There's no place like home

2009 is gearing up to be as life changing as 2008 but for different reasons.

This is mostly as we are seriously thinking about (and in the early stages) of planning an escape to Oz (there's no place like home). Just gotta get us some ruby slippers. Ah, if only it were this simple.

I have always intended to go back and am very excited by the prospect but it's so much more complicated when you marry a local. So, recently, I've been researching spousal visas and properties in Melbourne and pay scales for teachers in an attempt to lure K out of the country.

I do have some tough competition though. K's close friends from college keep coming up with elaborate plots to keep us in London ranging from sabotaging our visa application by misinforming the Australian government that we have criminal records to each of them adopting Australian Accents and wearing shorts and throwing shrimps on barbies so we think we are already in Oz.

But I have quite a few weapons in my arsenal too- boxing day cricket, good weather, more bang for our buck when buying property, good cycle paths, nice beaches on our doors, in-country wineries, nicer schools, regulatory companies being based in Melbourne, iron man competitions, outdoor sport in general and better quality of life all round. The tricky part is, as always, the leaving behind of family & friends.