What makes people give up UK life?
 

Hello all.

OH has an interview week after next, we fly to Adelaide on Thursday, have arranged for the children to be looked after by a friend so we can go alone and do a recci, have so much planned!

Anyway word has now spread through my circle of friends that we are going, phone hasn't stopped, friends and mmmm so called friends wanted to know what we are up to... most people I have to say have been positive and I have had offers already from people wanting the cars, cat, dog, few items of furniture and for the house to be rented out!! I did feel a bit like my life was being pecked at by vultures!! OH hasn't got the job yet!!

Anyway, most people have been very supportive, but a few have been saying, 'Oh your so brave', 'I couldn't do that', 'Why are you going?' 'Why would you want to give up your life?' etc etc Then it dawned on me, actually I do have a nice life here, we both work locally, 2 cars, children happy and doing well at school, nice circle of friends, house nearly completely refurbished/decorated and we have some savings, we are not rich by any means, but we have a comfortable life, we are careful with our money don't go out that much, normal mad hectic life with 2 children a cat and dog but we are all happy.

So my questions is 'Why' do we all want to give up our 'ok' lives and put ourselves through the nightmare and stress of Visa's and packing up our lives to move half way round the world? We still have to go to work and pay the bills and do the dishes and laundry and we all have bad days and the children will still be arguing, but does it makes it easier to deal with because the sun is shinning?

For me and OH it's simple because we can, we had a thought, we had a dream, we had a vision, and hopefully we will get that chance, we want to experience something different, something outside our box, something that we can say we have achieved rather than being just normal. At least we can say we tryed, even if it doesn't work out we tryed. And to those doubters that have never failed they are normally the ones that have never tryed.

Sorry for such a long post and if i've bored the pants off you, just needed to get this off my chest, and to ask other like minded people 'Why are you going to Australia?'

Thanks :)

Re: What makes people give up UK life?
 

Us UK folk are never happy i guess. We always think the grass is greener.
We go cause we can, if it works out...cool!!! if it doesn't then so be it.

All the best and have a great adventure.

Re: What makes people give up UK life?
 

That could have been written by me Greenlaker:thumbsup:

Lifes 1 great big adventure!
And also the world is a big place,so why just live in one country:cool:

Re: What makes people give up UK life?
 

that could have been written by me too!

good luck with your trip and let us know how you get on xx

Re: What makes people give up UK life?
 

You only life once, I think some people don't realise this!!
So, win, lose or draw, at least we can all say - - WE TRIED, WE LIVED, WE EXPERIENCED.

Its all chapters for the book, your book of life.


He who dares Rodney, He who dares :)

Re: What makes people give up UK life?
 

We had a good life in the UK. But Himself was offered a job in Australia and we didn't want to spend the next 50 years of our lives wondering 'what if?'

My father worked in the Steel Industry, had the chance to emigrate to Australia in the 70s and didn't go because of opposition from my grandparents - my parents have always regretted it and I didn't want to do the same.

We loved our life in the UK, we love our life here in Australia. Different things naff me off about both places, but ultimately, we're all happy here and have no plans at the moment to return to Britain.

Re: What makes people give up UK life?
 

My Granddad felt that he had a good life, he worked for one company from 15 to 65, went to Blackpool every year for the annual break, and lived in one town all his life.

I felt like being different..... :)

Re: What makes people give up UK life?
 

Just a word of caution.

We were in almost exactly the same position, a very comfortable suburban life. I was offered a transfer to Oz and we jumped at the idea... I mean what's the worse that could happen?.. you don't like it, you just go home again.

Well the worse that could happen was that we detested it... and "just going home again" would have been financial suicide. So we stuck it out, circumstances changed, things got better and our outlook changed. There are still days after close to four years where my wife would return home at the drop of a hat... but these are few and far between now, and I never really think about going home anymore.

Just doing it "because we can" could turn out to be hugely painful, and very costly, experience. Think long and hard about what you are giving up before making the decision to move.

