Katie22 Posted April 26, 2014 Share Posted April 26, 2014 I don't understand how it can go pear shaped. It can go any shape it likes as far as I am concerned. Fact is, at the grand old age of 00 I am jolly well having a 'gap year' or longer if it suits me LOL, whether the teenager likes it or not. Yep, I am donning my back pack (figuratively speaking) and going. I may well don my back pack again and come back and if I do - what of it. I don't think it has to be that black and white - the world is so fluid these days why should I not take time out over there and come back if I choose. It's all about attitude, and my attitude is stay healthy, keep active, stay doing. I shall crack open the bubbly when I arrive, and crack it open again when I arrive back if that is how it turns out. I don't get this tail between the legs, told you so attitude at all. Funny talking about backpacks, I suggested to my teenagers that rather than getting a one way ticket to Heathrow why don't we get some backpacks, fly to Prague or Berlin or wherever and make our way via train to England instead. I thought it would be a great way to start a new chapter and was being deadly serious! They both looked at me as if I was barmy - these kids - no sense of adventure! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Milly Posted April 26, 2014 Share Posted April 26, 2014 That sounds like a great idea to me Katie. But I doubt my 16 y.o. would want to be seen with a backpack and his mother in tow, not a cool look ! LOL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ali Posted April 26, 2014 Share Posted April 26, 2014 Moving back technically should be easier as you have family, friends, familiarity, advice for those moving back is no different to those moving to Aus and experiencing a wobble - If the conversation from two strangers has made your doubt yourself then remind yourself of the things that make you want to go back, the benefits you feel you will gain from etc. and the positives for your family. Life is far to short to live it somewhere that makes us unhappy (whichever part of the globe that may be). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thinker78 Posted April 27, 2014 Author Share Posted April 27, 2014 Moving back technically should be easier as you have family, friends, familiarity, advice for those moving back is no different to those moving to Aus and experiencing a wobble - If the conversation from two strangers has made your doubt yourself then remind yourself of the things that make you want to go back, the benefits you feel you will gain from etc. and the positives for your family. Life is far to short to live it somewhere that makes us unhappy (whichever part of the globe that may be). thanks- i am having wobbles on a daily basis- no doubt in my mind about my love for my parents and sibling whatsoever, just doubt about fitting into somewhere i no longer really know. and if truth be told i did leave the uk cos i hated the cold, BUT, and this is a big but, this factor now mid-late 30s no longer seems important. i'd rather be cold with the people i love than (like many a year here) warm from the sun but alone. nothing is easy but have reminded myself this week just how lucky we are to be able to live in so many countries. nothing is forever either, and whatever happens we can always come back, or find sun somewhere else....no biggie. i refuse to get into the mind set that i will be forever damned to live out my days in one place..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quoll Posted April 27, 2014 Share Posted April 27, 2014 Funny talking about backpacks, I suggested to my teenagers that rather than getting a one way ticket to Heathrow why don't we get some backpacks, fly to Prague or Berlin or wherever and make our way via train to England instead. I thought it would be a great way to start a new chapter and was being deadly serious! They both looked at me as if I was barmy - these kids - no sense of adventure! Good heavens, what wusses! I'm 65 and still travel with a backpack and, yes, I can still heft 20kg on my back no worries! I usually gave a good laugh when I see people trying to negotiate the Tube with wheelie cases and I leap up and down the stairs like a young gazelle (or elephant of burden perhaps) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katie22 Posted April 27, 2014 Share Posted April 27, 2014 thanks- i am having wobbles on a daily basis- no doubt in my mind about my love for my parents and sibling whatsoever, just doubt about fitting into somewhere i no longer really know. and if truth be told i did leave the uk cos i hated the cold, BUT, and this is a big but, this factor now mid-late 30s no longer seems important. i'd rather be cold with the people i love than (like many a year here) warm from the sun but alone. nothing is easy but have reminded myself this week just how lucky we are to be able to live in so many countries. nothing is forever either, and whatever happens we can always come back, or find sun somewhere else....no biggie. i refuse to get into the mind set that i will be forever damned to live out my days in one place..... Maybe just try to have the mindset that you're going for a year or two and then after that you can make your mind up if it's where you want to stay. Say to yourself that you'll use that time to spend with your family and to see if you can cope with those English winters - a million miles away from those 40 + degree Adelaide days! