Words of wisdom please ;-)

[Guest KarenR]

Hello

 

Just wondering if anybody can offer me any unbiased opinions about moving to Adelaide. I have gone through the whole of the application process (18 months worth!!) and have found out in the past few days that I have passed my medicals - therefore I should have the final answer in the next few weeks.

 

However . . . . is life as different in Adelaide as it is the UK? I would appreciate if anybody could give me pro’s and con’s about actually making the move. Everybody always talks about the positives of moving over there but I’m sure there are plenty of negatives (other than the obvious of missing your family and friends etc) Sorry if I am sounding negative myself but I just want to make sure that I’m doing the right thing especially as I’m going on my own, rather than leaving my life here to go somewhere which has the same problems than the UK other than its warm weather rather than cold and wet!

 

I think I just need that last push to help me decide one way or another.

 

Any comments would be great.

Karen

[ianb]

Karen,

 

Im sure the feelings that you have are the same we all go through. It depends on your expectations of what you expect and also the reasons why you wanted to go in the first place.

 

If you are expecting an easy life with little work and loads of money in your pocket im afraid your going to be disappointed. The fact is you will have to still work hard to live to any sort of standard. The difference being we feel is that when you have been out working hard all week the free time due to the weather gives you more opertunity in having some sort of freedom to do things.

At the end of the day its only going to be as good or bad as you are willing to make it. Of course everyone will miss family and friends but if you go with a positive attitude as to the reasons you want to go and are willing to get involved and not have the illusions wealth and free time are going to be easy then you will settle fine.

When we were over during our reccie we was speaking to a local guy who summed things up for us when he said "If you are willing to work and put the effort in you are able to have a reasonable lifestyle in Adelaide where as if you expect un realistic things and are not prepared for both the good and bad and are not willing to put the effort and work into it then its not the place to be"

Its not the place to run away from all the problems we have in the uk (as people see it) as you can be sure in Adelaide the problems are the same as well as a few different ones.

with us we are oing to have the chance to do things more as a family, see new things and have different experiences. You only life once and your a long time gone so we are prepared to give it our best and dont mind working hard to be able to sit back in later years and say we took our chance and put the effort in and then hopefully see our children with a future where they can chase their dreams and not be afraid to work and realise to get what you want you have to work for it.

 

Just be positive as i know for a fact the feelings you have go through all our minds

[Guest Greg and Karen]

Great answer Ian, I think you hit the nail on the head there mate!

 

Karen, you don't say in your post whether you've visited Adelaide or not. If you haven't then I would strongly recommend that you do so before moving down under. I know this is expensive and not always feasible with work commitments but it would give you some idea of what to expect (although visiting a place is one thing; living and working there entirely another).

 

We were lucky enough to spend 6 weeks down there last year and fell in love with the place. However, we are under no illusions about how hard it will be when we move - you have to really want it to work and expect some setbacks along the way.

 

Whatever you decide, the best of luck to you!

[Guest sarahsmartiepants]

Good luck Karen, and only you can decide if its the right thing to do for you!

Ian has said all the right stuff.

Expectations is where most people fall down when they come here. Thay can get washed along with the cheap housing, food petrol etc, when in reality it is just another country, not paradise! Althought there are those out here that do find it paradise, if you bring shedloads of money then it is.

At the end of the day you still have to do the basic things you did in the uk, shop, cook, clean, pay bills. There are problems like the UK and problems not like the UK, If that makes sence!

But to explain how I feel about here in a few words, "would I go back to the UK?" NO WAY!

"do I wish I came here years ago?" YES WAY!

sarah

[Guest KarenR]

Hi again.

Thank you all for your opinions, they are greatly appreciated. I know that I do want to come over and as you say it’s the ‘work hard, play hard’ philosophy and that the weather allows more freedom of free time. I have been over to Adelaide 3 times so I know what to expect in terms of location, climate etc, but its different visiting to actually living there. My friends who all live there all say it’s the best move they have ever made but I just wanted an unbiased opinion to support what they say.

I know its not going to be all fantastic but at least I have some chance of getting on the property ladder by myself or that money does go further than the UK, although I am coming with the basic amount of money – I’ll just have to make sure I budget well!!

I think I’m just having a dose of the jitters as its alot to leave my family and boyfriend here but ultimately if it is for a better quality of life then surely it is worth it.

As you say I don’t want to regret not going in the future, at least I tried.

Thank you again for all your advice, I just need to wait for the final decision from my case officer.

Fingers crossed for me huh?

Thanks again

Karen