I regret moving (back) to Australia

[GreenestGrass]

DP and I are both Australian. We did the typical young person thing of living in the UK and had the opportunity to extend our stay through work sponsorships and make it a more permanent move. For various reasons we decided to come back home to Australia, but as time goes by both of us feel increasingly regretful of our decision for a few reasons:

-Lower cost of living. I'm not saying living in the UK is cheap but my goodness, Australia is expensive. It really hit home for us when we moved back and were hit with prices for things.
-Lifestyle - we absolutely loved being able to travel easily and the access to different parts of the world. Australia feels so far away from everywhere and again, travelling internationally from here is super expensive. Cities in Australia also feel quite 'samey' and lacking character in comparison to the UK.
-Professional opportunities - with the much smaller population size, professional opportunities here in Australia just can't compare to what we had over there.

These are just a few of the reasons but overall we just preferred living there to here, and now there's not much we can do about it as it's unlikely we'd be able to start over again and also get the work permissions we'd need to legally work in the UK again.

Has anyone ever felt similar regrets? I'm doing my best to enjoy the things life in Australia has to offer but it does feel like we missed our chance a bit here :(

I enjoy watching "Wanted Down Under" and find it interesting that some people decide not to go over after all,while others are straight out of the trap! TBH wherever you live it has its ups and downs .Life is all peachy when abroad on your holidays .We have friends in US .We love it when there of course .Lots to see and do .Warm weather etc .However working conditions there are quite tough with minimal AL and ML as well. I think Australia looks a nice place and think the people emigrating are brave as it must be hard to leave your family .

Agree with @zafferana, why are a few posters citing 'kids can get to regularly swim in the open sea' as a reason to emigrate to Australia?

The UK is surrounded by bloody sea.

Also, NOBODY in the UK is more than 80 miles from the sea. (1.5 to 2 hours drive.)

AND a lot of people aren't that bothered about 'swimming in the open sea' anyway. Maybe kids enjoy a paddle, but they can do that in the UK.

Some people are so weird on here.

@HulaTheHedgehog

Agree with *@zafferana*, why are a few posters citing 'kids can get to regularly swim in the open sea' as a reason to emigrate to Australia?

The UK is surrounded by bloody sea.

Also, NOBODY in the UK is more than 80 miles from the sea. (1.5 to 2 hours drive.)

AND a lot of people aren't that bothered about 'swimming in the open sea' anyway. Maybe kids enjoy a paddle, but they can do that in the UK.

Some people are so weird on here.

That's a bit disingenuous. While I know wetsuits are a thing, you must see that there's a difference between sea swimming/beach culture in Australia and the UK?

Thank you for posting this OP.
I am Australian and have lived in London for 15 years. I have just booked one way flight back to Australia! I intend to move back permanently in October.

I was excited to book my ticket but am now deeply concerned ive made the wrong decision- for all the reasons you have listed.

I am now reconsidering my options- its such a difficult decision to make

AND a lot of people aren't that bothered about 'swimming in the open sea' anyway

Yeah, but it’s FUN for them. It’s not just a paddle, it’s diving through massive waves, surfing, boogie boarding.

It’s just a popular Australian leisure activity that appeals to many children. Unlike in the UK it’s warm enough to do it more than half of the year, all year round for the surfers.

It’s not something I considered on emigrating but it’s been a real joy watching them grow up with a love for and respect for the water.

If people in the UK are saying “because the Tate” as a reason they want to bring their kids up there, saying “because the beaches and swimming” as an Australian advantage isn’t “weird”.

I don’t know why everyone gets so defensive. The point about swimming is not about the specifics of swimming, it’s pointing out that on the ✅ side for Australia is that a healthy, outdoor, water dominated coastal lifestyle for children in a nice warm climate is on most Australians’ doorstep waiting to be used. So if that’s something you like or aspire to for your family, go for it. No one is saying “kids can’t swim in the UK, but they can in Australia.” But the realities of job structure and the way people live in the UK means that most people don’t ever get to enjoy this possible lifestyle, just like most people don’t spend their spare time going to museums. How many people live in London and just “drop in” to the Natural History Museum whenever they are free? Yet access to those places is used as an illustrative example of why someone might want to stay in the UK.

Having the coast “right there” and being able to enjoy it to its fullest in nice weather is just an illustrative example of why someone might be happy in Australia. If you’re not bothered by swimming in the sea, or think the North Sea or Irish Sea is a great place to swim and don’t see the problem, then there’s nothing to aspire to and you can just move past those posts [shrug].

