oz1967

Hiya everyone.Just wondering when did you realise that aus/nz/us wasn't the place for you?We've been here in Brissie for 7mths now,and looking at returning to uk feb 08.Although we like aus we prefer our life in uk,we had more time together as a family in uk.I'm a welder and i find most jobs seem to be long hours upto and above 60 hrs a week,cost of shopping/clothes/food etc dearer than uk.Although i love the sunshine coast and its beaches and the kiddies playgrounds(we have a 5 year old daughter),i just find the place boring.In the uk i worked in the aircraft industry only worked for 36 hours a week plenty spare time for enjoying ourselves,holidays 2or3 times a year.I find it here all work and no play and hardly any chance to enjoy the beaches/lifestyle we came out for.I can get my old job back early next-year,my daughter who misses her grandparents/cousins/friends can get to grow up around the family and my wife can get to do all the things she misses about home,simple things like going down to her moms for a cuppa or days out to london/chester etc.Don't get me wrong i don't hate aus we just feel our lifestyle and standard of living was higher in uk and there seemed alot more to see and do.Look forwrd to the replies.Cheers.

busterboy

Strangely, the longer I am here the longer I feel that I might just be able to stay. I have missed my home and family and Europe so much but now seeing some possibilities of life in Australia....even if not forever. (I have been here 9 months).

There is absolutely no shame in knowing that you preferred what you had and to go home with a new appreciation. I feel like I have grown more as a person these last months than at any other time in my life.

joetrac

Hi that is exactly how we feel!!!

We dont hate OZ we just have the same standard of living and thats not enough to compensate being away from family and friends.

To be honest I knew within 12 weeks that this place wasnt for us...took my hubby a little longer but now we both want to return with our daughter.

Been here 13 months now and hope to return middle of next year...got a few things to tie up before then but I think about it every day.

Hope the move back goes well.

lorids

I knew within 3 weeks of being in Perth. Had visited family on holiday 8+ times over the past 12 years and always wondered what it would be like to live here. Anyway for us it's a holiday place. On reflection (and we are glad we came) we much prefer life back in the UK (Scotland!) For us it offers better opportunities particularly when the children are older. As well as close friends we feel the education in WA is not what we had and there is something fundamental missing on a day to day basis....which I know in my heart no amount of time will fill. Despite a better house, better car and more laid back lifestyle there is no way I could live here forever and realised that very early on but would always have wondered if we hadn't tried.

So we are enjoying the experience, chilling out a bit and having an adventure but look forward to the snow in February when we get back.
Many people say give it time but you know deep down the reasons for return and whether time will make any difference to those reasons.

Follow your heart!!

I am a bit of a go getter so hanging around isn't my forte!!

shazza1

hi guys,i knew after 2 or 3 months that perth wasnt for me too but i stayed here anyway giving it a good shot for the kids and aussie hubby and inlaws thinking it might get better but nearly 14 yrs later still not settled still at a place i dont wanna be, so now its my turn to go home and spend some time wiv my family so we are going back home feb/mar 08. i really regret now not going home back then.have to look at it as an adventure.looking forward not back.
shaz xx

chance to be

14 years?!! - Gosh
The very best of luck when you return
C

shazza1

[QUOTE=chance to be;5517188]14 years?!! - Gosh
The very best of luck when you return
C[/
cheers
yeah its pretty hard when u have my family there(uk)and hubbys family here(aus) lucky for me hubby loves uk and has no worries about going back there for a few years. suppose it has its good and bad points in away that we have both familys on each side of the world oh well thats life.

shaz xx

lorids

14 years...i feel ashamed. My Australian hubby braved the cold North east of scotland for 17 years. I will have managed to brave Perth for 7 whole months!! Luckily he too enjoys the UK and we do not see the point of delaying the inevitable. So 17 years to 7 months sounds fair!!!

shazza1

lol my aussie hubbie spent 10 yrs in the uk, and me 14 in oz so i think he owes me some yrs back home

Pollyana

[QUOTE=shazza1;5517250] Very much the same position that I'm in. Aussie husband, who is too much set in his ways to ever cope with emigrating. I've been here in Queensland just over 4 years, and I live for my trips home. I still have spates of thinking it'll get better, but I think I know now that I won't, and I just have to settle for "existing" rather than "living". A situation I think many mixed-nationality couples will know only too well.

