estherg

Hi ,

Dont shoot me all expats, but after our trip to Sydney I got really cold feet and I think OH did to. Call me silly, but my grandad and dad both lived in Oz and grew up thinking life is perfect there, and I knew they have problems but not like the UK. I liked it but it did not blow me away, gutted we did not get to see any other part of Australia. But OH had 3 job offers in Sydney and any area we liked seemed so $$ and the wages alot less.

So I worried about leaving a nice area here in the UK and a good school and home, to be worse off the other side of the world. OH gets a good wage here and money is still a big worry here, was not going to OZ to have big house with a pool and so on. Just thought it would be better children growing up there as they get older.

But something still keeps me thinking I can not give up on that dream as a child of living in oz. But I dont have the guts to try, sorry to all of you who have found life great in Sydney. Hope to save up again and try to go back to Melbourne/ Adelaide and maybe that will be the place for me and my family.

Vash the Stampede

Dream vs reality, eh? Sounds like you've made a sensible choice for all the right reasons.

If you're already in a good situation, there's no compelling reason to move. Perhaps you'll visit Adelaide and Melbourne some time; perhaps you'll even like them. Meanwhile, I'm sure you'll continue to enjoy what you have in the UK.

Best of British luck for the future - whatever it holds.

JulesM

I know how you are feeling. I wanted to live in Australia and got my visa a few months ago. However, it appears that my qualifications, although good enough for my visa, are not likely to help me get a job comparable to the one I have in the UK (where I can earn a 6 figure salary).

I live in a part of the country that doesn't have the crime rates or traffic problems of say, London and my commute to work is less than 15 minutes.

So, I have come to the conclusion that I should enjoy what I have, continue to holiday in Australia as often as possible and look at my options again in the future if my present circumstances change.

I wish you all the best for the future.

moneypenny20

If you can both come to that realisation without spending mega bucks and are happy with the decision then congrats. Aus is not for everyone and if your lives are great where you are and you don't have that major itch then that's cool.

Good luck to you both.

gary stewart

Hi,We went to Queensland last October for a reccie but came home feeling the same ,have decided it is not for us.Took a while to get over it but feel we have made the correct decision.We felt it too much of a gamble to give up what we had here but will some day go back on holiday.

gaz

4Reids

Hi Esther,

Sad to hear you're feeling this way. You've probably made the right decision in the long run though. Best to decide now rather than a couple of months after making the big move. Enjoy life here in the UK and maybe one day we'll log on to find you're on the move again. We'll all miss your input on the January thread - although things are slow now - don't forget to say Hi every now and then.

Take care

Tasha xx

DrWho

Good luck with whatever you end up deciding on...

daunted

I think you have been very brave making the decision. It is too easy to get swept along in the flow of things and feel you have no choice but to see it through. Im doing some serious soul searching myself right now.

estherg

Thanks All, I am just so glad no one posted any nasties, it also made me think about my family I lost a member of my family whilst out in oz. I came home to feeling a right plum,I knew watching to much aussie tv since birth had done something to my head

Good luck, be happy in what ever land you lay your hat Esther x

Hutch

To all three of you in this thread that decided, on consideration, not to make the move - I say well done. It's all too easy to get wrapped up in the process of emigrating and picture it as a 'dream'. I think the 'adventure' side overwhelms people sometimes and they lose sight of the bigger picture. I think you've probably saved yourself a lot of money and a considerable amount of grief. Australia isn't for everyone - in fact I'd say it wasn't for most people - it's the sort of place that you either click with fairly quickly, or not at all. Good luck to all three of you in the future.

busterboy

There is no doubt about it emigrating is one of the most complexthings you will ever do. To me it comes down to the standard of life test.....is life better here or there based on as much reality and logic as you can muster.

For some people they believe emigrating will give them that standard of life, for some it is going home or remaining where they are.

Congratulations for being realistic enough to know that you are in the best place for you now....and good luck for the future.

coxie

Hi all, I am new to the forum. But would also say well done for not just charging over here to Oz on impulse. I have been here a year today infact (Happy 1st oz year to me and my hubby ). I have struggled with homesickness pretty badly and only now feel I am getting used to life here. It is not easy to eave all you know behind and start again.

Good luck to ya

Techno Freak

Well done on your choices everyone, whatever they may be.

We also wrangled with the decision about going. We reccied Melbourne in January, and for the first few days dismissed the move entirely, we just didn't feel right there.

By the time we came away though, it had really got under our skin and we could see ourselves living there - not necessarily for ever, but we could certainly call it home for a while.

We got back and assessed our life to try and make the BIG decision. We decided to throw caution to the wind and we fly out in 9 weeks.

We are leaving two good, well paying jobs, family and friends and moving to a country where we know nothing and no-one and will have a 'poorer' standard of living compared to what we enjoy now. To be honest, the dream of a huge house and pots of disposable cash ended about five minutes after we started researching the possibility of moving to Oz about 3 years ago. For us, the whole move has never been about whether we will be better off financially as we know we wont - we'll be far worse off in the short term, and at best attain the same sort of level of comfort that we have here now somewhere down the line - for us it's always been about the adventure. We realise that there will be hard times, and emotional times and although we have tried to prepare ourselves for it mentally, I'm sure the reality of it will be somewhat harder. However, the bad times all go toward the experience of it as a whole.

It is off course a lot easier for us having no children to worry about. If we had kids then who knows whether we would have made the same decision?

All I can say is that one of the big factors in us deciding to go was looking back over the last ten years here. We are still in the same house, doing the same jobs, with the same friends and a couple of nice cars. The years have flown by and all melted into one. We feel as though we have accomplished nothing of note and have no decent stories to tell. If we stay here we'll never attain the lifestyle that we would really like as we'll never earn enough money, similarly if we end up coming back it shouldn't take long to get back to the position we are in now. So, we asked ourselves if we would be content doing the same thing every day for the next ten years? The answer - a resounding NO.

Maybe moving to the other side of the world just for an adventure isn't the 'right' reason to go, but then is there really a 'right' reason? Who knows, maybe we'll settle there and love it and never move - lets hope so, but by the same token - we haven't pinned all our hopes and dreams on making it work. We'll take it day but day, and try and enjoy all the different things there are on offer. If we decide down the line that it's not for us, then we'll come back to the UK - or maybe even try somewhere else, the worlds a big place. We certainly wont view it as a failure, it will simply be a point in our lives when we lived in Australia for a bit, and even if we have the worst time ever, I'm sure there will be some fantastic experiences there.

Best of luck to all - in whatever your decisions are, and may you all find luck and good fortune in them.

Geelong Gent

As Vash says and don't wind yourself up if the move looks to provide a better lifestyle or move ahead for you great if not don't.

If your coming to Melbourne ensure you give those of us in Britvics advance warning in case there is a meet about that time

busterboy

Some of in Melbourne still haven't had the dubious honour of meeting GG!