Booth Wanted Down Under Revisited

Choosing to move halfway around the world could risk

splitting your family down the middle,

and in 2010, the Booth family were faced with that prospect,

as they decided whether to make the life-changing move to Australia.

One year later, we caught up with them to find out what happened next.

Helen's dreamed of moving to Australia since she was 18.

I think Australia is where my restless soul's been.

I can't see why I would want to leave here.

But her teenage daughter, Steph, wasn't so sure.

I'm still 50/50 on whether to go.

But perhaps I'm pampering to my mum there.

Where really I'm 75% sure I want to stay in England.

If Steph couldn't be convinced,

Helen would have to sacrifice her dreams or leave her daughter behind.

We catch up with them one year on to find out

if they took the huge gamble and moved to Australia.

In 2010, the Booth family were faced with one of the biggest decisions

of their lives - whether to leave their home and loved ones behind

for a new start on the other side of the world, in Australia.

Tim Booth and wife Helen were living in a four-bedroomed semi-detached house

in the village of Ewloe, near Chester,

along with two-year-old Ben

and Helen's daughter Steph, who's 17.

Since she was a teenager, Helen dreamt of moving down under.

I'm the instigator, the one who's always harped on,

"Really, we should go to Australia

"and experience the lifestyle."

We are an outdoors, adventurous family, and what it has to offer

ticks all the boxes for us.

We could all go out as a family and live the dream.

The time has never been right,

but Tim was made redundant from his job as a town planner

so they had started to consider a new life abroad.

The whole development industry was affected.

It meant working around the country at different jobs.

I happened to get one in Essex. It meant moving down there.

For nine months, I've been living in a caravan just outside Clacton.

This time away from Helen and the children brought home to Tim what really matters.

You rationalise what's important.

Working long-term or being close to the family,

seek a better life and have more quality time with each other.

Teenage Steph didn't share her mother's dream

and wanted to stay in the UK and go to university.

I kind of see it as THEIR adventure.

I want my own adventures now I'm older.

'I'll have a look at universities but it might not be right for me.

'I just want to be able to go and explore'

and then say how I feel.

But at the moment, I'd probably say England's pretty cosy.

Helen might be faced with tearing her family apart.

I'm really pulled. I don't know. I don't know.

If I could go and it was just my decision, I'd go.

Definitely. Without a doubt.

'I do feel pressure.'

If I didn't go... I'm not sure they would.

And then that would make me feel really guilty.

'That would seem selfish of me.'

'Yeah, I...don't think I'd...'

I don't know whether I'd settle without Steph there.

I hope, whatever decisions we make, they don't influence each other

and people make the wrong decisions.

To help decide where their future lay,

they travelled to Brisbane in Queensland.

After 21 hours in the air, they finally touch down,

jet-lagged but hopeful.

It was OK. We were looked after. Ben was OK.

Feeling a bit tired now.

The flight wasn't too bad.

I was trying to get used to the jet-lag, pinning my eyes open!

Ben behaved himself so we did all right.

-Have you come for an adventure?

-Yes.

-Everything's an adventure with Ben.

Their future rested on this "adventure".

If Steph decided Australia wasn't for her, Helen would have a heartbreaking choice -

to give up her dream or leave her daughter behind in the UK.

The week was young and nobody knew where the road would take them.

The family's base for the week was a brand new town house in Redlands,

east of Brisbane.

-What do you think?

-Yeah. It's all right.

It's nice and roomy.

-It's nice. It's all brand new.

-It's clean-looking and fresh.

First impressions were good, but for Helen, the enormity of the choice ahead

was never far from her mind.

The biggest thing for me to come to Australia is -

without putting pressure on Steph - is her decision,

and whether she's going to stay at home or come to university here.

I think she's tending to go for university at home.

For me, that's the key factor.

If they're not as good, they don't live up to expectations,

it's a no-go completely.

At some point, she's got to fly the nest.

And, you know...

..I really don't know. I don't know.

Back in the UK, the Booths live in a four-bedroomed semi-detached house

at the end of a leafy country lane.

'They bought it nine years ago for £110,000

'and have spent 70,000 on renovations to make it their own.'

In Australia, Helen and Tim spent the day house-hunting

while Steph and Ben visited the local park.

They started in Victoria Point with this three-bedroomed town house

on the market for £194,000, well below their 220,000 budget.

Helen had high expectations.

-The estate's quite nice.

-Yeah. It is.

-It's smaller than I was expecting.

-Very small.

