Moving back now to UK from Aus - are we mad?

[Beautifulthief]

Hi Mums,

I would really appreciate your help to get some perspective on our decision to move back home to time UK after being overseas for 17 years. We left NZ last year, when we lost our jobs to C and returned back to Australia where my husband is from. I pushed to return to his home town, which is lovely and on the beach, but hubbie was very much against due to nightmare wife and husband of his parents who are divorced. We have struggled with drama after drama with his family ( 'I told you so' comes to mind ) and it has been harder than we anticipated to get his new business off the ground. Our daughter who is 7 is struggling to make friends - people here tend to have been hete their whole lives, so we are a bit of an anomaly. It has left us seriously wondering, maybe it is just time to come back to the UK. I miss my family dearly and if there is one thing Covid has taught us is how fragile life is. My Dad turns 80 next year and I feel this pull to be back around my family during my parents' twilight hears. My husband is all for it...

My main concern is whether the UK is still a good place to be after all the battering from Covid and lockdown. Some Aussie friends in London said everyone is very down and tired ( unsurprisingly). But I appreciate that is a micro view. Is there a sense of now getting back to some normality though? We are a little bit sheltered here from it all... We are hoping to move close to Bath. I only see the UK, my old home, 'hurting' from reading the papers. Is it still a good place to be?

Thank you SO much Mums. Any thoughts would be much appreciated.

I would go back to NZ

Couldn't agree more. I think there is a myth that Australia has perhaps got off lightly. Our suppression strategy is working however the cost to businesses, families and livelihoods has been very hard. I owned a tour travel company that I have just had to close. In Melbourne here we have had very lengthy hard lockdowns since March last year when we can only leave the house one hour a day. It is all very heavily policed. We are down the coast a little where there is absolutely no Covid ( atm ) and we still have had to wear masks everywhere - inside and out. People even where them in their cars when driving. I even saw a guy surfing with a mask on. Fear is rife here in Aus.

So we aren't unfamiliar with Covid restrictions in relation to our everyday so to an extent, it won't come as a shock when we move to the UK. Hopefully.

We came back from Aus a few years ago, best decision for our family, time with my parents is the best, kids love it, school is normal.

Oh good, I wouldn’t. I do think people are very worn down. People seem very angry and there’s a huge gap between those that would love lockdown to last forever and those who want all restrictions to end right now. There’s a huge backlog in the NHS for anything that isn’t Covid. Children are having to relearn how to socialise. There’s still a lot of uncertainty and and awful lot of ambiguity about the “rules” and what can go ahead and what can’t (basically if it makes money it can go ahead, if not, forget it). Children have been largely forgotten by the government who make promises and then backtrack so that no one can trust a word they say. Most people are just done now.

The U.K. is a shit show but parents will only be alive for a finite time and it is clearly a major concern for you. Move back, spend it with them. You could move back to Aus later if you hate it or after your parents die. I suspect you will feel regretful if you don't move and try it.

Maybe it depends where you are in the UK but things feel surprisingly normal in my corner of the North.

I’m sure there are people who have lost jobs/businesses (and I’m not diminishing the terribleness of this) but my local pubs and businesses are busy and people certainly don’t seem worried about going about their everyday lives.

Maybe talk to your family to find out how things seem in their local area and wait a couple of months to check nothing changes?

Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

@Fitforforty

The department of education has recently sent out info to school telling them to prepare for another lockdown. No one knows if they are just late of the block for the last two academic years or if they think it’s a realistic possible for autumn 2021. Masks were compulsory in secondary school (aged 11 yrs +) but are not at the moment and have never been in primary schools among pupils.

Proof or it didn't happen

It's not great here but honestly is it that much better anywhere else atm?

The one thing our government seems to have gotten right is the vaccination programme which is giving most of us hope for the future.

Lots of events are going on over the summer.

I went into town yesterday (seaside town on the south coast), the sun was shining, buskers were out, steel band playing right in the centre. Lots of people enjoying the weather, shopping and spending time with their families on the beach.

Apart from wearing a mask in shops everything felt pretty normal, it was really lovely.

@ILoveAllRainbowsx

People on here are generally quite negative about the UK because they did not agree with Brexit and don't like the Tories.

Business confidence is high and companies are having problems recruiting so it depends on the sort of jobs / business you will want when you come back.

