regrets
 

hello all,
has anyone regretted returning back to the uk from australia,if yes ,why.
if no,what do you personally find better in the uk than in australia.
thanks :D :p :rolleyes:

Re: regrets
 

Hi, here's a few off the top of my head.

Better in UK

Jobs - better career, better conditions, better wages.
Family & friendships grown over a lot of years.
Mixing with people who you feel are on your "wavelength" -social life generally
Watching a football/rugby game and actually caring who wins (inc home team)
Variety in weather, countryside, history etc
Sense of belonging (hard to define)
Customer Service and good services generally
Having holidays

Better in Aus

Much less crowded, sense of open space
Nice blue skies
Morning tea for kids
The good Aussies you meet.
House prices not so bad (at least for Poms with a few quid)

I could go on but its actually quite hard to quantify what's important to you and why. One thing I will tell you is that NOTHING can replace living abroad for giving you a new perspective on your UK life. Why not give it a go ? - if you don't find it better in Aus you may have lost a few quid but you will have had a priceless experience and will know more about yourself and your life.

Re: regrets
 

You've summed it up extremely well. We've no regrets at returning to the UK; just a pity we couldn't do it earlier.

UK = Variety, stimulation, choice, tolerance, humour and - dare I say it - depth.

Oz = space, more laid back.

As I said to my wife "When I was younger, I really wanted to be superficial. Then I went to Oz, and realised that deeper things do matter." !

At the very least, living overseas - particularly in Oz - will make you realise how much we take for granted here.

Re: regrets
 

Absolutely spot on Gareth. Life back here in the Uk is fantastic, why? because it is our home and we belong here.

Susan :D

Re: regrets
 

I would agree with this. But as said do it anyway it is such a great experience and changes your outlook on life.

There are days when I miss Oz and the material lifestyle available to some Brits if you play the Uk property market successfully and convert to aussie dollars at a silly rate. We worked our butts off in Oz for little reward in comparison to here and always seemed to be at work but during our offtime we had a wonderful life. The weather became less of an issue as we stayed longer as really your body acclimatises and what seems warm when you arrive becomes winter again inside two years.

After 3/5 years though I think you either have to become an aussie mentally and really buy in to the hype or move on - I felt I was still too young at 35 to stay in Oz so we moved on. Maybe we will go back in the future, never say never, but not to work only to play.

Re: regrets
 

Oh, no regrets at all. Even hubby who wasn't that keen on moving back has said he's glad we're home!!

I've landed a good job, something I would never have had in Perth. No matter what anyone says it've very difficult to get work. Even the simplest of part time jobs are hard to get unless you have a certificate for it! I applied for three jobs in the UK when we got back, I got two of them and the other I didn't attend the interview. In Perth I applied for over 150 jobs in 12 months, I got three interviews and ended up in a nightmare job that took 12 months to get!

Everyone is different and there will always be the argument of who likes what better than who, but I love being here in the UK. ;)

Re: regrets
 

Hi, I actually registered with this site months ago but forgot to save it to favorites and have just re-found it, so this is actually my first post. I moved back to Britain in 1992 and completly regret it, I hope to return to Australia in 2007.

Re: regrets
 

great things about UK? well work conditions are far better for us - better holidays, flexi days off, sick pay, maternity benefit, shorter working week....we actually have time to enjoy ourselves together, be a family, and not have worked piled on us till 11pm at night. We have far more leisure time than we had in Australia, things are actually more laid back here than there.

The weather seems to be swings and roundabouts - last year we had a very cold Oz winter whilst UK had a searing summer - this year its the other way round - Melbourne winter is getting warmer weather than UK summer. But we are outdorrs people and we do actually find it easier to be outdoors in the Uk summer than the Oz summer (not just talking about Mel but also at family who live inland....the heat is suffocating and means I just want to stay in the air con most of the time)

Like Dugongs, we would consider a move to Oz in future...but at 33 we also feel we are to young to be stuck in Australia.

A lot of it depends on what your coming from and going to.

Re: regrets
 

I also came back to the UK in 2002 as I was home sick for my friends and family, I've been back 2 years now and realise that your friends get on with their lives here and aren't that bothered about what you are doing as we all have to grow up and have our own life. I am going back to Oz next year and this time my family are going to follow and friends, well it's my life and I have some good ones in Oz who keep in contact with me more since I came home, than my UK friends did when I was in OZ. Even though I am going back I dont regret comming back to the UK, as it has made my mind up once and for all that Oz is where I want to be.

I say give it ago you can't live you life on what if's, what have you got to loose except a few quid :D

Re: regrets
 

I have to say that really worries me.Was it really that difficult to get work.What is it that you do.When you say that you need a certificate for everything what do you mean?
I have not worked for a while as I am bringing up my family,but have loads of experience .
Here in Nottingham I have never had trouble getting a job and still remain fairly confident if I was to go back into employment in Notts but after some of the threads I have read it does worry me I have to say.
We are heading off to Perth next year firstly to take a good look around to see if it is really going to be for us.We will then come home and make some hard decisions.Until then I am gathering as much info as possible good or bad and I have to say after reading many comments from people coming home it is making me rather more cautious.
I must just ask now that you are home are you enjoying the shopping in Nottingham?.We are lucky as we do have some really good shops here.

Re: regrets
 

We moved back in April 03 and no regrets. Since moving back my work has been incredible and I have worked on projects in Scotland, France, Italy and Switzerland. My wife has found the job of her dreams in London. Old friendships and just getting better and better as we all get used to being 30 somethings and start to finally grow up. No regrets at all, loving life in London, its exciting, rewarding and enriching. Our time in Oz in comparison was full of blue skys but not a lot else, really very unenriching.

Re: regrets
 

Dreamaway,
one thing to consider is that the Aussie way of presenting a CV (Resume) is different from the UK way. Ditto for the covering letter. If you dont adapt and just send off a Brit style CV and letter expect to get a lot of rejection letters. Might be worth your while doing some research in this area during your visit next year ?

As to availability of jobs, its like anywhere and depends on
- the field you are in
- the level of experience and expertise you can offer
- what employers are searching for at that particular moment.

I have applied for 4 jobs in total, had 3 interview offers and 1 rejection and been offered all 3 jobs I was interviewed for.

Same city yet 2 completely different experiences for Janey & I. Which one is more normal ? I have no idea but would hazard a guess they are equally common depending who you speak to.

Re: regrets
 

Thanks very much for the advice.
I shall see if I can gather any information on presentation of a resume on the
Internet before we go.
I presume there are companies who can help with preparing a resume once in Australia.I think that is what we will have to do.

Re: regrets
 

Yeah but aren't you Australian?!!!!!

Re: regrets
 

:rolleyes: :zzz: :rolleyes:

so what ???????

yes I am Australian, but then the person I was comparing experiences to (Janey) is also australian (Born in Sydney)

My final years of High School and my university time was done in the UK and all my career history is in Europe, Middle East and Asia, none in Australia. Dont know Janey's specific career history but I do know she hadnt worked in OZ before moving out here.

So thats 2 people - both born in Australia, both lived away for a long time, both have british schooling qualifications, both have no career history in Australia prior to the move ..... thats a fair comparison wouldnt you say ????????

Anyway :zzz: .........

The main purpose of my post was to make sure Dreamaway (and others) knew before their move, that OZ has a different style of CV writing and presentation so he/she could do a bit of research and did not make the mistake of just sending his/her British style CV out to employers and being disappointed when lots of job offers did not come flooding in. The fact that I'm Australian is irrelevant to that.