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OzUK68 Posted May 1, 2014 Share Posted May 1, 2014 Hey there thinker78. I'm in a similiar situation to you. I'm an Aussie who lived blissfully in the UK from 1991-2007 and now, after 7 years of being in Brisbane I am ready to make tracks and return to life in England for good. I would never have come back if not for my elderly parents and, except for the odd trip back to see close friends and visit my old haunts, I've spent many a day feeling displaced in Australia. And I was born here!! Each time I've spent my holidays in the UK I have come alive and each time I had to leave again I felt horribly depressed. And all it boils down to is my cultural preferences. Just like it does for you!! So my advice, for what it's worth, is not give a second thought to those polar opposites out there who confuse you about where to live or what to think. It's your journey, not there's. Your make-up, not there's. I have a friend who moved back to the UK after 35 years in Australia and the first thing she said to me was "I've learned to love Christmas again." Lol ;-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toussaint Posted May 1, 2014 Share Posted May 1, 2014 There isn't a country in the world that doesn't have a drug or violence issue of some sort somewhere, that's just reality these days i'm afraid. It seems like we can barely go a day in the news here without a kid getting stabbed or someone being shot. If you come back assuming it's all rosey here then you'll be blinkered, but if you're coming back for the right reasons as it's where you and your family want to be, then good on ya. It's your choice, your decision, just go into it eyes open. As Jac said, it's an adventure, wherever you choose to be is where you want to be at that point. Have to disagree with you there, having just returned from 6 years in OZ I found the drug culture and drug related crime absolutely shocking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toussaint Posted May 1, 2014 Share Posted May 1, 2014 Wouldnt give it another thought. Everyone (pretty much) has a great time on honeymoon! New migrants, more than others, have to be positive about their move and denigrate their past place otherwise they wouldnt make it as migrants (it's cognitive dissonance to an extent - and the greater the protestation, the more dissonance (doubt) they will be feeling but not able or willing to express). Id actually be feeling sorrier for those who protest the loudest, they are the ones dealing with the most disquiet (they'll probably be back on here in MBTTUK in a few years LOL) Very eloquently put Mr Quoll. I am a heart on the sleeve type of chap (and a bit - (or lot) - of a curmudgeon!) so didn't suffer from the condition you describe, however the "happy clappy" - "we're luvin' " it brigade always infuriated me! Not to say that some people don't "luv' it" and never look back, but I always felt there was a lot of over compensation going on. I am now back in Blighty and "luvin' it" , but now have to deal with the English doomsayers, on a daily basis who cannot accept Britain is not the worst place in the world nor Australia , or anyhere not Britain, the Best! I now found myself over over emphasising the bad points in Australia, when in truth there were many aspects I really liked! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quoll Posted May 1, 2014 Share Posted May 1, 2014 Very eloquently put Mr Quoll. I am a heart on the sleeve type of chap (and a bit - (or lot) - of a curmudgeon!) so didn't suffer from the condition you describe, however the "happy clappy" - "we're luvin' " it brigade always infuriated me! Not to say that some people don't "luv' it" and never look back, but I always felt there was a lot of over compensation going on. I am now back in Blighty and "luvin' it" , but now have to deal with the English doomsayers, on a daily basis who cannot accept Britain is not the worst place in the world nor Australia , or anyhere not Britain, the Best! I now found myself over over emphasising the bad points in Australia, when in truth there were many aspects I really liked! LOL that would be Mrs Quoll but I agree with you - the Daily Fail readers are a class unto themselves and expect you to say how fabuloso it must be in Aus because that is what they have been indoctrinated to believe. Ho hum, I'm "luvin it" too and still not fed up 2.5 years in! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasepom Posted May 1, 2014 Share Posted May 1, 2014 (edited) Perhaps they just wanted you to see how see how nice it is in Australia when you're thinking with your heart not your head. Edited May 1, 2014 by jasepom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marisawright Posted May 1, 2014 Share Posted May 1, 2014 Have to disagree with you there, having just returned from 6 years in OZ I found the drug culture and drug related crime absolutely shocking. So did you travel the whole of Australia and did you find it shocking everywhere? Or are you just talking about the city you were in? Be fair - I suspect if you picked the right (or rather wrong) city in the UK you could have the same experience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katie22 Posted May 1, 2014 Share Posted May 1, 2014 So did you travel the whole of Australia and did you find it shocking everywhere? Or are you just talking about the city you were in? Be fair - I suspect if you picked the right (or rather wrong) city in the UK you could have the same experience. It is a fact that illegal drug use is increasing at a remarkable rate in Australia, especially the use of stimulants and that is not just in the inner cities but in suburbia and rural areas - in fact in some rural areas in Victoria and South Australia it is rife. We all know drugs are widely abused in the UK - don't need to be told that. Obviously you are only going to be aware of it if you see it first hand which some of us have in either country. