Chortlepuss Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 We read about ping pongers all the time - I have a close friend who returned to UK last year and only lasted 3 months. Came back and is having another go this July. But she can't be certain she is going to stay...... I am really worried that this will happen to me, and I won't feel fully settled anywhere... But has anyone out there gone back to UK, back to Australia, back to UK again (or worse..) and what were the reasons? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JockinTas Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 We haven't, but I've know people who are ping pongers. One couple in particular just didn't seem to be able to settle anywhere. From UK to Australia then back to the UK five times. The grass always seemed to be greener in there case. She had her first baby when they were in the UK and they now have three so due to financial reasons they have now been settled there for a number of years and she wanted to be near her own family once the babies started arriving which is understandable I suppose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chortlepuss Posted February 4, 2015 Author Share Posted February 4, 2015 5 times!! that gets pricey..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJ Posted February 4, 2015 Share Posted February 4, 2015 UK - Melbourne, Melbourne - UK - UK -Melbourne, Melbourne - Perth, Perth- UK, Uk - Melbourne, Melbourne-Perth, and next week Perth - Melbourne, little bit of moving around for us! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest51810 Posted February 4, 2015 Share Posted February 4, 2015 I think if I went out on a proper visa with this personality I'd definitely be a major ping ponger! Well if I could afford it anyway Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest nphilips Posted February 4, 2015 Share Posted February 4, 2015 Worked with a guy who's family had done it six times before staying in Australia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quoll Posted February 4, 2015 Share Posted February 4, 2015 I've a friend who tried Aus 3 times before settling back in UK. There is a certain "dreamer" attitude which IMHO makes one more susceptible to rose tints I think. I'm more of a boring pragmatist and tend to go with the best option of the moment - however, technically I will be ping ponging back to Aus when my olds kick the bucket and hope that I don't get fat and depressed again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacaranda Posted February 4, 2015 Share Posted February 4, 2015 My Mums friends,who she met in Oz in 1970,went back to the UK early 80's (Manchester),stayed for 3 yrs,returned to Adelaide,stayed 5 yrs,returned back to Manchester,stayed 2 yrs,returned to Adelaide,stayed around 6 yrs,then moved to Queensland.The lady died not long after that.Must be truly awful not to feel settled anywhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainR Posted February 4, 2015 Share Posted February 4, 2015 I have a friend who has ping ponged for over 40 years, he is a pom with a Mum in Australia and most of his friends in London. He seems to spend about 1 year in each place, and has houses in both countries. He has just turned 60 and is a very confused person! Even age can't cure some things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Roberto Posted February 4, 2015 Share Posted February 4, 2015 I'm all for seeing the world, but these (crazy?) people must have money to burn. Maybe if we won the lottery! But then I probably wouldn't just be in 2 countries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caramac Posted February 4, 2015 Share Posted February 4, 2015 We've done it twice and will probably go back to Aus in a couple of years time, either part time, full time for a few years, or for the long term. No fixed decisions yet, but it's looking very likely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elzawelza Posted February 5, 2015 Share Posted February 5, 2015 We (meaning me and my mum & dad) moved to Australia first when I was 11, then moved back to the uk in 1998 before going back again in 2000 and staying until 2006 when we returned to the UK so I could go to uni in derby. Now this time all being well with the visa application we should be returning to Australia later this year with my boyfriend as well xx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
legoman Posted February 5, 2015 Share Posted February 5, 2015 We went to see what it was like to Perth for 6 months, returned 2004, back to Perth 2005 Uk 2006, Perth 2011 Uk 2013. Now selling house so I can move back to Perth Permanent having made a decent bit of equity on my house, ( pure luck more than judgement). My fil always said as long as you have that house in the uk you will never settle and cut your ties. Being the eldest I always considered my now elderly parents who have said I should concentrate on my own family which is a son dil and 2 grandaughters in Perth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 5, 2015 Share Posted February 5, 2015 I think it's normal to worry about ping-ponging, I know I did when we first made the decision to move to Scotland but when I accepted that having dual-nationality was a blessing and being able to choose which country I lived in in terms of where suited me best at the time rather than seeing it in the negative terms in which it is often portrayed on here, I stopped worrying about it and simply saw living in Scotland as the plan for the next few years. I've moved all over the UK and never gave it a second thought and it isn't really any different. Don't over think it - no-one knows what the future will bring, what is it they say living in the past causes depression and in the future causes anxiety so live in the present. I very much doubt we'd move back to Australia but it could depend on my sons choices as an adult but I said only yesterday that when he leaves school how about we spend February in NZ and my OH thought that was a great idea! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 Ive done it twice and happy here this time in oz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starlight7 Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 We haven't but have friends who kept a house in Scotland and one in Melbourne. Backwards and forwards for months on end over 40 years but they have finally settled back in Scotland. Their children live all over the world- some in Aus, some in other countries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FOL Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 One time, leaving to AU for the second time in June. I'm pretty confident we'll stay there this time On one hand regrets that we did it (mostly for my wife and other people), on the other hand no regrets for myself as I learned a lot about myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petals Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 Some people are always looking for something. The upside of it is the children of the people settle down and do not want to move. How do I know because my parents moved all the time, not back to the UK but country to country to country and then around the country. Mum is now approaching 96 and if I said I am moving she would say oh I will come and she would be off. She owned four different properties after dad died. She sold and moved to a hostel, moved out rents and has lived in five different rentals and tells me in July when her lease is up she is moving. Its a disease called dissatisfaction and the pursuit of happiness which does not exist. The other side of the hill is never greener than the one we are on. If only we could see it. Hence I am not a mover at all now, nor is my brother. We can find beauty in everywhere we live. