Three years ago today, I got a bit emotional as I bid farewell to the family home and friends of 22 years. Joseph and I were en route on an epic father/son adventure to the Georgian Caucasus Mountains and after that I was heading off to an even greater adventure – a new job in a new country, all sight unseen.

If you gamble, you either win or lose. Three years ago, Padma, Joseph and I gambled everything we had. We sold our beloved home in the Adelaide Hills, packed everything we owned into a 40-foot sea container, shut down my business, bid our dear friends farewell and moved to Germany.

We threw the dice … but we won.

I moved to Germany on a career mission as I was keen to get involved with an international organisation committed to ensuring food security now and in the future. That mission has certainly been fulfilled many times over. I got dealt four aces.

Three years ago though, Padma and I had no idea how how fulfilling life in Germany would be for us. Since moving here, we have immersed ourselves head first into European culture and made the most of every minute we have lived here. We have made lifelong friends who will always remain at our sides. We plopped ourselves down in a little German village overlooking the Rhine. It wasn’t long before the neighbourhood opened its arms to the Aussies who can’t speak German. We gambled on immersing ourselves in a German village … and we won.

Joseph took the plunge as well and left his friends and aspiring rock band in Adelaide for a new adventure. He has made the most of it and completed his university degree, travelled throughout Europe, learned to become independent and made lifelong friends. He took a chance in life and hit pay dirt.

We all gambled and we hit the jackpot.

But now it’s time to go home.

There’s always a push and pull to any change in life. Let’s set aside the ‘push’ from Germany which is employment related and focus on the positive ‘pull’ to Australia. Padma and I are moving to her hometown of Perth where the extended family, including her 91-year-old mother, awaits us as well as a group of lifelong friends developed during our days in Syria. We’ll set up temporary residence while we explore the greater Perth area for a permanent home or in my case a garden with a house attached. I’m not ready for retirement so I’ll revive my business and perhaps will appreciate it a bit more as I realise the best boss I’ve ever had in my career is me. Joseph will most likely move to Melbourne close to his older brother, Xander, some more extended family and lots of friends in the music scene.

This will be the sixth time in 27 years that Padma and I have left home, family and security and plunged ourselves into the unknown. I don’t know what kind of insanity we suffer from. Three years ago today, I was emotional when leaving Adelaide. I can’t imagine the powerful emotions I’ll feel when we leave our home and friends in Oberwinter at the end of July and depart Germany in mid-September. But as always we will look forward to planting some roots in Western Australia and enjoying all of the adventures that life will toss out to us.