What - if anything has changed - a year or two on ...
 

Thought this would be a useful thread for those contemplating the move, or in the visa machine. It seems to come up a lot on the forums and so, those of you who have moved beyond the honeymoon period - let's say a year onwards - what's changed? Did you just recreate your old life here or have there been changes? Above and beyond the money worries that haunt us all wherever we are on the planet, do you and yours feel happier and more content - or are you back in a slightly sunnier rut? Now that your life has become routine again - is it a better routine? Do any of the fringe benefits that come with living here make it worth it?

Over to you ...

:)

Re: What - if anything has changed - a year or two on ...
 

Good thread ....well it has potential. Lets hope you get some answers.

Re: What - if anything has changed - a year or two on ...
 

Well, here are my thoughts on this.

We have been here 11 months and we are happier by far. Why? Well in the UK my eldest son was bullied for 10 years by the same boy. It resulted in the police getting involved and this boy being bailled for ABH.

I know that this could have happened absolutely anywhere, but it didn't and it made me dread him coming home from school everyday to hear what had taken place. Here he has slotted in easily, he is dong well at school, learning to drive getting more and more confident and has a girlfriend. He is doing his TEE mocks this week and is aiming to go to Uni. In UK he kept a brave face on things but hardly left the house.

This week my youngest is doing a learn to sail course, and the middle child is learning to sail a powerboat, where he will get his skippers ticket (he is 14). Steve is shopping for a boat currently. They wouldn't really have had the opportunity to do this in UK as we lived in the middle of the country. They have already been in the pool. In a couple of weeks I am doing an open water scuba course. I would not do this in UK as the water is too murky and too cold for me to go in.

I walk far more, with a dog, we didn't have one in UK as we didn't really have the space, and the stuff in the bushland/park/conservation area at the botom of the road is fabulous. Birds and skinks, flowers are just gorgeous, there were 6 rosellas? lorikeets on a large stem of a black boy flower yesterday and we just stood and looked.

Steve used to work 12 hour days in UK, here he is away a lot. Just this morning he has flown to Hong Kong for a week, prior to that he was here for 3 weeks preceded by 5 weeks in Melbourne, 3 weeks in Auckland and 2 weeks in Sydney. We knew that could happen and so we were prepared for it.

When he is here though he works from home quite a lot, and when he goes into the office he is only away for 8 - 9 hours. Much better all round. The overseas trips have their benefits (duty free perfume and alcohol :D) And sometimes the break is good ;)

We spend a lot more time outside, doing stuff in the garden, sitting by the pool, eating with friends.

At lot of the aspects of our lives are the same, but then our lives in UK weren't what we wanted to leave for, we were happy with the things we did and the things we had. We came because we liked it here and thought that the life here would be better for our kids in the future. We have lived in Hong Kong, Germany, Northern Ireland, Scotland and England and when we saw Perth we knew we wanted to live here for the foreseable future. I won't say forever cosyou don't know what is around the corner. This time next year I may hate it and want to go somewhere else.

Hope that wasn't too boring to read, or too off topic!

Shirley

Re: What - if anything has changed - a year or two on ...
 

What a good post - thanks for sharing
S xx

Re: What - if anything has changed - a year or two on ...
 

Thanks for that.:thumbsup:

Re: What - if anything has changed - a year or two on ...
 

Well I'm sold - visa application in the post!!

Re: What - if anything has changed - a year or two on ...
 

Absolutely not - spot on. :)

Re: What - if anything has changed - a year or two on ...
 

We've been here nearly 2 years now and have been very lucky that neither us has been very homesick. The kids took awhile to settle, especially the eldest, but now love it as much as we do. Still miss family and friends but you accept that before you decide to emigrate.

I think we tried to get a similar life as we had in the UK but are now slowly changing that. We have decided to move away from the city and into the country to see if we prefer it, not that we hate living in the city but I think once you have made the massive move from the UK you have more confidence to try other things that you maybe would not have tried sitting in your safety bubble in the UK. We have no regrets living where we are, it maybe would have been too much to change too many things all at once and we have made fantastic friends in this area who are really supportive and it also means we can always move back if we dont like it.

When we moved out here we didn't come with any expectations, we just wanted to see what Australia had to offer and I suppose we are still exploring that. Its an amazing adventure and we don't regret a minute of it!! :thumbsup:

Re: What - if anything has changed - a year or two on ...
 

Been here nearly 3 years (I think but im crap with dates) and not alot has really changed I still spend to long at work (for my liking anyway). I try to get to the gym most days usually through my lunch breaks which is the same as what I did in Nottingham. I probably watch more TV (FOX sports) at the weekend than I used to trying to catch up with the football from England. My social life is probably worse than it was as I dont have many friends other than friends of the wife (Australian). I definately drink to much and should do something about it as it aint good for me.

Re: What - if anything has changed - a year or two on ...
 

For us it's been a pretty good move to date. We arrived in March 2006 and have made some great friends along the way ... 95% of which are Poms by the way which is a slight regret.

I'm about to take up a job with what will be my third employer and the salary equates to nearly triple what I was earning back in the UK so from a financial perspective it's going great.

