Yes, no, yes...

During the first weeks of our relocation to Australia I was overwhelmed by the number of decisions we had to make.

Everything that makes up your life in your country of origin has taken years to evolve. From the bank you use, to the daily newspaper you read, and doctor you visit; you didn’t make these selections on the same day, or week, and weren’t under any time pressure to decide. OK, you can enjoy the process of selecting a newspaper, but when you arrive in a new country and life has to keep running as normal you have to be decisive about everything else.

During our first weeks in Australia these are the things we were debating;

• Which Bank? Doctor? Dentist? Supermarket? Health insurance? Home contents insurance? Car? Car insurance? Childcare facility? School?
• Where to live?
• How much to spend on rent? Work clothes? Groceries?
• Should we rent short or long term?
• Should we hire or buy a car?
• When and how should we transfer money from the UK?

Adding to the pressure, we arrived in Australia without work so financial uncertainty made our decision making trickier. I found a preschool I liked for my son but couldn’t request a place until we knew when we’d be starting work. We knew what car we liked but didn’t know what salary we’d be on so weren’t sure what we’d be able to afford.

Enduring the weeks of uncertainty, whilst trying to make the best decisions about things we needed to setup long term, was one of the hardest things about the initial phase of our move. At times I felt like tossing a coin and living with the consequences, my head hurt so much from the pros and cons of each dilemma. I was relieved when this phase passed.

Thankfully there are few decisions I think we got wrong, the points below may provide food for thought if you’re currently planning your relocation.

If we had our time again…

• We would spend less on car hire; whether that’s by buying a car sooner or going without a car for periods of time. We hired a car for eight consecutive weeks and would have been better off using that money to buy a cheap car that would have given us some return on investment.
• We would reconsider the timing of our move: read When is the best time to move to Australia? for full details.

If you’re at this tricky phase of your relocation, good luck! You’ll get through it, and then never want to make a decision again in your life!

Related articles: We’ve come a long way – One year in Australia: The series, When is the best time of year to move to Australia?