Interesting to note that I still call the UK home.

Re: What makes people give up UK life?
 

Dont do it then,its the same shit here.

Re: What makes people give up UK life?
 

Dunno but if it aint broke then dont fix it. OTOH if you get an offer not to be refused then dont refuse it. But dont burn any bridges either (what a load of cliches huh). Life was meant to be a series of adventures but just make sure that you dont get stuck in a place you dont want to be at the end of it all. It's easy to say you can go back if you dont like it but reality sometimes bites a whole lot harder than that and families break up because half of them want one thing and the other half doesnt.

The sunshine isnt a universal panacea unfortunately - many Aussies spend more time inside than you would think because it is too hot, too fly ridden, too enervating to go outside away from the aircon in summer and winters can be nippy especially with the wind coming straight off the South Pole.

Re: What makes people give up UK life?
 

Yep... Same life stuff to deal with where ever you live... But that's exactly my point, Why do people give up perfectly ok lives to move other side of world? I'm not looking for someone to say 'Yes go it will ok!' then when it isn't I can blame someone! I'm just curious to see the reasons behind what makes people have this urge or desire they want to pack up and move to pastures new... as none of my friends understand it! Like I said just wanted to speak with like minded people.

Re: What makes people give up UK life?
 

Hi we 'did it' because we were at the stage in our lives where we wanted a change. Never expected it to be ' utopia' & just as well cause it ain't. We came with the mentally, lets give it a go & if it doesn't work for us then its been a wee bit of an adventure. Nothing's forever & you only get one shot.....so why not???

Donna

Re: What makes people give up UK life?
 

I moved because i was bored in the UK,fancied a change,because i had the chance,wanted to live in a different country,fancied a bit of sun for a change,thought that Aus would be a better country for the kids to grow up in.
Its the same shit here and quite often the bucket isnt as shiney as the UK version.
Everyone is different,everyones got their own tale to tell therefore it doesnt really bare any relevence to other expats im afraid.

Re: What makes people give up UK life?
 

If you can afford to move back to the UK and have the same standard of living as before if it does'nt work out then go for it, but if the cost of it all if you want to move back to the UK would financialy ruin you then think twice.

Re: What makes people give up UK life?
 

Ask me after the summer ....

Last summer I was far to tied up with getting a Job and finding a place to live.

In the end the only opinion that counts is you and your OH.

Re: What makes people give up UK life?
 

I personally think that anybody who moves there family 24 hrs by plane and then wants to come back desperately but have got no money to do so,well that aint a very responsible thing to do,so maybe i wont be needing "there" opinions.

Ps Dont move unless you have a plan B in place!cos you never know if/when you need to change plans

Re: What makes people give up UK life?
 

I've been here 4 years and living in Perth have met many expats in that time, the main reason people say that they emmigrated was for the weather!

Re: What makes people give up UK life?
 

We were in the exact same position as you in the U.K. People on here have made some valid points but do it if YOU want to. The only thing I would say is that if you are at all very close to family and friends then you will find it tough for sure, if you are a family unit happy on your own most of the time then you should be fine.
For us it has not worked out and at times has been very painful, difficult and trying. Then there are scores of expat friends of ours who love it and who have no plans to go back.
If it's itching then scratch it, good luck :)

Re: What makes people give up UK life?
 

we came out in 2000 as I was offered a temporary job here- 2 years.

9 and 1/2 years later we are still here- I have had 4 jobs with the same company, we are citizens and we have a beautiful daughter.
I did feel pretty settled but my daughter missing out on family has not helped. I realise that I know few Aussies, and the mums (all Aussies) in my mother's group spend lots of time with their family which makes our lack of support more noticeable.

So there are plenty of plusses to life here, but lack of family support can be a hard thing to deal with.
But if you regard it as an adventure for a few years, you have nothing to lose.

