jad n rich

Although we are settled in work/school for another year in OZ with a Uk holiday as a sweetener for me and the kids, none of us feel we could stay in australia forever, my aussie partner included.

What I would like to ask. This forum seems to hold several recent UK returnees who are now going back to OZ. Would you be kind enough to do a post here, that outlines what your disappointments/ findings are in the UK that have led you to that decision?

I am in contact with several UK families plannning to return to UK and it would be really interesting for an honest account of whats gone wrong for you over there.

Thanks to anyone who takes the time to help out

Quinkana

They are bloody animals - no roots.

Confused in NZ!

Great post!
i would be really interested in the replies to this one too as that is what i fear will happen to us. Of course that's just one of my many fears - everythings scary at the minute!!!

ladylisa

I think many of them replied in the thread entitled: Any regrets about returning to Blighty. From what I could understand many of them thought that there original problem with settling into Oz or where ever they emigrated was in themselves and upon returning to the UK they realised this.

There are many people however that return to the UK and stop using this forum so it is difficult to get a true picture, you will only really hear from returnees that subsequently regret their decision.

jad n rich

We have read that thread but really its quite vague, what is actually going wrong there, wrong enough to want to come back to OZ. Its more just general we are unhappy stuff.

We were hoping for a more clear cut response, like a list of actual reasons.

Should have put your top 10 reasons for leaving the UK again, a nice easy to read thread.

HiddenPaw

In our case, we want our citizenship, simple as that!! We've done 18 months residency, need to do another 12. Altho we have tried to say it's a long-term return, we have both admitted that it's 12 months or so, then we'll see - we're keeping the house in the UK while we do this.

Personally I dont feel it is the right time to move away from the UK - I want the baby to know her grandparents and vice-versa. Being in Oz on a single income (which we plan to do for a few years) would make it difficult to afford holidays to the UK to see family. We have no idea if in 10 or 20 years time we may want to move back to Oz for good - but at least we will have the option.

There is nothing going wrong for us here - life is good - I've made a stack of new friends since I was pregnant, husband working 35hrs a week (not 50!) so plenty of time with baby, we spend a lot of time outdoors (we always did). Traffic and congestion up here isn't bad, heck even the NHS has done us good (esp when I consider the way the Aus system treated my husband when operating on him (lost photographs, no surgeon report, wrong discharge istructions, etc). So as far as 'UK is crap, Oz must be better' goes, it isn't like that for us. However, we feel we cant relax without our cit'ship. If we'd have secured it last time round, we wouldn't even be contemplating going back (not for a fair few years, anyway). But we would like the option for future - we do enjoy many aspects of life over there, but it's not as clear cut as one being 'better' than the other.

I am confident that the UK will provide a good education for my daughter - the school she will start at currently has classes of 11! I would be equally confident to send her to school in Australia. I may be totally naive and blind, but I just don't see the UK's 'Daily Mail-style' problems in the same light as many others...or maybe it's just that as an alternative, I know Australia has its own share of problems, so it's all swings and roundabouts and I'm not phased out by the 'bad' side of the UK!!

I also know some ping-pong migrants...except the two families I know are Aussie, who I met in Melbourne, and are moving back to the UK for the second time (well, one family has actually been back in the UK a year, after moving back to Oz for 2 years before admitting they preferred the UK.) How about that! Aussies preferring the UK (what will Wombat think of that!!)

So, to summarise, we're not unhappy, we like being in the UK. OK, maybe the weather sucks, but that's about it!!!

janeyray

We met a lovely family in Perth, I had been emailing for a while before we went out to OZ so we felt we kind of knew each other quite well. It was such a shame when after a short time they moved back to the UK. I think for selfish reason I wanted them to stay. I wanted it to work for them too but felt like I was loosing a close friend.

When we returned to the UK just over a year later they were already making plans to return. The thought of going back for me is awful and I found it hard to be positive for them again. We'll see how it goes but I do wish them all the best.

I am so content being back I find it hard to understand why someone would spend all that money to go out to OZ, come back and do it all over again!?

I know it works for some 'boomerang' poms and so be it, but I don't understand what makes it better the second time around. Especially to those who seemed to hate everything about it whilst they were there? I didn't hate it, brilliant for a hoilday but not to live. It wouldn't change for me and I wouldn't expect it to, we just aren't compatable.

