Thanks for your reply, LC.
It is just the scariness of moving to the unknown. Especially when things are comfortable here. I can't say we have any major friends ties, which sounds odd, but my friends from school, the ones I've known years, I see a few times a year, none have children like me so that creates an huge difference in lifestyle/priorities. Don't get me wrong, when we meet up we can chat for ever with no problem but it's that shared history and childhood that keeps it going. None of them I would rely on. Same for my husband's friends. He has some good friends he made at uni but with them all living in different locations/towns/cities they also only meet a few times a year. I have made some friends through son's school but it's more people I chat to at the gates and coffee occasionally.
I am close-ish to my family and see fairly regularly but we do not rely on them much for childcare/babysitting, as some people miss their family for that element too, as well as just missing them. and my husband's family also live 4 hours' drive away.
The main reasons I wouldn't want to move are that I love our house (it's new and we've only been here a year), the town is okay but nice location opposite some woods. Son goes to a nice school. Plus my husband has a very good job and earns a lot so giving that up to go to ??? Would it be matched?
I do find the greyness of England annoying, I love sunshine but we only get the odd days or maybe a few at a time. We live a couple of hours from a beach. My daughter my youngest loves the beach (in the sun)
We have a 6 month old yellow lab puppy who we would of course bring (expensive I know)
i dont think we would do a trip first which is obviously risky but you can't really get a proper feel for a place unless you've lived there a while anyway. It would just be a holiday and cost a lot which could be used elsewhere. Plus the fewer long flights with my children at this age the better!
Ah, desicions decisions. I think it says a lot about Australia though that I still think about it a lot 10 years after coming home from there.