NBird

Congratulations Aunt Agatha such fantastic news for you and your family! I must admit to feeling a bit envious of your feb return date but know that our time will come! I am actually really enjoying the lead up to Christmas. I teach kindergarten so its always fun and hectic! I also think knowing its my last one here is helping, I am appreciating everything that Aus has to offer at this time of year. Hope you have a good one!

Hope you and your family have a lovely Christmas Lady Rainicorn. Just wanted to say that even though I don't post much on here, I have loved reading your posts and following your journey home.

Hi think I am being confused with the other NorthernBird! Kate has asked me to change my user name to avoid this so I might be popping back as Northern Girl. In response to the op I am moving back to Cheshire and have 2 boys, age 7 and 2 - maybe not ideal friends for a 12 year old girl but happy to meet up socially when we get back next year.

We lodged our application for citizenship at the weekend. We have been here for 4 years now and as one of our boys was born here we think its important that the whole family has dual citizenship. We expected to get the application done sooner but needed to wait for our British Police check first. I will be happy when we get our citizenship, even though we are going home it feels right that both our children have the same opportunities. I don't plan on ping ponging but then I imagine nobody does! I feel as though I've been hanging on forever some days - from making our decision to return home we will have hung on another 2 years in total!

Thanks all! It feels good to have finally told our family, we have been waiting for the right time. For some reason we needed to build up to it and make sure we were completely sure of what we were doing! I think I was also worrying about peoples opinions/questions! I was one of those who always envied friends who had done a stint abroad and could never quite understand why they returned!! We think that July is a good time to return too Lady Rainicorn. It will give our son enough time to get settled in before school and means we can build up to our first winter back. I am actually looking forward to autumn in the UK, it always was my favourite time of year!

Last night we told our families that we are returning next year. They were thrilled and it feels good, like we have finally got the ball rolling to move. We are planning for a return in July and I cant wait to be able to jump in my car and visit them again. Just wanted to share my news as I am getting excited now :yes:

Yes we love the North! I am from Yorkshire but lived in Cheshire for about 10 years before moving to Oz. We have a house there and it makes sense for us to move back into it while we look for jobs. I'm looking forward to the move now, it will soon come round. We should have a northern meet up when we all get back!

Hi Aunt Agatha just wanted to say congrats on having a return date! Please keep us updated with your plans, we will be following you back to England next June/July time.

Hi Aunt Agatha, we are planning on going back next year, probably end of July. This will allow us enough time to save for the move and for our son to start year 3 in September. We will be returning to Cheshire as we have a house there. Me and my other half are from Yorkshire originally and while I often hanker after a return there, it is making more financial sense for us to move back into our house, especially as we are planning on looking for jobs once we get back. I would also love to be near York, as I grew up not too far from there! However I worry about job availability and know that we would be in with a good chance being near to Manchester.

When we go home next year I will miss: 1. The scenery 2. Some snack foods like Tim Tams and Cheezels 3. Friends, although they are mostly Brits and I will catch up on their trips 'home' I won't miss: 1. The lack of choice in the shops 2. Australian culture 3. Christmas in summer.

I think you're right in taking the best opportunities at the time! In 2010 when we made the move there was a definite downturn in opportunities in the UK and we came to Melbourne, worked hard and have enjoyed ourselves. My worry is that we could plod along reasonably well for another 10 or so years, by which time my eldest boy would be in high school and we would be stuck. Being a teacher myself I am very wary of messing up his education. He has had a very good start out here and by the time we move back next year he will be starting year 3, which seems good timing to me. Of course there never is an absolutely perfect time, but I feel that its time to make an active decision as you call it otherwise we could almost miss our slot!

Thanks for the replies. Thinker78 I agree that it is a torturous decision and seems much harder going back than moving out here, not sure why that is. Maybe I am frightened of making a mistake, I know a family who settled in Perth for 7 years, moved home for 2 and then came out to Melbourne. They regret leaving Australia due to financial implications but they are so settled now that in a way it was worth it. I do not plan on ping ponging but you never know! I am also late 30's and left England in my early 30's with the attitude that we would come back if we didn't like it. But its not that we don't like Australia! My Dad said we were looking for an adventure and I think he was right, I now feel ready to go home and settle down! I also used to think that the friends thing would get better and now I realise that it wont. I lost my confidence a bit a while back and its exhausting trying to fit in. I make a huge effort when conversing with Aussies but many a time they just don't get my humour when I try to have a bit of banter. Flag of Convenience I wont pay any attention, thanks! We are feeling more confident in our decision now. We made the decision at a time when my husband was struggling with depression and have sat on it for a while to make sure its still the right decision. I'm pleased to say that things are on a more even keel now and we have a more positive outlook on things. We are very lucky that we have a house to go back to, bank accounts still there. It was like we never could completely cut ties with England and now I'm glad we didn't.

We made the decision to return home a year ago and have sat on it for a while! For me it started with a nagging doubt at the back of my mind, which I desperately tried to ignore! After all everything was going well for us, we came here just over 3 years ago, found good jobs and even had our second son. My eldest was enjoying school, husband had a good job and all seemed rosy until the question of if/when we were going to buy a house came up and I just couldn't commit to it. I had trouble signing a phone contract, let alone buying property! I can honestly say I have tried very hard to settle, I have a part time job that I love, I volunteer at my sons school and have really tried to put myself out there to make Aussie friends. But I must admit that the most solid friendships I have formed out here are with British families. I find that my Aussie friendships tend to come and go and at times I have felt that when they no longer need me they drift off. I have gone through a whole range of emotions - denial that there could be anything wrong, guilt for feeling miserable/lonely, to acceptance that maybe its just time to go home. So after several months of nagging doubts, it hit me like a brick wall when my baby turned 1 and there was no family around to share the event with. I attended a first birthday party of one of my Mums group friends and her house was filled with family and friends. I came home and realised that the big house wasn't going to make me happy if the people I love are not there to share it with. That was over a year ago and we have since taken a trip home to see how we felt and I have to say it was wonderful. I do realize that people pull out all the stops to see you but we caught up with friends who we had not seen for over 2 years and it was like we had never left. I laughed so much and felt like me again. I also realized that I missed England very much and while I appreciate what Australia has to offer, it will never truly be home. So we are only just starting to tell our friends over here, I was nervous of this as amongst them are many who love Australia and wouldn't even dream of going back for a holiday. I was afraid of comments like you must be mad, but surprisingly no-one did say that! Maybe they knew that a return for us was on the cards! At the end of the day I am so glad we took the chance to come, I joke with my friends that I am at fault for being too much of a Northerner to ever fit in! But I miss the North of England, the people and humour! So now we are saving hard to go home, hopefully by next July. We are permanent residents and will apply for our citizenship as my youngest already has dual citizenship and it doesn't rest easy with me that he could grow up with more opportunities than his big brother. Apologies for the essay! This site has been a massive support for me over the last few months whilst I have been reading other peoples stories of moving back. I am really interested in other peoples stories, how they arrived at a decision and how they are going in their moving home journey.