British Expats - When did u know?

British Expats (https://britishexpats.com/forum/)

- Moving back or to the UK (https://britishexpats.com/forum/moving-back-uk-61/)

- - When did u know? (https://britishexpats.com/forum/moving-back-uk-61/when-did-u-know-274170/)

Re: When did u know?

Quote:

Originally Posted by callÃƒÂ«

Some times we have to move in order to realize the place we want to be is the place we left.

Brilliant quote!! :)[/QUOTE]

Re: When did u know?

Quote:

Originally Posted by PhillyD

Brilliant quote!! :)

[/QUOTE]

Yes! fantastic quote. I certainly have found out that is the case. Only by being away do you find out how much you have left behind.

Re: When did u know?

Quote:

Originally Posted by JoolsG

Hi there! I started the thread which the link relates to above in PollyAnna's post.

Well, we have been here, in Canada, now for just over 7 months and I still feel the same way. Things ARE more settled and life is "normal" now but I still miss England. We have friends, a pretty good social life, our eldest 2 are at school but ... it's not my home.

I'm not naive enought to think that I will always feel this way, I'm sure over time (a good few years!) I would come to think of Canada as home. The point is, I don't want to wait a few years for that feeling to come. I miss England, the Britishness of it, the history, the decent food, the proximity to Europe. I could go on, and not including family and friends.

I have come to the conclusion that whilst emigrating is right for some people it is not right for others. The problem is you don't which category you fit in to until you do it! I don't regret coming here, it has been an experience. If someone told me I could never return to the UK, I could fairly happily live here the rest of my life. The thing is I don't have to and so we have decided to return to the UK, hopefully sometime this year but if not then by next year.

The experiences are different for everyone. I think most people will go through a eurphoric period in the early stages, followed by a period of "oh, my goodness, what have we done?" and then will almost definitely feel homesick. The thing is for some people this passes and they move on, for others this feeling never goes away.

Try not to listen to what others tell you and just go on your own instincts. Give it some time and see if your feelings change. But nothing in life is written in stone, you can change your mind, you can make further changes.

I have been in Canada since 2000, but backwards and forwards since 1998, and now I am going home to England. You are right, to some people it is the right move, BUT.. it is not home for me. I too miss the British way of life, the fun, the social scene. My friends, family and all that makes England the place that it is. Vancouver has been fabulous, and we will return to visit Simon's family often I am sure of that, but now I have to follow my heart and go HOME. I agree nothing is ever written in stone, that is the beauty of life.

Re: When did u know?

[QUOTE=janeyray]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pike

A lot of expats coming back to the uk from australia seem to me that there coming from perth I may be wrong but that what it looks like perhaps they should relocate in aus , as relocating in the uk probely still won't make them happy till there living back in there old slippers.[/QUOTE}

We are happy now we've moved back to the UK but I think you maybe right about Perth. We only had Adelaide to compare with (on our journey back to the UK via Adelaide) when we stayed there for a week. We found prices far cheaper for clothes and food. The city had far more choice, it was bigger and more 'happening'.

I think lots of people choose Perth because its the cheapest of the cities as far as house prices go, although even those are catching up with some states.

We didn't have the funds to try other cities but it wouldn't have changed our minds about returning to the UK. Australia is all pretty much the same. Its still thousands of miles from what we were use to, family and friends and a not so quiet lifestyle. We also saw Sydney and although it looks a lovely place you can't do much about living there if you haven't a good amount of money for a house.

I guess i won't now until ive tried it, so i cant realy give an opinion.

Re: When did u know?

Quote:

Originally Posted by wombat42

From reading the posts it seems the husbands want to stay in OZ but the wives don't.
Any explaination for this difference between the sexes.

I think that generally women miss the emotional ties of friends and family whereas it doesn't make much difference to men.

Re: When did u know?

We are going to give it 2 years and at least get our citizenship, on good days wouldn't want to be anywhere else, on bad days can't remember why we left it all behind ! The good days are winning at the moment, wouldn't like to say where we will be in 5 years from now but am glad we did it even if we don't stay, but i remember how desperate we were to leave and couldn't wait to pounce on the postman in hope of a visa in the yellow envelope, so I wonder if we are only remembering the good times and forgetting the rest.

We miss our friends and family so much and was surprised how much they filled our lives, its empty sometimes now and even in paradise you can be alone, so we are taking one day at a time, enjoying what we have got and trying not to dwell on what we are missing. Having kids settled in school over here and thinking of their future and the great time they are having in Oz does stop us in our tracks, my cousins who went to school in the Uk and Oz said Australia couldn't be beaten and loved their time in school over here and hated the UK Schools and their childhood in Australia was perfect.

Having said that I don't blame anybody for going back no matter how short a space of time, sometimes your gut instinct is the one you should listen to. Good luck to Scrawnie and anybody else going back soon, its a brave decision for anybody to make and not done lightly.