Re: What makes people give up UK life?
 

I decided to leave when the UK courts decided it was okay to use evidence obtained by torture as long as nobody asked how it was obtained. :unsure:

Re: What makes people give up UK life?
 

We were pretty unsettled in the UK, originally from Liverpool, then went away for University for a few years, then moved to Portsmouth for nearly 10 years, then a period of thinking we were moving to lots of different places. Finally spent a year in Northampton.

What we found from that was most places were similar, good bits and bad bits. We also got used to not seeing much of family.

We got to a point where we needed to choose something, we decided to emigrate - as it happens at probably the worst time financially and just as the UK changed for us, I had found an ideal job and we had a fantastic place to live.

I can bet you that, had we validated and waited out the crisis, we would have stayed in the UK.

As it happens, we didn't, we came out. We had stress and worry, but thankfully it has straightened out now and I reckon we may be on to a good thing here now.
Rambling over, but to provide a view to why we think as we do. How do we think of Australia at the moment?
Much the same as everywhere else we have been. Things are different, but not much more than they were as we moved around the UK.
Big differences that hit us are not knowing all the little things, stuff that you never even knew you learned, most of the big stuff is the same!

I don't think we will be going back, we just bought our first house in 2 years. We are desperate to get settled and do the things we came out for, travelling the country and seeing the isolation and country.

Even though we didn't see much of family, we still miss them. Back in the UK, when something bad was happening I was usually a bit thankful to being away and being able to choose whether to interfere/help. Those are the worst now, I always feel helpless and can't do anything.

Best of luck whatever you decide, and if you come over, stick out the first 6 months at least, I reckon the first 3 months are crap no matter what :)

Re: What makes people give up UK life?
 

hi

i used to be able to tell people why we were leaving the uk, we have now been in oz for 11 weeks and i just dont know anymore!!!!!

i am missing family ALOT and missing the uk!!! something i didnt expect to happen :confused:

just think very hard about it and if its for you then give it a go and good luck, like other people have said treat it as an adventure and make sure you have the money to get back home (just in case)

josie jo
x

Re: What makes people give up UK life?
 

We're a bit different as we're not there yet, but we've been in Singapore for 12.5 years.

We were 30 somethings who spent all our spare money and spare time travelling. In 1996 we fell in love with Vancouver and started saving to emigrate to Canada.

Then someone offered me a job in Singapore and we thought what the hell, let's have an adventure.

We fell in love with Perth the first time we visited, I think in 1998 and knew that one day we wanted to move there.

We now have PR and a son and just need jobs.

Why Perth? We've visited probably 20+ times now. I'm not sure what it is really, but it just feels like home. Singapore never has.

Re: What makes people give up UK life?
 

My brother and his family emigrated to Vancouver earlier this year! They love it!! We did think about Canada as they are there and OH has good friends in Calgary. However, after many late nights sitting on the sofa and talking and talking about life and the universe and what we want from life we decided Oz would suit us better.

And yeah like people have said life is an adventure! Hope you get things sorted, wish you all the best.

Re: What makes people give up UK life?
 

Hi, We are as in, me, OH and kids very much a unit of our own! As with most I have other siblings close by but hardly ever see them. However, as in above reply my brother and his family (whom I am very close too) moved to Vancouver early in the year. I have been with them as it were along their journey of Visa, jobs, house, school etc so know first hand what we would be letting ourselves in for. Had tearful telephone conversations with sis in law, seen her stressed out to the max, running on empty, the highs and lows of the 'process' but they managed it. It's funny I actually probably speak/email to them more now than I did when they were in the UK. So being away from family isn't an issue for me, friends yeah I think I will miss, but i'm quite a friendly person so quite prepared to make the effort and I have young children so will need to do the school run so hopefully that will open a few doors to getting to know people.

Sorry to hear you had a rough time, hope things are better for you now, keep smiling.

Re: What makes people give up UK life?
 

