[Edinburger]

Originally Posted by Jo&Rich

I think moving here has got me out of a rut; stuck at home all day with three small kids, no job, hardly going out and seeing anybody. Here, I've had to make the effort to meet new people, as I've no family. Thing is, with much less amount of effort, I could have done it without moving thousands of miles. Easy to see that with hindsight!
I think the negative/realistic posts are valuable too, by the way!
Jo

I agree completely. The move can be a great catalyst for change, but if you arrive in Oz and sit on your arse waiting for things to happen then you’ll be waiting an awful long time. Being here is no different to being at home in terms of what you can do with your life. The effort you have made is what got you out a rut not the location. At best the location just forced you into making that effort. You can change career, move house, make new friends, take up a new sport, learn to dance or go fishing just as easily in the UK as you can in Oz. If you hate your job in Skipton, you’ll hate it just as much in Perth. If you spend every evening watching TV from the moment you get home until you go to bed then moving to Oz probably won’t change that. It’s certainly just as easy to change that in the UK as it is here.

Negative posts are just people bitching about stuff they didn’t expect or didn’t plan for. It seems about 90% are about missing family and friends, which is sad but should also be pretty damn obvious before you move half way across the planet. If you see your Mum everyday and have a best mate that you see 4 times a week and have done since you were 10, then guess what? You’ll miss them. A lot. Is what you will gain from moving worth that? Yes or no? The other 10% is generally about work/money and you can prepare for that before you leave. Check Aussie property sites from the UK and look at prices. If you can’t afford a place then don’t move or be prepared to rent. Contact recruitment consultants in the area you are moving to and ask them what the job market is like for your field. If they say ‘Haven’t had any vacancies for that sort of thing for months!’ then common sense suggests you don’t move to that area.