Dont worry Sam, I think it is normal once you've been here for a year or more.

Me, I was fine up until a couple of months ago, yes I think I had a bout of postnatal depression as well. I missed my family, I felt SO guilty (still do) about DD not getting to meet her great-grandma yet (who is in her 80s), DHs job was going nowhere and he was making the decision to go back to engineering.... whole heap of things and I actually thought if someone walked through the door and offered me a ticket back I'd go.

i also think some of it was down to getting our citizenship sorted. Through the whole emigration journey there is something to wait for: TRA, visa, moving day, then the milestones of 6 months, 1 year, then finally getting the citizenship.

After that: nothing....... and I think it freaked me out a bit.

We love it hear, always have, and the thoughts I had about going back have (thankfully) gone.

Point of my post is, dont beat yourself up, I really believe it is all part of the process.

((HUG))

Like Bridie said it's really a part of the process. I like to think of it as a side effect of living abroad. It comes and goes and it doesn't matter how long you're away. The way I see it, that's where I (you) grew up and for some reason that's so ingrained in me that I'll never get over it so to speak.
The only thing to do IMHO is to just feel it and sure enough it'll pass. Get some routine when it comes on, for example I get on the net and surf Uk things or call someone at home. Once you've done that for a bit your mind will start to come back to the present and you can carry on. Take yourself off to the shops, go out in the garden do your living in Australia stuff and you'll feel normal again. I hope that helps a wee bit.

Hang in there! I am not saying that these feelings will ever go away because I dont think they do but some things you just have to live with!

{{{hugs}}}}

Maybe the fact that you refer to the UK as "home" says something?...

I don't think it matters what you call 'the place you grew up where there's family and friends' it still results in those same feelings.

Home is where the heart is.....

For me, anyway.

I think it's possible to love both places for different reasons. My home is here but my old home is part of who I am and I don't think it's necessary to wipe it from my memory in order to fully assimilate into Australian society.

Do you call the UKhome?

It is my former physical home and land of my birth and therefore will always be home in my heart. I am an Australian citizen and live as the Australians do and this is where I choose to live and provide a home for my Australian children who will undoubtedly feel the same way about Australia as I do about Scotland in years to come.

So thats a no then.

Where do you call "Home"?
everyone's view of home is their own
for me it's still where i live now, whether that be the UK, Aus or somewhere else
perhaps it's possible to have two "homes" or more
if they have some sort of home significance to you, then why not

Sam, I've sent you a text. I'm free during the days now, so if you want to meet up for a cuppa just let me know.

I've been feeling much the same the past couple of weeks. Just some crap times in my little life recently, so it's easy to want to retreat to familiarity. It will pass, I'm sure, for both of us.

It's my HOMEland, place of my birth.
Tell me why must people be made to feel guilty about referring to the UK as home?? What should it matter to anyone else? If people are struggling to settle because they miss people in the UK why does it have to end up in a discussion about whether it's right or wrong to call the UK home or not?? A few comforting words is what I came on here to give and now I'm angry because it's decended into nitpicking which is helpful to absolutely nobody!
I'm away to clean my Australian HOME before I break this keyboard.:curse:

It just seems strange to me.

Anyway, what are you doing here, I thought you'd gone AWOL?

It was a simple question.... do you call the UK home.

A yes or no answer.