Well here i sit... my daughter has just reminded me (as if need it That after living here in Oz for 3 and a half years, we are to fly to Singapore for 4 days and then off to Uk for 4 weeks (xmas and New year.)

I have really struggled with homesickness/people sickness over the years. Stuck it out ...only now find my eldest daughter and hubby loving it here and myself and youngest daughter sitting on the fence

I now feel very apprehensive about how i will feel about our return visit.

Trying to read as much info about the ping-pong poms i think to reassure myself
Just feel better in sharing these thoughts with you..... or else i tend to keep them to myself

PS congratulations NU-SHOOZfor the sale of your house...your flight leaving OZ is the day we return

We have stuck it out here for 5 years but finally escaping on 7th January

Each year we have been back to the UK for a holiday over Easter and not wanted to come back. We've stuck it out for the eldest daughter finishing school here which she has now done.

As the years have gone by the children have settled and been happy but are happier now going back to the UK.

Go on your holiday see how you feel and if you still think you could return then you must all sit down and talk about it and plan your future. It's no good being unsure or unhappy in life.

Great news Nu-Shooz about your house sale. We'll be following right behind you.

I can remember the apprehensive feeling I had when we returned for the first Xmas. We had only been in Australia for around a year and I was going back to our house (husband still worked in UK at that time so we had kept the house). I was really nervous at how I would feel, as I had been rather unsettled earlier in the year and was dreading walking through the door. Fortunately I need'nt have worried, the trip back just really confirmed we had done the right thing. My youngest daughter who had also been unsettled (probably cos I was), at first thought it was great to be back as people made a fuss of her, but after a couple of weeks she actually said 'I can't believe I thought I was missing things in England' and could not wait to return to Australia.
I hope you have a good Xmas with all your family and friends.

Everyone's experience of that first trip is different and my own was tinged with some sadness, the first week was awesome but by week 4 I was dreading leaving but also fed up living out a suitcase and ready to go back if not to Aus but to my own house, and I missed my dog also, but never Australia.

That first trip back was within 2 years of coming out and it was then another 2 years before I managed back, in that time all my grandparents passed away without me ever seeing them again.

Unlike mand8002 I did not migrate for a better life (married an Aussie) so the bigger house and car have never been the big drawcard for me as for others, I was happy enough with a 3 bedroom (and only one living room!) house in Scotland and having fab holidays in the USA and Europe.

So I am sure you will enjoy the trip, but that airport farewell is hellish, I think I would rather be physically stabbed than feel that level of emotional pain again.

(Islandergirl who is returning 2009 for good).

We did move for a better life, but not for material things. The bigger house and car were never a draw, but the more laid back lifestyle, more family time and the fact that here my daughter is not discriminated against. We did not do airport goodbyes ever, in fact we said our goodbyes the day before we left as this is far less emotional for all concerned.

I'm with Islandergirl on this one - the pain of leaving after a holiday back home can be crippling - being stabbed would be a walk in the park in comparison. I do it every year because I need to go home for my sanity (ditto married to an Australian so not here for the mythical "better lifestyle" etc) and quite frankly I dread the last few days of each stay and though I hold it together for my aged rellies until the train pulls out of the station, I tend to bawl my eyes out pretty much all the way from Cambridge to London and every time it gets harder.

Only thing that brings me back here is the fact that I usually leave the DH here - I did try and persuade him to stay there with me earlier this year (his once in 5 year visit!) but he needed to come back to plant his tomatoes (that gives you a clue about his life priorities!) so I had to come back with him.

Every time I go home I am amazed at how beautiful it is, how different according to which season I go back in, what a wealth of experiences there are, how much variety there is within a small range of whereever you may be. Winter isnt always the best time to go if you are inclined to do the touristy stuff but there is nothing better than a UK Christmas IMHO and if I get snowed in and cant get the plane back here then that is just an added bonus

I hope you have an amazing holiday and enjoy every moment of it! Can you tell that some of us are positively GREEN with envy?

Have yourselves a fab holiday and thanks for the kind wishes


Happy new beginnings for both of us then all the best to you all.

Oh...thank you all for your kind wishes I'm sure we will have a lovely holiday.
We don't fly out until the 10th of December but on our return in January i shall post and let you know how as a family we got on back in Blighty

I went back home in April for a 'decider' visit after a year here. My first 6 months in perth were just awful because I suffered from severe depression and even now cannot believe just how close to the edge I was.

The 2nd 6 months I recovered and dithered about moving interstate, sticking it out in Perth even though it wasn't for me or moving back to the UK.

Decided one day to go back home for a couple of weeks and 7 days later was on a plane to the UK with my little girl - very apprehensive, worried but knowing I had to make a decision one way or the other.

The minute I stepped off the plane I knew where I wanted to be. It didn't stop me seeing the negatives of the place though and there are many, just as there are everywhere in the world.

However the positives of living in the UK outweight the negatives for me and I'll be going back next year.

I took a taxi to the airport rather than have to endure the painful goodbyes.

It was bad enough seeing the pain in my in-laws eyes as I took their granddaughter away again and the emotional breakdown that my sister (who I had been estranged from for years and made up with 48 hours before emigrating - our parents are dead so we just have each other now) almost made me not get that return flight.

The thing is, as I always say, what is right for one person is so so wrong for another but my life will be more fulfilling in the UK because of what we had before. I used to say I can't wait to get my life back but that's not true because I won't get it back. I will get aspects of it back and that's fine for me

OK but I don't getthe laid back lifestyle, worked 35 hours in the UK and here its more like 40-45 pw +longer commuting time but maybe that is because of my field(accounting) I would have considerably less "free"time in Aus.

Definitely a good idea to say the farewells the night before than go through the emotional wringer at the airport that is true, it is just horrible.