin

been there done that doin it again .

ShozInOz

Yes I would still have moved, but:
- I wouldn't have thought of it as 'forever' (because now I know it won't be!), but rather as a life-changing adventure.
- I wouldn't have built up Australia in my head as some kind of Utopia (because it isn't). I was for years at the top of a slippery slope...

It has been a transformational experience, the best and hardest thing I've ever done, both at the same time. And it has shown to me and my wife what is important in life for us, and it is not the sun and all it brings (which is a nice to have though). We really did have to move to the other side of the world to find that out.

TraceyW

YES: This has been the greatest adventure of my life! It has been incredibly hard, much harder than we could've ever imagined. No amount of research and preparation can ever prepare you for this life changing journey.

Someone else has already said it: don't look at this as forever. It puts way too much pressure on you. When you do it, just think of it as "for now" it eases the worries!

I have been on the longest emotional rollercoaster of my life, and I'm still on it. To leave family behind is very hard and the guilt is sometimes overpowering. None of us like to hurt anyone we care about, but to hurt those we love by intentionally leaving them causes so much upset it's all consuming at times.

I'm nearing 40 (!) and despite having two lovely kids, this is the first time I've actually really felt like I'm a "grown up"! This whole experience has changed me in ways I never thought possible. It's widened my ways of thinking and I'm now far better at excepting new situations, no matter how difficult those situations can be.

I also feel incredibly proud of myself, my wonderful husband and kids. We have done something that many people only dream about, or talk about in the local pub on a wet and windy cold winters day. WE'VE DONE IT! The knowledge that we had the courage to do this, to make that huge leap into the unknown, makes us all feel incredibly smug (in a nice way!)

Good luck to you with your decisions. You will never be 100% sure of what you're doing. How can you be when you don't know what lies in store for you on 'the other side'. Nothing is certain. You will propbably be still asking yourself "have we done the right thing?" on the plane over here, after the first 6 months, 12 months etc. Only time will tell.

phoenixinoz

This is a very good point and one we hear often from people who are unhappy in Aus. Perhaps coming to Aus makes some people realise what they were missing in UK before they came here? Perhaps the experience helps some people finally to "know themselves" or "find themselves" i.e once they make the move they find out exactly what makes them tick..and that's when they realise Aus isn't it....