Lifestyle and Leisure
Reasons to move: Holidays
It usually occurs once you’re just past the halfway point of your holiday...
No matter how hard you try there is always a moment when your mind wanders, briefly, away from the laid-back bliss you've been enjoying for the past week or so, and back to the reality of life awaiting you in the UK.
"I can't believe we're already halfway through our holiday," you'll say to your partner. "Shhh, don't say that," they'll reply, desperately wishing they could turn back time to moments before that most dreaded of phrases left your mouth.
For to mention life at home is to start thinking about life at home, and once that thought rears up inside your head, rather than enjoying the rest of the holiday you'll instead find yourself counting down the days until your life returns to normal.
However, there are those who become so enamoured with their holiday surroundings, and so full of dread at the thought of life back in the UK, that they decide to return to their holiday destination once again... permanently. According to the 2007 Emigrate Australia reader's survey, 9.4 per cent of respondents had first been influenced to consider emigrating to Australia after a great holiday Down Under.
Simon Wood, who now lives in Perth, is one of those who had his eyes opened after taking such a holiday in 2001, travelling up the east coast.
"I saw a different way of life out there," he says. "My wife Jane and I discussed what it would be like to live in the country, and agreed it was definitely something for ten years time."
The Woods, however, were well and truly bitten by the Australian bug, and following numerous other holidays in Australia between 2001 and 2006, decided to emigrate well ahead of their initial schedule.
Similarly, Brisbane resident Karen Atkinson had her emigration appetite whetted by a trip to see her sister in Sydney in late 2004. "While Sydney was amazing, what we were most impressed by was the Australian way of life," she says.
Sometimes, though, it can take longer for a holiday to manifest its life-changing potential. When asked why her family had decided to move to Australia in the May edition of this newspaper, Elizabeth Warner answered: "[my husband] Bob came out to Australia on holiday when he was in his late teens and stayed for about a month. He loved it so much that he came back again a few years later. "When I met him he showed me lots of photos and videos of Australia – on our first date."
However, as obvious as it may seem, it should be remembered that a holiday in Australia is exactly that – a holiday. Spending a few weeks Down Under, without having to work, get the kids ready for school, pay bills, etcetera, is very different from living there, when you will have to do all those things and more.
So before you let a fantastic holiday influence you completely, take a step back, do your research and make sure than in five years time, once you're living in Australia, reaching the halfway point of your holidays won't provoke the same feelings of dread it does at the moment.
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