what % come back?

[Guest earlswood]

Hi..i think thrashing through the pro's and con's is something we all need to do before any major decision..it's great to ask for advice and pio is a brilliant site for this, as so many people understand what you are going through along the way..but advice is only that, as you will get different people giving you different opinions..you can put it all in the mix and it can be helpful..BUT at the end of the day you have to make the decision and live with it..i have pingponged all my life, as i spent my childhood growing up here in aus..for me it is where my heart is, but i have to say my OH is a pom through and through..i now have two children in the UK..so i can't say this is where i will stay, but i'll enjoy every moment i spend here..no one knows how things will work out, but it's exciting to wonder and see how it does! I'd rather take the risk and live a little! I wish everyone on this journey all the best..

Tess:cute:

 

 

Good post, you can have a brilliant life in either Country.....and you now what.............................it's YOU and not the Country you are in that makes your happy or miserable life.

I should know.

[Guest taffy 62]

Good post, you can have a brilliant life in either Country.....and you now what.............................it's YOU and not the Country you are in that makes your happy or miserable life.

I should know.

 

 

I agree if you are unhappy as a person by changing countries isnt going to change that. It would just make it worse as you will have a whole buch of other s... you have to deal with as well.

You have to be happy with who you are and have a bit of confidence and some oomph in you at first to make a go of living in another country.

If you have enough of get up and go in you then the adaption will be easier.

You will be able to tell within 2 years (some people tell earlier)

If you find that all the ooph is slowly dissapearing over time then that could be an indication that Australia isnt for you and then its time to go home.

When most people come out with lots of positivity it carries them through the initial hardships, if you have serious doubts maybe its best to leave it until you feel more stonger pulls to give it a go, other wise it could be the case of when the going gets tough it will be more easier to give up and go home.

Saying that I am one of the ones that have stayed, been here 19 years now, not that I didnt go through some servere homesickness times, but worked through that and I am now here to say.

I would never go back to the UK now.:smile:

[OilDigger]

I read this somewhere in the past whilst doing early research for the intended move, the stats where that of ALL migrants to OZ 25% return home each year for the first 5 years. These stats must include all visa types and all nationalities but looks something like this.

 

100 - 25% = 75

75 -25% = 56

56 - 25% = 42

42 - 25% = 31

31 - 25% = 23

 

So folks 23 in every 100 eventually make a life for themselves on the red continent.

[Guest treesea]

I emigrated to New Zealand when I was seven, and lived 11 years in Melbourne prior to moving back here 5 years ago. I've also lived for long stints in Sydney, Auckland, Wellington and Dunedin.

If you have children and extended family in Scotland, my advice is don't go. We missed out on all the get togethers with our grandparents, aunties and uncles that we would have enjoyed had we stayed in Britain. We used to come back here for visits and each time I noticed how nice it was to be home, with my own land under my feet, among my own people.

 

I can only speak to my own experience, but I found Australia an expensive place to live compared to Scotland. Firstly, the salaries are low compared to here and income taxes are higher. In Australia, state schooling is poor compared to here. Nobody in their right mind would send their kids to governments schools in Australia unless they were broke - they scrimp and save to put their kids through private school. I had never seen state secondary schools with indoor swimming pools and dedicated pottery rooms, complete with electric wheels and a kiln (!!!) until we moved to Edinburgh. Our children are better educated here in Scotland in the state system then they were in the private system in Melbourne.

 

If you move to Australia, be prepared to take out health insurance. Around $3,000 a year for a family of four. Hospitals that look like five star hotels (i.e. Edinburgh's Royal Infirmary) don't exist, either public or private. Though, having said that, the children's hospital in Melbourne is as it is for Edinburgh - superb. Public transport is good in the big cities, but expensive. Well, compared to Edinburgh, at least. In 1992, when we first got to Melbourne, a zone 1 (inner city, 10 km radius) a monthly ticket for public transport worked out at around $5 per day. Here we are, sixteen years on, in Edinburgh, a monthly ticket works out at £1.15 a day. Here in Scotland, if you feel like a change of scene, you're a couple of hours away (and for just a few quid on the likes of Globaspan or Ryanair) from heaps of great places - Dublin, Barcelona, Belfast, Prague, Amsterdam, Morocco, Turkey, Egypt.... Australia is Isolated, and I mean that with a capital I. It takes three hours to get to NZ from the east Coast and nine hours to get to Singapore, and be prepared to invest an arm and a leg to do either.

