We moved from Melbourne area to up the Murray last October. The IL's live on the far side of Melbourne, my Mum lives near the city, and my Dad in the northern 'burbs of Melb. My Dad never sees his grandchildren anyway, but is the most able to travel (as yet haven't seen him up here, nor heard from him), Mum has made the trip by train a few times, and she loves it (I *think* she wishes she could move here, but probably never will as my brother lives with her), and the IL's don't like to travel too far (but we speak on the phone a lot, and also with Mum).

The IL's were happy for us (even though they would see the grandkids less), the Man was unsure of telling them, but they knew we were looking for a tree change for ages. I only told my Mum on the phone AFTER we moved up here... (Ok, probably not the best way of doing it). The IL's are also looking at moving up here.

We were also determined to make our move before DD started school (this year), so the move in October was good. Unfortunately DD only did the first term or so of kinder last year before we moved in April, then moved up here in October. We were too slack to enrol her at new kinders, but she was ready for school, and really looking forward to it. I didn't want to have to change her schools after she started.

We only have two friends up here (which we had before we moved), and it is a bit hard to make new friends. We are glad we moved (even after a huge issue with my new "fabulous" job, which was one reason why we moved here ). The Man is finding it really hard to find a job, we're not sure if it's because we're from "out of town", so employment is a factor of where you move. There are lots of jobs advertised here, but they are all listed through a few job agencies, and unless you're listed with Centrelink as a jobseeker, the agencies are unwilling to help you get a job (including forwarding resumes most of the time)!

Small town mentality is very alive, and very well. Sorry, I have got off track, but just wanted to give you a few things to think about. How to tell them? You could start by raising it as an idea, before you say "we are definitely moving". Make sure you acknowledge the distance, and visits would be less, but point to the upside of modern technology (like skype as mentioned above), and propose a possible future move for them close to where you're going.

Aside from that, stay positive, this move is for you and your family. Good luck with it.