Rocky2288

I can see how it can happen, someone getting stuck I mean. We do have time but I think with my dad dying at 68 and my mum having the health she does, I don’t have the expectation that I will live to be very old so it brings with it a bit more sense of urgency. We have talked about leaving Sydney first, since it will be dramatically cheaper to do so.

Thanks for the replies. Yes, I did feel a sense of panic about becoming stuck. We are lucky in a sense that my wife’s dad was originally from the UK, so she has a British passport too. So it’s more the logistics of it and the means to actually do it. It might be that one of us would have to go there first (probably be) and then the rest of the family follow. Anyway, that’s where we are at.

I came to Australia from the North of England on a WHV in 2015, met my partner here, ended up staying. I’ve been back four times since and the last trip back, which was recently, was when I truly decided I can’t spend the rest of my life here. We live in Sydney and while Sydney is great if you are high earners, if you’re not, it just isn’t affordable compared to where I’m from. Slightly regret not bringing my partner back in 2017 instead of applying for the partner visa. It cost us 6k, which was a lot of money to us. I know by now we’d have a mortgage on a house there. Buying a house in Sydney is just out of the question for us. My dad died last year. We went over for a few weeks to support my mum who has very poor health herself and it was heartbreaking having to leave. I have a younger sister and I would like to be able to see her more. The flights are getting more and more expensive, too. Probably too expensive for us to afford but I can’t not visit my mum. I have never really found ever type of friends here who I had in the UK who share a similar ethos on life. The friends I have I don’t see that often and after this visit and being able to see friends properly for the first time in a few years I realised how lonely I am here. The sad thing is I have kind of gotten used to it. I miss the countryside deeply and I’m not a beach/hot weather person. I do appreciate I am living in a country that is a dream to be in for so many, it was just never really my plan to move overseas. So I suppose I have a multitude of reasons really but I know this last trip home I felt a sense of inner peace/contentment I haven’t in a long while and I know I have to get back some day. I am unsure when it will be. We have pets, a toddler and plan on trying for another soon. But I hope before it’s too late.