Thanks manc interesting, I guess half of those leaving were born over seas.
Almost 77,000 left in 2007-8

Well Charleygirl - Anything special you are wanting? maybe I have something you require?!!!

Nice new Toyota Pick Up, or maybe small Yamaha Motor Cycle?

Shrubs, and trees - thinking Mangoes, Bananas, Pomegranites, Four Poster Bed,.or loads of Cut Glass, Vases, Bowls, and Sundae Glasses,

- never mind!

dontheturner

[QUOTE=Kentish Lass;8728056]
YES YES YES

I sympathise/empathise with all of you/this - we have been in NZ (north Auckland) for just over 9 years now - came here really for my two boys - to experience a life growing up in another country - "ah yes" we said "we can always go back!" - not so easy now though - two boys are now 16 and 18 one just (begrudgingly) started at Unitec - a mere 2 bus and 1 train ride away pfft to other side of Auckland. The other wants to leave school end of this year - not really an academic but into skiing *sigh* . Trouble is... like some of you, I suspect, they now have 'permanent' girlfriends *bigger sigh*. My daughter (born here now aged 6) has NEVER had a sleepover with relative etc etc - something I feel is important before my mum and dad pop off (and I'm an only child) and something kids just love to do with Grannny and Grandad... anyway, I digress.... Hubby is hacked off with the NZ 'being ripped off attitude', and general greediness of the culture here. However, i would say that the kids have grown up generally OK and definitley safer over here, but they are now isolated even though they now both drive - Oh and number one son has crashed his car twice - 1 written off ... but that's another nightmare story.... I do think, when I compare my two boys to their old peers who are out binge drinking, and one of the girls in now pregnant at 18 - yes I know it happens - that my two have actually led what I would consider to be quite a sheltered life so far!

However, hubby is not 'qualified' in anything - he works for Totalspan now (self employed) but finding work for the whole time he has been here has been a constant battle to get a decent wage. Me- I came over with a secure job in Nursing (in Auckland) however I was driving from hibiscus coast and back doing 12 hr shifts while hubby stayed at home (looking after the then bubba) and I hardly got to see her. Well after a while I quit - work got very stressful with long hours and driving and hubby wanted to return to workforce - not so easy! I have manged to get a little part time job from home doing medical transcription work for the UK - hospitals dictate clinics etc we type them and send them back and obviously they get back more or less the same day (you know what I mean). It doesn't pay much but at least I can work the hours I want and be around for sick kids etc!!

I never really missed the UK at all until about a year ago - something just clicked - whether it's just my Mum and Dad getting older etc etc I dunno... but it's not easy to just up and leave - house to sell- 2 cats and 1 dog to think of - I'm not nursing any more - so no guaranteed job etc etc - we would probably be just as 'worse off' financially in UK I think, but I so miss the stupid Christmas thing and the pub atmosphere just for Sunday lunch thing - all you get in NZ it seems are the dingy old bars where the winos hang out in an industrial car park - noice! Hubby misses the old ale too.

Have we become complacent now?? It seems it's been 3 steps forward and 2 steps back in most respects for the last 9 years I would miss the beaches etc but there is not really much else to miss

Well the upshot is we are trying very hard to save for the airfare only a mere 9k, to go and have a look again at UK (I last went back 6 years ago). Still dont know what i would do about the boys - wait 2 years while son finishes Unitec?? They are sooo not capable of looking after themselves! Any ideas or thoughts would be appreciated!

Of note - I used to have a wicked, naughty sense of humour, but I can't remember the last time I had a good laugh

Well theres a lot of us unhappy bunnies out there
Mrsmcgoo I've never really felt great living here in Oz. After 3 years of being here we took a trip back to the UK, friends i had made here were saying 'get the trip out your system, once you've done that you'll remember why you made the move over' Well it did no such thing for me....i loved being back.
That feeling of relief as the plane touched down at Heathrow
And then the horrendous goodbyes 4 weeks later
I don't want to sit here and slag Australia off, we've met some lovely Aussie people who have welcomed us into their homes etc and some parts of Australia are truly beautiful.
But it's just this over riding sense of not belonging.
Like a lot of you have said, Iv'e spent too many days feeling sad and for me too, it's been along time since i laughed so much i cried!
Today i started crying on the school run home.......this isn't me
I've lost myself along the way and i want the old me back!
I've heard people say 'only boring people get bored!'
Well all i can say is 'i must be really boring, because i'm bored shitless here!'

