Where did you move back too???

[lismith25]

Just a quick question I keep reading about how people didn't go back to where they left from and it made all the difference. So am interested where were you from originally and where have you moved back too? Our families are in the beautiful classic English areas of Luton and Birkenhead :eek: and without hesitation we know that should a return be on the cards, we will not be moving back here, but am curious to know what others found.

 

Thanks Lis:biggrin:

[Quoll]

Well I have come back to my home area but that is because of circumstances beyond my control. We were away so long that it has made no difference really. I left home at 18 so had been away over 40 years and this is effectively a "new" place for us. If we hadnt had these circumstances there are so many places I would have loved to have tried - Devon or Cornwall, Shropshire, Mull, Suffolk, North Yorkshire .... the list goes on, but I suspect it would have come down to where we could get a job, if we had still been in a position of needing to work. Nowhere is very far from anywhere here and with your newfound Aussie view of distance that is a real bonus for a returning migrant (I'd think nothing of popping off to Bath for the day these days)

[AaronS]

We are absolutely moving back to where we came from. Don't know what you got 'til it's gone basically.

[Lynne S]

Hi, we returned home last July back to where we came from in Bedfordshire. We did it primarily because we thought it would be kinder on our children as they had maintained friendships with their old friends and we had moved about a couple of time in Aus. I think for them it was the best thing we could of done, as they settled back without any real problems (we had been a way almost 4 years). It was very odd for us initially, because at times (and sometimes still do) felt we had never been away! but so glad we did as OH was able to get a job back with his old company and because I knew the area and people managed also to get a job without to much trouble. Neither of us thought this would be the case, we were convinced and prepared to come back to a hard slog and although its been no walk in the park, its not been half as bad as we thought it was going to be. I think it really depends on your personal circumstances, we live about 20mins and an hour away from family - this is a good distance for us.

[fourcorners]

Actually I think the place where you are from is a big factor in many people's decision to move to Australia in the first place. There are so many places in the UK that are so drab and faceless I really don't blame people for wanting to get away from it all. But what they tend to forget is that for it's size, the UK is probably the most diverse country in the world. They could obtain what they seek much for easily in the UK rather than moving halfway across the world. There are beaches, mountains, flat plains, lush green countryside, big cities, quaint villages. So many of the Brits have seen so little of the UK.

 

I came from Cornwall in the UK and miss is terribly. But I know it will be there when I do decide to return. Otherwise I would choose the Peak District, Lake District, Devon or Yorkshire. But for now I'll just have to keep saving my pennies so I can actually afford to live in one of those areas!

[tea4too]

We knew we were ready for a change so jumped at the chance to move a few hundred miles down the road to Wales and, while it doesn’t sound far, it made a huge difference to us. We now live in a beautiful part of the UK, are five minutes from the beach, and have jobs that fit in with family life. Relatives are close enough to be part of our lives, but far enough away for us to be independent.

Had we not made this move though, I am pretty sure we would have seriously considered a move to Australia. Close family emigrated to WA around the same time that we relocated within the UK, and visiting them some six months later was fantastic. We had a great holiday and loved it, but realised that we didn’t have any burning desire to live there ourselves. We were quite happy to return home and those feelings haven’t changed despite a number of visits since.

It’s hard sometimes to know what you are looking for, or where you might find it - particularly if you can’t put your finger on exactly what IT is. We just knew that the daily grind of an industrial city didn’t tick the boxes, and felt there must be something else. ‘IT’ turned out to be much closer to home for us than expected, but I know that won’t work for everyone (although it’s a lot cheaper if it does!).

I may have gone slightly off topic, but I think we only narrowly missed becoming potential ping pongers because life threw a different option our way and fortunately it worked for us. So far anyway!! T x

[Sunshine111]

We knew we were ready for a change so jumped at the chance to move a few hundred miles down the road to Wales and, while it doesn’t sound far, it made a huge difference to us. We now live in a beautiful part of the UK, are five minutes from the beach, and have jobs that fit in with family life. Relatives are close enough to be part of our lives, but far enough away for us to be independent.

 

Had we not made this move though, I am pretty sure we would have seriously considered a move to Australia. Close family emigrated to WA around the same time that we relocated within the UK, and visiting them some six months later was fantastic. We had a great holiday and loved it, but realised that we didn’t have any burning desire to live there ourselves. We were quite happy to return home and those feelings haven’t changed despite a number of visits since.

It’s hard sometimes to know what you are looking for, or where you might find it - particularly if you can’t put your finger on exactly what IT is. We just knew that the daily grind of an industrial city didn’t tick the boxes, and felt there must be something else. ‘IT’ turned out to be much closer to home for us than expected, but I know that won’t work for everyone (although it’s a lot cheaper if it does!).

I may have gone slightly off topic, but I think we only narrowly missed becoming potential ping pongers because life threw a different option our way and fortunately it worked for us. So far anyway!! T x

 

 

Completely relate to this! Think if we hadnt of found our little neck of the woods in Sussex (pardon the pun, is the countryside we most lurve!) & if our son hadnt settled so well into school, perhaps we could have been ping pongers too. who know? tho' wouldnt have returned to Perth, but probably tried Sydney because we have fond memories & we enjoyed it there, many years ago, as backpackers!

