Visit or just go for it

[haziegirl]

Hi,

My husband has been on here and left a post saying that we are thinking of moving to oz. I am a bit worried as he wants to go out there without even visiting oz first, has anyone got any advice weather we should go and visit first (as we have never been before)or should we just take the plunge and go.

We have two young daughters one who will be 6 in september and the other who will be 1 in may.

Would be very greatful for any help or advice as it will be a very big thing to do.

Many thanks,
The Martins

[the ps]

Hi
If you have the money then visit.
We can't afford a visit and as over 40 don't have time to save, we are just taking the plunge!
We have got alot of information off the internet re housing and cost of living, this site is great to ask questions too.
It is personal choice and whatever you are comfortable with. Alot of our friends think we are mad to uproot and go across the world to a place we have never been to but we both feel it is right !
Good luck with the decision it will be one of many !!
Brenda

..Hi The Martins and welcome to PIO..i would say that if you can afford a trip before you make a decision or go to Aus permanently, then it would be a good idea..it gives you some insight into where you'll be living and a feel of the culture of Aus, because some may think there cannot be a lot of difference between living in the UK and Aus..i believe there is and you need to go there to experience it..i think ultimately you have to live there to experience the migration thing totally, but a trip just gives you some idea of how it all works and feels..we have just been back for three weeks to Perth where i grew up and our number four child was born..we took loads of photo's and video for our four year old, so that he can remember it until we go back in September..for your six year old it may be a good idea, so if you do move over she can have some familiarity with it..all the best for whatever you decide..
Pingpongor Tess

[longland]

I personally think it would be wise to make the reccie mission. We were always looking at relocating to Florida, I had been to oz with work and liked what I had seen but I needed to make sure that the missus and the kids were equally as comfortable. My youngest 12, at the time, asked 'what if one of us doesn't like it' meaning himself who was desperate to live in the states, within 3 days he was asking if we needed to go back to the UK. During our reccie we were able to take in quite a lot of geography, landing in Brisbane, driving to Port Douglas (beautiful), flying to Sydney then to Melbourne and back to Brisbane - where we discovered the Sunshine Coast and Mooloolaba which is the area we now live. 3 months in and we all love the move and are glad we settled where we did.
Hope this helps a little, it worked for us.