Is the grass always greener?

Whenever we visit anywhere the other half says “ I could live here!” He couldn’t !!! Living in the UK we have wonderful scenery to suit all types, great access to many places, lots of history, various weather types, great humour, kindness , diversity, options! Having lived in Sydney as a 24-5 year old it was a great experience ! I am revisiting next month plus NZ so wish me luck !
We almost emigrated to NZ when I was 11 but my dad never got round to filling in the forms!! He never left Brighton !!!

I’ve enjoyed this thread very much, the heartwarming thing is that most of us are happy living where we are. I would love to visit family in NZ and Australia but circumstances don’t allow for that and as I can’t stand the heat it would have to be carefully planned! I’ve only lived in three countries of the UK, never abroad, and found people in all those countries just as friendly as anywhere else. I live in Scotland now and love it for the scenery, slightly slower pace of life and the friendliness of the vast majority of people.

I definitely agree with Fleurpepper. A holiday does not give you anything like a clear idea of how it would be to live somewhere. Your attitude on holiday is different for a start. a lot of the posts are about moving to another country where the language is english or a semblence of it. I have lived in countries where I had to learn another language too. I wonder if some of the people wanted to go to a different climate but not have to learn another language.? Whilst you could make a list of all the pros and cons of your new place I think you should make an effort to meet up with people who have actually lived in your new place and get some real idea of what you may find there. Actually if you made a pros and cons of where you live now you would also see that everywhere you might choose to live will have good and bad points according to what matters to you. Personally I am glad that I got the chance to travel and do not regret the moving about even if there were difficult times , and wish I still had the opportunity to travel to other places, so am glad I have good memories and think that if you go with an open attitude you will find good things to enjoy.

Whatever country you are in it depends very much on where you live. I currently live in Southwest WA and truly feel very fortunate to do so. The scenery is lovely and the weather very moderate and houses not too expensive. I've lived in many areas in Australia, UK and New Zealand and there is good and bad about everywhere. It's very much a case of what you make it - and I've never been anything like wealthy.

My friends and I have often talked about returning to England but the huge drawback is the British health system. We are aware we live in a part of the country where there are few problems at the moment but be worried to go into something worse.

I have really enjoyed reading all these posts. So many members of Gransnet in different parts of the world, and the pros and cons of living there are so balanced. My three children all live in different countries. Very upsetting when they moved there, but I have had many visits and treasure all the memories. I am too old to visit now, but we have emails and Zoom, and they visit whenever they can.

In my view, there is no place like home ( UK )

My son ( lives in Canada ) has approached the subject of me living there, I stayed that no way will I leave my home, 1 of the reasons is, I relay on the NHS with my health issues.

The grass is greener to some but not others, each to their own, but not for me.

😃

My parents emigrated to Australia on the £10 Pom scheme fairly soon after WW2. I was only three so remember very little. We went to Sydney where my aunt lived with her Australian husband. Unfortunately my mother was not happy there. Our garden led down to the Georges River which meant there were snakes, there were possums on the roof at night and I suffered badly from hives and so we returned to England fairly soon after my fifth birthday.Three of my cousins and their children and grandchildren still live in various beautiful parts of NSW but I have never felt any urge to return.

Regarding cars, secondhand cars are expensive in Australia, they hold their price unlike in the UK. That might be the same in NZ.

I hope your daughter is ok, madddyone, it must be traumatic, emigrating then going through a marital breakdown.
The job sounds less stressful but it's hard coping on your own without the support of family. 💐

I think you’ve misunderstood Paddyanne. My daughter’s marriage has broken down. In any language that’s not happy. As for my comment about new/newer cars, I was using cars as an example of how expensive everything is in NZ and the majority of the population are it seems unable to afford newer cars, holidays abroad and so on. Please do not be so judgemental towards me just because I offered an opinion based on my experiences.
New Zealand doesn’t have the weather extremes found in Australia, although it can be very hot in the summer and cold in the winter. Nonetheless it seems to be a more temperate climate.

the public transport when you get out of the cities isn’t there.

It's pretty rubbish here, too, nanna8
At least your school bus system is excellent!

Food for thought, AussieGran

It's swings and roundabouts.

We've visited Australia regularly for many years but we know not to come at Christmas, more's the pity. It is stinking hot and very humid in Queensland and there's the risk of cyclones. Everything gets damp and there is a constant fight against mould.
Then again, winter weather is absolutely lovely and, if you like an outdoor life, there's more opportunity for that.
Wide open spaces, a smaller population means traffic jams are a rarity outside the cities, travel by road is more of a pleasure. It's become unnerving here, wuth so much traffic.

Most Australians I know work extremely hard, it's no easier a life than in the UK. House prices have surged over there too, as has food, just like the UK.

I think if you emigrate and leave family behind, you're always torn.