Well we had a ‘pub conversation’ a long time ago about going to Australia, then bought a house did it up, climbed the corporate ladder a bit, then completed doing up the house and started getting a bit dispirited with the UK and our jobs, so started to think (soberly!) about Aus.

I think we needed a new challenge before we get too old and then the Missus got informed that her job was going and so we had the prospect of some extra redundancy cash and we’re landing in Melbourne in 6 weeks!

Re: What makes people give up UK life?
 

Look you can very easily get bogged down with the opinions expressed here, just remember one thing.....the opinions come from people who have either done it, or in the venture of doing it.
Ultimately that will still come down to Jack Twinkle Dee.

In other words no matter how many positive/negative opinions are on here, you still gotta just go for it yourself, if you want it.

Why am I going...looking out the window here, raining all day, winter is coming in, spring/summer is coming along in Oz, fancy a lifestyle change, culture change, improve my health(give up smoking) get fit, enjoy some barbies, open my mind to something new for awhile.
I feel my window of opportunity is now, and I'm taking it.

So ya in a year or so time, there will be another post on this forum, with a similar query, I will then be able to put in my 2 cents like others have here, and that will be worth as much as to the opinions I am reading here.

But I can always say win/lose or draw - I lived somewhere else for awhile (in another Country, Oz!!) never thought I would say that, or that was me, but it will be soon, and in later life when I look back...that was me :)

Rock'N'Roll comrades

Re: What makes people give up UK life?
 

I'm more of an Indie girl ;) :thumbup:

Re: What makes people give up UK life?
 

Sounds like you have the right attitude to try something like moving to the other side of the world. People who are happy, have friends and have a positive attitude in the old country are likely to do well in Australia. If your OH has a good job to go to, then that will help as well. However, don't underestimate the challenge of immigrating. It can be very stressful.

Re: What makes people give up UK life?
 

[QUOTE=iamthecreaturefromuranus;7908244]

Just a word of caution.

We were in almost exactly the same position, a very comfortable suburban life. I was offered a transfer to Oz and we jumped at the idea... I mean what's the worse that could happen?.. you don't like it, you just go home again.

QUOTE


A very close friend of mine is just going back to UK from Spain. Basically a 4 year disaster:( Left rural property, husband, teenagers and decided to go for the 'sun' because she could.

Well she did and now its back to the UK to live on a mates couch. Property in Spain wont sell at the moment and thats all thats left, rest dwinded away on living/moving costs.

She actually came out to OZ and stayed with us, it was Aus or Spain, so I feel really bad for her as although it was her decision to go for spain, we were there in her decision making process:eek: Thankfully the only points I pushed were how the hell would she see two teenage kids from Australia? and that she should give the marriage another try. He actually died of a heart attack since and she now has health problems. The stress of it all I think.

Re: What makes people give up UK life?
 

Along with us wanting to try a create a better life / opportunities for our son, a lot of the points you have raised applied to us.

Thought Australia would tick most of those boxes for us, and up to now its far exceeded them.

Good luck

Re: What makes people give up UK life?
 

Hardly a fair comparison though... I mean, coming from Rochdale, absolutely everywhere would be better. ;)

Re: What makes people give up UK life?
 

That is actually an excellent point... but not specifically relating to Rochdale of course :lol:

Re: What makes people give up UK life?
 

Always remember, things could be allot worse, rephrase ALLOT WORSE, you could be lying in a hospital bed, hoping for things/your situation to improve, and what you hope to do differently when you get out of that hospital bed.

Time moves pretty fast, but sometimes the longer you leave something, the further away it becomes - then your in the hospital bed and wonder to yourself why the hell didn't I do this/that etc.
If your able bodied and have a desire to do something, Grab that thing called life by the horns and take it as far as you can, don't let go until the boss from above fires you/promotes you(whatever way you want to look at it).

Re: What makes people give up UK life?
 

