Look See Decide Trip

[LinziC]

Hi All,

 

We are waiting for our Visas to be approved and once approved we will go and activate the visas. For those of you that did a "look, see, decide" trip can you give recommendations on what you would and wouldn't do if you had to do the trip again? Did you follow a specific itinerary? My husband and I will be travelling with our 2 year old son.

 

Thanks!

[RedPanda]

Hi, look I'm sure it's all there in the threads if you go browse through them, it's quite a wealth of information.

The general gist of it will be: Decide on your shortlist of cities before you go. Use your occupation and job availability to help you with this. If you have enough time, look at a few suburbs that look interesting. Depending on the length of the trip you can try to do things like get local drivers licenses and setup bank accounts. You can't do medicare until you're here long term, the system knows. There are loads of parks and public spaces to entertain kids, although yours might still be a little young??? If you have time and the inclination, go on a road trip to take in some of the landscape it's quite enjoyable. And if you're that organised you could even go to a few interviews if the opportunity presents itself.

But you'll find specific stories in the threads that people have posted about their experiences.

[jiggy]

Hi,

 

From experience of doing the same (with a baby that was slightly younger); my advice would be to not try do everything (especially not straight way as you arrive), and to give yourself more time than you think you would need to get going once in country. Jet lag is a bugger, and its even harder with a baby so budget on the first 2 days there being to just adjust, to get baby settled; and to do what you can when things allow for it rather than ploughing ahead regardless. If baby sleeps on the flight you can move your schedule forward a day.

 

As mentioned above, having a schedule to focus your efforts is a good idea, but also do prioritise so you are not rushing everywhere which could make you more stressed and negatively impact your impression of the place. We had a very tired, jetlagged and niggly baby and this is what happened to us.

 

We also tried to do too much in too many places and it was a nightmare, so much so thats its taken us a few years to agree that we will make the move to Oz!  

We jumped from Sydney to Brisbane to Adelaide all in 2 weeks and it was just to much to do with a little one.

 

Plan where you can, relax, don't force it and enjoy!

 

Good luck!

[memyself]

On 22/06/2017 at 6:06 PM, RedPanda said:

 You can't do medicare until you're here long term, the system knows. 

 not for me .. been here long time.. but could you elaborate this

[Rhazo32]

Hi

 

When i did my activation trip, in hindsight i realise i was too rushed with interviews set up and meeting up with a number of people. It was over 1 week in 2 cities, and i was dealing with jetlag at the same time. At the end of my 4 days in Sydney I was convinced i could not be happy in the city. Everything was too expensive and train rides too long etc. Now, looking back i realise the commute is not too different to my joburg one, and salary to cost of living i would not be worse off. My advise is to take your time. schedule fewer activities per day, allow yourself to rest and recover from the jetlag. Also, have the cost of living discussion mentally with yourself before you go. Accept that things will be more expensive than you are used to, but remind yourself that you will potentially earn in line with that new reality when you eventually move. 

 

The one thing i did do right was meeting up with family and old friends. There is nothing like seeing your loved ones in a place that makes it feel like home instantly.

 

i hope you enjoy your LSD trip, and that the visas come soon too

 

 

[RYLC]

On 6/22/2017 at 5:36 PM, RedPanda said:

You can't do medicare until you're here long term, the system knows.

 

1 hour ago, memyself said:

 not for me .. been here long time.. but could you elaborate this

 

Through data matching between immigration and Medicare. You will have ticked the short stay box on the Arrivals Card rather than the "moving here permanently" box.

 

[ChrisH]

@LinziC, my advice is don't even do an LSD trip.  Just get yourself in Australia.  You have just under a year to move here (if you've already lodged everything as its a year from medical or police clearance whichever one comes first).

 

If we did an LSD trip we would have hated it, we got sick in our first week here and combined with the jet lag made it a terrible experience.  Don't waste your money on an LSD trip if you don't absolutely have to!

[DXB2OZ]

We use a cup of coffee currency translation. What would a cup of coffee cost in South Africa. What would a cup of coffee cost in Australia. What is the effective conversion rate. Apply that to everything else.

 

The LSD decision is very personal. We got a lot out of our trip. Some people prefer to come over straight. Moving with kids can be very daunting, but when they are that young they adapt really easily.

 

Best advice for an LSD (if you do one) is not to put too much pressure on yourself. Pick a shortlist of objectives, everything else is bonus. But make sure you schedule in some nice stuff as well, otherwise it will be pretty horrible.

 

good luck.