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobj Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 Never pinged...But ponged a few times. I put it down to onion butties... Cheers, Bobj. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 Some people are always looking for something. The upside of it is the children of the people settle down and do not want to move. How do I know because my parents moved all the time, not back to the UK but country to country to country and then around the country. Mum is now approaching 96 and if I said I am moving she would say oh I will come and she would be off. She owned four different properties after dad died. She sold and moved to a hostel, moved out rents and has lived in five different rentals and tells me in July when her lease is up she is moving. Its a disease called dissatisfaction and the pursuit of happiness which does not exist. The other side of the hill is never greener than the one we are on. If only we could see it. Hence I am not a mover at all now, nor is my brother. We can find beauty in everywhere we live. I agree entirely - the longest I'd ever lived anywhere after leaving home was 7 years and I always thought the next job, the next town or whatever would be the answer to everything. I am very grateful I moved to Australia as I do feel cured now and I am the happiest I have ever been. It'll interesting to see what my son does, he's lived in 8 different houses in his 11 years but I expect we'll stay put until he leaves home now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ramot Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 I'm like LR, even as a child have never lived anywhere longer than 11 years, due to my father being in the army, me joining an airline, moving to Africa, marrying my husband who was in the RAF, then civil airlines. So moved mostly because of husbands work. Stopped counting after 17 moves after we married, and the thought that we might retire to OZ never entered my head, until we were approaching 60, but we were always up for the next adventure by then. have finally broken the mould, as have just notched up 12 years in OZ and definitely don't want to move, but it has taken me to 70 to achieve this! out of interest children of parents who move constantly because of work, eg services or or overseas banks etc. (or ping pongers ) are known as 3rd culture kids, and apparently 2 thirds of them continue a nomadic live, and the other third stay put? don't know how true the statistics are, but we have 3 children, one will never leave UK, or ever move if he can help it. the other 2 could never settle back in UK, and live in OZ at the moment. My daughter is the most restless, has lived in Mexico and Kenya and now Sydney, but is in Kenya at the moment, will be interesting what her thoughts are when she gets back? sorry if I have taken this slightly off topic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seapebble Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 I started out as a ten pound pom back in 71 and have been back to perth 3 times since then and hoping to turn once more in april. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mygirlies Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 Not necessarily a typical ping ponger..... But I cant seem to settle either. After I was kicked out by my stepmother at 16 (14 years ago) Ive lived in over 20 different rentals. The longest Ive stayed in one place in that time is 2 years. I have moved all over UK... And now I am in Aus I seem to be doing the same here. Ive been here 3 years and already moved 6 times (different states too). I am going to be moving again at the end of the year....and I really hope it is somewhere I can settle. If not, I have decided I will be moving back to the UK. Everyones experience is different, but for me I think because I have never had a family unit/structure to go to (since being kicked out)... I tend to go searching for something that isn't there. I know this. I am looking for something that doesn't exist anymore. And because I don't have that secure place to always go back too... I am just continually try and settle. I don't move around to 'travel'. I am desperate to settle somewhere. Personal circumstances, being I am on my own (sole parent)... no family... no friends... means I always have things missing from my life. I also find If things get tough, I go into flight mode. I don't stick around to fight it. I must settle for my daughter. But I can't find the right place. We have to be happy and I am just trying to find the place I can be happy. Yes I know its about inner happiness. You can make any place a home etc... but I need to 'feel' at home. Feel welcomed. Feel like I belong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newjez Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 I'm like LR, even as a child have never lived anywhere longer than 11 years, due to my father being in the army, me joining an airline, moving to Africa, marrying my husband who was in the RAF, then civil airlines. So moved mostly because of husbands work.Stopped counting after 17 moves after we married, and the thought that we might retire to OZ never entered my head, until we were approaching 60, but we were always up for the next adventure by then. have finally broken the mould, as have just notched up 12 years in OZ and definitely don't want to move, but it has taken me to 70 to achieve this! out of interest children of parents who move constantly because of work, eg services or or overseas banks etc. (or ping pongers ) are known as 3rd culture kids, and apparently 2 thirds of them continue a nomadic live, and the other third stay put? don't know how true the statistics are, but we have 3 children, one will never leave UK, or ever move if he can help it. the other 2 could never settle back in UK, and live in OZ at the moment. My daughter is the most restless, has lived in Mexico and Kenya and now Sydney, but is in Kenya at the moment, will be interesting what her thoughts are when she gets back? sorry if I have taken this slightly off topic It would be rare for us to stay in the same house for !more than three years when growing up. I travelled a lot when growing up. But my kids only know one home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Linda Irvine Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 We haven't ping ponged but feel like we're on a bit of elastic! Lived in Queensland now for 7 years, been back to UK on holiday to see family and friends 6 times and are thinking of going again later this year. We can stay with Mother-in-law in Uk which makes it easy and cheap and it doesn't help having one son here in Oz and one in London! Having said that, we are staying in Oz, feel much happier and healthier here and when I get homesick I remind myself to take off the rose tinted glasses, a holiday is very different to living there again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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