Move to london or stay in Melbourne (oz)

[danikap]

Hi guys, 

I have just been offered a job in London ( yay) I turn 30 next year and have just gotten my uk visa for two years. All year i have had it in mind to make the move but now that its happening I am panicking, im unsure wether ill be happy there am i crazy for doing this?. I am mindful that alot of of Australians make the move, however Im feeling as though I may regret it and maybe I have taken all I have here for granted. I always lament that Melbourne is so "boring" ultimatley i know this to be unfair, the boredom probably stems from having lived here my whole life, anyway I just feel sick over my decision. Has anyone else had this issue? Is it just a natural response, am i doing the wrong thing, haha. I just been warmed so many times about how expensive it is there, how tough it is etc. 

[Guest]

I don’t see any reason to not give it a go and see what you think. You are single?

 If it ends up being for a year or two only it’s not a bad thing. You’d have had the opportunity to see a bit of the UK and perhaps elsewhere and to live in a different country. It doesn’t have to be a forever move does it.

[danikap]

Thankyou, yes I am single, have just come out of a relationship this year, but always had it in mind to go. I always thought in the next few years I would have a baby and settle down here in OZ, i still very much want those things but it was now or never I guess for the UK 

I guess my worry is about homesickness, I have never lived abroad but travelled. When it gets down to it im just really anxious and scared about going 

Edited December 28, 2017 by danikap

[Guest]

You can let it stop you or not. It’s a big step but honestly, you won’t know unless you take the opportunity.

You’ve got a huge aspect covered in terms of a job offer so that’s half the battle. Tbh it’s a bit of a no brainer for me in that I’d take the chance and go but that is me and how I tend to approach these things. 

 

[Nijallo]

My daughter is also 30 next year and she moved to London almost three years ago having always lived in Melbourne except between the ages of 2 and 7 years. A bit easier for her as she has dual nationality but she went with no job, contacts or place to live. She’s an HR consultant and after a couple of short term jobs in the first year, she settled in a great job at the BBC, has been in a really good flat share in Fulham the whole time and is really happy. She spends a lot of what she earns but could definitely be more frugal and save if she wanted to. She’s talking about buying a flat there now so is pretty serious about staying. Which is great for me as I’m moving back to the UK at the end of Feb after 30 years in Melbourne!
I would grab the opportunity with both hands. You will have doubts and tough days but it doesn’t have to be forever and will be such a great experience. I’m a bit biased being from London but it is such a great place to live! Melbourne is a great city too but London has a unique buzz and Europe is on your doorstep. Good luck!!

[danikap]

Thankyou! Sounds like shes having am amazimg time, i am worried about rent etc, i know i will have little money after rent but oh well i guess  

[Nijallo]

I’m sure you’ll be fine. My daughter seems to juggle her money ok and is able to have occasional holidays and long weekends away and do all the dinners out/socialising she wants to. Having said that, I wouldn’t want to see her credit card statement [emoji38] but she’s always been an avid shopper! Her rent is a bit over £800 per month including bills. There are 4 of them with a room each in the flat. She’s in a nice area close to Parsons Green tube station so commuting is easy and it’s a big saving not having a car. Some things are cheaper, some more expensive - I think it all evens out in the end. Hope that helps a little!

[Wa7]

40 minutes ago, danikap said:

Hi guys, 

I have just been offered a job in London ( yay) I turn 30 next year and have just gotten my uk visa for two years. All year i have had it in mind to make the move but now that its happening I am panicking, im unsure wether ill be happy there am i crazy for doing this?. I am mindful that alot of of Australians make the move, however Im feeling as though I may regret it and maybe I have taken all I have here for granted. I always lament that Melbourne is so "boring" ultimatley i know this to be unfair, the boredom probably stems from having lived here my whole life, anyway I just feel sick over my decision. Has anyone else had this issue? Is it just a natural response, am i doing the wrong thing, haha. I just been warmed so many times about how expensive it is there, how tough it is etc. 

Melbourne...........boring...........surely not, most liveable city isn't it 

Jokes aside, I think you will regret it if you don't!!  Plenty of Aussies go to the uk with a ruck sack and a few dollars and have a great time, you have a job lined up so even better.

 

[danikap]

Haha that most liveable title gets me everytime, i say it to everyone haha just to be annoying 

[danikap]

10 minutes ago, Nijallo said:

I’m sure you’ll be fine. My daughter seems to juggle her money ok and is able to have occasional holidays and long weekends away and do all the dinners out/socialising she wants to. Having said that, I wouldn’t want to see her credit card statement but she’s always been an avid shopper! Her rent is a bit over £800 per month including bills. There are 4 of them with a room each in the flat. She’s in a nice area close to Parsons Green tube station so commuting is easy and it’s a big saving not having a car. Some things are cheaper, some more expensive - I think it all evens out in the end. Hope that helps a little!

