AaronS

Sorry to break this news to the folks bashing on the US dollar...even if the Aussie dollar were down to half what a US is worth, housing here would still be more than double what it is in the US. The house we live in here is valued between 850K to 1 million....in the US it wouldn't go for $100K on a good day.

I had a home based "business"....I did audio production work on the side and did well with it. Thing is, it was what I really loved to do. I built that up over a period of 10 years and had bought a substantial amount of auido gear. I sold it off a piece at a time....every piece hurt. Each one was like selling a little piece of me. When I get back I'll start over...might just get a loan and buy all at once.

Yikes! I consider both very inadequate in Australia! Shower is barely a drizzle and parking spots are tight here in Sydney!

Dear lord that is the truth! Only we've decided to go back! It's like if you don't fit the mold here you don't get to work.....even if you are better than the mold.

I'll miss the beach...but I'll be a mere 3 hours from one back home.

Sounds like you don't have a lot of strong ties here....far from friends.....living with the ex. Dogs, well, please don't let this sound harsh, but they shouldn't hold you back (we left ours with a friend). Might be an easy move for you....might not. Have you thought of taking an extended holiday over there? Like maybe a few months?

In some areas (like Texas) people are taught to respect firearms much in the same way Aussies are taught to respect the ocean. My wife learned to shoot in school....she went on to compete and won a gold metal at World Cup in Milan, Italy back in 94. We own guns (still in the US) and shoot for sport (we don't hunt). Guns get a bad stigma because of a few bad people. They aren't for everyone, but with proper training and education they are have their place.

Yup, serious consideration right there.

In NSW we were told you have to wait 6 months before getting a NSW DL. We can drive on our US DL in the meantime. You also have to show that you have been driving for a period of time (can't remember how long now) and you don't have to take a written or driving test. We got a car just fine with just our US DLs.

I think you are correct. It was kind of my slap in the face, wake up call.

I don't miss: Being able to actually drive the speedlimt of 120kmh Freeways with exit ramps so you avoid signal lights and intersections Beer at $3.99usd a six pack Being able to buy a proper Texas style brisket at the market (7 kilos!) The music district being a 10 block area with at least 7 music venues per block Real Mexican food. Pertol at less than $4usd a gallon Ducted air conditioning Reasonable housing prices Oh wait, I miss all those things. :biggrin:

My suggestion is to take a long, hard look at the life you have currently. Family, friends, employment, standard of living, established lifestyle, etc. If you love what you have now, I would suggest staying where you are and visiting Australia instead. Moving here and leaving behind everything is kind of like going to University a long way from home....you don't know anyone, you have no social structure and everyting is new....even down to simple things you do daily and don't even think about that are handled differently here. Starting over sound like a great adventure, and it is, but if your life is set and you like it that way then moving my not be what you should do. For me, moving here caused me to see that I shouldn't have moved....so we are heading back. It's not Australia's fault, it could have been anywhere...it's that back in Texas is where I belong. Then again, nothing ventured, nothing gained. Not much help probably.

I've let a few people know we are heading back now....without exception everyone has told me to hurry up and get back, offering a place to stay for us if we needed if it meant getting back sooner. My old band is waiting on me to come back too. I mentioned we are writing new material, and now we are starting to record the tracks (we all have individual studio set ups)....the plan is for me to get back, release a new album immediately and then do a small tour through Texas, Louisiana and Oklahoma. After that I'll most likely go back to work with the company I left....like I've mentioned, I'm in demand in Texas. I've already found the area we'll move into....just north of Austin. Housing there is unbelievable! 2800 square foot homes selling for less than $200KUSD with large lots....and it's about 5 miles from where my wife will work. I am actually feeling really good now....and with my friend coming over from Austin in a couple weeks that will really help my moral. Plus, I'm going to take surf lessons in the next few weeks too.

It could be an antique or a family heirloom....or maybe he shoots for sport. Plenty of reasons to have a shotgun and there is nothing wrong with having it.

I know exactly how you feel! Good luck, man! We felt a huge relief too when we finally made the decision that is was in our best interest to head home.

Thing is, that is my life...and if I can't find something to fill that here then it's not right for me.

haha....well, I wouldn't count on me being rich and famous...home town hero is just fine....especially when it's in Austin and music related.

That's the part that I'm not too worried about. I'm in contact with all of them...daily. I'm working on music projects with 3 bands right now. They send me the music tracks and I do my parts (guitar, keyboard or vocals) and send them back. My former band and I are working on new song specific to that band. We are actually planning on releasing an album in the US with me here. That's want I meant about my roots being deep with the scene there. I can't let go and they don't seem to be able either.

Guess I should post this here...even though it's back the US for us. Some of you saw my homesick post I'm sure. Been a week or so and we've slept on it and the consensus is still we should head back in a year or so. Ultimately we just weren't prepared for how much we would be missing our family and friends...and thanks (or not so thanks) to the internet and Facebook for only making it worse. Basically we just have to wait a year so the relocation costs don't fall back on us from the company my wife works for. Seriously, I didn't know how deep my roots and feeling were for the people that were in my life. My mom and dad....my friends....my band mates....the music lifestyle I had that took me 12 years to build up. I thought I was tougher than this but guess not. It's a hot mess in the US right now with the economy and politics and that's the reason we left, but now we see we'd rather weather the storm with people we love than be alone in comfort. Not sure when it will be yet but targeting no later than April-ish of next year (get another southern sky summer)

Oddly enough in my case not having Australian experience has never been brought up....it's the software specific thing that keeps rearing it's head. Maybe because I do have listed that I have managed end user fulfillment into Australia? Either way, I'm not sweating it any longer......we've got a plan and will stick to it and enjoy every minute of being here until we go.

Although, I have to admit our plan is a really nice one for me....we'll be here for another year at a minimum and I won't be working....I'll be taking care of the kiddos....i.e. hanging out at the beach and taking them to do stuff. There are much worse options.

Dear lord the specific software thing is the biggest thorn in my side! In my field everybody wants you to have SAP experience....well, most of the MRP/ERP softwares are the same...just minor navigation differences. Losing out on a good person for something so minor is really asinine in my opinion. Good luck....it's proved to be just to frustrating for us.

That's who my wife works for...and I worked for a partner company to them....doing supply chain logistics and inventory management to the tune of 2+ million units a month and working directly with their senior sales team to support THEIR customers...but I'm just not good enough for anyone here. :no:

:biggrin: Haha...I'm starting to wonder why we left! Politics there is horrid though...bickering from both sides...makes it hard to know what's really the right to support. Plus, the entire country isn't in that great of shape. Texas has the strongest economy of any state and Austin is in the top 5 best city economies in the country. It's pretty much the diamond of the country.

The crash is part of it but Austin and the surrounding area wasn't really hit as hard. Before the crash that house was probably in the $200K range....so yes, houses are that much less in the USA in general.