[QUOTE=mrsmcgoo;8762132] Wlcome Mrsmcgoo, I've had some similar experience here in US. both boys are older 16 and 22 and a Dd who is 5.5. The 22 yo went back on his own this year and luckily for me the 16 yo wants to go once he finishes high school, so Dh has come to the realization we need to go to.
Also I'm a nurse, but I'm no longer on the roles (or whatever it's called now) in the UK, so I doubt I'd find a nurses job. I'm home with the little one now and am hoping to get a part time job soon. 2012 is the soonest year for us to get going.
Maybe you should be talking to the boys about it, you may find the 16 yo is up for it once high school is finished and the Uni one once he finishes too.
That way you all go back together. Talk about the opportunities for skiing in Europe, travel opportunities, the NHS for you and dh getting old, the chance for Dd to see the grandparents and know them, the great holiday allotments when you work (my dh gets 2 weeks a year after 5 years at the same job)
Good luck with the chats.

[QUOTE=Mummy in the foothills;8762353] Hello mummy in the foothills! - Still selling things off- only here, in Thailand, no one has much cash. So they come around to look, choose something, then come two days later, load up the things they chose, and then promise to pay next month! - Wish i could have done that, when I came here. See, Mum, ninety percent of the folks, have never had a settee to sit on._ the folks renting our little annexe, well, they have TV, and a mattress on the floor in the hall, and that's it! - husband delivers ice cubes, at night, and spends daytime, on a large PC. No furniture! So it is hard to sell things'---- Mum, stacks of nursing jobs - type in NHS Jobs.UK - and the area you want to check! You may be surprised. dontheturner

Desire, so sorry to read you cried, i have to admit to many a tear shed here and while i am driving........
As the mum of 3 teenagers who are so American now, i feel they hardly know their UK family as we have not been able to afford to go home much, they have only been back 3 times in 13 years, so sad, and our families from there although some have visited once that is all they have ever been able to afford.

I finally told my family here i am going home ( still home) for 8 weeks at the end of Sept. My 18 year old twin girls start a 2 year community college 8th sept, so i am hoping they will be settled there. At this point all I can wish for is that they go and make a go of it and if I end up back in the UK permanently they can join me if they want.
It has been a very long painful 13 years for me...... I am 58 and now it is my turn for my new life.....my marriage is all but over.

I really feel for all the people who are so very unhappy where they are. I just hope you all get home as soon as possible - it's obviously where you're meant to be, but I know all the obstacles.

My situation is a little different in that I am not really miserable here. I live in a nice place and New York is definitely not boring - in fact, if we do move home one of my biggest fears is that my husband will be bored stiff. He's English but he's become used to life here and loves it. Sees lots of gigs, watches the Yankees, we're always going into the city and doing new things. I take art classes, we work hard ... we're really rarely bored. I know how lucky we are.

But despite all that, I am definitely feeling the pull these last few years. I do miss my friends and family, and I miss Yorkshire. My husband said the other day how much he loved New York City and I realized that no matter how many places I've traveled to and lived in, the only place I can truly say that I love is the Yorkshire Dales. Any other place, I could leave without a second glance backwards.

We're going back for a short trip soon and I am so eager to just get going!

[QUOTE=dontheturner;8762833] That has to be a toughie, trying to sell furniture to people who don't use it.
There are always loads of nursing jobs but I was SEN (no longer in use) everyone has done the conversion course to RN or go put on the role as an RN grade 2 and they have closed the roles while I was here doing the same job with my California license which is nice and up to date and valid for work.
I still have my old UKCC card (expired)
I won't be able to do the conversion (if you can find it anywhere now days) as I have to work and see to the family when we get back and I'd have to pay international fees for Uni. Sort of rock and hard place really.
Oh well we calculated if Dh and I work at minimum wage full time we will be living the same as here (we'll have no mortgage or medical bills)
Hoping for better than minimum wage seeing Dh is a journeyman mechanic, for boats, cars and lorries He's a smarty pants.
I'm waiting to hear about a new job here part time while youngest Dd is in school. Breastfeeding counselor, so everything helps for the CV once I'm home.

Do you have a date set for the return journey yet?

Have just read through all the comments on this thread and can relate to most of them.

We have just put our house up for sale and desperately hope to be back in the UK early next year to start life there again.