Thankyou that is helpful, i was looking to spend that per month for rent so thats great to hear. 

[Quoll]

What have you got to lose?  You've only got the visa for 2 years so it's not like forever (although life is what happens when you are busy making other plans) - if you have an option for a different visa which doesnt have the 2 year restriction (like an ancestry visa for example) that does give you the security if you know that you would like to stay down the track.

My eldest went to London for a post Uni gap year in 2002 - coming up for his 16 years here now!  After he had been living in London for a few years (and before he got married) I asked if he would be returning to Aus any time soon and he basically said "No way! After London anything in Australia is going to be boring".  He had no trouble finding a room in a flat with some other nice people, he didnt need a car and walked to work, he got a nice social network going quite quickly, he did find his (now) wife and has since bought a house and had a child but when he left Australia he was only coming for 11 months and had mapped out his next career options.  As it happens his current career path has been far better than the one he had planned out.  I dont think he will ever return and is even baulking at the thought of Aus for a holiday (so much of the world to see and do, he says!).  

Sure you might get homesick/people sick but if you throw yourself into work and new social networks and experiences you will find that people here are OK.  It'll be an adventure and adventures are good!

[simmo]

move to London for sure!

[Toots]

Definitely give London a go.  Many, many Australians do.  You will meet a lot of them there.

[danikap]

Thankyou guys for making me feel a bit calmer about the move this has helped a great deal 

Edited December 29, 2017 by danikap

[caspergen]

Definitely move to London. 

I did it a few years back and it was the best decision I've ever made. It's going to be really tough at first though, and I would definitely advise to give yourself a good 6 months to really settle in, but once you give it a good go, you'll absolutely love it. Join some facebook pages with Aussies in it as well, I found that really helps with making you be sociable. Also, look for a fun sharehouse. Myself being 30 now, I can relate to maybe not wanting to live in a party house, but done right, your flatemates will become some of your best allies/ friends. Rent and transport will be super expensive, and I think i used to spend over a third of my income on rent, but its worth it to live in one of the best cities in the world and you just kind of get on with it. 

Good luck! 

[Sarahelle]

Do it. Two years is nothing and you may find you’ll regret it if you don’t. You can always go home. 

[Newstart]

I’m an Aussie returning to OZ due to extreme homesickness. 

I was the same as you. I thought Sydney was boring and I wanted something new and exciting. And on a hoilday, the UK just wowed me, the family friendly pubs, the countryside etc. I moved back a few months later to live with my bf ( now husband) and I didn’t care about the bad weather. For a few years, I was living in a happy bubble. 

London, here is the thing. I love walking through Soho onto Oxford St ( main shopping area) but there is only so many times you can do that before it becomes boring. It is soooooo crowded. Think of the entire population of OZ, just in London. Trains are very expensive, not anywhere as cheap in Australia and you are very lucky if you can catch one getting a seat. Anywhere nice to live in London, you are going to have to be rich. Quite frankly, the affordable areas of London are ugly imho.

I know you say you are only going for two years but English guys can be very cute and charming which means no easy escape back to OZ for you lol. So let’s be realistic and look at a future where you do end up settling in the UK.

You say you want to settle down and have kids in a few years. Well, if you end up doing that in the UK, you most likely will have to live a bit further out of London when you have kids. Houses are very pricey, and you know how houses in OZ, are detached, big yards and they all look different from one another? Well, you will be looking for housing with kids, outside of London which is South and that is mainly semi-detached and houses the size of a dog box on a housing estate. A lot of houses on the same street look the same. For something detacged, you are looking at older houses with a yard and they cost a bomb. You could move far far away from London, up North. People are friendlier, houses are cheaper and nice but there are no jobs and it’s even more boring.

Christmas just gone was raining and so was NYE. Imagine your future kids spending most of the time playing indoors because it’s always cold and wet. And at Christmas time, it’s winter, so rain, cold and it gets dark by 4pm.

Living outside London, is just like living in the suburbs, very boring. You might be living closer to Europe but how often will you afford to be able to go there once you have a mortgage and kids. 

And if you do end up with someone in the UK and they are close to their family, they might not want to leave the UK to go to OZ just because you are homesick. They could end up homesick as well.