The kitchen's not too bad. Could do with a little bit of updating.

I'm surprised at how small... how expensive it is for the size.

Yeah. We wouldn't be rushing into buying it, I don't think.

They weren't impressed.

In the UK, their home is finished to a high standard but with the price

of Australian property, finding a house to match with the right amount of space looked like a tall order.

They're decent-sized bedrooms.

It doesn't blow me away.

It'd probably be better if it was all white, just feel brighter and cleaner.

With Helen and Tim less than excited by the inside,

the outside space may be more appealing.

-Garden's not too bad, size-wise.

-No. You could make it OK.

-Don't mind the outdoor space.

-No.

'I'm a bit disappointed, actually, with the Australian property.

'I'm a bit worried.'

We really don't want to mortgage ourselves up to the hilt.

The idea is that we live and not put all our money into a house.

A bit worried that value for money isn't what I was expecting.

If they were to find a house that felt like home, they'd need to spend more,

but they only had Tim's salary.

It's a nice suburban location. Garden looks nice.

Property two was a three-bedroomed detached house in Alexandra Hills.

It came with its own pool, and was on the market for £234,000,

14,000 more than they had planned to spend,

but maybe it was more in line with what they were looking for.

The room feels smaller than what I expected.

-I expected something bigger.

-Kitchen's VERY dated.

Either very dated or retro.

It feels a bit dirty and unclean.

At least it's three bedrooms, but...

They're not the biggest, are they?

-And there was only one bathroom.

-Oh, no. We couldn't live with this.

We'd fight for space.

No!

If Tim and Helen couldn't find a house at the right price,

the whole move would be in doubt - just the garden left to turn the property around.

The whole outdoors is a real social, family and entertaining area.

You could really enjoy this.

-Plenty of space for all of us.

-Yeah. I like this a lot.

Good.

But the outside wasn't enough to sway their opinion.

I am surprised by the cost of it. The property is quite small.

The inside lets it down. The kitchen's dated. The decor's dated.

The bathroom's really dated. So, yeah. Inside isn't great.

I'm optimistic that the third house will come up with something better.

Helen is determined not to let the dream slip through her fingers.

She hoped Australia would give them more for their money.

It was dawning on them that their budget would need to be stretched.

Property three was a four-bedroomed detached house

on the market for...

If Helen worked, they could afford a similar home.

-It's not the biggest living areas.

-It's not at all. No.

-It's a bit...dark.

-We've worked hard at home to open up space.

It's almost that this is exactly what we didn't want.

Yeah, I mean, for the price I would have expected...bigger!

As with many Australian houses, the outdoors was a selling point.

-It seems like a nice size garden.

-It is.

The best feature of the house.

-Shall we have a bit more of a look?

-Yeah.

'I'm absolutely not impressed by the houses we've seen so far.'

I think it's better than where we live.

So in terms of location, I like it.

But in terms of the decor and the layout, I don't like it at all.

The garden's all right. Beyond that, doesn't do it for me.

Helen and Tim were hopeful of finding the right house but were surprised at every turn.

They liked the outside space at each property,

but found the interiors small and dated.

If this was all they can afford, the move would be over.

How did they vote on property?

BOTH: UK.

-That doesn't mean we're not coming.

-It does mean you have to compromise.

We've got to go smaller.

-A newer property would be what we're looking for.

-I'm not certain.

-I quite like the older ones with more space outside.

-Oh!

There's a debate to be had!

In the UK, Tim had worked as a town planner for 15 years.

He hoped his skills would be in demand in Australia.

The move hinged on him getting a job to fund the lifestyle they want,

and Steph finding a university that matched what was on offer in the UK.

So we sent both of them to find out more.

The job is important.

For the first year, it'll probably be just my income,

while Helen looks after and settles Ben into the move.

I'm looking for some reassurance from the job meeting today

that they take on UK planners, the systems are the same, fundamentally,

and there are opportunities there.

Tim joined the Land Use Planning team

led by Wayne Dawson, to see how things were done in Australia.

We're talking about planning we're doing at the moment.

It's worthwhile to give you an overview of how we structurally operate.

We're looking at planning at a 25-year time horizon...

While Tim was getting the low-down, Steph met Dr Judith Seaboyer,

a lecturer in English at Queensland University,

to find out if it was right for her.

What would English literature here include?

In the first year, you get a taste for different things.

By the second year, you have a sense of what you really want to do.

So you can do a course in 18th-century literature or in Shakespeare or in tragic drama.

