derbycountygirl

I'm guessing you are quite young, 18ish maybe? You are really blessed to have learnt to young in life that material wealth - money, two cars, a boat, a gorgeous house with panoramic ocean and mountain views does not mean happiness and that other things such as family, culture and a sense of belonging are more important. There are many, many people, myself included who gave up a great life in the UK in the search of a 'better life' in Australia and are now heading back despite 'having it all'. We are moving out of our 'dream home' next week and will be returning to a small 3-bed semi in Scotland. Whatever you family decide to do, you need to think what you want to do - make sure you do nothing irreversible, if you don't have citizenship, get it now. Tasmania seems to divide people and I've never been, but any small community is less likely to be open to newcomers and have more traditional views in terms of gender roles etc. I definitely think there is an 'old guard' in Australia that are sexist and not afraid to show it but overall I think there are more opportunities for women in less traditional roles here so don't automatically assume there will be more opportunity for you in the UK. You may actually be better off in one of the major Australian cities, especially given the recession in the UK - I am moving back confidently but have a long established career and a network of contacts to draw on. It's always harder for those at the start of their careers in a recession. Not fitting in is awful as a kid though and not much better as an adult - I can't wait to go back to where I feel I belong, so you are definitely not alone on that! There is a group on here for people moving back/wanting to move back that you would be welcome to join for more support. Jules

Thank you so much. Yea, i'm 17. I honestly don't feel that young, though.

We have our Australian citizenship and passports, so we can come and go between the two as we please.

Thanks for your advise. Jobs are pretty scarce in Tassie at the minute, and my family and i decided that if we had to move it would be back to the Uk rather than the mainland.

This is the case with many houses here. The biggest single difference you can make to heat loss is double glazing. I think it's a must in any climate personally, unless it's one that never really drops below about 15C or so

 

Halves the conductive heat loss, pretty much.

​Double glazing is so expensive over here. We had our house priced up and it turned us off having it.

You're best to go to the small hardware shops, they usually sell the little heaters. Or shops like KMART and BigW would be a safe bet.

Otherwise just wrap yourself in a blanket, that's what we do over here

I'll give you some background: My family and i moved to Australia, originally Perth WA, in February 2008. After 8 months of not getting work, being unhappy, paying huge rent there, we decided to move to the North West Coast of Tasmania. We have been here for about 4 years now. It's a beautiful state, but there are hardly any jobs and everything is expensive my family don't enjoy their jobs and i cannot find an apprenticeship - being a girl in Automotive makes everything a little more difficult as everyone over here is sexist as hell. We're doing well with money, we have two cars, a boat, a gorgeous house with panoramic ocean and mountain views, yet we find ourselves wanting to move back to the UK. My mum's family is back in the UK and we miss them a fair bit; perhaps that's what is instigating our move.

But yea, i don't feel as though i have anything here; no mates, no job, no future here. I keep trying to remind myself of the state of the UK; the traffic, etc. but i still want to go back for good. i've never felt like we fit in here, based on the fact that we're english. We're going to need a 40ft container and we are taking our 4 year old Ragdoll cat, Zach, with us.

Has anyone been feeling/have felt similar and moved back? We're just a bit lost and stressing out about the process. Nothing is set into concrete, but it is more likely than not that we'll move back. Any comments or opinions would be appreciated. Thanks.