We left ‘horrible’ Australia and moved back to Scotland with our kids after just 18 months. This is why we’ve come back – and think everyone should do the same

Scottish high school sweethearts Ruthie Ellis and John first backpacked around Australia in 2005, having always dreamed of moving Down Under for good.

After settling down, buying a house and having children in Dunbar, they felt that dream slipping away, so they decided to make it a reality and move.

In September 2019, Ruthie, 37, was granted a permanent residency visa as a midwife, but was unable to fly for three months because she was pregnant with her third child.

After she gave birth, they decided to persevere and sold their house, packed their belongings and moved to Sydney in January 2020.

Unfortunately, it was the ‘worst time’ to move. Most of the country was ablaze with wildfires and the Covid pandemic had just begun.

“It was terrifying. The sky was black, smoke everywhere, and a few weeks later we heard about the disease abroad and I thought, ‘Oh my god, what’s happening?’” she told FEMAIL.

Despite Australia’s beauty and laid-back lifestyle, the family moved back to Scotland in August 2021. This move is being taken by many due to the rising cost of living.

But now they are back and they emphasize that the grass is not always greener abroad.

Ruthie laughed about the family’s adventurous nature, describing themselves as “ping-pongers” because they moved all over the world.

Breathtaking beaches, extraordinary landscapes and new places to explore appealed to the couple. They have been together for 21 years and have three children: Brooke, 16, Alfie, 11 and Jonah, four.

“The weather in Australia is absolutely fantastic, it’s lovely. We spend so much time outside, whereas in Scotland you get into a bad habit of coming home from work and staying indoors,” she said.

‘We don’t do that here – we’re always outside, in the park or on the beach, and we’re always looking for an activity to do together as a family.

‘So it’s a huge change and we’re much more active here, even if it’s just unconsciously.’

As for other cultural differences, Ruthie joked about the “weird” Australian habit of not wearing shoes in public – especially in the supermarket. Otherwise, she’s totally into it.

Before leaving Scotland, family and friends questioned whether it was wise to move abroad with a newborn baby.

“When I was pregnant, people would say, ‘What are you doing? Why are you leaving?’ And I would say, ‘It’s going to be okay, I’m really strong and resilient,’” she said.

But the move was much more challenging than expected.

“When the pandemic hit, I was homeschooling and breastfeeding a newborn, and I thought maybe I wasn’t as strong as I thought I was,” she said.

The strict lockdown also affected Ruthie’s mental health and at times she wished she could go back home.

When their eldest daughter Brooke became very ill and struggled in school, Ruthie considered moving.

“We put so much time, effort and money into the process of getting here in the beginning,” she said.

‘Finally I said to John, “I can’t do this anymore. I have to go home.” He was absolutely devastated. I felt like a failure because we had made all these plans to start a new life and it was just a disaster.

“We had some fun, but it was a terrible time for everyone. It was really hard to make friends then and there were no mother and baby groups.”

So the family packed up and moved back to Scotland in August 2021. But it wasn’t the same.

The family was struggling and homeless for nine months due to the housing crisis, so they stayed with Ruthie’s sister.

But it was a wise decision, because Brooke, now 16, was diagnosed with epilepsy in January 2022.

“She was sitting on the couch in my sister’s living room on a Sunday morning. She walked to the side and I looked at her and said, ‘Oh my God.’ Her face was all twisted up. It was like an exorcism. She turned blue in the face,” Ruthie recalled.

“All of a sudden she started shaking, which I now know was a tonic-clonic seizure. I thought she was having a stroke. I thought she was going to die in my arms.”

The attacks occur randomly and Brooke has suffered minor injuries as she has no control over when she will be struck again.

Ruthie said she could “fall” at any time without warning, which means planning vacations, trips or even going to school is terrifying.

To stabilize it, she can now only take dozens of tablets a week. She will suffer from epilepsy for the rest of her life.

The 18 months following Brooke’s diagnosis were incredibly traumatic for the whole family. Ruthie felt she could not have made it without the support of her family in Scotland.

Ruthie has no regrets about the decision to move back to Scotland, which allowed them to give Brooke the care and support she needed during this difficult time.

“We were definitely in the right place. Yes, it cost us a lot of money, but I felt like it was meant to be. We couldn’t have gotten through the trauma without family,” she said.

The couple even bought a house in Scotland, which they still own to this day. However, the downward spiral of Brooke’s condition caused Ruthie to consider moving back to Australia.

“She was spending all her time in her room and wasn’t happy at school – I hated seeing her like that. So I told John we should travel more and go back to Australia. He was delighted because he was so upset to go home when we left,” Ruthie said.

In December 2023, the couple decided to move back to Australia for the second time.

They landed on the Gold Coast two weeks ago and are now fully accustomed to the plan to explore other parts of the country.

Ruthie is also getting started and so far the family has explored the entire east coast, from Cairns to Sydney.

At this point, the couple aren’t sure whether they’ll stay Down Under ‘for good’, but it’s certainly a goal.

“I’ve learned never to make assumptions. You don’t know what’s going to happen,” she said.

‘I used to think that by the time I was 50 I wouldn’t have a mortgage or a big car, but in recent years our view of life and what wealth means has changed completely.’

“Wealth for us now is experiences. That’s what I want life to be about. When you’ve been through trauma, you want to live.”

But Ruthie understands that things can change at any moment and their goal now is to see as much of Australia as possible.

In terms of money, she hasn’t added up how much money they spent on their move abroad twice, but she estimates it’s about $50,000.

She urges those who want to follow in her footsteps to ‘grab the opportunity with both hands’.

For this family of five, this was the adventure of a lifetime.