A desire to escape the ordinary
I’m going to start with our story of when, why and how we ended up leaving Australia and moving to Scotland in 2016.
Our life had come to a crossroads. We desperately wanted to start living our best lives instead of just plodding along. We felt like we were starting to lose our identities. Routines and familiarity were starting to overwhelm our sense of wonderment. We were starting to lose sight of the horizon and what could be. Time and days flew by as we lived on auto-pilot for nearly six out of seven days a week. Too often, we take things and people for granted instead of being present in the moment.
We both believed our happiness depended on earning an income by doing something we enjoyed. We also knew that who we shared our lives with and where we lived made one of the biggest impacts of all. For over 20 years, we shared the dream of selling everything, moving overseas and starting over.
New Year’s resolution
So, with our minds and hearts heavy with discontent, we made a New Year’s resolution on 1 January 2016 to move to the UK with our two teenage sons. After agreeing to move overseas, we researched our options and crafted a plan.
We applied for our UK Ancestry Visas on the eve of the Brexit vote in June 2016. After most Brits had voted to leave the European Union two weeks later, our visas were approved. We went public with news that we were moving to the other side of the world to live sight unseen. Most of our friends and family thought we were crazy, but some were supportive, and others were secretly jealous (in my humble opinion).
Fly away, fly away…
In September 2016, nine months after our New Year’s resolution to relocate, we flew into the UK to begin our expat adventure. Within three months, we were living like locals. The boys were at school; we were in full-time employment, and we explored like tourists on days off.
One of life’s peak experiences
Moving from Australia to Scotland is one of life’s peak experiences. It’s up there with falling in love and having children. When we decided to close the chapter on our old lives in Australia and start over again in Scotland, we started to feel happier, younger and more fulfilled.
Fast forward to July 2022, and we are now permanent UK residents. We have achieved a massive life goal and are grateful for all the support we have received over the years to get us here.
Australia is calling
We did get homesick, and we did miss our loved ones (the ones we couldn’t bring with us). We visited Australia only twice in the last 6 years and probably would have been back more often had it not been for travel restrictions. But restrictions (for now) have been eased, and we have fresh choices.
So we find ourselves at yet another crossroads. Now that we have secured our permanent residency, we can travel outside the UK for longer than a few weeks. A lot longer.
Our next big adventures
Although we will probably end up retiring in the UK (but we are also known to change our minds frequently), we are ready for our next big adventure (or two). World travel has resumed, and Australia’s Big Lap is calling. It is time (again) to take a sabbatical from working life for about a year to refresh and reset our mind, body, and spirit and check if we are heading in the true direction.
Join us on our journey
We invite you to join us as we continue our journey, discover new places, meet new people, and immerse ourselves in nature.
- Please explore our existing articles on: haveswagwilltravel.com, our HSWT Instagram and our HSWT YouTube Channel.
- More photos and videos coming soon.
- To see our Instagram photos for our time in Scotland, check out Somone’s Instagram.
In the future, we’ll showcase our travels with upgraded cameras and recording equipment. That means high-quality 4K/360 degree/drone photography and videos. We are also revamping the website so that it may look a little weird while re-decorating, but we should be finished in the next few weeks.
Thank you for your support
If you want anything specific (and you can’t find it on our website), please ask, and we will do our best to deliver.