@nolongersurprised

AND a lot of people aren't that bothered about 'swimming in the open sea' anyway

Yeah, but it’s FUN for them. It’s not just a paddle, it’s diving through massive waves, surfing, boogie boarding.

It’s just a popular Australian leisure activity that appeals to many children. Unlike in the UK it’s warm enough to do it more than half of the year, all year round for the surfers.

It’s not something I considered on emigrating but it’s been a real joy watching them grow up with a love for and respect for the water.

If people in the UK are saying “because the Tate” as a reason they want to bring their kids up there, saying “because the beaches and swimming” as an Australian advantage isn’t “weird”.

It’s really not just the Tate though even if that’s all you’re thinking of

It’s really not just the Tate though even if that’s all you’re thinking of

I think that’s just meant to be a flippant example.

The UK has history/culture. So does Australia, it’s just different.

Australia has beaches and swimming. So does the UK, it’s just different.

It’s just different examples of what people might feel is important to them.

Sea swimming, paddle boarding, kayaking, kite surfing etc are also popular leisure activities where I live..in the UK!

Haha we are reduced to

TATE vs. BEACH

Having said that, on a recent trip to Liverpool we enjoyed the Tate after a freezing cold walk along the waterfront with a bit of hail stinging our cheeks.

Anyway OP I hope you find a way of living with things and being happy in your unsettledness if it doesn’t go away altogether.

@OnTheHillNotOverIt

Haha we are reduced to

TATE vs. BEACH

Having said that, on a recent trip to Liverpool we enjoyed the Tate after a freezing cold walk along the waterfront with a bit of hail stinging our cheeks.

Anyway OP I hope you find a way of living with things and being happy in your unsettledness if it doesn’t go away altogether.

Ha yep it’s all we’ve got in London

@Helleofabore and others.
I don’t think it’s “high culture” ( art, theatre, music) people are talking about when they say they miss culture.

I love the look of Sydney on Married at First Sight it looks stunning as major cities go. But people complain that the only choice is city or suburbs really.
My small town has an Iron Age burial site in the main park, we have a choice of Roman or medieval towns nearby all places people live and work in normal. There’s, an interesting historic naval base with a Tudor warship but also passenger ships to the Isle of Wight and to France. There’s fantastically old yew forests but also the open grassland of the South Downs. This is all within a 20 mile radius and we take it for granted.

I think that’s what people mean by culture. The years of various peoples throwing ideas into the country.

@OnTheHillNotOverIt

Haha we are reduced to

TATE vs. BEACH

Having said that, on a recent trip to Liverpool we enjoyed the Tate after a freezing cold walk along the waterfront with a bit of hail stinging our cheeks.

Anyway OP I hope you find a way of living with things and being happy in your unsettledness if it doesn’t go away altogether.

No, no one has done this. The culture elements of the two countries have been compared. The outdoor lifestyles of the two countries have been compared.

Where culture has been compared to lifestyle is to point out the strange contradiction of how culture is deemed a worthy illustrative example of a point of difference, but lifestyle in some aspects isn’t. They’re both valid examples of what different people look for when weighing up options, so illustrating the specific Australian beach lifestyle (which people can experience the UK, but in a UK way) is no more “weird” than illustrating the British culture (which people can experience in Australia, but in an Australian way). They’re just different.

Sorry but Australia rejects ideas. All ideas get sold overseas. Virtually all of our intellectual future is lost from the moment they graduate as there are no prospects here. Most of our drinking water is owned by American companies (above and below ground), most of our beef is Chinese, Canadian and American-owned. Our arable land is almost entirely built on thanks to the ever-increasing need for identical McMansions and we don’t have lakes and river systems in the middle of the country to keep going. Just a giant, fucking desert with a big rock. We’ve fucked the rivers we do have in the name of “progress” and we’ve doctored the electoral system to ensure that democracy will never be a thing, we’ve ignored all advice regarding climate change, we have the hole in the ozone layer circling over the southern cities and causing serious impacts on our health system, we make token efforts to acknowledge our Indigenous people at every football match, but we’re not really doing much to catch up with the rest of the western world and sign a treaty and ditch the farsical celebration of the day of invasion that has only been a national holiday since 1994 anyway.

Most of our drinking water is owned by American companies (above and below ground)

Can you cite a source for this? Most water utilities are state or local government owned.

most of our beef is Chinese

And a source for this too.

It’s pretty easy to list off all the negatives of both countries but you could at least be truthful.

