Lisa - Staffordshire to Melbourne
Intro
I met Lisa when I moved to Melbourne in 2022. She also works for Terrain Capital, as their Finance Manager and Company Secretary, and moved to Australia 20 years ago with her husband, Ian. They have two children, Charlie and Isabel, who were both born in Melbourne.
Lisa has been a dear colleague and friend to me since I moved. I asked her if she would be a “case study” of a person who has made a significant change in life – that is to move countries. Below are some questions I asked her…
What most surprised you about the change?
I really was not sure what to expect of Australia as being so far away living in the UK I had never really heard very much about it and had never considered travelling so far for a holiday. What surprised me the most was how multicultural Australia was and how easy everything was from finding a home, finding a job and making friends.
What was the single most difficult thing you had to do?
By far the hardest thing for me was leaving and saying goodbye to my family. I have lived in Australia for almost 20 years and I still struggle with missing my family. My husband is also English and we have two children that were born here and have no family living in Australia. My husband and children absolutely love Australia and have no desire to live in the UK.
If you could go back in time, what would you tell the younger Lisa embarking on the change?
I would say go for it! Yes it is a little scary not knowing what to expect and hard to say goodbye to all the familiar things we know and love but it is also such an adventure and you grow so much as a person. I feel like I am such a different person and see the world so differently from being a person that has grown up for 30 years in one country and moved to another country where I have lived for 20 years. I do not regret moving at all and I really love Australia. Even after 20 years I sometimes feel like I am still on a holiday most of the time. The weather is so amazing and there is not a day goes by that I don’t t appreciate the year round blue skies.
