If you'd had a crystal ball.....
Mar 9th 2009, 9:46 am
#46
Forum Regular
Joined: May 2008
Location: Sydney
Posts: 125
Re: If you'd had a crystal ball.....
I would have still come as being young (20s) Australia was all so exciting after being in a small english town with all my school friends having children at the time it seemed so boring and I couldnt wait to have an adventure and I had just had a couple of years in the Middle east so had a taste for more travel. We had a great time here for the first few years.
Now with nearly 20 years clocked up here my crystal ball would have told me I would get more homesick (or peoplesick if you like) with time and we would have left six years ago before my son went to school and the fear of being trapped here for ever overwhelms me and not being able to spend time with my family and friends other than the holidays which are no longer as frequent.
I think it is right that going back after such a long time gets harder as the upheavel is massive and much will have changed however I am sure it is harder to continue to stay and always have regrets , no easy answer as we all know so well
Now with nearly 20 years clocked up here my crystal ball would have told me I would get more homesick (or peoplesick if you like) with time and we would have left six years ago before my son went to school and the fear of being trapped here for ever overwhelms me and not being able to spend time with my family and friends other than the holidays which are no longer as frequent.
I think it is right that going back after such a long time gets harder as the upheavel is massive and much will have changed however I am sure it is harder to continue to stay and always have regrets , no easy answer as we all know so well
Mar 9th 2009, 9:49 am
#47
Account Closed
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 10,784
Re: If you'd had a crystal ball.....
Probably not. Not because I particularly hate it here in Australia, or that I think the UK is streets ahead. Its simply that the cost and effort, both emotionally and financially, of making the journey and setting up a new home were just not worth what we got out of the move
Mar 10th 2009, 9:54 am
#48
Forum Regular
Joined: Apr 2008
Location: Brittany,France
Posts: 62
Re: If you'd had a crystal ball.....
You shouldn't think that just because your son is at school now you are trapped there.We moved when my daughter was 8 & it has had no effect on her ,even though she left behind 3 older brothers.It will be much harder when he is older & maybe he'll want to stay in the only place he knows,which will mean you will have an even greateer problem leaving him behind.
I have 3 children in UK & 3 here in France & we want to move to Aus. before any of them want to stay here,which is what my daughter now 14 has hinted at.If we get to Aus I know at least 2 of my sons in the UK will probably join us so i will have more family there than I do here.
Kids love adventure so if you want to move do it now while you can,without too much protest.
I have 3 children in UK & 3 here in France & we want to move to Aus. before any of them want to stay here,which is what my daughter now 14 has hinted at.If we get to Aus I know at least 2 of my sons in the UK will probably join us so i will have more family there than I do here.
Kids love adventure so if you want to move do it now while you can,without too much protest.
Mar 10th 2009, 11:49 am
#49
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Jan 2009
Location: Home!!!
Posts: 421
Re: If you'd had a crystal ball.....
I would have still come as being young (20s) Australia was all so exciting after being in a small english town with all my school friends having children at the time it seemed so boring and I couldnt wait to have an adventure and I had just had a couple of years in the Middle east so had a taste for more travel. We had a great time here for the first few years.
Now with nearly 20 years clocked up here my crystal ball would have told me I would get more homesick (or peoplesick if you like) with time and we would have left six years ago before my son went to school and the fear of being trapped here for ever overwhelms me and not being able to spend time with my family and friends other than the holidays which are no longer as frequent.
I think it is right that going back after such a long time gets harder as the upheavel is massive and much will have changed however I am sure it is harder to continue to stay and always have regrets , no easy answer as we all know so well
Now with nearly 20 years clocked up here my crystal ball would have told me I would get more homesick (or peoplesick if you like) with time and we would have left six years ago before my son went to school and the fear of being trapped here for ever overwhelms me and not being able to spend time with my family and friends other than the holidays which are no longer as frequent.
I think it is right that going back after such a long time gets harder as the upheavel is massive and much will have changed however I am sure it is harder to continue to stay and always have regrets , no easy answer as we all know so well
But I do know that if I stayed I would regret it. My children still have quite a lot of schooling years and I would much prefer it to be done in the UK, although I still worry that it will be a much bigger upheaval for them than we we came.
At the moment though the earliest possible "release date" is next year due to my OH.
Mar 10th 2009, 12:03 pm
#50
Forum Regular
Joined: May 2008
Location: Sydney
Posts: 125
Re: If you'd had a crystal ball.....
my son is 11 nearly 12 in year 6 here but in the uk should have started year 7 last sept , like you said he thinks it would be a great adventure to go and live in England at the moment. I agree kids are adapable and resilient up to a point I know he would miss his friends and all the sport he does here hopefully he could do the same there but I dont really know as I left when I was in my 20s so have no idea of the schooling and sport compared to Oz
That is one of the problems I suppose of being here a long time as I really dont know the reality of daily life in the Uk as a family. I left in the 80s so obviously lots has changed my reasons for returning are to spend time with our extended families . I try hard to imagine the reality of standing by the football pitch on saturday afternoon when its minus something :curse:
That is one of the problems I suppose of being here a long time as I really dont know the reality of daily life in the Uk as a family. I left in the 80s so obviously lots has changed my reasons for returning are to spend time with our extended families . I try hard to imagine the reality of standing by the football pitch on saturday afternoon when its minus something :curse:
Mar 11th 2009, 11:57 am
#52
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Jun 2008
Location: Back in the UK after 12 years in Australia
Posts: 579
Re: If you'd had a crystal ball.....
I would have insisted that my Aussie husband moved to the UK rather than me moving here to Aus, not because I hate it here but because the distance is too far from the UK and I feel like I missed out on so much with F&F as a result.
But I don't think it's healthy to dwell in the past and keep saying if only.
But I don't think it's healthy to dwell in the past and keep saying if only.
Mar 11th 2009, 2:43 pm
#53
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 839
Re: If you'd had a crystal ball.....
I would have still gone to Aus. It has made me appreciate what I have in Scotland and that I was a "moanin minnie".
I got out just in the nick of time
I got out just in the nick of time
Mar 15th 2009, 3:44 pm
#54
Forum Regular
Joined: Oct 2007
Location: London
Posts: 63
Re: If you'd had a crystal ball.....
No I wouldn't have moved. There have been more downs then up's in the time I have been here. I don't 100% regret it life experience and all that... but I feel I missed out on a lot at home with friends + family etc and if I had known exactly how things turned out I would have stayed in England.
Mar 17th 2009, 8:23 pm
#55
-------------------------
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 8,382
Re: If you'd had a crystal ball.....
If you had had a crystal ball when you made the move abroad (e.g. to Australia) from the UK, and had thus been able to foresee exactly what life was going to be like at your planned destination, and all the ups/downs you were going to experience, would you still have come?
