Moving to Australia - wwyd?

[ozoruk]

Sorry this might be long but I could really do with some advice from those that may have been through something similar.

Im British, husband Australian (south Australia which is where we would head back to) – married 15 years with 2 kids 8 and 12 – both decent jobs which should transfer well (hopefully). My parents sadly passes away within 6 months of each other last year and this has prompted the discussion about the move. No inheritance so that isn’t a factor but it made me realise that aside from a distant aunt we literally have no family here now. DH has his parents, sister, extended family and whilst we are settled and secure I worry about his parents in the years to come and my own DC having no real family around them.

However we would essentially be ‘starting again’ at 40/45 respectively, possibly with a successful house sale which would probably net us about £650,000 to take over to start with. But a lot of our furniture probably wouldn’t be worth taking, and from that pot we would need cars, furniture, flights and buying a house – albeit we would need a mortgage. I just cant decide if this is madness or not and we would potentially giving up a nice life and security to uprooting the kids for not strong enough reasons.

Any perspectives on our situation gratefully received.

There is nowhere else in the world like Europe @Flatandhappy . So many small countries all next to one another, offering such variety of culture, language, landscape, food, right on our doorstep. You can fly anywhere in Europe in under 4 hours; the only place you can get to from Australia in that time is ... Australia or NZ. So yes, I do have a Eurocentric view, but the variety of countries and cultures in close proximity doesn't compare. Of course, the OP may not be even remotely bothered by travel, but all I said was it would bother me.

Love Europe and we have both done a lot of european travel - kids have done some - France, Italy, Greece - but also equally excited about exploring NZ/Aus/Asia if we get/make those opportunities.

I'd go.

But for now, perhaps try to go over the 6 week school holiday. Can you get wfh in your jobs for a set period of time. Will be shit with the time difference but might be able to organise something.

Then really explore the options. Look at the towns, the jobs, the school etc. even better going in winter. If you like it in the rain, you'll like it in the sun.

You know it snows in Australia don't you? There are most certainly seasons as English people understand them in Southern Australia (although winters are milder and summers are hotter). Up north it's a wet and a dry season.

I've just been through an absolutely glorious Victorian winter with great colour, crisp mornings and clear days.

I'm not arguing with the global warming bit though 🙁

Sorry, that should have been glorious autumn not winter 😁 Looking at the the freezing cold drizzle outside clearly led to some auto suggestion there!

I was wondering what you meant by just gone through a Victorian winter. I'm in Vic and very much still bloody winter-like here!

I'd look at renting your UK home for 12 months and seeing how you get on in Australia. If it doesn't work out after the year then it would be far easier to return.

Hi ozoruk - we are in Adelaide, and while it is lovely here we have had a few challenges. I'm not sure what careers you have, but we found a lot of employers had the view that if we had not done it in Australia, we didn't know how to do it. Employers did not look at our skills/ experience/ qualifications in the UK - and see they would translate to Australia - even if you explained the parrallels.
Being a smaller state, we found there are also not as many job opportunities here either.
Overall, we are happy we came, and have been here 11 years. Our children were 11 and 8 when we moved so we found it harder to meet other families as we were not doing school drop off and pick up. You have family here, so you will have some support which will be nice.
Even in Adelaide, house prices are rising - so take that into account.
Good luck with whatever you decide.

@Boredatwork thanks for that - that is worrying :( - DH still has lots of his old contacts so should be ok - i have been following job alerts which show lots in my field and i work with a lot of companies who have offices in Australia so I was hoping that would hold some weight. I am quite career driven and fairly senior here so the need to start again is pretty off putting.

And yes property prices are crazy - especially in the NE suburbs where i would ideally like to live!

@Boredatwork it was like that when I returned 4 years ago toi. As an Aussie with Australian experience then 10 years international experience, employers were telling me I didn't have current Aus experience. Yes, but my experience is better!

I had to contract for 2 years 🙄

But, with the skill shortages now in Aus it's very different.

What did you decide to do, OP? I'm so torn! I am increasingly homesick/missing my family, but hubby and kids not really on board with moving to Aus and leaving our comfortable lifestyle behind.

I keep saying to myself that we have a great lifestyle in the UK but actually we don't really - hubby and I both WFH (albeit in a nice home) and our lives are pretty lowkey with the school run being the highlight of our days. In winter, we rarely go out, and friendships aren't terribly profound or deep that we are invited out very often. In fact, we'd manage once per month socialising with our friends, tops.
I'm under no illusions that life would be much easier in Aus in terms of making friends, but at least we'd have the option of going to playgrounds/parks/beach after school to decompress instead of rushing inside and not doing much.
The thought of another 20 years of this lifestyle isn't inspiring me at all, but I can't guarantee that the lifestyle in Aus would be much better...Sigh.

hi @Makeadecisionalready - I’ve name changed since. We are going! We have sold our house and getting our affairs in order and hope to be there at the end of the year. Just waiting on my visa being approved as a final hurdle! Daunting but exciting. The way the UK has deteriorated (public services, food shortages energy costs etc) nothing works, we visited last Christmas and whilst I know it is no utopia the better quality or everything really struck a chord with me. I hate this government and what they have done but also I don’t want to live under a keir starmer government either. Def time to leave!

Amazing! Well done! Times Magazine also included Brisbane in the places to visit in the world :) Hope it all goes swimmingly for you and maybe see you out there at end of the year ;)

If anyone was planning on settling in brisbane any time soon, property prices are skyrocketing.

friends think it’s because folk are moving from Victoria and Sydney and having money left over for retirement/better housing.

either or, it certainly is a popular destination

My dn & her then 6 yr old daughter have been there(Sydney) for 4 yrs now. She’s a single mum
rents a 3 bed house in Petersham
she had to pay for dd schooling not private school.
she works for the rail network, she manages fine
her dd never seems to go without, she runs a small car(leased) and works from home now since covid which suits her brilliantly she does school run without any after school club needed now.

If she can as a single parent, she has no intention of coming back and company as put in for them to be residents(?) so they can be permanent

Hi OP - exciting that you're going for it! I'm in Adelaide, please message me if you have any questions. I moved from SE England 16 years ago. Love it here. Not in a 'Australia is utopia and England is awful' way that some expats develop - I really miss lots of things about England. But life is great here, I'm so happy my DC is here and very grateful for our education and health system. Do you have a particular area/suburbs in mind?

Thanks @BritInAus i love erindale but think that will be out of budget sadly, I’ve got family in burnside and DH are spread out a bit in and around Campbelltown (sp?) I don’t want to be too far out and NE suburbs would be ideal. Love Norwood but obviously mega bucks!

You write about global warming. Global: it happens in the UK too.

Australia is a continent an island and a country. It has seasons as well as climate zones you know, and to bang on about global warming without paying the slightest attention to what they are undercuts the fuck all you have to say about this.