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wattsy1982 Posted May 2, 2014 Share Posted May 2, 2014 Perhaps they just wanted you to see how see how nice it is in Australia when you're thinking with your heart not your head. Did you get given those rose tinted glasses at the same time as you were given the "nice standards of living" ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wattsy1982 Posted May 2, 2014 Share Posted May 2, 2014 Maybe im looking too much into it or missing the point here but surely the MOVING BACK TO THE UK section is/should be/best suited to the people who are MOVING BACK TO THE UK??? All the aussie lovers etc why do you/feel the need to go on here and (a) take offence at a strangers points of view and (b) put people down and tell them that they are wrong or whatever...... Anyhow, must get on Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thinker78 Posted May 2, 2014 Author Share Posted May 2, 2014 Maybe im looking too much into it or missing the point here but surely the MOVING BACK TO THE UK section is/should be/best suited to the people who are MOVING BACK TO THE UK??? All the aussie lovers etc why do you/feel the need to go on here and (a) take offence at a strangers points of view and (b) put people down and tell them that they are wrong or whatever...... Anyhow, must get on what's that old saying about protesting too much?! seems a lot of people feel the need to go on this page even though they are not well, moving back to the UK! too much time on their hands....thought they would all be outside, surfing, playing sports and eating dead things off bbqs!? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sustain Posted May 2, 2014 Share Posted May 2, 2014 Funny talking about backpacks, I suggested to my teenagers that rather than getting a one way ticket to Heathrow why don't we get some backpacks, fly to Prague or Berlin or wherever and make our way via train to England instead. I thought it would be a great way to start a new chapter and was being deadly serious! They both looked at me as if I was barmy - these kids - no sense of adventure! Ditch the kids and tell them your going via South America What about through asia and across Siberian transrailway? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toussaint Posted May 2, 2014 Share Posted May 2, 2014 (edited) So did you travel the whole of Australia and did you find it shocking everywhere? Or are you just talking about the city you were in? Be fair - I suspect if you picked the right (or rather wrong) city in the UK you could have the same experience. Hi Marisa, I lived south of Perth, spent significant times in the Northwest, the South-west, Melbourne area, Brisbane and outback QLD, so not the whole of Australia but a fair spread. My perception is that hard drugs are far more widespread, accepted and the effects are visible. Just to give you two examples of many I could, we lived in a very desirable new suburb, we moved out of our rental after a year (lovely neighbours), the hose then became a meth lab, and operated as such for over a year making life hell for all in the vicinity. The second example I would give is when procuring contractors for construction projects in the mining sector I had great difficulties finding anyone that would submit to the mandatory drug screening programme. I could go on. Even Australia acknowledges by world standards it has a huge problem. And West Australia has a bigger problem again. Incidentally I have no problem with Australia or an axe to grind, and would probably still be there but for events outside my control. But I do get nervous when good intentioned Brits perceive this wonderful children's paradise they are potentially bringing their children to. Edited May 2, 2014 by Toussaint typo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burnett Posted May 10, 2014 Share Posted May 10, 2014 I've accepted Australia, finally. Taken years, during which I was homesick and probably fantasising about the UK to the same extent as Poms fantasise about Oz. I see online that my old village in the UK has all the social problems of the larger urban areas: yobs, vandalism, violence, drugs, migrants, etc. Well, under other names, those problems were most likely always present down through history, no matter where The UK media doesn't paint a pretty or inviting picture. Even Boris Becker in his multi-million pound UK home claims he's terrified of burglars despite spending a fortune on security devices. Giant rats in the UK estimated to number two for every human. UK schools being taken over by foreigners. It's fine to say the media dramatizes everything, but who would claim the UK doesn't have immense social issues which are growing worse with each month. It will never return to the way I remember it and I've accepted that and refuse to rage about it any longer or tell myself it's a great place to retire One of the more unsettling things I've noticed about the UK is the bitterness revealed in online commentary, whether that be in forums generally or comments accompanying news items. The anger, bitterness and envy are palpable and not a sign that people are anything approaching contentment. Some might claim that only the angry and bitter bother to post online. But the sheer extent of it persuades me otherwise. So many Brits are seething with anger and in my opinion, they try to vent it online. Either way, for so many to feel that way is good indication that the UK is something of a volcano with all that dissatisfaction due to erupt soon. And let's be honest, if things were even half-good in the UK, there wouldn't be so many Brits trying to get out and coming to Australia, for example So I've had to accept my lot and must settle now for a Britain which exists only in my Midsomer Murders DVDs. I realise that with all its faults, Australia is at least as clean and safe as any part of the UK which we could afford, with the advantage of space, sun, warmth and a more contented people generally. I refuse to allow myself any more self-pity (hopefully). After all, Australia's paradise compared to so many places on earth and I'm learning to be grateful for what I have here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasepom Posted May 10, 2014 Share Posted May 10, 2014 Great post with all it's faults it's not a bad place to be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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