doub

should I emigrate? -is Perth better than Wogga Wogga? - will I get a job in Brisbane as a hairdresser? - can I get a house with a pool for $400k

I understand that there will be things that worry the soon to be expat, but seriously -
There will always be an element of doubt about such a life changing decision .... what's the worst that can happen?
People used to say to me .... "brave move moving to Australia with your family when you've never even been on holiday...." My stock reply was always "well it can't be worse than the West Midlands can it?" I was right, it isn't.

I came over here four years ago with my wife & three kids, We knew noboby, it was the week before Christmas, no house, no job, no car.

Step 1. there were a heap of car rental places at the airport only too keen to let us have a car.
Step 2. checked into a hotel
Step 3. drove around real estate for rental found an unfurnished, moved in that day.
Step 4. went to Retrovision & bought a sofa, tv, kettle & big fridge
Step 5. applied for a few jobs (got all of them!)

you get the idea

We now have the fantastic life that I could have only dreamed about in UK, we have our own business now, and are Australian Citizens. Would I move back - Never.


Just do it (you can blame me when you fly back to the UK if it doesn't work - but at least you tried ..)

tofster

My sentiments entirely... I like your style !!

bridie

I agree, I find it amazing that people would actually base their decision making on what someone said about a particular area or whether they could afford a house outright. I mean, if you were going to move to somewhere else in the UK you wouldnt stop someone in the street and ask "Where's better, Birmingham or Liverpool?" would you, and I doubt very much you'd think "Well, I'll choose Liverpool because we could be mortgage free, even though I've no idea on the job situation etc etc etc"

I can understand people want reassurance and want to find out about a particular area, fair enough, but I do sometimes wonder if some of these threads arent started as a wind up by trolls....

georgiagal

Well said! People think they are going to go to Oz and the proverbial sliver spoon is part and parcel of a PR visa, moving to another country is hard work. Wherever you live in this world, it is what you make of it.

gedge

yeah but it's advisable to do some research before you uproot everything
it's still a risk, but at least you're better prepared for what lies ahead

DrWho

Alternatively... some people might value being mortgage free to the extent that they might think they can afford to get a much less well paying job so that criteria is not so important anymore...

tofster

And NEVER move to Birmingham or Liverpool....

(when blue touchpaper has been lit, retreat to a safe distance etc etc.....)

Liana

Can't any place be better than that

DrWho

Quite... Bearing in mind the high number of returnees, it's got to be crazy to 'just do it'... The OP is one of the fortunate ones... MbttUK is full of those less so...

doub

totally agree - I did a heap of research before we came, my point was that people seem to want every i dotted & t crossed, and you can tie yourself up in knots.

to ask 'where in Australia should I live' is pointless - you may get a thousand people with a thousand answers and then they say "oh and by the way, should I emigrate ...."

er no, proberbly not

northernbird

and you have to bear in mind that no amount of research prepares you for missing your family and friends if you are close to them. Australia is a wonderful place to live IMO but gut wrenching for those leaving people behind.

bridie

bridie

exactly

gedge

each to their own, if it helps to throw up an open question like where should i live then great, although no one should expect "the answer" without asking more specific q's as well..
it's up to the individual how many i's need dotting before they feel comfortable...there does come a point though where i agree you do have to "Just do it"

BadgeIsBack

I joined expats a bit like that.

I said "you either get it or you don't".

I've been jadily posting ever since with permanent raised eyebrows.

I think with the real estate boom and rise in cost of living it has got harder.

You never know...