Sticking Point
#1
Banned
Thread Starter
Joined: Aug 2009
Location: Somewhere dull. That'll be Australia then.
Posts: 648
Sticking Point
Fellow expats beware of the 'sticking point': the point at which you realise that you are a teeny-weeny bit stuck in your adopted country and returning to the UK is going to be very difficult/impossible.
Moving abroad is all well and good if you get there and you like it straight-away.
Some folks will get there and fail to settle in; for some this situation will resolve itself over time whereas for others it will not improve - and may even get worse.
The problem comes if you have settled down (got job/business/kids/rent/mortgage and all the other stuff that ties you down) but have not settled in. You find yourself wanting to go home but find that you can't.
Being partnered to a national of your adopted country doesn't help either!
Cue lifetime of misery!
Beware!
Moving abroad is all well and good if you get there and you like it straight-away.
Some folks will get there and fail to settle in; for some this situation will resolve itself over time whereas for others it will not improve - and may even get worse.
The problem comes if you have settled down (got job/business/kids/rent/mortgage and all the other stuff that ties you down) but have not settled in. You find yourself wanting to go home but find that you can't.
Being partnered to a national of your adopted country doesn't help either!
Cue lifetime of misery!
Beware!
#2
Re: Sticking Point
Aww sorry you're feeling stuck.
I'm having a feeling stuck week too, you never know what will happen.
Have you had a big sit down, no kids interrupting, talk with the other half?
I'm having a feeling stuck week too, you never know what will happen.
Have you had a big sit down, no kids interrupting, talk with the other half?
#3
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Nov 2003
Location: Formally Scotland. Now Bay of Quinte...Ontario
Posts: 2,466
Re: Sticking Point
Your analysis of the 'sticking point' relative to myself was from the moment I I sold up everything in the UK and moved over here. Fortunately for me it has worked out but had it not, then from a financial point of view if nothing else, it would have been a bit of a disaster I doubt I would have enough years left to fully recover from.....
#4
Re: Sticking Point
But the other points are not sticking points when we all decide to leave the UK! We jack it in, we sort it out, we sell stuff, we pack stuff and we make it work.
The same should be the case for returning .... if you really, really want to ...
#5
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Jul 2008
Location: My happy place
Posts: 3,043
Re: Sticking Point
I'm in a dual nationality marriage, thankfully she's not an Aussie.
#6
Forum Regular
Joined: Apr 2009
Location: Toronto
Posts: 62
Re: Sticking Point
Fellow expats beware of the 'sticking point': the point at which you realise that you are a teeny-weeny bit stuck in your adopted country and returning to the UK is going to be very difficult/impossible.
Moving abroad is all well and good if you get there and you like it straight-away.
Some folks will get there and fail to settle in; for some this situation will resolve itself over time whereas for others it will not improve - and may even get worse.
The problem comes if you have settled down (got job/business/kids/rent/mortgage and all the other stuff that ties you down) but have not settled in. You find yourself wanting to go home but find that you can't.
Being partnered to a national of your adopted country doesn't help either!
Cue lifetime of misery!
Beware!
Moving abroad is all well and good if you get there and you like it straight-away.
Some folks will get there and fail to settle in; for some this situation will resolve itself over time whereas for others it will not improve - and may even get worse.
The problem comes if you have settled down (got job/business/kids/rent/mortgage and all the other stuff that ties you down) but have not settled in. You find yourself wanting to go home but find that you can't.
Being partnered to a national of your adopted country doesn't help either!
Cue lifetime of misery!
Beware!
#7
Banned
Joined: May 2008
Location: Lagrange 2
Posts: 1,507
Re: Sticking Point
The fact that you call somewhere else home indicates that you have not really settled in! Your spouse, job , domicile and so on are largely your choice given that circumstances do constrain you sometimes and so you just need to make the best of it! I hope that you don't have a life of misery - but if you really want one then I'm sure you'll get one!
#8
Re: Sticking Point
Yup, totally agree - I call it the point of no return. Easy to achieve the point of no return, especially with a dual national marriage (like mine) and the thing is, you dont realize until you are past it!
