Originally Posted by TammyC

Bella - would like to send a private message but can't work out how!!! I'd love to talk to you for a feature I'm doing for Family Circle Magazine about moving abroad. I've found plenty of people to talk about the good bits, but no one brave enough to talk about the bad bits. Would you please drop me an email ([email protected]) if you'd be willing to take part?
Thanks so much, Tammy

Originally Posted by TraceyW

Well, we've been here in Perth for five months now, and my husband has settled in wonderfully. He had no problems finding a job in the same field as he was in in the UK, the pay is not as good but it's what we expected. Our children seem to be fine, they're only 5 & 3, so it's all a bit of an adventure for them really. Apart from the occasional "I miss Granny & Grandad" they don't really seem to talk about the UK at all. They have lot's of new mates too.

We are renting a lovely home in the Northern suburbs,we have two very nice cars, we have bought a block of land and chosen the house to be built on it.
I've made lot's of new aquaintances ( I say that as it takes a long time to class someone as a friend) and get out more than I ever did at home. We spend weekends as a family and go out to the park or the beach lot's, although I'm sure this will become monotonous over time. The weather is so much better and the skies are brilliant blue, as is the ocean. Our finances, once the house is built, will be so much better than they were in the UK, we will actually have spare money left over at the end of the month...amazing! All of the things we emigrated for, we have either achieved or will achieve.

So, with all of the above taken into consideration, why the hell do all I think about and long for, is home? Everyday I wake up with an ache in my stomach, a longing to be back in my old house, surrounded by my family, my friends and all of the things that meant so much to me. Why do I fantasize about the lovely countryside that was just down the road from us, those wonderful green fields, the hills, the hay-bails, the hedgerows full of wildlife, the kind that isn't out to kill you! I miss the architecture, the culture and history? I've suddenly realised, that my home town where I grew up and spent most of my years, has more history in it's High Street! (Aboriginal history excluded) I just took it for granted. I feel sick to my stomach by the thought that I will spend this christmas away from people who actually give a damn about me and my family.

All of a sudden I want cold, frosty weather...oh to wake up after a harsh frost, to throw back the curtains of my bloody UPSTAIRS bedroom and see the white glistening in the sunshine. To get all excited about christmas shopping in the cold, dark afternoons, to get home and put the tree lights on and snuggle up in front of the fire to watch to decent programmes instead of CSI Miami or Law & Order! I have come to the conclusion, that much more of these programes and I will actually be able to commit the perfect crime...I'd never get caught, I'm nearly an expert now!

I never thought I would actually say this...but I miss planning and having my fortnights holiday in Greece or Spain! Oh god, that's one heck of an admission I know, but it's so true! I miss being able to sit in a taverna, in a cobbled street surrounded by old white washed houses and drink cold beer out of a jug! We did say, when we were in the UK, that we would come back to the UK for holidays and pop into Spain/Greece or wherever took our fancy! What the hell were we thinking! There is no way we could ever afford to do that! We can't even afford to just pop over to the east coast! It's not until you get here and realise just how expensive it really is, do the maths and come to the conclusion that we're stuck here....in suburban hell. We spent nearly 2 years researching this, we thought we knew most things, we thought we were well prepared for any eventuality....what b*****ks! No amount of research can prepare you emotionally for the pain a move like this will cause.

On one hand, I could kick myself really hard, for doing this emigrating lark! If only I'd kept my big mouth shut when my hubby suggested it, if only I'd looked around me and took stock, appreciated it all a little more, instead of craving the adventure, of wanting to make a difference to my life. Then, on the other hand, if we do go back to the UK, I will not regret taking the chance of coming over here and giving it a go. It will make me look through different eyes at what the UK has to offer.

The hardest thing will be, for me, 'making' my husband go home. He is so happy here, but he would never make me stay if I wasn't happy, he would be willing to go back, just to make me happy. I will just feel so awful by making him give up his dream. I know this is still early days for me, it's only been 5 months, but these feelings haven't changed, I've felt like this since we got here. I wish I could be one of those people that land, get off the plane and feel that they've found their little piece of heaven! It's just not clicked for me at all. I find Australia beautiful, but bland and characterless. It has no depth, no soul. If it's beaches and barbis that float your boat, then this is the right place for you, but after five months of it, it get's a little dull!

We will have to wait until the house is built, then make the decision. I think I will go home for a holiday first, just to see how I really feel about the place, it may put things into perspective a little either way.

I just wondered, is there anyone out there, who feel or ever felt like this? Is this just early days homesickness? will it fade and get better? Did it ever start to click for you, it just took a lot longer for some than for others?

I feel so damn lost.

Originally Posted by Herman

Both my wife and I felt exactly like that. We enjoyed the scenery and the lifestyle for a while but ultimately found our lives unfulfilled and we were bored. We returned to the UK after nearly 3 years in Sydney and we have been back over a year now. We have never looked back. That feeling in the stomach stayed with both of us for the whole 3 years, so it was not a hard decision to return. Your feelings are perfectly normal and perfectly acceptable.

Originally Posted by marbles

Reading your note sounded so familiar, the thoughts about the place and the feelings about the uk. Its everything we went through and more so much so that after over 4 years in NZ we are selling up and going home.

Originally Posted by marbles

We want to pop to europe for a tenner

Originally Posted by Velouria

Europe for a tenner? I obviously missed that the eight years I was in the UK!

Originally Posted by Grayling

My son recently flew from Stansted to Turin for 1p. (ONE PENNY) + tax on Ryanair

G

Originally Posted by Bellefield

I should think Jeremy might have something to say about this

[/INDENT]I have never had a regret in my life but if I could turn back the clock I would never have gone to Oz. Rather, I would have taken stock of my life in UK & made changes within its 4 walls, so to speak. I actually feel the whole migration thing traumatised me - ridiculously dramatic I know, but that is how I feel.[INDENT]


I couldn't have put it better myself.

Originally Posted by immunise

Yup I agree, 18 months in the USA and I too feel traumatised...I miss all the things everyone in Oz misses too!!!