Hi everyone,
Currently in a bit of a pickle at the moment! I moved to Australia with my wife 10 years ago at a young age as her family had moved from the UK to Australia. This was a struggle at the start but I gave it a go, adapted and got on with things as it was hard being away from family.
After being there for 10 years, deep down it was never home and I could never imagine living there for the rest of my life away from my family. We always had the uncertainty which remained for me but not for my wife who settled in amongst her family. We decided to move back to the UK to see how it was. I also had a kid while we were there which meant taking her away from the grand parents (Wifes mum and dad). So we made the decision to return to the UK early last year.
Since returning, my wife is not enjoying it at all and has a completed negative mindset in relation to being back and everything is in comparison to Australia. First few months of being back was very stressful as I felt like I had put my wife into a situation she clearly did not want to be in but at the same time, I did not want to continue living my life in Australia as it wasn’t home. Eventually after a few months, things sort of started to fall into place, we got a nice house on rent, settled in and got on with things and my wife slowly started being herself again.
This was until her family came to England for a few weeks which was nice but again has completely unsettled things again for my wife so It is like I am back to square one and do not know what to do. Since being back, I have realised, there is not a lot I miss about Australia, The only reason we have been in Aus in my wifes family. If they were not there, we would not be in Australia. My wife’s parents have decided they will not be coming back to the UK which we thought may have been a possibility now their grandkid was here, but since returning, they have decided otherwise and they also have a son in aus which plays a factor in that a\s he is very well settled.
All of our families are in the UK. In Australia, we have my wife’s parents and sibling, that’s it. The way I see it is we are sacrificing the time with everyone in the UK just for 3 people in Australia. Australia itself was amazing while we were there, I made great friends and there are a lot of benefits to being there, but I have missed out on so much in 10 years, it has made me realise I am not sure if I’m prepared to go back. At the same time, I’m not sure my wife wants to stay as she is no pro Australia.
I understand the possibility of a better life in Australia, however I believe family is way more important than the additional benefits in Aus (Weather, lifestyle etc). We gre up in the uk and left at 16, but since returning, I feel like it is home and for my wife, England is not good enough (NHS, wages, work hours etc)
I am very confused and not too sure what is going happen this year! Anyone else been in a similar scenario?
Thanks
