Guest cricketbackinengland Posted February 19, 2011 Share Posted February 19, 2011 Anyone who read my first thread on here will remember I wrote about returning to England 17 months ago after living 7 years on the Gold Coast. I personally love being back home for many reasons, no real issues with Australia and nothing bad to say, think it's more the case of you can take the pomme out of England, you can't take England out of the pomme. I missed everything essentially English plus I returned for business reasons. I own a clothing design and production business and I am one of the mad few that produce a product here in England instead of China. It was a risk but I am here to tell you that after 17 months of living very carefully, being miserably frugal with preserving the capital we brought back, ignoring all the politics, not getting depressed by reading a newspaper, telling the next person to tell I was mad to return to the UK to go and try living abroad then come back with an opinion before I smacked them one, and living on our narrowboat for 8 months to keep living costs to a minimum so the business wasn't under any pressure to support us (had huge fun and some great time out), I can tell you all that as of yesterday and after doing our figures, we are now in an excellent position financially and thriving. Not only are our figures up on last year, we can now afford to buy a house and we will also be able to save at least 1,000 pounds a month spare cash because after 17 months of hard slog, I can now pay myself a wage. Hubby has a job as an electrician and has been offered a good mortgage. I can't get a mortgage until I've got 3 years accounts but that's OK because we do have a good deposit and I don't have the time to clean a mansion so we won't be buying one! It's the essential English character cottage for me. The upside is that we have absolutely no regrets about returning to England. I do not find much has changed, things that mattered to me when I left are exactly the same. The worst thing I find is the Brits doing down their own country by being so negative about it, while personally, while it is tough at the moment for some people, I can see new shoots of life springing up. As soon as I got back I could see a lot of improvements, better roads, more traffic calming measures and a lot of new housing. We came back to the Midlands, small pretty market town on the outskirts of Leicester, and I made sure I set up business where there is plenty of money so I would recommend that if anyone is thinking of returning, because of the economy, there are places to avoid and places to aim for. I can honestly say that while retail, which is my field, has done it tough, it is picking up now. However, I would research and choose an area carefully before returning. The middle of England is pretty much close to everything and has been good for us. Anyway, hope this helps anyone thinking of moving back. It is a huge thing and not to be taken lightly. The one thing to remember, same as Oz really, nothing is instant, you don't fall straight back into a comfy life, you have to build it and start from scratch all over again. It's not easy but it's worth it. I am now going to book a holiday. First one in 8 years. Whoopeee! cheerio Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest andrew_obrien Posted February 19, 2011 Share Posted February 19, 2011 I came back 1 1/2 years ago and for the mast 3-4 months have started to regret my choice i wish i was in australia now but i have built up my own business and would have to sell it to move back. How do you get over thinking about Australia as it feels to me as though i left something behind? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest chris955 Posted February 19, 2011 Share Posted February 19, 2011 You can't really get over it, in your mind the grass is always greener and you tend to just remember the good bits. It seems to be weather related quite often, when it's cold and miserable you remember the heat. It's normal. Sounds as though you have done well, you just need to remember the good times you had here and put it done to experience and an adventure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest chris955 Posted February 19, 2011 Share Posted February 19, 2011 Great post, glad it's all working out for you. In fact it sounds as though you are doing very well indeed. Some very good advice and good to hear some facts as opposed to the doom and gloom some like to spread. As you say avoid the papers, especially the comics. Anyone who read my first thread on here will remember I wrote about returning to England 17 months ago after living 7 years on the Gold Coast. I personally love being back home for many reasons, no real issues with Australia and nothing bad to say, think it's more the case of you can take the pomme out of England, you can't take England out of the pomme. I missed everything essentially English plus I returned for business reasons. I own a clothing design and production business and I am one of the mad few that produce a product here in England instead of China. It was a risk but I am here to tell you that after 17 months of living very carefully, being miserably frugal with preserving the capital we brought back, ignoring all the politics, not getting depressed by reading a newspaper, telling the next person to tell I was mad to return to the UK to go and try living abroad then come back with an opinion before I smacked them one, and living on our narrowboat for 8 months to keep living costs to a minimum so the business wasn't under any pressure to support us (had huge fun and some great time out), I can tell you all that as of yesterday and after doing our figures, we are now in an excellent position financially and thriving. Not only are our figures up on last year, we can now afford to buy a house and we will also be able to save at least 1,000 pounds a month spare cash because after 17 months of hard slog, I can now pay myself a wage. Hubby has a job as an electrician and has been offered a good mortgage. I can't get a mortgage until I've got 3 years accounts but that's OK because we do have a good deposit and I don't have the time to clean a mansion so we won't be buying one! It's the essential English character cottage for me. The upside is that we have absolutely no regrets about returning to England. I do not find much has changed, things that mattered to me when I left are exactly the same. The worst thing I find is the Brits doing down their own country by being so negative about it, while personally, while it is tough at the moment for some people, I can see new shoots of life springing up. As soon as I got back I could see a lot of improvements, better roads, more traffic calming measures and a lot of new housing. We came back to the Midlands, small pretty market town on the outskirts of Leicester, and I made sure I set up business where there is plenty of money so I would recommend that if anyone is thinking of returning, because of the economy, there are places to avoid and places to aim for. I can honestly say that while retail, which is my field, has done it tough, it is picking up now. However, I would research and choose an area carefully before returning. The middle of England is pretty much close to everything and has been good for us. Anyway, hope this helps anyone thinking of moving back. It is a huge thing and not to be taken lightly. The one thing to remember, same as Oz really, nothing is instant, you don't fall straight back into a comfy life, you have to build it and start from scratch all over again. It's not easy but it's worth it. I am now going to book a holiday. First one in 8 years. Whoopeee! cheerio Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quoll Posted February 19, 2011 Share Posted February 19, 2011 I came back 1 1/2 years ago and for the mast 3-4 months have started to regret my choice i wish i was in australia now but i have built up my own business and would have to sell it to move back. How do you get over thinking about Australia as it feels to me as though i left something behind? Curse of the expat! Quite a normal phenomenon really. It's the assumption that the other bloke's grass is always greener, you do tend to forget that the bloody stuff needs mowing more often. Good luck with whatever! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest andrew_obrien Posted February 20, 2011 Share Posted February 20, 2011 good reply, you are right i need to think of the good things i have here, or how bad i felt in SA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest chris955 Posted February 20, 2011 Share Posted February 20, 2011 You left Australia for a reason or many reasons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
landv Posted February 20, 2011 Share Posted February 20, 2011 Great post again cricket, glad your business is doing well. Just a question, how did you find the winter living on the narrow boat? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest cricketbackinengland Posted February 20, 2011 Share Posted February 20, 2011 I am very driven by my design career so for me lifestyle in Australia came a poor second to moving ahead with my plans for developing my dream business if you like. Although having said this, I don't feel that I have sacrificed my lifestyle to come back to England. I have a really nice life and it doesn't take money to create it. I grew up in the Lake District and have always had a great dislike of living in surburbia. Funny though, when I went back to the Lake District for a visit last year, I found I didn't like the feeling of being overshadowed by the mountains after living under the big skies of Australia. It felt oppressive and a bit bleak beautiful as the Lake District is. Once upon a time I would never have dreamed of leaving but now I would not want to consider going back there so I know I've grown and evolved. This realisation helped me learn that whatever we leave and wherever we go, we do need to give ourselves standstill time so that we can evolve and grow into the next stage of our lives. I think this is perhaps why pingpongs find it so difficult to settle. They don't give themselves time to work through the uncomfortable emotions of adjusting. Having said that, I think you've got to be very disciplined when planning your next move. You will know if Australia isn't where you want to be and I knew pretty much straight away. I gleaned fairly early on that it is far more a man's country than it is a woman's because of it's love of sport, fishing, beach, barbeques, beer, outdoors, etc. I found it hard relating to much of that because I'm a driven, career minded hardworking businesswoman striving to drive a business that I love forward. I never felt happy with the overly relaxed holiday style lifestyle so for me I preferred the challenge and stimulation of my work. Australia was a good place to sell a product but hard as I tried I could not develop the business over there to the level I have here in England. I could not find skilled staff, commercial leases were very risky and expensive, commercial landlords were unregulated and raw materials, (I buy from Italy and Europe) were difficult to source. In this case, I had a business plan in my head when I returned and I knew I had to base business where it could flourish so didn't choose the majestic landscape of the Lake District because it was the wrong location but I did choose a location that would suit my love of the open countryside and meet the needs of my business. The area of Rutland with it's huge lake and lovely walks and cosy pubs is perfect. I would say to anyone thinking of returning not to go back to old faces, old location and old life if that's what you wanted to get away from when you moved to Australia. Instead do some research and choose an area which meets your lifestyle needs, work needs and family needs too. I didn't ever want to leave the UK, I went to Oz with what turned out to be a very devious and disloyal husband. I learned from this that really you should never follow someone else's dream if it suffocates your own but I learned in a very hard way. Never mind, I survived and now I'm happier than I've ever been. As for dealing with any doubts about should I have stayed in Oz? I think once you've made the decision to leave, you have discipline yourself to only keep looking forwards, not backwards and remember the reasons why you didn't want to stay. I watch the glossy TV shows about a life in Oz and a part of me thinks yes, idiot, it looks fab, why did I leave??? But then I remember the intense heat, the devastation of unpredictable storm season, the infuriating lack of competition between Telstra and Optus and how their regular breakdowns disrupted my online business. I remember food prices going up and up, real estate agents talking up property prices in a bust, the unrealness of it all and I think to myself as I sit in front of my log fire watching it snow outside and the rolling lanscape outside and glow of the pub lantern down the lane , thankyou God. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest chris955 Posted February 20, 2011 Share Posted February 20, 2011 Another great post. There are so many reasons we are leaving, my wife has never in all the years we have lived in Australia felt like it is home. England is always home for her and more and more for me too. It makes me laugh when people settled here try to make you see the error of your ways because Australia just must be a better place to live, I mean look at the weather :biggrin: I have reached a point in my life where the weather is a small part of what's important. I have never bought into the whole better lifestyle, safer for kids and all the other nonsense. Thanks again for your posts, they make great reading. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest36187 Posted February 20, 2011 Share Posted February 20, 2011 Chris, When are you heading back? Do you have a date set yet? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest chris955 Posted February 20, 2011 Share Posted February 20, 2011 Hi Joanne, no set date yet. We are looking at August/September at the moment but a lot depends on the sale of the house and various other things we need to get rid of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
janlo Posted February 20, 2011 Share Posted February 20, 2011 I know so many who leave Brisbane to go back to the UK. Im in Sydney, been here for 6 months and still 'sitting on the fence' I miss the green grass of home and the changing seasons. The weather is more settled here (please god) and the kids love the beach which is 10 mins drive Im really enjoying Sydney and yet SO many Brits head for Queensland......too much of change in lifestyle up there I think ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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