You have a lot of options in that way.

I'm going to be a foreign student. What are the cost implications?

University isn't free for Australians, but it will cost more

until you become an Australian resident.

The course structure seemed much the same as back in the UK,

but with the disadvantage of £11,000 annual college fees.

Tim needed a job that paid enough to support the family and meet the extra costs.

He spoke to Eleanor Neunan to get some answers.

I'll give you a picture as to where you might fit with the council here.

We find in Australia the public sector don't pay top dollar,

but they do offer a lot of flexibility.

So, senior planner, what sort of salary is that?

In English pounds, I'd say that would be around £38,000 to £45,000.

All right.

That was a pay cut of between £5,000 and £12,000.

With Helen giving up her job as a marketing consultant,

that was a major setback.

Tim is really the practical one.

He's the one that has to bring his career over here.

If he absolutely couldn't come here,

it would provide the deciding factor for us

on whether we could come out to Australia.

It's not all about money. The move's about a change in lifestyle,

not getting to retirement and not having done anything

but lived in the same place and worked 9 till 5.

There's clearly a balancing act between lifestyle

and the relaxation and adventure that Helen would like to see.

But if Steph didn't like Australian universities,

or the courses proved too expensive, she'd stay in the UK.

The university seemed really good.

The academic side as well as the social side of it was good.

It's easier to say whilst I'm here, "Yes.

"It's fine. Yeah. Australia, Australia."

Then it's, "What about my friends? All the things I like about England?"

Helen's dream wouldn't be the same without her only daughter.

Steph is, um...

You know, we're best friends and I just love having her around.

And, um...it's not just the fact of the independence,

she'll have wherever we go, and that's quite right,

it's just really hard to think she wouldn't be part of this

because she's such a big part of the family.

It's a huge decision.

-VOICE BREAKING:

-So I don't know.

I'd miss her terribly.

Mum's fallen in love with it, more than she had before she'd seen it.

So, that's...good.

I don't know. It's... I'm still undecided as to what I want to do.

Whether I want to stay in England or come here.

That's worrying, cos she's piling on the pressure a bit.

I don't think Mum would come - no matter what she said - without me.

If I don't come, I'm stopping her doing what she wants to do.

I still have to make sure the decision's right for me.

Whatever she decided, the future of the move was in Tim's hands.

Given the cost of property and the reduced salary,

would he vote for work Down Under?

Based on today's job meeting,

I really do like my job in the UK, working on the development side,

the cut and thrust, more than working for a local authority.

There are benefits - coming out here could aid the lifestyle move - and on that basis,

I will vote for...

..Australia.

Back in the UK, the Booths lived in a four-bedroomed house

which they'd extended and believed to be worth £240,000.

They would need every penny to afford a house

they liked in Australia.

We sent two local estate agents to give their opinion.

There were no guarantees they would get back the £70,000 they'd spent on it.

Nice sized room. Lovely fireplace.

Ben's crayon all over it!

Oh, what a fantastic room!

Light, bright.

Fabulous kitchen.

Really nice bedroom. Light, bright, great attention to detail.

Nice, big bathroom. Double shower.

You can even lie in the bath and enjoy the view.

Fabulous!

What we have here is a traditional three-bedroomed semi-detached

that's been extensively modernised.

I think it's going to appeal to a young family.

Good schools, good shops and good commuting links.

I would recommend it be valued in the region of £235,000.

For a quick sale, I'd suggest about 220.

From a price perspective,

I'd put this in the region of £245-£250.

To secure a quick sale, it may need to come to £235-£240,000.

But with that sort of market, as it is currently,

we should be able to secure a quick sale.

-So that's about what was expected, isn't it?

-Yeah.

-When we did it previously it was slightly higher, wasn't it?

-Yes.

But I'd be tempted to rent out and rent over here,

as opposed to doing a quick sale at home.

That was more or less what they expected

but with Helen giving up her £28,000 salary to look after Ben,

Tim's reduced earnings might not be enough.

We prepared a breakdown of their everyday living costs to see

if they could afford the life Helen dreamed of in Australia.

So we'd be halving our income there.

'Leccy is considerably more.

I tell you, it's nearly £4,000 outgoings for the UK

but £3,362 for Australia.

Oh, so we're actually making savings, then?

-No. That's a minus.

-Oh! That's what we'd be short, then.

-So we'd be short nearly £900.

-Yes.

To live in the lifestyle that we've currently got.

What none of this takes into account is Steph going to university.