That said, I work longer hours and am shattered by 9pm most evenings although that hasn't prevented me from playing indoor cricket, 7 aside footy and being part of a very successful masters 'soccer' team.

We have built our own house which has surpassed all our expectations and also had our first "Aussie" baby who is just fantastic.

Our other two boys have settled in tremendously and love the outdoor life, particularly swimming!!!

I'm currently in the throws of setting up two businesses of my own which I hope to establish within the next 6 months so that is providing an exciting side note.

My wife has more friends than she can cope with and has trouble fitting everything in which has been re-assuring for me. It's was my No.1 worry before we left.

We head back to the Isle of Man for Christmas on 1 Dec for a month and it will be interesting to see how our feelings have changed in just over 21 months of living here.

Australia for us gets a big 8/10.

:)

Re: What - if anything has changed - a year or two on ...
 

Just to clarify ...

In no way, shape or form is this mean't to come across as a brag like post. We've been exceptionally lucky with everything since arriving and have met some people who are really going through the mill personally & financially.

:o

Re: What - if anything has changed - a year or two on ...
 

I don't think our lives are hugely changed. I guess the biggy is the hours hubby works for about the same money. He was doing 90 hours a week, he now does 40. He's working his notice at the place he started at when we first got here, he's now moving into a completely different trade. We now have weekends together - never happened in the UK. We don't have as many friends but we are quite solitary people and haven't pushed ourselves as much as we should have. We have far fewer money worries and I am far healthier here.

Are you researching for an article ?;)

Re: What - if anything has changed - a year or two on ...
 

Nearly 3 years in, huge changes for me (apart from the type of work I do) and it's all for the better. Emigration, marriage, fatherhood, chook-maintenance, it's all good.

Hate to be dull but life is just damned peachy at the moment :)

Why? Some of it from within, some of it a product of the environment, some my new family ... could I see myself doing it all back in the UK, no.

Loads of fringe benefits here for me, too many to list. Downsides? The occasional visit to an English pub would be nice but that's what next June is for :cool:

Re: What - if anything has changed - a year or two on ...
 

Ive been here (Sydney) nearly 2 years now, I can't say the move was easy as my father died unexpectedly 5 weeks after I got here so I had to go back for 2 months as there were complications.

Having spent all of the money I should have been using to have a few months off work in the sun I had to get a job when I arrived back. It only took a week to get a job. In fact I am starting my third job in Oz next week not because there have been any problems just because the market is strong and I want to increase my salary. All jobs have had decent people to work with good management. I would say that work is much the same where ever you are unless of course you change your field of expertise.

Life here is much better for me, I go walking most mornings before work, during summer I go snorkelling after work and go kayacking at weekends. Lots of things to do. This summer I am going to learn to windsurf etc etc.

The only thing I feel is a problem is the distance from family but I knew that when I moved out here so I can live with it.

In general if anyone is thinking about making the move I would recommend it after all if it doesnt work out it's another thing to talk to friends about in the pub certainly better than wishing you had and not being able to.

Re: What - if anything has changed - a year or two on ...
 

Nice thread!

Ok......now where do I start???

We moved to NSW 18 months ago.

In the UK we pretty much spent our weekends in B&Q and Ikea! This is possibly because we owned our own house and are still just renting here - time will tell if this changes when we buy - but our weekends now are spent with beach trips (now its warming up) camping, picnics, strolling into town (or down the street to be more Aussie :)), playing tennis (only with 7 year old daughter - nothing too strenuous!), swimming (in the outdoor pool in our street when its warm enough - daughter has already been in it but it'll be a few months for me I'm sure).

After school activities also take over my life. So far we've had horse riding, swimming squads, dancing, gymnastics, tennis lessons etc etc etc! We've finally settled with swimming squads twice a week and gymnastics once a week for 2 hours. My daughter has gone from only being able to swim doggie paddle when we arrived - to district swimming for her school - brilliant if you ask me :)

I am now a full time student at TAFE studying website design (I'm a geek I know! :)) whereas in the UK I was working in a call centre struggling to juggle my time around school hours and school holidays. I dont think theres any way I would have contemplated returning to full time study in the UK - it just didnt seem as accessible as it is here.

Hubby is still working in the same trade he was in the UK (thats how we got here - employer sponsorship). He also plays 5 aside footie for work too which he loves. He still works a lot of overtime so that hasnt changed but what we do with our spare time certainly has.

Danielle has settled in really well at school and has loads and loads of friends (thankfully). Shes true blue now and theres no way in the world she wants to move back the to the UK.

I'm not saying its all been roses because its been bloody hard - no two ways about it. Initially it was a constant struggle to put myself out there - I volunteered at school, volunteered to drive for meals on wheels - went to pretty much anything I was invited to (even when I wasnt feel in the mood) and its paid off.

None of us have suffered with homesickness but the stress of the move has been a big issue with me at times - we've worked through it though and I'm really glad that we've done it. I've had pretty major surgery since arriving (thyroid removed) and my mum was diagnosed with breast cancer earlier this year (all clear now :)) so we've had a lot to deal with. Its all good though :)

All in all its been a good move for us. We are no longer in the rut that we were in in the UK (doing pretty much nothing at the weekends!).

I think thats enough for the time being :)

Rach xxxx