LouiseD

It's strange how quickly you can realise that the positives (sun, beach, big house/pool) sometimes outweigh the negatives (more money, family, access to Europe and beyond). We emigrated for a better lifestyle too but very quickly realised that for us it was much worse - we had a far better quality of life here in the UK.

After the initial wonder of having sunshine every day and living by the beach, you can soon realise that there is more to life. Of course it all depends on each individuals circumstances, preferences likes and dislikes.

As has been said many times, it sometimes takes a move away to appreciate just how good a life we had.

Good luck

katesbackagain

I've been in the US for almost 5 years, and I just realized I wanted to move back to the UK a few months ago.

I feel the same about lack of time off. I work 8-5 Mon-Fri, a regular work week, but it's the lack of vacation time that kills me. I wondered why I felt more and more tired every year when my lifestyle hadn't changed, then it dawned on me. I've been at my current job for a little over 2 years, and while they're generous with vacation and benefits, I'd still have to work here another 3 years just to get 3 weeks paid vacation. I really don't think that's enough to keep people rested enough to perform well, unless they're a robot. After 3 weeks a year, that's it, no more, no matter how long I work here.

I also don't like a few other policies here, ie, health care system, etc, but that's a whole other story and makes me mad so I won't get into that. Like you, I don't hate this country, I think it's beautiful and does have a lot to offer, but it's just not suitable for me.

I also miss my family too much to be happy here now. I just had the worst year and a half of my life, and I can't stand not being able to lean on people who've supported me my whole life. I can talk to them on the phone all I want, but it isn't the same.

spuds

I still haven't managed to reach that magical stage of realisation but I have been here 4 years and become more dissullisioned by the day.

I wish I could have just woken up one day in a state of epiphany and thought, that's it - I want to go home now. But I haven't and seem to spend my days bouncing back and forth between being 100% certain I want to go back and 100% certain that I don't! It's exhausting


I didn't feel any of this until after our little boy was born which really put things in perspective. We have so much we can offer him here in terms of lifestyle & opportunity but he still only has the two of us and I believe he deserves more than that. We are currently working on the idea that a move back to the UK may still be a temporary one, with the option of moving back (with one set of grandparents) further down the line. To that end we are going to rent out our Ozzie house and test the water a bit. I don't want to make the mistake of getting off the housing ladder again - we'll pay for that if we move back.

So, who knows!? We are heading back in December to make the final decision and planning tentatively for a move back in June 08 but it's far from certain at this point.

I have also read worrying posts from people who have stayed here too long and fought the unsettled feeling and have finally seen the light too far down the track to go back. I know that if I carry on here, the next generations of my family will all too soon be based here and I won't have the option to return. I wish I hated Oz and didn't have a great job and all the rest of it. Some days I really feel like I could make a go of Oz and then the next I am so desperate for the UK and all it offers

I think I am developing a split-personality! Does it get better?

x

oz1967

Thanks for the replies.Its a tough situation to be in,when your sitting on the beach thinking "I must be mad to leave this lovely weather and beaches behind" but thats all we would miss and some friends we've made.So we've gone and booked flights,spending a week with rellies in Perth then flying out on feb 6th.Going to surprise sister and her kids (its her birthday on the feb 8th) were not going to tell them were coming home so it should be a good old family reunion and piss-up of course!It feels like a weight has been lifted of our shoulders now the flights have been booked.3 months and counting yipee.We're so looking forward to getting our lives back on track instead of being in limbo-land wondering what to do for the best.All the best to others in a similar situation hopefully you'll come to the right decision which suits you and your families and try not to be influenced by the "anti-uk brigade",there does seem alot of them around.Its took this adventure to open our eyes that the UK is really quite a good place to live,it has its faults but so does other places,nowhere is perfect.Just the container people to book any recommendations?Heres to another adventure!!!Cheers.

lorids

Good luck to you and well done for making the decision. Part of the trauma is actually not making the decision and then the sense of relief when you have decided is amazing. A great life experience..you will never have to say what would it have been like/what if. You also won't have the regrets of trying to stick it out for the sake of it or because other people think you should!

All the very best to you and your family on returning and I agree with the ignoring or diluting the Anti UK brigade. I often think it's the people who expect to be handed a quality life without the effort who winge about the UK. Life wherever you are is what you make it and you are right it ain't all about weather and beaches!!

Looking forward to joining you back in the UK ...hopefully a week behind you!