Why I moved back from Oz

[Hayley370]

Wow! How thought provoking that little lot is!!!!!!

I think it basically comes down to what is important to you and your family. What is one persons ideal, is another persons hell! I also think it depends on whether you have children or not. WE have done it for the family lifestyle and the outdoor lifestyle. We also feel that we have more oppurtunities here as well as the children. But even after 3 months there are things I know I will definately miss and my husband is desperate for a decent pint of beer, not a schooner of lager!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dave53, you have made me feel sad! Do you still want to stay in Australia? Do you have a love/hate relationship with both?

[Missiemo]

I think Dave's reply is spot on, I may only have been here eight months but I will always call England home and think I will always been torn between the two.

I sat on a beach last night and got talking to an Australian, who is about to travel to the Uk (work related) and when I asked him if he was looking forward to it his reply was ( are you joking I hate the place it is the scum of the earth ) nice people these Australian's :(

[IanL]

Good post and pretty much spot on. I used to post here a bit, but realised my posts were pretty negative. Been here 18yrs and really itching to go back. After a false start last year we are planning on going back in 08 and hopefully start a family in the UK.

I had a few replies mostly from people who had either just arrived or not here yet basically saying that won't happen to them and how they couldn't wait to get out of 'Rip off Britain'.

I'm glad to see that some folks have had the courage to tell of their experiences and the spirit in which those posts have been received. For some it works, for some it doesn't, but don't think you're automatically immune from it.

[ali]

I don't think any of us really know if we're going to settle or not - you can't live in one country (in our case for 40) years and forget all about it. I think it's important that people post what their experiences have been, and that it's accepted as such, not that people are trying to burst bubbles, or put people coming, but I used to enjoy reading your posts Ian as it made sure that I didn't come over with rose coloured glasses and I felt I got a good idea of some of the things to expect.

Welcome back
Ali

[Missiemo]

Good post and pretty much spot on. I used to post here a bit, but realised my posts were pretty negative. Been here 18yrs and really itching to go back. After a false start last year we are planning on going back in 08 and hopefully start a family in the UK.

I had a few replies mostly from people who had either just arrived or not here yet basically saying that won't happen to them and how they couldn't wait to get out of 'Rip off Britain'.

I'm glad to see that some folks have had the courage to tell of their experiences and the spirit in which those posts have been received. For some it works, for some it doesn't, but don't think you're automatically immune from it.

Hi Ian

Glad your plans are now coming together, hope you enjoy your trip back to the Uk.
Do you think you will come back to Oz.
Take Care

Mo

[IanL]

Good post and pretty much spot on. I used to post here a bit, but realised my posts were pretty negative. Been here 18yrs and really itching to go back. After a false start last year we are planning on going back in 08 and hopefully start a family in the UK.

I had a few replies mostly from people who had either just arrived or not here yet basically saying that won't happen to them and how they couldn't wait to get out of 'Rip off Britain'.

I'm glad to see that some folks have had the courage to tell of their experiences and the spirit in which those posts have been received. For some it works, for some it doesn't, but don't think you're automatically immune from it.

Hi Ian

Glad your plans are now coming together, hope you enjoy your trip back to the Uk.
Do you think you will come back to Oz.
Take Care

Mo

Hi Mo,

Well it's not definite yet, we have some hurdles to overcome before we can defintely do it but we'll try. As for coming, no defnitely not, I've had a rough trot here with a few things (financial, health, two operations etc) things are better now, but I said to my wife 'if we leave I'll never return', and she accepts that. What we must make sure is that we are able to move on somewhere else after the UK as I can't really see us retiring there but by then my wife should be a UK citizen.

But it has to make financial sense, and as much as I don't like it here, there are two of us to consider. We've worked that by this time next year we could pretty much buy a house for cash in somewhere like Geelong as we've been saving very well, and all i've ever done is live in Sydney, so we'll see. \\One thing I do know that it's extremely hard to strike a balance where everyone is happy in a mixed culture marriage.

[Dave53]

Wow! How thought provoking that little lot is!!!!!!


Dave53, you have made me feel sad! Do you still want to stay in Australia? Do you have a love/hate relationship with both?