People have enough experience of the UK to know what they are coming back to. It's not heaven, it's not utopia but then no where is. There crime, grime and lots of work to do but it's always been the same and doesn't stop being that way because we leave it. I came home because it's what I'm use to, I love being back here....love it compared to where I was in OZ.

HiddenPaw

Hi Jane
Maybe you don't feel the urgency because you have an Aussie passport? You already have a life choice (maybe we want what we haven't got!!)

We don't know if we ever want to settle in Oz permamently again...but we would be gutted if a few years down the line we wanted to and it was too late. I'm inclined to think that in our case, the primary reasons for staying in the UK are family...and when they go, I'm not sure what our ties would be.....especially with my sister - who I do miss a lot - being in Oz. But then again, we could be talking 20 years time and my daughter may not want to move, or we may move and she move back to UK....I do worry that in spite of offering her 'more options' in life, we are setting a trend for splitting a family across continents, and having seen how that affected my parents [when my sister went], I'm not sure if it's the right thing to do.

JAJ

If your daughter is independent minded and wants to travel she'll likely do it anyway - however she'll find it easier if she has dual citizenship. And it would be worse if she was desperate to live elsewhere but found she couldn't because of not having the right passport.

When she's older she'll live her own life which may or may not coincide with yours.

As to why people 'ping-pong', often when someone migrates they find themselves with roots in two countries, and whichever country they are not in will exert a 'pull' on them. This is especially a problem for people who see positive and negative aspects of both countries.

Jeremy

digsee

I came to Australia after many visits and I would sum up the situation as this, although admittedly simplistic:if you have a vibrant social circle/family in UK forget it. The country in most ways (lifestyle as they call it here) is indeed better but there is nothing to replace a proper 'lifestyle' in UK. This place is one dimensional in many ways and I would suggest a carreer break if at all possible for 3 months say. If you are on the other hand a loner type then I would suggest trying a year at least, there is no doubt that it may work in this case; I could write a long list why the society is more cohesive and in many respects a better bet than UK. Not for me though!

Becs

Yep, that's me at at the moment

-Becs

ladylisa

Ping Pong: Maybe were all just a victim of grass is greener syndrome and were afraid to truly commit our lives in one place....so much easier to uproot and move rather than stick anything out longterm. (That could explain why we have moved 3 times in 2 years here and are planning another move soon.)

Having said that I think a primary reason people move back to their home is because of relationships with friends and family which cannot be recreated elsewhere. Then maybe when they get home they regret they didnt enjoy the opportunity more while they were away and want to return to do all the things they said they would do prior to emmigrating in the first place. And the cycle goes on.....

Dan725

Well now, thats not very constructive is it. As far as we all know, you only get one life, and people who have the balls to try different things in their challenge for a better life should be admired, much more so than the ones who talk a good game but never actually do anything about it.

glittababe

Hi there from snowy suffolk! Well we had to return as I was unhappy with the conditions of the visa (457), so we saved all out paperwork, medicals and police checks for the PR application and returned. Lots of other stuff happened at the same time, our son got ill and we found the care expensive and just not as good as the NHS, hubby was getting fed up of oz as a whole, cost of food was soaring and our groceries were so expensive per week, oh and our tenants renting our house in the UK, decided to abandon it on 21st december! So all in all everything was telling us it was time to head home!

Our first reaction when we got back......joy! We didn't care how cold it was, we could have done a dance in Asda when we saw how cheap everything was (weekly shop for family of 5, £75)!!! Hubby and I went back to our old places of work, kids went back to their school, all very happy.........until, about a month ago when we were looking at land in the UK to self build and realised we just couldn't afford it (well at the moment anyway), plus we'd also like to get citizenship for the kids so they have a choice! So.......house is on the market, PR application being sorted and we're looking to return next year! Mark will be taking a career break from the police so he doesn't lose his career and I'll just carry on nursing!

We know that we won't be in oz forever, even after a few weeks we felt all 'aussied' out, but we'll be there for 2 years! Hope this helps, love annie

Quinkana

Animal

n.
A multicellular organism of the kingdom Animalia, differing from plants in certain typical characteristics such as capacity for locomotion, nonphotosynthetic metabolism, pronounced response to stimuli, restricted growth, and fixed bodily structure.