In order to do it,

it would have to be that that first year was supported by savings,

coupled with me doing some freelance work in the evenings.

-Or...

-But then...

..what lifestyle is it when I come in and you go out the door?

I can work from home, like I do at the moment.

But to build up that client base would take some work.

Well, that's the challenge, isn't it?

Yeah. It is a big challenge.

'To afford the lifestyle she wanted,

'Helen would work evenings and weekends to make up the difference,

'which wasn't part of her plan.'

It's a little bit scary, isn't it?

There is that financial pressure.

You mull it over in your head and you see it in black and white.

Um... I think it's probably a point

that Helen hadn't fully appreciated.

Tim is obviously concerned that he thinks we're going to come over here

and we won't be able to live the lifestyle that we're really hoping.

I think he'll be cautious.

It'll be his one area of concern on that deciding factor, will we come over or not?

'This was a huge shock for the Booths.

'They'd be £900 a month worse off.

'But Helen still seemed undeterred.

'How did they vote on the cost of living?'

-UK.

-Australia.

I can't believe you're voting Australia!

-I don't believe you voted the UK!

-It's far too high.

We could go round the world.

-You don't think it's achievable?

-No.

-Well, I do. I disagree.

The Booths had a tough decision to make.

And seeing messages from family and friends would only make it harder.

Hello, Helen and Tim, Steph and Ben.

Hi, everyone!

Tim is very loyal, a good friend.

When Tim and Helen got married, Steph made a speech.

And it was so good, people still talk about it now.

But part of it was,

"My mum, she has a temper It must be her red hair

"But if you've got a problem She'll always be there."

Steph's a really bubbly girl.

She's got loads of friends.

-She's really easy to get on with. She's a good friend, isn't she?

-Yes.

Ben is such a cutie.

But I think he's got a bit of his mum's little temper!

< But he is a little love.

When they first mooted about going to Australia,

I said I didn't want to talk about it.

I didn't want to even consider it.

< We don't want them to go.

She needs to get it out of her system,

to see what it's all about, but I think she'd do well down there.

With Helen and Tim, when there is trouble in the family,

they are the first to come down.

-VOICE BREAKING:

-They're the first to come down to help.

I think Helen will find that hard, whatever.

I'd just miss them all, I really would.

The thought of them being thousands of miles away...

Oh!

-Make sure you thought of everything.

-Know that we're here.

< And if you need anything, you can ask us.

< We miss you lots and lots...

-STEPH SOBS < ..Bye!

-Bye!

-We'll be behind you no matter what.

-We'll always be here.

Make the right decision. Come home.

And talk to us about it. Yeah.

I don't know if we'd go to the airport because...

er...I think that would be a bit too much.

But I think I'd like to go up there a few days beforehand.

To see them before they did leave, like. You know?

I've got to get a hankie.

'That was heartbreaking, seeing Steph upset.'

You just...

You try and shelter them from everything,

and you feel that you're almost inflicting something on them.

'It's making me think maybe this decision is too early for Steph,'

to be putting her through emotional turmoil.

She should be just living without any pressures at this age.

Her reaction then really made me think that.

It was just I got upset because the things they were saying were nice.

When you see them, it's like,

"They're the people I'll be leaving behind."

It's just whether this adventure would be worth losing all that.

It's making me reconsider my decision.

My dream but, you know...

My dream wouldn't be anything without my children being happy,

or my family being happy.

That comes first and she was just so distressed so...

The Booth family face the hardest decision of their lives.

Could they balance the pull of leaving loved ones behind

with the opportunities Australia could offer?

What concerns me most

is that Tim will vote because he will want to do what makes me happy but, actually,

that would make me not happy because we equally need to be convinced.

Helen's dream rested on their decision.

We'll be voting...

ALL: Australia.

Yay!

-We're going!

-That's yay!

In 2010, the Booth family spent a week in Brisbane to find out

if it could live up to the dream Helen had since she was 18.

But the pressure was on daughter Steph to keep the family united.

And, despite having some doubts and emotional dilemmas,

the Booth family made a decision that would potentially

affect their lives forever.

After an emotional week for the whole family,

it was a unanimous vote for Oz

and they seemed set on a move Down Under.

But when we caught up with them a year later, had they made that final step?

It's Autumn 2011 and Helen, Tim and Ben - now four years old -

and Poppy the dog are still living in Ewloe near Chester.

And Steph has just left home

to become a student at Newcastle University.

So what's happened since we last saw them

and why haven't they moved to Australia?

