[niggles]

My husband is competely smitten with the idea of moving to the US for a job opportunity there. I'm the practical one and so have hundreds of questions before I can decide how I feel about it. And despite usually feeling like I have a decent general knowkedge I now feel like I know nex to nothing.

The moving part doesn't concern me too much. He'd be sponsored for a visa, and potentially one that would allow me to work too, though without support of family and friends I'm not sure how that would work with a 1 year old and a 5 year old starting school.

He'd need to negotiate salary and I'm really unclear on the cost of living comparisons. We'd be in Boston which I've read is a fairly expensive city but Perth is certainly not cheap either. I'm just not sure where to start with getting an accurate sense of what our budget would look like.

Not to mention suburbs, schools, types of dwellings and transport. I'm drowning in questions and don't know where to start but DH is so excited I'd love to be able to put them to rest and get on board with making it work!

So who has done it? Who is doing it? What experiences can you share with me? And what are my chances of finding work in social justice education that I love as much as the job I'd be giving up here?

[purplekitty]

It was a long time ago for us so I can't be of much practical help ,but it was an experience I would not have missed for anything.

Boston is a beautiful place in beautiful New England and so many places you can travel to from there.

America is welcoming and friendly ,generally, much like Australia although there are a couple of culture shocks.

[baddmammajamma]

A few quick thoughts...

We have had the chance to live internationally (I am a Californian but met my Aussie husband in the U.S., we lived in NYC, then Singapore & are now in Sydney), and for us, it has been a fabulous opportunity to see the world, advance career prospects, and gain a wider vista than just our own familiar turf.

So if you are open to an adventure, and also have the prospect of returning to Perth or other part of Australia should you not want to stay abroad, I'd say go for it.

Boston is an amazing beautiful, culturally rich city (although VERY cold winters -- ass-freezingly cold), with some lovely suburbs and great schools. You'd have to do deeper analysis than just some of the online calculators, but a quick search shows that Boston should be a fair bit cheaper than Perth on consumer goods, rents (unless you are smack in the middle of the city), utilities et al.

http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compa...y2=Boston%2C+MA

A few things you can do to start to get a grip on what would be involved:

* Get a clear sense from your husband's employer about the details of what a mobility package would look like. For instance, does it include private health insurance (most Americans who have insurance get it through their employers -- and if you have to pay yourself, it's going to be a big cost)? Does it cover trips home? Do they help settling in (e.g pairing you up with a good rental agent?) With tax preparation? That sort of thing. There should be some EBers living in the U.S. or who have lived in the U.S. who can share their perspectives (there's an expat forum on EB that you might want to check out):
http://www.essentialbaby.com.au/forums/ind...hp?showforum=26

* Get clarity of the visa situation (his and yours)

* Also, you should check out Mates Up Over (the sister site to Yanks Down Under), for Aussies who are living or aspire to live in the U.S. Very helpful crew! http://www.matesupover.com/forum.php

* The American version of EB is BabyCenter.com -- it's much larger, but it has a lot of specialized groups & very nice regulars. You would have no trouble connecting with fellow expats (to be) there as well as mums in the Boston area. Here's the Boston board (there are heaps of others):
http://community.babycenter.com/groups/a36.../boston_parents

* I have several friends in the Boston 'burbs, including one very close friend who moved there from London (American/British husband) not knowing a single soul. They are thriving in Sudbury (suburb). I would be more than happy to put you in direct contact with a few Boston mums who could help you think about where to live (family friends, good public schools, good day care options, etc.)

Let me know if I can be of help!

BMJ

This post has been edited by baddmammajamma: 27/01/2013, 01:34 PM

[niggles]

Thank you so much to you both. That really gives me something to get started on. It's just all a bit of a shock....time for some more reading.