We have been in WA for 2 years and like a lot of people, just can't see our future here. I feel we have given it a good go but it will never feel like home.

We have no family here and although there are family members in the UK that I was very happy to move 10,000 miles away from (!), there are many more that I miss.

I want my two daughters (aged 3 and 9) to remember how good it is to have grandparents close by and be able to visit aunties, uncles and cousins.

I think WA is a beautiful place with amazing beaches and marinas 5 minutes away, but it's not enough to keep us here.

I am very fortunate that my husband feels exactly the same way and wants to be back in the UK as soon as we can.

We had a good life in the UK - owned a lovely 4 bed house, 2 cars, hubby had own business, I worked full time in job I loved, 2 holidays a year - all was good. If only we could rewind and be exactly where we were 2 years ago!

We came to WA because we presumed that we could be as happy/successful here as we were in the UK, but we are nowhere near. We absolutely didn't take into account the emotional side of the move in the missing of family and friends.

Never mind - we will get there again in the UK. I can feel exhausted just thinking about everything that we need to do in Australia in leave and everything that needs doing in the UK when we arrive, but hopefully 12-18 months from now we will be sorted!

Good luck to everyone planning to get back to the UK!!

It's great to read on here about people's experiences when they have got back - please keep them coming!

Wow, am I glad I found this section!! God its great to see I am not alone on this despite our many "adopted countries" virtues. So many of your comments strike a chord I could literally cry.
The lady who said she had not had a good laugh in years - how true is that!!!
I feel exactly like Bloody Austin Powers - someone has nicked my mojo!!!!!!
You crack a joke and wait 20 mins for anyone to catch on, I know its our cultural differences but I feel like I am slowly dying.
I know if we don't go in the next year we wont. My poor husband would stay but he works away so ultimately I am without him for 7 months a year, I do have a sister nearby who I love to pieces but I am doing this for my family and she understands. Luckily my children agree with me so my husband has listened to all of us and I have been fair in not swaying my children's opinion.
We went back for a big trip at Xmas and had the best time, the sights, the atmosphere, all of it. Despite 5 years away I felt it was home.
I dread Xmas here, I know the UK is very commercial but cannot get into the idea that xmas is in summer!! I am lucky that our children are still young enough to adapt(9 & 12) and before they are in a situation where our timing is out.
We will be going back financially with very little but plan to rent and literally start again, I think at 43 we can just do that and it means that after many years as a full-time mum, I will be job hunting!! Excited though.

My mum is secretly delighted as she adores my children and my dad thinks I am mad, but this year both have been ill and I had to return to nurse my mum for 3 weeks as well as sort my dad out who did not cope very well.
So we have a huge job ahead of finishing our house renovation, doing our citizenship, sorting out a rental in Uk, not in our home time either and sorting dogs out too for UK.
So all of you out there, my very best wishes and I wish you all well with your plans, stay on line with your comments, who ever thought of this section, THANK YOU xx

[QUOTE=Mummy in the foothills;8764856] Hi Mum, Well yes, but not so fixed as to book the Flights (though we would love to). Problem is, Thailand has the dreaded TB still in females, so every time a female, seeks a UK Visa, she has to go to the International medical Centre, and undergo a Chest Xray.(in Bangkok) If the result should be cloudy, she has to have medication, and attend a Clinic for five days of Sputum Tests, then another Xray till clear, in order to get a ''Clear Certificate'' - which unfortunately is only valid at Heathrow along with the Xray Plate, for six months. So we cannot book, till we have that, and we have to carry it, in outside luggage,. We are working to March 20th.Next Year So Tim, cannot do that, until , say mid October.(Although much of my items, are ''wanted'' we cannot let them go, or we will be sitting and sleeping on the floor. All these, snags just complicate things - Never mind love dontheturner

Well Coansha! Come on my girl! DO IT!!!! at 43, you are just a young spring chicken. - dear me! Bet I could run and catch you easily!
I am just 80, and planning on returning to Shropshire in March- and got to buy furniture all over again! Good Luck - dontheturner

7 months is a long time so that must intensify the feelings of loneliness. I wish you all the best. The hardest part for us was finally making the decision an admitting defeat (or victory epending how you look at it). Now we're almost there, living out of boxes for another 3 weeks, a few weeks in a tent trailer and then home. You'll find your mojo in no time Coansha!

Tell us your enegy secrets Don!