And then there are the Sunday roasts and fish and chips?
Not unheard of in Australia 😀

We moved to France when we retired. Not such a big change as Australia or New Zealand apart from the language. The weather in SW France is similar to that in UK but more so. Hotter in the summer and colder in the winter. We had to adapt to a different lifestyle, shops closed over lunchtime ( not so much now) 2 hour lunches. No take aways, etc. A much less stressful life though, very little traffic in our area, no keeping up with Jones's, very friendly people always someone to help in the village if needed. Health care is good but we do pay health insurance for hospitalisation. Not the life for everyone but we like it.

I have never lived more than 20 miles from where I was born.Have never wanted to .I have friends all over the world some I grew up with some I met while on holiday and I wouldn't swap places with them for all the gold in the world.Maddyone like your daughter we dont have a new car,we've only bought one new car in our lives ,not because we cant afford it its just not important to us.Maybe your daughter feels the same .
THINGS really dont matter when you're living a happy life.Be grateful your family is happy and dont hope it goes sour for them just because its not your idea of how their life should be

My widowed cousin moved to Sydney with her 3 young children many years ago as she had dual nationality. she married an American with several children, Now all her adult children live in the UK because they prefer the culture here.. she is always torn about returning and all her blood grandchildren are in the UK but she also feels responsibilities to her blended family.and husband... impossible decision really

DD, married to an Australian, has lived over there for the last 21 years, happened to mention one day that she tries to watch ‘Midsomer Murders’ - “Just to see the English countryside”.

I could have cried.

Another thing is, like the UK, where you actually live within a country differs. Australia is huge and there are parts where I would never dream of living. The temperatures vary from tropical up in the north to quite cool down in Tasmania. Every state has a different ‘feel’ and people travel much larger distances without thinking anything of it. When they turn 18, most kids get a car because you really have to - the public transport when you get out of the cities isn’t there.

That was insightful Luckygirl. I believe if you walk cheerfully through the world you can find happiness anywhere, meet the most interesting people whether it's on a windswept hilltop, a bus stop or admiring flowers in the park. that's my favourite

My story is complicated. I was born in England but taken to NZ as a baby by my DP who were embarking on a happy life away from war-torn London. My DF was. 3rd generation NZer so he was going home
Sadly he died when I was a child so DM sold up and moved back to London where I spent the next 10 years apart from a couple of years in Birmingham (yes I loved it) and boarding school in York also loved it)
I met my Scottish DH in England and we lived there for a few years before we moved to Scotland where I have lived ever since
Together we went to NZ several times to see our DS and his family and catch up with cousins
I think NZ, at least the cities are far more cosmopolitan than they were in the 1950s but even then, Wellington had a thriving art world and beatnik coffee shops. My DM missed the culture of Britain and when DS chose to move there she could not understand it!

Yes indeed Blinko. We are in easy
reach of lots of lovely places.

Sounds like your family may well return here maddyone as they will surely realise the disadvantages about NZ given time.

My DD went on a 3 week netball trip to Australia with the school when she was 15. When she came home she said that sitting on the coach on the return trip from the airport to home on the way back she realised just how much she had missed the green, and above all else the historic buildings: the churches and barns and manor houses that flashed past the window. I thought it was an interesting observation from a teenager.

I suppose it depends on whether you are a born Australian or have emigrated. All my cousins went to live in Australia and seem to have good lives apart from the one where the fires of a couple of years ago came close to where they live. That was scary. They have always asked me to go out there for a holiday but the long flight puts me off and I tend to like to wander around castles, old churches and museums so really are an English country girl from Gloucestershire. I love the English country village way of life and the changing seasons.

Kate1949

I think most places we go on holiday, particularly places like fabulous Venice and hundreds of places at home and abroad we think 'Oh how lovely to live here'. We are realistic enough to realise that it's not always as it seems.
We are in Birmingham, which is not everyone's idea of paradise! I love it with all its faults. I wouldn't live anywhere else.

Another West Midlander here and we wouldn't be anywhere else.

It's so easy to get to most places in England and Wales; Scotland and NI are do-able but more of a stretch of course.

We're on the western edge of the conurbation with borders with Shropshire, North Worcestershire and South Staffs. The Cotswolds and the Peak District are an hour or so's drive.

As a forces child, I lived in Yorkshire, Hampshire and with BAOR in Western Germany. All lovely places in their own way, but I always longed to come 'back home' to the Black Country.

We've been to Australia once to see our son and daughter-in-law who live in the Northern Beaches area of Sydney.

We had a wonderful holiday, seeing the sights, experiencing the lovely weather (January), just doing things we wouldn't be able to do at home.

However, I realised that was all it was - a fantastic holiday - it is far too expensive a place for us to be able to live there. We wouldn't be able to afford healthcare nor anywhere nice to live.

I wish my son didn't live so far away, but we are planning to go back there this June to see our first grandson and are sure to have yet another wonderful holiday.

A friend of mine who moved to the south coast from Birmingham has some very strange ideas about Birmingham. She had told me that she feels sorry for us being 'stuck here'. She wonders if we are afraid living here with 'all those immigrants.' Such nonsense. She also asked me if I could get her some Asian jewellery from 'one of those stalls or markets.' I hadn't a clue what she was talking about.