#9
Account Closed
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 8,913
Re: Sticking Point
Will, how does your wife feel about you feeling like this, is there no compromise somewhere?
It sounds all one-sided to me. That will obviously make things worse for you. A very difficult situation!
It sounds all one-sided to me. That will obviously make things worse for you. A very difficult situation!
#10
Re: Sticking Point
I feel that I am getting closer to that "sticking point". Not quite there yet but....
We have only been in Spain for just under 2 years and I see my children nice and settled, fluent in spanish with lovely friends. The school is great and the education is brillant (small classes and lovely teachers).
So each week that goes by, it pulls at me. I would really like to go back but not just yet. But when we reach that time when it is good to return, how will our children react? Will it ruin their childhood? Tough, really tough.
I don't think I could uproot them again. They are aged between 2 and 11. But I can't see me loving it here for years and years to come.
We have only been in Spain for just under 2 years and I see my children nice and settled, fluent in spanish with lovely friends. The school is great and the education is brillant (small classes and lovely teachers).
So each week that goes by, it pulls at me. I would really like to go back but not just yet. But when we reach that time when it is good to return, how will our children react? Will it ruin their childhood? Tough, really tough.
I don't think I could uproot them again. They are aged between 2 and 11. But I can't see me loving it here for years and years to come.
#11
Its all going south......
Joined: Oct 2007
Location: Sussex
Posts: 433
Re: Sticking Point
I know exactly what you mean by 'sticking point'. Myself and my partner both felt uneasy with Oz and we did everything whilst we were there not to get 'stuck'. We didn't want to make any big purchases...especially not a house (which is weird because we thought we would be excited about buying a 4bedder in oz before we left!). As it has worked out we have come out OK, in fact i think we are actually a bit better off..we are buying a house and yes it will be a bigger mortgage but a substancially bigger house too, i doubt we would have been able to make this move before and having our monies available has meant that on returning we have been able to upgrade our vehicles, nothing fancy but a bit better than the 500quid astra we left behind!
#12
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 1,872
Re: Sticking Point
No one is ever stuck!There is such a thing as divorce!(yes I did divorce my aussie husband but not because I wanted to return to the UK but......nah only joking lol)I guess you have choices right?Nothing is impossible.If you feel like you don't have a choice,then there is only one option and that is to make the most of the situation.Not easy,but its a choice of being happy or unhappy and being happy takes less energy!Some people have discussed when they are older doing 6 mths in Oz and 6 mths in the UK,and that might be an option?Its all about compromise is'nt it?
#13
Re: Sticking Point
No one is ever stuck!There is such a thing as divorce!(yes I did divorce my aussie husband but not because I wanted to return to the UK but......nah only joking lol)I guess you have choices right?Nothing is impossible.If you feel like you don't have a choice,then there is only one option and that is to make the most of the situation.Not easy,but its a choice of being happy or unhappy and being happy takes less energy!Some people have discussed when they are older doing 6 mths in Oz and 6 mths in the UK,and that might be an option?Its all about compromise is'nt it?
#14
Home and Happy
Joined: Dec 2002
Location: Keep true friends and puppets close, trust no-one else...
Posts: 93,859
Re: Sticking Point
And its hard enough to rebuild one's own life after a divorce anyway, when you factor in the complications of moving to another country at the same time it kind-of makes one's head want to explode!
Not impossible to go back, but in some cases very very difficult.
Last edited by Pollyana; Nov 18th 2009 at 8:06 am.
#15
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 10,375
Re: Sticking Point
Kids, they can be the sticking point.
Married to an aussie he/she can make them stay in OZ, once the marriage is over.
And one many dont consider Pom couple emigrate, become aussie citizens, one partner wants to leave, the other partner wants the kids to stay in OZ the court will probably make them stay.
Easier to divorce a spouse than your kids
Married to an aussie he/she can make them stay in OZ, once the marriage is over.
And one many dont consider Pom couple emigrate, become aussie citizens, one partner wants to leave, the other partner wants the kids to stay in OZ the court will probably make them stay.
Easier to divorce a spouse than your kids