I think you should go for a shorter hoilday to see if you like it first.  Not all that glitters is gold  

I took living in Australia for granted but I tell you what, I’d happily kiss the ground when I get back! 

[Guest]

5 hours ago, Newstart said:

I’m an Aussie returning to OZ due to extreme homesickness. 

 

Hey @NewstartJust wanted to say hope all goes well on your return to Aus and you and your hubby settle and are happy Going either way is a big move and with a non native partner it can be even bigger. I'm the Brit, hubby an Aussie and he spent 8 years in the UK with me, our son came along a few years into his time there.

Anyways, it was a long, wet and cold winter (some roads seemed to be continually flooded that winter and not just a few inches, talking few feet) that did it for him (he cycled to work daily and it was hellish that winter) as up till then he'd been happy, content, good job and not homesick at all. He still was all those things actually but that winter was the turning point for him and when I broached a possible move to Aus, he certainly wasn't negative about it and we set the wheels in motion. Its been a great move for us and we are all happy and enjoying life here. 
 
Its also good to read an Aussie's experience and view of their life in the UK. As I remind people, everyones experience is different and what one experiences isn't going to be how another finds it, but its good to read views from those in the UK, who are living it, who are returning to Aus. 

[Sarahelle]

I’m suffering extreme homesickness and want to go home to England lol. Home is where the heart is. 

[Jemvin]

Do it! But don't fall in love!! I'm a brit living in aus and I find it so hard being away from family especially now I have a child of my own. I love Australia I love the sunshine, the lifestyle.... but it's so far the travel is so long and expensive after years of visits. I say London is great and a great experience if you were to move there. But if you love your family.... don't fall in love with English man!!! Hah good luck! 

[Quoll]

Do it! But don't fall in love!! I'm a brit living in aus and I find it so hard being away from family especially now I have a child of my own. I love Australia I love the sunshine, the lifestyle.... but it's so far the travel is so long and expensive after years of visits. I say London is great and a great experience if you were to move there. But if you love your family.... don't fall in love with English man!!! Hah good luck! 

Yup mixed marriage is the very devil. Equally, don’t fall in love with an Aussie if you’re a Pom.

[Flynster]

You need to go otherwise you will always wonder ‘what if’ go and enjoy.. then go back home and settle down, defo best to do these things whilst you can and for the record yes London is expensive but there are cheaper parts and I found Australia to be much more expensive for food! Get on some forums or this one for money saving tips, you’ll soon learn ways to live more cheaply in London

[Flynster]

And agree with Jemvin as that’s exactly what I’m going through now.. emigrating to Perth with my Australian husband and our baby in Feb but I’m going to miss my family so bad! But I guess love doesn’t understand distance and inconvenience [emoji849]

[Newstart]

On 02/01/2018 at 23:42, snifter said:

Hey @NewstartJust wanted to say hope all goes well on your return to Aus and you and your hubby settle and are happy Going either way is a big move and with a non native partner it can be even bigger. I'm the Brit, hubby an Aussie and he spent 8 years in the UK with me, our son came along a few years into his time there.

Anyways, it was a long, wet and cold winter (some roads seemed to be continually flooded that winter and not just a few inches, talking few feet) that did it for him (he cycled to work daily and it was hellish that winter) as up till then he'd been happy, content, good job and not homesick at all. He still was all those things actually but that winter was the turning point for him and when I broached a possible move to Aus, he certainly wasn't negative about it and we set the wheels in motion. Its been a great move for us and we are all happy and enjoying life here. 
 
Its also good to read an Aussie's experience and view of their life in the UK. As I remind people, everyones experience is different and what one experiences isn't going to be how another finds it, but its good to read views from those in the UK, who are living it, who are returning to Aus. 

Thank you. I’m glad to hear you are enjoying it.  

Absolutely, everyone has a different perspective. At the end of day, if it becomes about wanting a certain lifestyle or being homesick. It doesn’t matter how great where you live is. 

My husband is more Aussie than me. He is happy with just going back once a year to vist his family as they aren’t interested in spending much time with him despite his efforts. So it’s made the return to Australia not as painful as it would be for those with close families.

 

 

[Newstart]

Flynster, first time I went back home, I was comparing food in the supermarket to Asda lol. Food is sooo cheap here in the UK. Going to a pub and having a three course meal is so much cheaper. That’s one thing I don’t look forward to returning back to OZ is the cost of food. 

I really do feel for anyone moving overseas with young kids and not having the support of their family. Hopefully your partner’s families will help and you can find local mother groups etc for extra support.