Sydneygirl

completely normal. I felt like that before our move in 2008. It was very quickly cured by those gorgeous blue skies, beautiful beaches and the feeling that you really get to live your life for YOU for a change. Go get on that plane. Experience it. Chances are you'll LOVE it, but if you don't then you can always move back!

It depends entirely on where you live, whether that's in Australia or in the UK. There's good and bad parts in both countries. On balance I think the lifestyle in Australia is better, healthier, more outdoors-based, family oriented, but it's absolutely true that kids in Australia are just as prone to excess drinking/ drugs use as they are in the UK. And in Australia you won't necessarily have any family support to help you out when there is an issue. I don't know if you've been an expat before but that is always something to bear in mind too...

We, my husband and I and our 2 small children, moved back to the UK earlier this year, after a decade in Australia in order to be closer to family, allowing our children to have a "real" relationship with family. It was a very hard call, we loved our life in Sydney, but felt we couldn't do it to our families to stay for good. But much though we love being near family, we miss Australia so so much, to the point we're seriously considering moving back again. It's heartbreaking to hurt our family like this, has anyone been through this? Can we be so selfish to move back to the place where we were so happy? I hate hurting my parents, but it's also putting crazy pressure on my marriage being in a place where neither of us really want to be, which can't be good for our kids and ultimately that's where my responsibility lies, right? Advice much appreciated!