 

The food is good in both Melbourne and Sydney. I miss decent dim sum and authentic Chinese food. Indian food in Australia can be a bit hit and miss. If you are into a good curry, well, put it this way, I've eaten a lot better curry in Edinburgh (Kushi) than I ever did in Australia.

 

The best thing about coming back is the weather. Cool, dry winters and mild, dry summers. Snow that falls but doesn't sit for more than a day. No hurricanes (just because they aren't called "hurricanes" in the southern hemisphere doesn't mean that Australia misses out on them). And no insects. You can't imagine how nice it is to walk down streets in summer here that are fly free. The first time I saw people's backs covered in flies walking through the CBD in Sydney, I felt like I was in a horror movie. There's no streams of ants in the house. Not even one. No mice. No cockroaches. And no bats. I toyed with coming home for a long time, not sure if my family would be into it, but the thing that really decided me was a bat coming into the house one day. I'd put up with heaps of things coming into the house, - poisonous spiders in Sydney, lizards (geckos) and frogs in Queensland, cockroaches everywhere, oppussums running across the roof - loudly - whenever they felt like waking us up at night, but bats I well and truly drew the line at.

 

There are no wildfires in Scotland. Never mind seeing one - you have to hear it to appreciate it. It's like a war zone. I was driving home to Melbourne through an area that fire had already been through - by the time the road was reopened the fire front was five miles further on. The noise was terrible - trees exploding from the heat. Oh no, thank you - I am all for a quiet life.

[Guest earlswood]

I read this somewhere in the past whilst doing early research for the intended move, the stats where that of ALL migrants to OZ 25% return home each year for the first 5 years. These stats must include all visa types and all nationalities but looks something like this.

 

100 - 25% = 75

75 -25% = 56

56 - 25% = 42

42 - 25% = 31

31 - 25% = 23

 

So folks 23 in every 100 eventually make a life for themselves on the red continent.

So 23% stay and that means 87% return to their original Countries.

[Bod]

So 23% stay and that means 87% return to their original Countries.

 

 

Earl

 

I was never one for Mathes but 23% from 100% should read 77%. I think?????????

[Guest earlswood]

Earl

 

I was never one for Mathes but 23% from 100% should read 77%. I think?????????

That was a test....and you won :dull:

[Guest scot-aussie-scot]

i dont think for 1 minute your the only person with a decent job who is debating going to oz btw, i earn a decent wage over here but thats not everything is it? i understand you wanting some reassurance because its a big move, at the end of the day though you will only ever find out if you like it or not by going wont you? research as much as you like but theres no certanties in life is there? tbh your attitude comes over as a bit patronising, i.e the only people who go to oz are people who are going nowhere in britain, thats the way it comes accross to me anyway, but my prospects over here are ok and im still going to at least try it. anyway...good luck, whatever you decide

 

 

not meant to be patronising, just stating that for some people the decision may be more clear cut. Life for me and my family here in the UK is fine just now, but many other folk on here are desperate to get away from the UK for whatever reason. We are not desperate to move but I can see that life MIGHT be better for us in Australia, such a big move to make and when you have kids you don't want to disrupt their schooling by going and then coming back as my parents did.

[Guest scot-aussie-scot]

I emigrated to New Zealand when I was seven, and lived 11 years in Melbourne prior to moving back here 5 years ago. I've also lived for long stints in Sydney, Auckland, Wellington and Dunedin.

If you have children and extended family in Scotland, my advice is don't go. We missed out on all the get togethers with our grandparents, aunties and uncles that we would have enjoyed had we stayed in Britain. We used to come back here for visits and each time I noticed how nice it was to be home, with my own land under my feet, among my own people.