 

We are just fortunate that we have found a great spot, where we want to be & feel at home. Fits with our family outdoor lifestyle.

With the bonus of London, easy distance one way & beaches 25-35 mins t he other way. Inbetween some great little villages with good community spirits. We are also near enough to family but not too close so we too can be independent (at least an hour) but dont get to miss any family gatherings or Christmas etc. My sister gets married this year & we would have missed that had we been in Oz.

 

When we left 10 yrs ago, we were 20 somethings who after having a fantastic years holiday works visa, touring around Oz & Nz returned to quite an industrial town in the Uk, along the M4 corrider. Found it hard to settle, didnt look much beyond out of it, to be honest, but decided we wanted a "better life" & Uk couldnt offer that - judged purely on that one town! (really we were after an adventure, when I think about it now....)

 

So off we went to Nz first, then Perth & lived in various places, cities/really rural/somewhere inbetween & 10 yrs on with x2 young kids under 5 yrs, we just had a pull to go home. Strange, never saw it coming....! think having the kids changed our perspective in what we wanted out of life, long term....

 

Think it depends perhaps on what you are leaving behind. If you depart an area that you loathe or have convinced yourself has no future, then its in your best interests to not return to it. If you left a fantastic area/family/friend network & left for Oz for work reasons/adventure, knowing you would return to it, maybe its easier to return to it....?

 

Perhaps when we left all that time ago, we didnt really know what we wanted & we needed to leave & try new places/things to really make us know what we actually wanted & grow as people.... So much we dont take for granted now!

[Guest jerseynic]

We are on the scary cusp of moving back and just cant make the decision. We have been here 10 years so we have given it more than a red hot go... but it still feels like half a life. Jersey was a wonderful place but we were suffering from what we call affluuenza, too much of the good life, did we really realise what we had? all my family are there and husbands family only an hour flight away. My Parents are getting older as are we all. we now have 2 beautiful kids who have the most wonderful life, but in saying that so did I as a child in Jersey. Gosh I wish we had a crystal ball and could figure out what the heck we should do. We cant bear the home sickness and the missing bits but will we condemn our children to the same thing. We live in a beautiful area of Australia but my Husband commutes 3- 4 hours EVERY DAY!! this just seem crazy beyond words to me and we figure if we are going to up sticks and move nearer we would be effectively starting again anyway so why not go 'home' and try again there. Just putting it out there really, I think I have exhausted my friends here with my confusion so I have not spoken to them as i am sure they think i am crazy and at least very ungrateful. I have more friends ( aquantainces) here than i ever had. I live in a 5 bed home with pool, we drive 2 top of the range cars. My children partake in swimming, singing, play instruments, karate, gymnatics, ballet. we holiday often even if that only means a weekend camping trip an hour away. God are we bloody mad, I honestly feel like I am going that way. We wonder if we just need to do it and exorcise the demons. we have had 5 or 6 trips home in this time but thats not like living there,, if anything it is a squeed version cos its the 'David Beckham' thing, we are like celebrities and I know this will not last if we return full time. Infact there will be massive negativity from many " are you mad ???"etc etc Should I visit a physic... where to go from here!!!!

Thanks for listening. I am sure if i looked in history i wrote this letter 10 years ago about coming here or something very similar!!

[fourcorners]

Hi Jerseynic, What you're feeling is very common and lots of people on PIO have gone through the same thing. Some return to the UK and absolutely love it, others return, spend a few years there and then realise how good they had it in Aus and try to get back. Personally I think it depends how old your children are here - do they have close friends, are they doing well at school, do you think they would cope with a move well? But then it also depends on yourselves, have you always felt that there is something missing here that you just can't put your finger on, despite the great lifestyle? Having a sense of belonging (or not) I think has a surprisingly big impact on your life somewhere.

 

If you did move back, and assuming you're all citizens, at least you'll be giving your kids the choice when they are older, they will have complete freedom to live in either country and that is a great gift any parent can give a child. You only have one life at the end of the day, and must grab opportunities as they arise otherwise you'll always wonder...

 

Maybe you could all do a trial run and go back for a few months? That way you may get over the honeymoon period with family etc and experience what it would be like if you came back permanently?

[CrimsonPetal]

Well, we are intending to move back to where we moved from. We always said we wouldn't do that but would go somewhere completely different but then at the end of the day, the reason we are returning is to be near to family so it seems silly to live further from them in the UK. We would still miss them every day! We now realize even though it wasn't the most exciting part of England, there was a lot we took for granted and can now appreciate.

[cmcdevitt]

Great post Jerseynic! If you are on the cusp then don't do it - if you need to do it for sanity then absolutely do it! I think life is harder to live day to day but if you need to have a heritage then it's the place that can offer it. If the kids put their coats on to go out - no worries! We gave Oz 7 years and couldn't make it our home - our eldest boy of 10 was in an amazing school in Sydney that we couldn't match here in the UK. However watching him play with cousins made such a feeling of settledness come over me that I think this is probably better. You need to be convinced in your decision making process because you will be forced to revisit why you made the decision once you are back the Northern hemisphere!