I may be being obtuse here but can anyone explain for me:

"Australia would be great for an outdoor/sporty type- its quite an easy existence - relatively shallow-but its expensive (i'm in sydney) and the lifestyle does rely on the outdoors/good weather - there's not a lot of options in the cold/rain - my son isn't an outdoors/sporty kid and he finds it quite dull- there's a lot fewer options/opportunities than back in the UK."

"I don't think Australia is some kind of cultural dead zone or backwater - I just personally prefer the types of activities available in the UK."

Can anyone explain to me the type of activities that people are missing in Australia or that are lacking over there, or that there are more of in the UK? Do you mean things like music and drama? I want to understand. I have always very much wanted to live in Australia or somewhere similar (although think I have no chance of being able to unfortunately :( ).

Hi @skybluee I can answer your question from my perspective, having lived in Sydney for a few years. I think what Australia is missing is the breadth of things to do. Whereas in the UK, even in smaller towns and cities there might be a range of hobbies or things to get involved with, from photography clubs to amdram or choirs, in Australia there seemed to be far fewer options.

[quote lightisnotwhite]**@Helleofabore and others.
I don’t think it’s “high culture” ( art, theatre, music) people are talking about when they say they miss culture.

I love the look of Sydney on Married at First Sight it looks stunning as major cities go. But people complain that the only choice is city or suburbs really.
My small town has an Iron Age burial site in the main park, we have a choice of Roman or medieval towns nearby all places people live and work in normal. There’s, an interesting historic naval base with a Tudor warship but also passenger ships to the Isle of Wight and to France. There’s fantastically old yew forests but also the open grassland of the South Downs. This is all within a 20 mile radius and we take it for granted.

I think that’s what people mean by culture. The years of various peoples throwing ideas into the country.[/quote]
Well, for me it is partly art, theatre and music I mean by 'culture'. But I absolutely agree with you about the richness of culture in its broadest form. I really notice the lack of that in other cities/countries. It's interesting that while it doesn't or needn't have a material impact on one's life, it does somehow seem to add to life.

Sorry - @NotBadConsidering
You’re right. Most of the FRESH water.
www.nswfarmers.org.au/NSWFA/Posts/The_Farmer/Environment/Who_owns_Australias_land_and_water.aspx
Brazil owns 25% of our Beef now thanks to a new deal and then a heap more is Chinese, Japanese and American owned www.ethical.org.au/3.4.2/get-informed/issues/australian-beef/

Oooh, don’t forget that our government had the bright idea of selling the entire Port of Darwin to a company owned by the Chinese Government too.

@Nothappyatwork
Trixiefirecracker
I meant culture in that it seems only the very big cities that have much going on, whereas here even the little towns has theatres, festivals, literary festivals etc and museums. Our village has an arts hub, that wasn’t my experience of towns in Australia…but happy to be proved wrong?
Just off the top of my head the one waroona arts festival in WA, Mandurah crab fest attracts lots of local artists.
Let’s just call a spade a spade hear what they actually mean is they’re gone to Australia and it’s not like England and they’re disappointed well boo fucking hoo, the Aussies are gonna be devastated 🙄
That doesn’t seem a lot to be fair, I could think of hundreds,you can’t tell me that every outback town has a threaten and a cinema etc? plus I live next to a stone circle in a 1750s listed cottage near a medieval castle, down the road from a Victorian stately home. I think culturally it’s just much richer here….(and I’ve lived in Australia for some time).

Thanks for your answers. So essentially if someone doesn't really like the outdoorsy life/beach/sports and say they had a niche hobby or any indoor hobby like painting or just wanted to try something different they might struggle, as everyone is into sports? Which, I can imagine, if you don't particularly like being outside and everyone else does, could be quite isolating.

I love being outside and the weather is a big factor for me, but I also wouldn't like to be somewhere there is no culture and that feels a bit soulless.

I have travelled all over the world I have lived in three continents and I can absolutely and categorically promise you that life is what you make it where ever you go it’s no good blaming yhe location

@Nothappyatwork

I have travelled all over the world I have lived in three continents and I can absolutely and categorically promise you that life is what you make it where ever you go it’s no good blaming yhe location

Is that you Kim Kardashian?

Again?

Agree with @zafferana, why are a few posters citing 'kids can get to regularly swim in the open sea' as a reason to emigrate to Australia? confused

The UK is surrounded by bloody sea.

Because kids in many parts of Australia can swim in the sea all the time, not just the one or two hot days you get in the UK? As a pp said, why is it any more strange than saying you want to bring up kids in the UK because of "culture"? And kids in this part of the world want to do more than "paddle" in the sea.

Some people apparently can't live without old buildings, theatre etc. - others want sunshine, warmth and an outdoors life.