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The urge to return home is growing stronger

The urge to return home is growing stronger

Old Jun 3rd 2011, 9:59 pm
  #16  
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Default Re: The urge to return home is growing stronger

the things is if you want to do it, do it. Anyone can find excuses to not do something but unless it's going to kill you then go for it. Be prepared to lose money though cos there's the rub, it usually results in losing money along the way.

Personally I'd rather poke my eyes out with a stick than go back to UK. We had a great life in UK but Aus suits us more even if it's not perfect

Last edited by sonlymewalter; Jun 3rd 2011 at 10:35 pm.
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Old Jun 3rd 2011, 10:05 pm
  #17  
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Default Re: The urge to return home is growing stronger

Originally Posted by Reaver
Why spoil it?

Im 36 now, and the older I get the stronger the urge to leave the UK gets. Working hours here are some of the longest, some of the smallest houses compared to other civilized countries, we have a real immigration problem because the restrictions that other countries impose, simply arent in place here. The country is going to the dogs. The political parties are systematically destroying the country trying to outdo each other, and you cant even get a simple job in a pub or a fast food joint without a CV and several references. When I get my degree I will have to work my bollocks off just to get a mediocre wage. Any civilized country would be a considerably better choice than dear old blighty. Is it worth risking losing all that you have achieved because you feel the call of home? IMO, no it isnt, but thats just me.

.
Sounds just like Canada! Two to three weeks holiday, you need a degree to fart, and 280,000 immigrants a year restrictive? The school board I work for has 20,000-plus students taking ESL (English as a Second Language classes, just to enable them to function in the normal classroom). Take off the rose-tinteds, mate. The UK is not all that bad -- that's why we are coming home.
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Old Jun 3rd 2011, 10:14 pm
  #18  
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Default Re: The urge to return home is growing stronger

My house is very large (4 times the size of the one I left behind) and was just over half the price. I can see the neighbours on one side but they're about 50m away. And it's a rare day that you can hear the neighbours.

Generalisations on this subject are a crock.
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Old Jun 3rd 2011, 10:18 pm
  #19  
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Default Re: The urge to return home is growing stronger

As for the OP. Maybe you should treat it like an emigration. (You might need to scratch an itch like some others going in the opposite direction.) For example plan to stay for (say) 2 years and have a back out plan just in case you don't like it. Consider what might happen if the adventure is unsuccessful. Do you move somewhere else with the UK or the world or do you return to where you came from? If the latter, can you re-establish yourself after 2 years away?

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Old Jun 3rd 2011, 10:19 pm
  #20  
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Default Re: The urge to return home is growing stronger

You're probably posting in the wrong place to get a balanced answer but I'd say go for it .... however, you will have to look very carefully at your kids' education! They are at a tricky age and all depending on what aspirations your eldest has you could find yourself stuck here and past the point of no return financially. If your eldest wants to go to uni then there will be international fees and entry requirements to negotiate. If he is veering more towards trades or some other occupation then you might be OK. The middle one should just sneak onto the GCSE merry go round and the youngest will be OK. You will get better information about this from the MBTTUK forum as there are folk on there who have done just what you are proposing.

You would also need to consider your longer term finances - have you kept up payments for a UK pension, will your Aus super be enough to support you? etc That can be tricky as you get older as you wont be entitled to anything from Centrelink once you have gone

Personally I really like East Anglia being a Cambridge girl myself but would happily move back pretty much anywhere (obviously not Dewsbury LOL and definitely not Bradford but that still leaves a lot of places).

I know just what you mean about becoming more English with age - escape while you can I reckon! Good luck with it!
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Old Jun 3rd 2011, 10:44 pm
  #21  
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Default Re: The urge to return home is growing stronger

Well house`s here are a lot larger than in England,we have a 4 bedroom back there,now we have a 3 bedroom and its large than our 4 bedroom,just to but the lawn front and back takes just over an hour,its on a single block of land,you could build another house on the land,you could not do the same in England.

Then you have mass migration to contend with,there will soon be a generation of kids over there that will never get a job,imigration over there is a big problem,one group in particular is a real problem,they want their own laws,and they dictate to the government what they want or dont want,they thn greet British troops returning from afghanistan with racial,and hatred slurs and insults,whats that about?,yet they are happy to take the dole,and they hate us infedels,they want their own law,ie sharia law,who wants to see that,family murders on the streets of Britain,then you have the polish who return to poland and the british government is still paying them unemployment benifits,the country is one big joke now.