 

I can only speak to my own experience, but I found Australia an expensive place to live compared to Scotland. Firstly, the salaries are low compared to here and income taxes are higher. In Australia, state schooling is poor compared to here. Nobody in their right mind would send their kids to governments schools in Australia unless they were broke - they scrimp and save to put their kids through private school. I had never seen state secondary schools with indoor swimming pools and dedicated pottery rooms, complete with electric wheels and a kiln (!!!) until we moved to Edinburgh. Our children are better educated here in Scotland in the state system then they were in the private system in Melbourne.

 

If you move to Australia, be prepared to take out health insurance. Around $3,000 a year for a family of four. Hospitals that look like five star hotels (i.e. Edinburgh's Royal Infirmary) don't exist, either public or private. Though, having said that, the children's hospital in Melbourne is as it is for Edinburgh - superb. Public transport is good in the big cities, but expensive. Well, compared to Edinburgh, at least. In 1992, when we first got to Melbourne, a zone 1 (inner city, 10 km radius) a monthly ticket for public transport worked out at around $5 per day. Here we are, sixteen years on, in Edinburgh, a monthly ticket works out at £1.15 a day. Here in Scotland, if you feel like a change of scene, you're a couple of hours away (and for just a few quid on the likes of Globaspan or Ryanair) from heaps of great places - Dublin, Barcelona, Belfast, Prague, Amsterdam, Morocco, Turkey, Egypt.... Australia is Isolated, and I mean that with a capital I. It takes three hours to get to NZ from the east Coast and nine hours to get to Singapore, and be prepared to invest an arm and a leg to do either.

 

The food is good in both Melbourne and Sydney. I miss decent dim sum and authentic Chinese food. Indian food in Australia can be a bit hit and miss. If you are into a good curry, well, put it this way, I've eaten a lot better curry in Edinburgh (Kushi) than I ever did in Australia.

 

The best thing about coming back is the weather. Cool, dry winters and mild, dry summers. Snow that falls but doesn't sit for more than a day. No hurricanes (just because they aren't called "hurricanes" in the southern hemisphere doesn't mean that Australia misses out on them). And no insects. You can't imagine how nice it is to walk down streets in summer here that are fly free. The first time I saw people's backs covered in flies walking through the CBD in Sydney, I felt like I was in a horror movie. There's no streams of ants in the house. Not even one. No mice. No cockroaches. And no bats. I toyed with coming home for a long time, not sure if my family would be into it, but the thing that really decided me was a bat coming into the house one day. I'd put up with heaps of things coming into the house, - poisonous spiders in Sydney, lizards (geckos) and frogs in Queensland, cockroaches everywhere, oppussums running across the roof - loudly - whenever they felt like waking us up at night, but bats I well and truly drew the line at.

 

There are no wildfires in Scotland. Never mind seeing one - you have to hear it to appreciate it. It's like a war zone. I was driving home to Melbourne through an area that fire had already been through - by the time the road was reopened the fire front was five miles further on. The noise was terrible - trees exploding from the heat. Oh no, thank you - I am all for a quiet life.

 

Treesea - thanks for that very detailed response. I'd have to disagree with you on the education aspect (unless things have gone downhill since the 80's). I went to standard state school and had an excellent education there and a lot more opportunity to try different sports. Other than that your post has given me and my wife a lot to consider! We don't have a huge extended family in Scotland / UK so that is not such a concern with regards to the kids. We are planning to make our minds up in 2010 - 2011 so we will be pondering things carefully. My ability to earn a decent wage and provide for my family is the #1 consideration, if I can't do that in Oz then why leave somewhere that I can?

[Guest treesea]

My ability to earn a decent wage and provide for my family is the #1 consideration, if I can't do that in Oz then why leave somewhere that I can?

 

Scot-aussie-scot, You probably can do that in Oz, though I would recommend getting a job over there before you go. Also, however you get on salary wise, if you don't like it, you can always come back. That's what I thought when we came back home, that if I didn't like London, I could always turn around and go back to Oz. Or emigrate to another country - in our case, Scotland. Mind you, I was chasing the snow at the time. If I had known Edinburgh doesn't "do" snow, I would have probably gone over to Canada instead :-)