Hayley ,
I'm sorry , I certainly don't want to make you feel sad . I also don't have a love / hate relationship with either country , both have their merits and downfalls . My wife and I feel at home in both countries , as we travel beween the two quite regularly , I suppose that would be normal . We have the benefit of "being in the middle " I guess . But be wise to the fact that your outlook and responsibilities will change over time , especially as your own children grow older and if like me your parents age and become infirm and are still in England . I will go wherever my needs are greatest , whether it be OZ or England . The rose coloured glasses have dimmed significantly over the years , and the tunnel vision has gone . It does bother me though when I read of potential migrants , who visualise Australia as the land of milk and honey , it certainly is not ..

Dave

[Missiemo]

Wow! How thought provoking that little lot is!!!!!!


Dave53, you have made me feel sad! Do you still want to stay in Australia? Do you have a love/hate relationship with both?

Hayley ,
I'm sorry , I certainly don't want to make you feel sad . I also don't have a love / hate relationship with either country , both have their merits and downfalls . My wife and I feel at home in both countries , as we travel beween the two quite regularly , I suppose that would be normal . We have the benefit of "being in the middle " I guess . But be wise to the fact that your outlook and responsibilities will change over time , especially as your own children grow older and if like me your parents age and become infirm and are still in England . I will go wherever my needs are greatest , whether it be OZ or England . The rose coloured glasses have dimmed significantly over the years , and the tunnel vision has gone . It does bother me though when I read of potential migrants , who visualise Australia as the land of milk and honey , it certainly is not ..

Dave

Hi Dave

I was one of those migrant's who visualised Oz as milk and honey, and I agree it is not perfect, it is what you make it, I miss England quite a lot but I am prepared to give this a fair go for my children's sake at least.
There are things I did and did not like about the Uk, there is also things I like and dislike about Australia.

But chins up look forward and keep the stiff british upper lip, we are british and bloody proud, weather we are wanted here or not.

[cosworth123]

Just like to say how thought provoking it has been to read all your posts, certainly tugs at the heart strings. I lived in melbourne for 7 years, i went out when i was just 18 i soon after married an aussie, had two children and unfortunately it took me seven years to realise how unhappy i was with this person, obviously i wont go into detail of how bad things were, but the sad part was i had to leave my children behind, i was at the point of a nervous breakdown. I returned to the uk not long after met a wonderful man whom i now have three children with and yes, i cant beleive i am going back to melbourne with my new family in just a couple of months time to live. I have a great mixture of emotions, i left in awful circumstances all those years ago, dont get me wrong there were times that were good in the 7 years i lived there, but deep down i always missed england and my family here, i am now going back to oz but in totally different circumstances this time round, i am with a man who loves me very much and will take care of me, i have had my reservations about going back, but it is something my new husband has always wanted to do, try life down under, also, it means of course i get to be with my now grown up children in australia and be a part of their lives again, what better reason to go, fingers crossed it will all work out as we hope it will, tho i know deep down apart from anything else i will always miss the uk and the family i leave behind here, this site is absolutely fantastic tho for reading all your experiences, it really has helped with any doubts or thoughts that go through my mind that i am not alone.

[nj]

Very good thread... Refreshing to see the fly in the ointment, so to speak. Very well put across too Paul. I think it comes down to what stage you are at in your life and what you want from it to where in the world suits you.

As a kid and well up into my late 20s I always wanted to live in America, the TV shows, lifestyle and cut-throat career suited me in those years. However since my mid 20s I've started a family and have struggled to earn a living despite becoming degree educated I still struggle as I'm watching what I thought would be a good career flush down the UK toilet because of bad government decisions. And once our great leaders bring in charging per mile coupled with unaffordable (decent) housing, I will be forced out of work as it will cost more to get to work than I get paid. I've also watched the crappy lifestyle my kids have had in todays Britain, not the Britain I grew up in 30 odd years ago. The suffering they've endured because of the way Britain is now, not the way it used to be. These kids are almost the age of leaving school, we also have a 19 month old daughter, it really horrifies me to think of the trend that things are going, the future she will have in Britain... if she'll have a future at all. I also now see that American career and lifestyle doesnt suit me at this age.

I know things aren't perfect anywhere. But when you've struggled to claw your way out the gutter only to find the gutter is massive and its only your perpective that changes then if you have the vision to see that to put things right here would require a dictatorship and hard rule with the goal of improving, as it used to be and that it would never happen, then you feel you can no longer live here.

I've looked globally for somewhere that matches what I'm after without having to compromise our own identity, Australia came top of the list, there are others I'll consider if we find Australia doesnt suit, but I would need a VERY good reason to come back to Britain. Too many bad experiences...

...think I'll go back to bed. :(
Sorry for the negative post guys... I'm a grumpy old man today... :(