I'm 37 and my hubby is 36 and we have 2 kids aged 9 and 6 , we discussed emigrating a few years back but after the kids were born the idea took a back seat , only now have we felt it was the right time and actually financially this was probably the only time we could have managed to go . When we told our family , my Husbands side were fine , my Mum and brother were not great and still it's not a topic I discuss in front of them , even though we are now at the stage of just waiting for our visa to be granted !! My 2 best friends , one of them avoided me for a month she was so upset ,the other one is still in tears every time I see her but they are good now and talk about it more. I've only really had one negative reaction from a work friend who lived in Sydney 35 years ago ( we are going to Brisbane ) and gave me lots of negatives and pretty much patronised me by saying things like " you know it's not like on the tv , you won't be better off " we are well aware of this as my hubby is giving up being off shore and going back to his trade which will involve gap training and starting at the bottom. I'm a self employed hairdresser. It's gonna be a tough journey but we intend to grab the opportunity with both hands and run with it !!