Laws are being made in brussels to rule the people of Britain,in that case why have a government,the government that was not voted in by the people,in a hung parliament they should have gone back to the polls as soon as possible,as a baby boomer,i hate to see what is happening to the country of my birth,but there is nothing i or anyone else can do,i loved growing up in the 60`s,in the 70`s as a teenager i had more fun,i went for 7 jobs in one week and got all 7,i had to choose which one to take,today,you could go for 7 jobs,only to find that you are one of several hundred,there are many things wrong with every country in the world,but England/Britian,has more,and you pay more,i have friends over there that pay out more than they earn,they earn just above the rate that stops them getting any benifits that would help them a lot,and all the people i have asked if they would move out of the uk today,all said they would..........Just my opinion............
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Old Jun 3rd 2011, 11:27 pm
  #22  
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Default Re: The urge to return home is growing stronger

Originally Posted by Mike-T
G'day all

First time poster here. Just found out about this site after living in the Antipodes for 15 years.

Well, I have lived in Auckland for 7.5 years, and I have now lived in Perth for 7.5 years. I am married with 3 boys who are now 17, 14 and 12. We are now in a position where we could comfortably return to UK and be mortgage free. And it is very, very tempting. Currently in Perth, we have a huge mortgage, which we can easily afford to make the payments, but to be mortgage free is very appealing.

We have had 3 trips to UK as a family since we emigrated and each time we loved it and did not want to leave, (despite being told by friends that a trip "home" would make us realise how lucky we are living down here) but financially it was impossible to return home.

But now, we could easily do it. We are from Manchester, but don't intend returning there. I have been doing a fair bit of research on Norfolk/Suffolk. It sounds like a great place to live (never been there). Property prices seem very reasonable, kids seem to do well at school and crime rates are low compared to the national average. But, we don't know anybody in this area. Are we mad?

I have a successful business here in Perth. I work 6 hours a day Mon-Fri, no weekends, life is pretty good. But, I am becoming more and more English in my old age. England really is calling me home and the urge to return is getting stronger.

It'd be great to hear from anyone who has returned to UK (good and bad stories.)

So, are we mad, or shall we do it?
The reality is that only you and your family can decide what's best for you and your family. Some have suggested you buy a place in UK and holiday there when you can which sounds like a really good plan. Are you sure it's not just time for a nice long holiday? Or maybe it's because it's winter here and cold/rain makes everyone miserable? I know myself I've got the urge to go back now but I also know that I have a pretty good existance here and honestly don't want to start again from scratch at my age. And don't forget every time you visit (once every 5 years) you're on vacation! It's not the reality of day to day living that you would have if you move back. People aren't going to be excited to see you once you're back permanently. The traffic will start to grate on you, along with the other millions of reasons you left in the first place.

Whatever you do, best of luck to you.
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Old Jun 4th 2011, 12:38 am
  #23  
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Default Re: The urge to return home is growing stronger

For the OP. I completly understand. The only thing i would say is what job would you do back in the UK and how many hours will that require compared to what you have now.

For Reaver, i think you might get a nasty surprise. Yes houses here are bigger, but they are VERY expensive, as are most things. In Perth you forget the exchange rate and work on the basis that you will need a salary about 3x more in dollars than you can get in pounds. So if you are earning 20k pounds you will need to earn at least $60k for the same lifestyle. And that is being generous. Houses are ridiculously expensive. Dont just rely on the net as you dont know the areas until you are here.
We have been looking for ages for a place to buy and when i look on realestate.com it appears there are loads in Mandurah where i live now, but then when i look at what areas they are in they would be equivalant to some of the worst areas in the UK. Thats why they are affordable. Perth itself is way out of reach. This is a city that has a fair few suburbs now with a median house price of over $1million.

This is what you get for the best part of 200k pounds. And that is 100km from the city

http://www.century21.com.au/c21/prop...tno=WA85426458
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Old Jun 4th 2011, 1:15 am
  #24  
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Default Re: The urge to return home is growing stronger