[Guest jerseynic]

All great points there but how do you be convinced in your decision. We have lived there before but not for 10 years, we dont know how it will feel to live there again, nor do we know how the children will react, esp when it numbs into normal life and the initial honeymoon period is over. whether we stay or go we will be taking a chance I guess. Thanks for your comments :biggrin:

[Guest Guest66881]

We have only been here just over twelve months and i have to admit sometimes it just ain't home, but you have to remember your whole life as been conditioned by your old surroundings/family life and all those memories, good and bad.

Here it's a new slate a clean start, and above all hard work.

We have found that out but we are determined to make it work, we have wanted it so long and worked so hard to get here, it just as to work doesn't it?

 

If we ever did go back to blighty i don't think we would go back to our old roost, this is one of our reasons for not wanting to go back any time soon, moving back to a new area is no different to being where we are now in our minds.

Also our parents are dead and no family over there (except our eldest daughter and shes here more than there lately lol), only cousins we never really spoke to, our family is here and our new life together is here.

[alandeej]

Going back home to Cornwall, although originally from the Midlands we regard Cornwall as our home and looking forward to our return!

[sunni1234]

Going back home to Cornwall, although originally from the Midlands we regard Cornwall as our home and looking forward to our return!

 

Love Cornwall and hope to visit/holiday there once back. Just waiting for the house to sell. Seems strange that folk can put in an offer on your house before getting finance approval......28 days later only to say sorry didn't get finance approval and move on. Waste of everyones time.

[Thom]

Again I find myself in a different position to others here, (I don't do this deliberately, honest!)

If and when we move back, it will be to Devon. This may seem perverse; as we still own our cottage in Cornwall. The reason? As I have indicated before, my wife is an Aussie. She has visited the UK five times since our online courtship, marriage, and my subsequent emigration here. On those trips we tend to visit;

 

Oxford area, normally a few days to get over jetlag, also the scene of our first "meeting" after 2 years online courtship.

South Wales, where I was born and raised, until I left to go to college in Plymouth aged 22.

North Wales, as we both love the mountains.

Devon, where I went to college and lived and worked 1982-1991, still have many friends there.

Cornwall, where I worked and bought a cottage, 1991-2003, still have many friends there.

Wiltshire, an area I am fond of.

London, normally for a shopping trip before flying back to Aus.

 

So my wife knows those areas reasonably well. It would be a toss up to returning to Cornwall or Devon, but one factor swings it for Devon. When we return we will use wherever we put down sticks as a base for travelling the UK and Europe. Cornwall is too far out on a limb (where our cottage is, it's right at the far end,) and will add too much to our touring times.

 

So Devon (Tavistock or South Hams area) it will be for us.

 

On our last return trip to the UK we stayed for ten days here, we fell in love with that part of Devon, and will endeavor to get a place near there.

[fourcorners]

Again I find myself in a different position to others here, (I don't do this deliberately, honest!)

If and when we move back, it will be to Devon. This may seem perverse; as we still own our cottage in Cornwall. The reason? As I have indicated before, my wife is an Aussie. She has visited the UK five times since our online courtship, marriage, and my subsequent emigration here. On those trips we tend to visit;

 

Oxford area, normally a few days to get over jetlag, also the scene of our first "meeting" after 2 years online courtship.

South Wales, where I was born and raised, until I left to go to college in Plymouth aged 22.

North Wales, as we both love the mountains.

Devon, where I went to college and lived and worked 1982-1991, still have many friends there.

Cornwall, where I worked and bought a cottage, 1991-2003, still have many friends there.

Wiltshire, an area I am fond of.

London, normally for a shopping trip before flying back to Aus.

 

So my wife knows those areas reasonably well. It would be a toss up to returning to Cornwall or Devon, but one factor swings it for Devon. When we return we will use wherever we put down sticks as a base for travelling the UK and Europe. Cornwall is too far out on a limb (where our cottage is, it's right at the far end,) and will add too much to our touring times.

 

So Devon (Tavistock or South Hams area) it will be for us.

 

On our last return trip to the UK we stayed for ten days here, we fell in love with that part of Devon, and will endeavor to get a place near there.

 

Tavistock is a lovely town, my sister in law lives in Bridestowe which is a 20 minute drive north of Tavvy on the edge of Dartmoor. If/when we go back it will be to that area. Can't wait to have my own horse and go for long rides on the moor! Like you we also have a cottage in Cornwall which is serving us very well being rented out. I also love it there as well being so close to the beaches but Devon is a bit more accessible and nearer to family.

[Thom]

Yep, we're of one mind Fourcorners. Peter Tavy area will do for us, a short hop into Tavi. Tavi is good for Exeter and Plymouth too. (Shopping, gigs, railways, airports)

 

Our cottage in Cornwall is now a self funding investment, neat eh?!

[fourcorners]

Peter Tavy is beautiful. In fact just a few days before we moved down under last year we had a glorious sunny week in Devon. We took some lovely photos of Dartmoor just behind Peter Tavy - one of which graces our desktop. Expensive houses probably because there aren't very many!