I am positive about the future as are lots of other people.

Absolutely agree with this!

I would come back. People here in London seem very cheery to me - everyone is double jabbed or nearly double jabbed. People are enjoying going out again but having the luxury of still being able to wfh.

Plus the lure of your family.

I wouldn't want to be isolated in Aus, sunshine or not!

I think you ought to consider waiting for a while, perhaps a year or two, and then return. We have no idea of the economic impacts and I am expecting a recession in all but name, and wonder if you will be able to get secure employment easily.

We do have the worst Prime Minister ever in UK history and Brexit is an act of economic self-harm, but at least Mr Johnson won't be mismanaging the country for ever.

So good to hear some positive experiences. Nowhere is great right now and I think for all its sins, the UK is ahead of the game vaccine wise, so you will be opening up far earlier than the rest of the world.

Fitforforty
The department of education has recently sent out info to school telling them to prepare for another lockdown. No one knows if they are just late of the block for the last two academic years or if they think it’s a realistic possible for autumn 2021. Masks were compulsory in secondary school (aged 11 yrs +) but are not at the moment and have never been in primary schools among pupils.

Where did it say this?

I wouldn’t come back here. It’s not a nice place any more

We left NZ after almost 20 years, the pull of family etc… it’s really not all it’s cracked up to be. There are only a few positives, spending time with my DF before he died and seeing other family members, but we hardly see them as in those 20 years they had their own lives so it wasn’t like we could just slot back into the old routine when we got back. The cost of living is better in general, but to be honest I’d jump on a plane back to NZ tomorrow if I could. I’d even go to OZ, I regularly fantasise about moving to Perth, not sure why as I’ve only been to Sydney and Brisbane 🤷🏼‍♀️

What about somewhere else in OZ away from the toxic in-laws and where your dd can start a fresh?

I honestly think you would be mad to move back right now, covid, brexit. I’d definitely give it a couple of years to see how the economy fares otherwise you could end up coming back and being far worse off financially.

On the street, people are generally more positive and getting out and about - downtown, malls and restaurants were all very busy this weekend (SW). The roads south to the coast are heaving on Fridays and totally locked up on holiday weekends fuck that.

I couldn't say whether you should return, but the reality here is much more positive than the coverage we receive in the NZ and Aus news, if that helps. As a PP said, it's far from mad max, it's fine and on the way back to normal.

Most people are excited to be getting out again enjoying happy summertime; it's plausible that there could be some restrictions in autumn and winter so making the most of being out. To be practical, work possibilities depend on the industry. Life science and technology of all types are booming. Travel industry are still losing a fortune, and entertainment industry too. Also the school year starts in September, starting part-way through a year can make it even harder to settle. It would be easiest to move now or next July.

@GreeboIsMySpiritAnimal

Keep as far away from this damp, miserable island full of Tories as you can.

Oh Christ 🤣🤣🤣

@LAlady

Fitforforty The department of education has recently sent out info to school telling them to prepare for another lockdown. No one knows if they are just late of the block for the last two academic years or if they think it’s a realistic possible for autumn 2021. Masks were compulsory in secondary school (aged 11 yrs +) but are not at the moment and have never been in primary schools among pupils.

Where did it say this?

Is it this? It was updated 25th June:

www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-local-restrictions-in-education-and-childcare-settings/contingency-framework-education-and-childcare-settings

If you can afford private school for your DC then come back, if not then don't: state schools are unbelievably stretched and a lot of staff hanging on by a thread.

The government hasn't put in any money for mitigations against covid in schools (not even ventilation) - if they won't do that they simply won't increase funding in state education at all as long as they're in power.

The number of kids out of school due to positive covid cases and having to isolate is going up fast. It's far from a normal experience for my DC.

@Fitforforty

The government sharing the plan they have if another lockdown happens is not the same as them saying another lockdown is on the way so schools need to get prepare for it. At all. What unnecessary scaremongering from you!

My parents are the only reason I live in this country, so I get your reason for coming back. Having said that, if I had roots elsewhere, I wouldn't be here. It's not going to be a good place to live for the next 10 years at least.

I think there is a myth that Australia has perhaps got off lightly.

Oh, I don't know. 910 dead last count vs 128,000 plus.

My friends moved back to the UK but were gone again within the year. They had forgotten all the things about the UK that had contributed to them leaving in the first place.