Good topic.
I have spent all barring one year out of the last 15 overseas.
I went back to Oz thinking I was sick of being an expat and got bored silly flying back and forth between Darwin-Asp-Per etc.
I left and came to Singapore to an instant command and 3+ times the dosh. USD Contract with Tax paid for me(it's only 15% but better in my pocket)
I fly all over Asia and love the aircraft I fly, my preference is to never go back to airline flying again but to stay on Corporate Jets, they're just more fun with less BS.
I do miss aspects of life in Oz like sailing(yes they have sailing here in Singapore but the conditions are crap) and it's a VERY small place.
I don't want to be in a position of HAVING to continue working until I drop because the OZ Govt tax me into the poor house, I would like the OPTION to retire at 55 IF I WANT TO.
The cost of me returning to OZ at this point in my career would be,
1/. No command for a LONG time if I could get a jet job AT ALL.
2/. Unable to afford the absolute water frontage, 4 bedroom house I've just bought, and what chance being based where the house is anyway.
3/. AUD70K net paycut x 15 years to 55, assuming I was with
VB/QF Link.
4/. Huge difficulty in continueing to be a single parent to my 13 year old daughter. Here I'm home when she goes to school in the morning and when she comes home in the afternoon 90% of the time. I can help her with her homework and be a Dad...put a price on THAT!!! In fact move this to point 1!!!!!!
While Australia is without doubt the best country in the world to live it is not so great if you can't afford a reasonable lifestyle, or you are forced by your job to live in an area of Australia which is remote from your family etc.
I'm no more remote from my extended family here in Singapore than I was in Darwin/Cairns and I have a constant stream of mates coming through on overnights with the various airlines they work for,that never happened in Darwin! In Darwin I was overnighting 18 or 20 times a month, here I've done about 6 in the last 14 mths. It's actually cheaper to fly to Syd/BNE from here than it was from DN <img src="eek.gif" border="0">
Chuck.
PS What did Sprucegoose do to get sinbinned
[ 10 January 2002: Message edited by: Chimbu chuckles ]</p>