Originally Posted by Dave Teddyboy-No1
My advice is,dont do it,we have returned to England twice now,and each time we have regretted it,its ok for a while,but you soon learn what you have given up,there is nothing wrong with you wanting to be English/British living in Australia,but think about what you are giving up,we will never do it again,it took us two times to realise this,there is nothing wrong with missing the country of your birth,i think we all get like that,but you really have to remember England is not the same country as when you left it,we realised that very quickly after we arrived,so much has changed,my home town had changed so much it was like going to another country,if you have not done so already try and make friends with other ex-pats,yes its hard being an ex-pat,but think about what your kids can do here,i have two sons who were born in Perth,and 3 born in England,now they are settled have moved out and have kids of their own,and they are happy,you may think things are expensive here,but its worst in England,the Sun newspaper is online,go and have a look,you will be able to see how much its changed for the worst,one thing i dont like about being an ex-pat here is,we dont have a national day,every other nationality gets to celebrate their national day but us,its time we had one,23rd of April is St Georges Day,we should have that,and be allowed to celebrate it,yet each year comes round and nothing is mentioned about it,other ex-pats from other countries celebrate and its on the news,look at St Patricks day,apart from that,we would not move back for all the money in the world,hope this helps,you are not alone........
With all due respect, I would not rely on The Sun newspaper as an accurate source of information on life in Britain. Sure the country has its problems, but the British media is not renowned for providing a balanced view on anything. It's pessimism that sells tabloids in Britain.
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Old Jun 4th 2011, 2:47 am
  #25  
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Default Re: The urge to return home is growing stronger

Originally Posted by Reaver
The OP is working 6 hours a day, 5 days a week. He probably wouldnt be working that little if he moved back here. As for housing, Ive done my research as any potential migrant does, and with the exchange rate the cost of housing is only slightly more than it is here in the UK, with the substantial difference that housing is more spacious.

Average Square Footage according the www........

UK - 800
USA - 2300
NZ - 1900
Aus - 2200

(quoted from here )

Yep, you pay a bit more, but you get more space and you dont get to listen to your neighbours cough and sneeze, not unless your into that thing anyways........

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2 points

i. Buy an established house, not on an Australian new estate - but to be honest, Australian estates at least have bigger houses -if that is your bag - and it seems it is. I forget how small UK houses can be.

ii. The hours you work are down to you, and your industry and employer.

Some people will rub your nose in it and tell you they work longer hours here in Australia than they ever did in the UK. (I don't.)
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Old Jun 4th 2011, 3:39 am
  #26  
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Default Re: The urge to return home is growing stronger

Originally Posted by BadgeIsBack
2 points

i. Buy an established house, not on an Australian new estate - but to be honest, Australian estates at least have bigger houses -if that is your bag - and it seems it is. I forget how small UK houses can be.

ii. The hours you work are down to you, and your industry and employer.

Some people will rub your nose in it and tell you they work longer hours here in Australia than they ever did in the UK. (I don't.)
To add to Badge's comments, don't buy in any estate with water or lake in the name
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Old Jun 4th 2011, 4:30 am
  #27  
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Default Re: The urge to return home is growing stronger

Originally Posted by BadgeIsBack

Some people will rub your nose in it and tell you they work longer hours here in Australia than they ever did in the UK. (I don't.)
And some people will tell the truth, not to rub your nose in anything but cos its true. Badge doesn't work longer hours, he rushes home to his lovely wife.
Some of us however just do work longer hours.
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Old Jun 4th 2011, 4:41 am
  #28  
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Default Re: The urge to return home is growing stronger

I worked longer hours when I was in a wages job. The problem is with most Aussie tradies, they like to start work in the middle of the night. Honestly, sometimes my old boss would want me to be at his place for 5.30am!!

The idea was that we would start eary and finish early...funnythough, the early finish never seemed to happen.

I renovate bathrooms for a living. It is extremely hard physical work, but as I said I only work 6 hours a day and don't work weekends.

I don't know how bad things are in UK, but I would be hoping to do similar work. With no mortgage, I wouldn't be under as much pressure to earn mega-bucks, but would still neeed to earn a living.
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Old Jun 4th 2011, 5:07 am
  #29  
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Default Re: The urge to return home is growing stronger

Chatting to my best mate back there who has just renovated his bathroom it looks like good tradies are in as big a demand as ever. He struggled to get any of the people that had been recomended to him as everyone was booked solid
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Old Jun 4th 2011, 7:25 am
  #30  
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Default Re: The urge to return home is growing stronger

Originally Posted by Mike-T
I worked longer hours when I was in a wages job. The problem is with most Aussie tradies, they like to start work in the middle of the night. Honestly, sometimes my old boss would want me to be at his place for 5.30am!!

The idea was that we would start eary and finish early...funnythough, the early finish never seemed to happen.

I renovate bathrooms for a living. It is extremely hard physical work, but as I said I only work 6 hours a day and don't work weekends.

I don't know how bad things are in UK, but I would be hoping to do similar work. With no mortgage, I wouldn't be under as much pressure to earn mega-bucks, but would still neeed to earn a living.
My OH is a tradie, and wages are dire at the mo due to the Polish happy to work for reduced rates and send the money home and not even spend it in the UK. Carpenters rates in London are now £8 - £16 per hour for 6am-6pm days, and the standard of work as you would expect on those wages in considerably lower. All trades rates are now affected.
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