Because we could and we wanted a better life and more opportunities for our kids, broaden our own and their horizons and hopefully give them options for their futures.


For us it was pretty one sided at first, hubby wanted to move either here or to nz but I didn't. Came on a reccie went home I said I didn't want to move here then 6 months later I changed my mind! :rofl: like women do! I realised I was being unfair to my hubby by not letting him try this as it was his dream. Agreed we'd get PR, give it 2 years and see how it goes, been here 9 months now and are absolutely loving it, the kids are thriving and getting opportunities that they never had before.

Obviously it has come at a price with regards to family left behind and friends too but we thought we are doing this for us and our kids.

It's certainly not easy but it is so worth it! Love the weather here it's pretty cloudy and overcast today and it's great :thumbup: my favourite kind of day, love it when it rains too :o lol

xx

Re: What makes people give up UK life?
 

Hey theres no need for that is there...i could easily take offence to that comment :thumbsup:

Re: What makes people give up UK life?
 

Different reasons and often nothing more than change. Away from the mundane and a challenge to start anew perhaps?Expect folk consider Australia has as many similarities as differences to the UK,with perhaps just a little edge,so apart from the distance and climate,it shouldn't prove too difficult at least from a distance to adapt to surely?
A quick research on previous posts over the years may explain a little of the pros and cons and different versions of reality.

Re: What makes people give up UK life?
 

Where folk originated from in the sense of town or city would have a bearing to an extent on how they perceive their new home.
Wouldn't begin to speak of Rochdale,a place i have never been,but lets face it there are some quite awful places in UK,where one may assume that a number of the locals could be enticed to leave with the minimal of enticement.

Re: What makes people give up UK life?
 

We gave up perfectly a good, (allbeit very busy and work dominated) middle class suburban life to move here. We moved for a number of reasons:

Main reason was strain on limited resources and infrastructure of what is essential a small island. Over crowding was a major issue; schools, roads, doctors, swimming club etc you name it there were huge waiting lists for everything in our area- Moved to WA got signed up immediately for all of the above no problem and can get same day doctor and dentist appointments. I know that this is not the case all over Oz and similarly the above scenario was not the case for everywhere in the UK but with my hubby's line of work (oil industry) we were very limited as to where we could live in the UK. There are so many options here in WA and we were able to choose exactly where we wanted to live.

We wanted more family time-We were very lucky with this one, neither of us wanted to change our line of work and we haven't but we somehow have so much more family time, a better quality of life and are all so much more relaxed and happy for it.

We wanted a more outdoor lifestyle-We regularly go boating, fishing, camping, cycling, walks, beach, parks etc and being sensible about the time of day and where we go means that we don't find it unbearable hot or fly ridden. Generally speaking if the beach is too windy, too hot or there are too many flies we head for the estuary or the river as the conditions can be quite different depending on the prevailing winds.

It may sound shallow but we wanted to build our own home-Should get the keys in about a month

Not everyone’s reason but most of the time we hated the weather in the Uk-We live South of Mandurah down at Port Bouvard on top of a hill. It is pretty windy but this means that we rarely get flies or mossies and the ocean breeze means that you can live comfortably without air con (have lived without for 3 years) we have built our new house in a very similar position, we have installed aircon for heating.

A big plus for us was the opportunity to start again. We had accumulated huge debts, credit cards, etc over the years so we sold our house and cars paid off all our debts, took what was left and came to Oz with a clean slate. We were able to do this because 'what was left' went so much further over here and allowed us to achieve the lifestyle we wanted. We don't own credit cards now and our Philosophy is that if we can't afford to buy it without credit we don't buy it. The only debt we have is our mortgage.

There are so many different reasons why people move and I agree with you it will be interesting to read other peoples reasons for moving.

Good luck to your hubby!

Re: What makes people give up UK life?
 

I couldn't be written better than that!!! :):) Sounds like my thoughts, although I'm not a pom. :)