FirstWorldProblems

I’m on the exec board of a 6000 person software company in the U.K. most of our teams are now home based. We’ve seen zero productivity reduction. In fact our software implementation is more productive being done remotely than on customer site. Where we do have a negative impact is getting new joiners, particularly people in their first job, integrated into the company culture and bonded with team mates.

It sounds like it’s been quite hard……but you are taking lots of steps forward and making great progress on building a new life. Keep facing forward and keep progressing as you are and you are going to end up in a good place. A happy place.

This might be misleading because it's not quite the same thing. My MIL was on what she always referred to as a "disability pension" (I don't know if that's the correct name) for a several years prior to reaching retirement age. She would visit us here in the UK annually for 8 weeks. Her pension payments would automatically stop at week 6. She didn't tell anyone she was going (wasn't aware she needed to) so there is clearly a link set up between then social welfare system and immigration systems.

I remember taking the kids for a swim there once in a rooftop pool - it's a great airport! My top tip is to change into PJ's once you are onboard. For me it was a game changer for comfort. I buy cheap, thin ones from Sainsbury's. They are solid colours so at a glance you could be wearing black joggers and a grey long sleeve top. Thin because if it's hot you don't overheat, but long sleeve in case the aircon has been cranked up. Oh and those slippers you get in a hotel or a spa. Much easier for going to the toilet than digging out your trainers from under the seat. A really good quality eye mask that blocks out all light makes a big difference, as do good quality ear plugs

It’s better to regret something you have done than regret not doing something. Occasionally people post here that they made the move, regret it and are trapped because they can’t afford financially to move back. That doesn’t sound like your circumstance in which case…….It’s better to regret something you have done than regret not doing something. Go for it!

Thank you everyone for sharing your experiences. I appreciate it. I have reflected and come to the conclusion that an early retirement is an ambition I can now remove from my goals. Oh well....

And you have the Wye Valley and Forest of Dean to the South of the county. Kayaking from Ross on Wye to Symonds Yat is really popular. I’m running a forest race there late April and the videos of past events look beautiful. It’s a lovely area and what a great place to raise children. They’ll have you down at Go Ape every month! Good luck. Sounds like a really promising next phase for you all.

A consultation with Paul Hand helped me avoid some potential pitfalls and to front load the evidence with the kind of things that are not strictly mandatory, but typically asked for.

5 weeks. 4 of which was me being slack about booking the medical.

Oh no, I don't want them that close. They'll be popping in all the time! Half an hour is a good distance IMO

5 weeks from application to grant

Thanks @Quoll I appreciate your candor. That sounds like some pretty challenging circumstances at times! I thought kids were meant to get easy once they’d grown up

I'm sorry to hear of your loss and of the other challenges your family faced. I can well imagine how these experiences would act to become a point of reflection and it's clear that you've done a lot of reflecting indeed. I think you are going to be very well prepared for your new life! You're obviously realistic that it might not be perfect, or even better than today, but that it's an opportunity that could be and that's a chance worth taking and an adventure worth having!

I picked this username as a reminder to myself to not get anxious about things that really aren't a bid deal compared to the challenges that many people face in life. But this concern just won't go away and I'd be keen to hear some reassuring experiences from others. It's rather a niche question. For those of you who have emigrated with children to one of the metropolitan areas with notoriously high property prices, and those children have done what children have a habit of doing and turning into adults who then embark on their own life, how have they fared? Have they been able to get on the property ladder? After paying the bills is there enough left over for them to enjoy a decent quality of life? It won't be an option for us to go to a lower cost area. We'll be moving first and foremost to be with family in the Sydney suburbs, and whilst somewhere like Newcastle might only be a few hours drive away, and whilst Adelaide is certainly a lot shorter flight than Birmingham, Plan-A is to be proximate to family and see them once or twice a week.

I have had help from Paul and found him to be excellent to deal with.

I'm sure you will be fine. There's a flip side too. My kids have grown up with my mother in law visiting for 8 weeks every summer. That concentrated time has built a much stronger relationship than she has with her grandchildren who live an hour away.

Honestly, it's one thing to know it intellectually and another to be faced with it. It doesn't affect everyone, but we do hear quite a lot from people on this and other forums who have struggled with it. Everything from it being such a major hassle that they can't be bothered to do it, and the expense being prohibitive for some, to some really sad tales of not being able to get back in time to say goodbye to loved ones and the very distance exacerbating the feeling of homesickness. It's a very individual thing that varies with a persons familial, financial and emotional circumstances. Might not be any issue to you at all, and it isn't to many. You'll meet a lot of folks here who have hardly ever returned to europe and have no interest in doing so. Australia is their perfect place so why would they leave.

At risk of making the rather obvious and massive mistake of projecting a holiday experience onto real life........the idea of retiring in the South of France seems absolutely wonderful to me. Nice apartment with a view. Morning walk to the bakers for the most amazing bread in the world each day. Bimbling around the shops and having lunch on the balcony before a dip in the pool etc.

I agree. @lavers is spot on Subclass 190 Skilled Nominated visa (homeaffairs.gov.au)

What you describe reminds me of my observations of Vancouver. What a beautiful city and it felt very safe and clean and modern - much like being in Sydney CBD (but with more stinky cannabis). Then we drove out 45 mins south east to meet customers and I had my first experience of seeing people obviously under the influence of what my local colleague told me was meth. It was a pitiful sight. Distressing actually. And it wasn't just that one strip mall and traffic junction. I must have seen it ten times that day.

As an enthusiastic (if hopeless) middle-aged endurance 'athlete' I wholeheartedly agree....but there's more to it. I remember back in 2005 going to work for a Kansas City, USA based company who had won a very big contract in the UK. They rapidly went from about 50 UK staff to over 600 and seeded the team with over 50 people from Kansas City who knew the company, it's products and processes. They were all on 2 year contracts and lived in London. A large proportion were on the somewhat heavy side and almost every one of them lost a load of weight during their 2 years. They put it down to having the infrastructure available that enabled them to walk a lot. I suspect restaurant portions played a part too. I stayed with that company for 5 years, vising HQ in KC quarterly and sure enough, within 6-9 months of returning, the formerly heavy colleagues regained what they had lost.

I have over 800 people in my team and more than half of them are my age (late 40's) and older. They do tend to be more expensive but you are paying for the experience and knowledge they have which generally brings greater productivity. I am trying to balance it out with a graduate recruiting programme and modern apprenticeship scheme because I want good succession in the organisation

@Ausvisitor recently commented that the oft-mentioned ageism in the labour market is no longer true in white collar professions, though remains in the blue collar trades. As someone who will be migrating when aged just the other side of 50, this is interesting to me and I thought perhaps others. @Ausvisitor would you mind sharing more about what you've observed please. Thanks

I’ll bet it was! So what have those 5 years been like? I think people at the start of their journey would love to hear what yours was like and how it differed to expectations.