We stayed in Australia for a good two-three weeks

and we managed to tour around

and get to know places and relax a little bit.

We all enjoyed our time in Australia.

I think, genuinely, we would have made the move

and made the most of it but a couple of weeks in,

Helen, over dinner one night in a restaurant,

admitted it was no longer her dream, as such.

It just actually didn't live up to expectations.

So cost of living was one thing but, actually,

the idea of the big outdoors adventure, etc...

I actually found Australia quite restrained

and I didn't think it was as adventurous...

As a family. I guess if you're single it would be different

but I don't think it was what I expected.

And from there, I think, it unravelled a little more

because Steph admitted she was quite happy in the UK

at that point in time and that she would have preferred to stay here.

I think she saw the benefits as well

and realised it wouldn't be that bad if we went

but I think the vote she made

was more for you and keeping us all together.

It appears the family voted for Australia

all for the sake of Helen's dream.

If my mum had decided to go to Australia, I'd have gone with her

and if I'd decided to stay in England

she would have stayed with me as well.

So it was just summing up what we both wanted.

When my mum said she didn't want to stay in Australia any more,

to say I was relieved would be an understatement.

I mean, it would have been great to live there. It really would.

But just the fact I don't have to give up all my life here.

I can do what I originally wanted to do. It was like a great feeling.

The Booth family were going to stick together, no matter what.

With Helen deciding to stay in the UK, did Australia turn out to be more of a nightmare than a dream?

I was taken by surprise as soon as we arrived in Australia.

I guess, if I'm truthful, I was initially disappointed

with how Americanised it was.

I guess I had this romantic notion about barbecues

and lobsters, etc, on the beach and it just wasn't that.

It was quite vast and, you know,

the villages and communities were very new

and it didn't have the culture that we take for granted in this country.

And that wasn't the only issue the family had with Australia.

The properties were seriously pants.

I mean, they were truly, truly awful!

And it was never to go and get a big, four-bedroomed detached.

It was never about that.

But I did kind of expect to have something without mildew

growing up walls and it was awful, really awful.

But Tim did find his skills could transfer

and would secure him the work he couldn't find in the UK.

The job wouldn't have paid as much as I'd been earning in the UK.

But then, equally, I had to accept that particular job

was going back into a local authority.

I felt could have easily settled in to a job at Redland.

So that side of it, actually, was quite comfortable.

It wouldn't have scared me.

That's one reason for voting Oz. There was no reason not to.

Australia provided Tim with the opportunity to find work

but has Helen's decision to stay in the UK left the family

back where they started?

Since we went out there in the April, I actually got a job

back in the north-west around the same time.

So I've been doing that now for 18 months.

It's the client and development side, so doing what I want.

It was just fantastic.

It's only half an hour up the road and, clearly, you know, he was able

to help with family life but also be there with the family as well.

I feel I'm there for Ben growing up,

whereas I felt I was missing out on things

and definitely Ben at that age -

you could see the closeness he had with Helen more than me

because I wasn't there during the week.

And, I mean, that tugs on your heartstrings.

So, yes, it was tough in that sense, completely, on the family.

Tim's new role in property development has resolved many issues

and they've avoided the heartache of leaving family

halfway around the world.

We knew we'd feel quite upset and, once you're in Australia,

you do realise how far away it is

and the time difference makes that further

because they're not at the end of the telephone when you want.

I think, for us, actually, none of us liked seeing the others distressed.

No.

So it wasn't so much the feedback through the video

-but it's upsetting Steph.

-Yes.

As a parent, you feel guilty your decisions are having an impact on your children's lives.

Steph was clearly distressed at the thought of moving to Australia.

-I don't know about distressed.

-Well, she got quite emotional, didn't she?

She would have been leaving her family, her friends.

It was a huge decision for Steph.

It was my dream, so, of course, I felt guilty.

And you know, as parents, I'd like to think both our children

get the idea that it's good to try something

and get that sense of adventure, as opposed to never doing something.

So if there was anything I'm justifying my guilt for, it's that!

When my mum saw how upset I was, that made her consider a lot, like, do I really want to do this?

For her and for me.

She's really close to her mum and my nan and grandad

and her brothers and stuff.

That really did make us think, like, do we want to leave all that behind?

Is it worth it? Obviously, I've left a lot behind coming to university

and things but it's just completely different to moving to Australia

and knowing you not going to see them for a couple of years,

whereas I'll see them in a couple of months, which is a lot different.

