JulesBax1980 Posted January 20, 2021 Share Posted January 20, 2021 The background I've had to create a whole new username because I can't remember my old one lol...but if anyone remembers we emigrated to Melbourne in Jan 2012 and on our way out there whilst waiting for our flight from New York (we had a mini holiday) I stumbled across a post on here from someone who was also heading to the airport but felt as though they were making the wrong decision ... only to find out that person was my husband he was the driver behind the move so he obviously felt he couldn't talk to me at this late stage! That kind of set the scene for our adventure really...I'm not one to hold a grudge and tend to be positive but each time things weren't going our way I guess I felt angry...because OZ wasn't my dream, it was his. Yet he had planted the seed that he wasn't sure and this became a circle. I never much cared for OZ when travelling in 2007 and spent most of my time looking under the mattress in our campervan for spiders and didn't ever feel I could relax lol. The Move We moved to Point Cook mainly because that's where Brits recommended and the houses seemed appealing and cheap compared to the Bayside. But the shiny new appeal soon wore off and I craved some culture and the features found in old houses and suburbs that are more established. I remember many days we would go out walking and wouldn't see a single person out and about on our whole estate. Bizarre. So we moved to Sandringham and I feel that's when life began for us. I had a fantastic job in admissions at a gorgeous little grammar school in St Kilda and enjoyed nipping for coffee on Chapel street or walking round Albert Lake on an extended lunch break. The hubby was happy not to be stuck in traffic morning and night and that meant he could enjoy his job (only a little mind lol) ... as a plumbing and heating engineer of 18 years in the UK he still wasn't qualified in OZ and so that frustrated him but he managed to get a job installing central heating. We lived in an apartment opposite the beach practically, Coles across the road, cafes, bakeries ... the train station a two minute walk and we loved life. Then our daughter came along and boy did that change things. She had several issues including an allergy to dairy, low birth weight, sleep apnoea ... having a baby seemed so much harder in OZ. Supermarkets don't stock everything like they do here... there's no argos as a back up for absolutely everything lol. I went to my doctors several times and they told me my expectations of a newborn were too high despite me telling her she cried morning noon and night and that my mum (who was visiting for three months) had never seen a child like it and she had 6 of her own!. When she was three months old and able to fly we went home for a planned holiday and to christen her and we never returned. Luckily I had friends who shipped my things back and sorted everything out there for us. The doctor here quickly had her assessed and prescribed a dairy free milk and she blossomed and wasn't in pain all the time. She went on to have an operation (tonsils and adenoids) before she started school here and now she sleeps soundly and things are easier. Life in the UK Whilst on holiday here my husband was offered a job offshore and we didn't feel we could turn it down. So we stayed and he worked offshore for long enough for us to buy a house. He now works self-employed onshore and I have my own events business that I've built up. We spend a lot of time together and things are good in general. We got a puppy in lockdown which now makes things harder as it takes a minimum of 7 months for her to be in a position where she is ready to fly. But we never thought it would be forever in the UK and we like an adventure so we made sure we got resident return visa's but they run out in April 2022. So now we have the dilemma ... do we return and inevitably eat in to a lot of our savings/equity from the house or do we stay and have a move within the UK? So there are two questions I'd like help with... 1. As our daughter has citizenship and we only have PR (due to run out in April), is there any way in the future that we would be granted a visa if she went back? So as parents of a citizen? 2. Are there any stories of a ping pommer who actually then settled out there? Thanks in advance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FirstWorldProblems Posted January 20, 2021 Share Posted January 20, 2021 Really interesting to read your story and I'm so glad that you were able to get the right care for your daughter. If I am understanding correctly, it sounds like you are a person who enjoys change and thrives on it. Perhaps even getting bored with things that remain the same? A mentor of mine once said to me that it's far better to be be running to something than running from something. He was questioning my motivates for contemplating a job move. Was I just fed up and wanted out? Or was I really excited about the opportunity I had ahead. If the latter, he cautioned that I'm likely to get restless and feel dissatisfied within a couple of years and I would be looking to move on again. So if you are concerned about ping-ponging, I'd suggest maybe a question to ask yourselves is why you are thinking of moving again. Is there something compelling and exciting you are running to? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulhand Posted January 20, 2021 Share Posted January 20, 2021 2 hours ago, JulesBax1980 said: 1. As our daughter has citizenship and we only have PR (due to run out in April), is there any way in the future that we would be granted a visa if she went back? So as parents of a citizen? Yes ... if you maintain substantial ties to Australia then an RRV may be an option in the future. Worst case, as long as your daughter is settled in Australia, there is always the parent visa route. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quoll Posted January 20, 2021 Share Posted January 20, 2021 Good to hear that there are other people who go on holiday and don't return! I honestly wouldn't be worrying about your daughter going back to Australia in another 20 years or so. She might. But, equally, she might just as likely end up in Surbiton or anywhere between Alaska and Zambia. When it gets to that stage you probably won't want to be trotting around the world after her. If you have a better opportunity in Australia then by all means go back. If your next better opportunity is in UK or Canada or Dubai then move on. You'll probably want to plan for stability while your daughter is at high school but then you're free to wander where you want. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MARYROSE02 Posted January 21, 2021 Share Posted January 21, 2021 I suppose I was a kind of "Ping Pong Pom" in that I made relatively frequent trips back to England when my parents were alive culminating in a holiday that lasted for twelve years in 1996. But then I came back and I've not been back to England since. I'm an Aussie citizen so no problems about visas running out. One of my brothers has never taken out Aussie citizenship and he's been here over forty years, not there is much chance of him going to England for any length of time. I was happy enough in my twelve year stint in England and if my brothers had both been there I probably would still be there now. You sound happy enough, Covid permitting. I suppose you have to tell yourself there is no right or wrong decision but two right decisions. Some people miss their families, some miss the "place" and maybe for some it is a mixture of both. If for some reason I was told I HAD to go back to England I would no doubt get used to it but I have no particular desire or reason to do so. So, why do you want to come back to Australia?! There is no right or wrong answer. I came back to Australia because my parents died and although I was still happy enough there, my brothers were living in Australia, I was interested enough after seeing the word "dilemma" in another post (with the same theme - UK or Australia) to do some research: https://thehappinesstrap.com/dealingwithdilemmas/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SophW Posted September 4, 2023 Share Posted September 4, 2023 On 20/01/2021 at 15:08, JulesBax1980 said: The background I've had to create a whole new username because I can't remember my old one lol...but if anyone remembers we emigrated to Melbourne in Jan 2012 and on our way out there whilst waiting for our flight from New York (we had a mini holiday) I stumbled across a post on here from someone who was also heading to the airport but felt as though they were making the wrong decision ... only to find out that person was my husband he was the driver behind the move so he obviously felt he couldn't talk to me at this late stage! That kind of set the scene for our adventure really...I'm not one to hold a grudge and tend to be positive but each time things weren't going our way I guess I felt angry...because OZ wasn't my dream, it was his. Yet he had planted the seed that he wasn't sure and this became a circle. I never much cared for OZ when travelling in 2007 and spent most of my time looking under the mattress in our campervan for spiders and didn't ever feel I could relax lol. The Move We moved to Point Cook mainly because that's where Brits recommended and the houses seemed appealing and cheap compared to the Bayside. But the shiny new appeal soon wore off and I craved some culture and the features found in old houses and suburbs that are more established. I remember many days we would go out walking and wouldn't see a single person out and about on our whole estate. Bizarre. So we moved to Sandringham and I feel that's when life began for us. I had a fantastic job in admissions at a gorgeous little grammar school in St Kilda and enjoyed nipping for coffee on Chapel street or walking round Albert Lake on an extended lunch break. The hubby was happy not to be stuck in traffic morning and night and that meant he could enjoy his job (only a little mind lol) ... as a plumbing and heating engineer of 18 years in the UK he still wasn't qualified in OZ and so that frustrated him but he managed to get a job installing central heating. We lived in an apartment opposite the beach practically, Coles across the road, cafes, bakeries ... the train station a two minute walk and we loved life. Then our daughter came along and boy did that change things. She had several issues including an allergy to dairy, low birth weight, sleep apnoea ... having a baby seemed so much harder in OZ. Supermarkets don't stock everything like they do here... there's no argos as a back up for absolutely everything lol. I went to my doctors several times and they told me my expectations of a newborn were too high despite me telling her she cried morning noon and night and that my mum (who was visiting for three months) had never seen a child like it and she had 6 of her own!. When she was three months old and able to fly we went home for a planned holiday and to christen her and we never returned. Luckily I had friends who shipped my things back and sorted everything out there for us. The doctor here quickly had her assessed and prescribed a dairy free milk and she blossomed and wasn't in pain all the time. She went on to have an operation (tonsils and adenoids) before she started school here and now she sleeps soundly and things are easier. Life in the UK Whilst on holiday here my husband was offered a job offshore and we didn't feel we could turn it down. So we stayed and he worked offshore for long enough for us to buy a house. He now works self-employed onshore and I have my own events business that I've built up. We spend a lot of time together and things are good in general. We got a puppy in lockdown which now makes things harder as it takes a minimum of 7 months for her to be in a position where she is ready to fly. But we never thought it would be forever in the UK and we like an adventure so we made sure we got resident return visa's but they run out in April 2022. So now we have the dilemma ... do we return and inevitably eat in to a lot of our savings/equity from the house or do we stay and have a move within the UK? So there are two questions I'd like help with... 1. As our daughter has citizenship and we only have PR (due to run out in April), is there any way in the future that we would be granted a visa if she went back? So as parents of a citizen? 2. Are there any stories of a ping pommer who actually then settled out there? Thanks in advance Hello. Hope you don't mind me asking when your original post was a couple of years ok, but did you go back to Oz in the end or stay in the UK? X Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JulesBax1980 Posted September 5, 2023 Author Share Posted September 5, 2023 12 hours ago, SophW said: Hello. Hope you don't mind me asking when your original post was a couple of years ok, but did you go back to Oz in the end or stay in the UK? X We stayed in the UK. A few reasons really … the costs in Australia don’t make it that attractive anymore to us. We’ve managed to buy a house here and have £160K equity in that house in a short time (renovation) and we really enjoy being close to our family. In Australia we couldn’t afford to buy in the areas we wanted to live. We have a good work life balance as I work remote and with no childcare support in Australia, my work options would be limited. I miss it in terms of wanting to go back for a holiday but not so much to live anymore. I was probably pining more for our life before children and that wouldn’t be our reality if we moved back… no more care free meals out after work in the city but… saying that, if work wise we had options to move away but be closer to home (Europe for example) we would Probably take it x 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SophW Posted September 5, 2023 Share Posted September 5, 2023 Glad it's all worked out for you here in the UK, and you've got your Aussie memories to boot! x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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