Cheery Thistle

I say do it now. You’re both young enough to start again. I’ll tell you one thing, if you have a family in the UK it will be far far harder to move. The longer you leave it, the more settled and established you will be and the harder it is to leave! Also I wouldn’t worry too much about your job. You are skilled and hard working, you are young and can top up qualifications. I’m 42 and on to my 3rd career! There’s plenty of time.

There’s definitely a few tin hat wearers!

No, but Putin is on the move so the threat is definitely far more immediate/direct/tangible. It’s not something you can really appreciate unless a) you’re in geographical proximity and b) you have a government that has pulled your country into multiple wars over the past 40 years.

I don’t think Australia would be China’s first target. There are many more internationally significant countries in front of Aus in the queue (no offence intended re: international significance!). We won’t go into historical comparisons between Australia and Europe/UK and involvement in wars, unless you really want to.

Yeah that’s as I thought. To be honest I’d probably rather wait as well, as I want to see what’s what with areas etc first. I always think job hunting is a 2 way street - yes you need to be a good fit for the employer, but they also need to be a good fit for you. We are budgeting for 6 months living costs just to be safe. I’m not sure if it’s the same over there but applying for jobs in the Uk is a really rigorous process. Many hoops to jump through and time consuming. My current job I applied for in July, was interviewed in August but didn’t start until October - and that was fast! I don’t fancy the sponsorship route. That would be a last resort I think.

Oh fab. Well done! I’m not really sure how it works with jobs. Do I apply before I have a visa? Once visa is granted but before we go? Or wait until we are on the ground? I feel funny applying for jobs in a place I’ve never even been to before! Yes we can definitely over-think that’s for sure. It’s a massive move though to be fair.

I went to Croatia (Dubrovnik) for the first time last year. It reminded me of Italy and Corsica. The people were lovely - really ‘got’ the Scottish sense of humour!! it wasn’t cheap but i think things have changed a lot. Portugal is lovely and one of our fave places but is less developed than most of the rest of Europe and it is poorer. The people are fantastic though. We got lost in Olhão a few years ago and stopped to ask an old man directions - he actually said ‘follow me’ and physically took us to our destination. I am fortunate here, I work for the Civil Service and have a pension that can’t be beat. But I might not live to see it lol.

You should! Where have you been before? My fave French city is probably Nice. Spain is also nice in parts and a bit more chilled culturally than France and Italy (in my opinion anyway). I LOVE eating out. Actually, I just love eating!! Haha. We went to Corsica in 2018 and prices in supermarket were high and also fuel was really really expensive (even compared to the UK). Not sure about daily living costs though.

Thank you for that. So, are you going for it?

Thanks, will do. Just pushed the button and paid for my skills assessment. We are booking flights to come over in October for a look around. Here we go!

Everything is very expensive there, not just the property. It is a fabulous place though, I love the south of France. We went to Nice about 10 years ago and dinner for 2 with wine was around 160 euros for 2 then. They did have buses to anywhere for just one euro though! Grasse is lovely - perfume town.

Hi yes I have already consulted a migration agent and they seemed confident I’d be ok with the secondary teaching qualification and experience. I still have enough and recent enough teaching experience. I would be advised to do the English test to boost my points though. Contrary to popular belief, although I would get the visa based on my teaching qualification, I don’t actually have to teach once I arrive if I get a 189 or 190 (which is what I’d apply for). That’s not to say I won’t but I have put considerable effort into retraining and upskilling and would probably prefer fo stay in my existing field. Yes, I have thought about it a lot, you don’t walk away from what we have here without giving it a lot of thought! However, what I did omit was my sob story lol. My mum died in 2020 at the height of Covid after my dad and I had to nurse her at home for 8 months (due to the Covid situation she couldn’t go to hospice or hospital because she wouldn’t be allowed visitors etc etc). Then in 2021 my husband had a planned surgery which then led to a load of unintended consequences, 2 further emergency surgeries and sepsis and he almost died. Fortunately he has fully recovered and has been back at work for over a year. But my point is going through these things kind of brings your life into sharp focus and that, coupled with our age, gives the migrating/moving issue a now or never and carpe diem aspect that it might not otherwise have! I mean, what’s the worst that can happen if we move and it doesn’t work out - it’s highly unlikely to be more traumatic that all of that!! I have checked the health situation with an agent and because none of us are under any medical supervision or on any meds now it should be fine.

It’s now recommended even in the UK. It seems some people on here might be a wee bit out of date with their info. https://surgicaloncology.co.uk/dont-forget-to-wear-sunscreen-this-winter/

There isn’t sunshine, or not very much at all, for a lot of the year. We have a lot of cloud cover, grey days. It’s just how it is. Some days it barely even gets light in winter, never mind bright enough to get vitamin D, I’m not exaggerating. We have a yellow warning for snow for today and tomorrow. That’s spring for you.

Well it might stand me in good stead for the Aussie job interviews where I have to pretend to be 10 years younger than I am due to apparent ageism lolol