And you still feel that closeness, just being in the same country.

It's just nice to know they're two hours away on the train,

or just a phone call away if you need to speak to them.

I think it must be much harder if you actually emigrate

to actually, sort of, cut off the family completely.

It's a big sacrifice, I think, to say to grandparents,

actually, you know, you're taking the grandkids away, type of thing.

Although the family didn't emigrate to Australia,

Steph has moved on with life.

Steph was lucky enough to get a position at Newcastle.

So she started at the beginning of October.

And she's having a fantastic time.

She informs us she was born to be a student. I don't know what it means

but I'm sure it has to do with socialising and things!

So Steph has really settled in well and found her wings

and, you know, she's having a fantastic time.

Hello! Welcome to my humble home.

This is my student flat and where I'm living now.

This is our kitchen, where we do our cooking.

We don't do much of that, being students. It's all about takeaways.

Now I'll show you my lovely room. This is where I live.

These are all my letters from my lovely mum,

keeping me in touch and giving me post to open and all my friends from home.

This map just is where I've scratched off all the places

I've been travelling so far.

Australia, with Brisbane, along the east coast.

Since coming back from Australia, I completed the International Baccalaureate, like A-levels.

But I originally did it with the intention that

I might move to Australia cos it's an international course.

But then, obviously, through that we changed our minds,

stopped the visa process, and I decided to apply to universities

in England and I ended up here studying geography at Newcastle.

Not English, like I said I was going to do in Australia.

Change of heart! I'd still like to be a writer but travel writing now,

not really with the English. I like travelling a lot.

And being separated from her daughter

was always something that Helen feared.

The build up and thought of Steph not living here,

going off and being her own person, was much harder than when I've seen it

and I know she's settled and making friends and living her life.

And so that actually feels quite good

and we're proud she's done that and proud of her.

Even though Steph has gone to university here

and she's independent, it is still nice to know we'll be meeting up.

In fact, she's been gone three weeks

and she's coming back in a couple of weeks' time and that's quite nice.

Over there, that wouldn't have been an opportunity.

In fact, I can't even imagine

what that would have been like.

So, yeah.

Letting go of her daughter was one of the hardest things

Helen has had to do but how has Steph coped?

Not as tough as you'd imagine, leaving your parents and making a new life.

It's four hours away. You can always pop home if you need to.

They are always there on the phone

and it's just such a good life up here

and all the friends you make and the independence.

Studying a new subject is just great.

Things are looking good for the Booths and Australia seems to have

given them a new appreciation of their lives in the UK.

We perhaps realised we don't do that much at the weekend together,

when we could do in England

and take advantage of things that are close to us at home.

So I think it really did make Mum think about the stuff at home

and that the lifestyle could be improved in England,

rather than just moving to the other side of the world.

I think we do take for granted in this country,

or what we took for granted,

was how close we were to the rest of Europe

and how easy and cheap it is to get

on a plane to fly out to anywhere,

to absorb lots of different cultures and lifestyles

and, actually, it's things like that, on reflection,

you kind of would have missed without even realising it.

Australia was a great place but within the month we had there,

I don't think within two or three years we would have

necessarily experienced anything hugely different to what we did.

With their new outlook on life, only one question remains.

-Where next for the Booths?

-Plans for the future?

Ben has just started school and he's settled in to school.

We're trying to do some travelling, as much as we can,

and as Ben's older that's becoming much easier.

We're off to Thailand at Christmas.

So we're trying to travel as much as we can

that we would not have been able to do

if we had made that move out to Australia.

Once I've finished this degree in geography,

I'd like to become a travel writer,

make some documentaries,

travel the world, definitely go back and visit Australia again.

I mean, it was a beautiful place.

I'd like to explore more of it and when I'm older,

have family of my own, maybe I'll decide that it's my dream

to go there and drag my family over there!

Make them see whether they want to live there.

Although the travel bug is very much alive,

for the Booths, home in the UK is where the heart is.

I think Helen is much more calm and relaxed about what we've got

and we can lay to bed the idea of this dream of going to Australia.

She's been there, done it, seen it and didn't quite like it!

And she's not buying a ticket back.

Absolutely no regrets.

I had a fantastic time in Australia.

It's great memories we've taken from it

but now we've come back, we've got a great life.

So, you know, it's just making the most of what we've got.

So Australia did help the Booths decide on the future

they wanted but it was a future back in the UK

and with plenty of changes at home, and Steph happy at university,

it looks like they made the right choice after all.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd