backtothefuture

You all have some wise, lived advice and I am very great full for your opinions, thank you. I agree and I am trying to enjoy this stage of my life, I imagine in the future we may move back but I will never see it as a regret as there are something's I enjoy here and the fact we have done it is very rewarding. Cheers x

you live and learn, and hopefully someone else thinking of making the transition will come armed a bit more prepared than we did x

we visited Melbourne quite recently, and loved it. But I'm not sure we have it in us to uproot again to the unknown. We have also learnt that visiting somewhere on holiday is nothing like living there. I suppose you live and learn, i wasn't expecting too much of a revelation to be honest, i just wanted to vent some of the experiences that we have had in case someone who is thinking of doing the same has an idea of what it was like for us. cheers

I have so far had excellent maternity care, which is public as i can't afford private at the moment. Thats really good advice, thank you

i appreciate your opinions very much and they appear very well balanced, thanks

Good afternoon fellow expats ! This is my first post as a member, but after weeks of stalking everyone else's threads, i decided to put my predicament 'out there' and see if any wise words of wisdom could be imparted by you. Here's my story: you know the drill, We packed up our life into a small container, said goodbyes over numerous weekends of alcohol fuelled, long teary parties and headed to Perth 9 months ago. We felt in pretty good hands as i have 2 brothers who live here, and also my father (mother unfortunately passed away before emigrating). We arrived expecting fanfare sprinkled with pomp and circumstance and this I'm afraid wasn't the case. Yes, everyone was pleased to see us here and tried to reassure us with 'perth is great' 'you'll earn loads of money' 'the weather is brilliant' 'people at home will never do anything' so we got on with it. It took us over a month to both find jobs and with our life savings dwindling the harsh reality and the overwhelming doubt of 'what on earth have we done' set in (yes it set in at this early stage). We eventually found jobs and are now doing pretty well, we had issues with the work culture, but we marked it up to a new learning experience. The first thing we began to notice when we got our own place was, the things we thought we would do here, we didn't. we had talks in the uk of joining this and that club, going to the beach after work, camping etc and the reality is that you work hard, it goes dark quickly, so you come home from work and watch tv (aussie tv is an entity all by itself). When we tried to discuss our feelings with my family, we got the stereotypical saying i hate so much "people at home will never change, they will do the same things all their life" well guess what you get into a routine here too and in 20 years time if we stayed that would be our reality too. Don't get me wrong, Perth has some things to offer and its our insecurities and lack of enthusiasm thats dictated our 'rut', but blinking heck when you are in a negative mindset, that rut is hard to get out of. We were always outgoing, my husband is sporty and i was a member of a amateur dramatic society but for some reason moving has really 'dulled that sparkle' and brought our insecurities we didn't know we had. We often try to meet people and get invited places and we make the effort to go, but eventually they just fizzle out and you create kind of a 'surface level friendship' instead of the friendships you have known and loved. So we find ourselves (probably with nothing else to do haha) pregnant with our first child. un-entitled to any maternity pay and without much family support or friends. We are trying to stay positive, but i guess my question is this. How do people stay positive, when in the back of their minds they know, whether it be in 1,2,3,4-10 years time they will end up going back home? What can you do to make this decision/process of homesickness easier to manage and look at it from a diplomatic perspective? i.e pros and con charts, talking to fellow expats (such as yourselves). At this point we have decided to give it 2 years to see if anything changes, we are visiting home in june 2015 with the baby so hopefully that may give us some perspective. I would also like to add that this is not a reflection of perth itself or a 'perth bashing' of any sorts, these are quite personal experiences and hopefully it comes across as such, cheers guys xx

All the best for a speedy recovery, that 'bastard' has plagued my family too, but it makes you wake up and realise whats important to you xx

Im from a nice little village in the Ribble valley in Lancashire. I love york and chester too!! too expensive for me to live tho. Ive only been in Perth for 9 months so it is too soon for us to leave, but me and the hubby talk a lot about 'home' and where we would like to go back too and my answer would be, from exactly where we came as the village life, friends, cricket on a sunday and the nosy neighbours are what we miss most. Plus i worked and socialised a lot in Manchester which isn't far x

This thread was so long, i have to admit that i skipped to the end. But this quote by Chortlepuss made me chuckle, "You're not going to enjoy the beach if you can't afford sun cream". Too true. We all have our reason's for feeling homesick or wanting to be in a different place. I could rave on for well over a page about my personal circumstances, but here's the secret. Do what's right for you at the time. My parents spent 10 years and the last 18 months of it (and a hell of a lot of money on parents visa's) planning their 'return to Aus' (They emigrated in 86' only lasting 3years). Only for my mother to pass away 6 months before being due to emigrate. She spent far too long saying 'what if' and 'when' never to have it realised. So i say to all who want to go back to the UK or return to AUS, do it, life is far too short and unkind enough without making it difficult on yourself

Hi Rose It was very interesting to me to read your thread. I am currently in a similar situation 13 weeks pregnant, husband loves his job and i am not as sold on Perth's charms as originally thought. I have developed homesickness, perhaps exacerbated by being pregnant. I have my family here, (dad and 2 brothers) who have been very kind to us, however have their own lives with work etc. Myself and my husband are just finding it very difficult to make friends, despite making an agreement to attend everything (if and when) we are invited too. (ill put it out there we are very fun and not odd balls, just saying haha). We have only been here for 9 months and have agreed to give it at least 2 years, however i can see my husband settling more and more into his job and I'm losing my 'sparkle' if that makes sense. I work in the health industry here and have not had a great experience as a newcomer, but in general Aussies are nice to me. Its not the place, its defiantly me and the cravings of stability in friends at this time in my life. I am not sure whats in store for my future here in Aus, but i wanted to commend you for the brave task of deciding to go home and overcoming such resistance. For people who have never left the UK, people back home have no idea how hard it can be and how brave we all are for doing it. That bravery is challenged again, when you have to admit that it wasn't the right move/direction. Never see it as a failure, you will look back on memories in Aus and in time recall them fondly. Im due back for a holiday in June to see family and friends (with a 12 week old baby, i hope) and i am hoping it gives me some sort of idea as to where i want to be. As for my family here, my dad in particular would be devastated if i left as he is very attached to me since losing my mum and i feel the pressure that he has said "well if you go back i will have to go too". Take each day as it comes and all the best with the new baby