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 :(

[quote Trixiefirecracker]@SquirrelG there are definitely posters from other countries criticising the U.K. Dont panic.[/quote]
How rude was that comment? Always the go-to for not engaging with the poster's essential point which is the difference in purpose and results for your link and the ones about Australia: accuse them of being emotional.

@echt - yes, some posters just don't "get it" so come out with this nonsense to try and justify the blatant superiority complex so many have about the UK.

😂

Each country has their benefits. And I suppose to a degree it is what you make it.

Exactly. And if you can't completely filter out the aspects you don't like, you can minimise your exposure or actively work against them. When I'm in Sydney I give the heavy drinking scene a very wide berth in favour of harbourside hikes, beach swims and dinners with friends. I get what I want from Sydney and filter out the crap.

I do feel for expats and returnees, tho. If we're torn between two places how do we know if we are making the most of our one life? I still wonder if I would have had a better career in the UK. To be in one place at one time -- that's the tragedy of the human condition.

I don’t blame you OP. I’m Australian and lived here all my life but husband born in UK so lots of holidays to England. If I could leave Australia I would, nothing like it used to be. Our government has made me embarrassed for my country.

To be in one place at one time -- that's the tragedy of the human condition.

You’re right and that’s really resonated groovergirl

@Aldilogue

I don’t blame you OP. I’m Australian and lived here all my life but husband born in UK so lots of holidays to England. If I could leave Australia I would, nothing like it used to be. Our government has made me embarrassed for my country.

And where's this wonderful place you'd like to go? Because the government in the UK has certainly embarrassed the UK. And turned the country into somewhere I never want to live in again.

You can't judge a place by a few holidays. Live there, deal with it day in day out.

@DowningStreetParty

To be in one place at one time -- that's the tragedy of the human condition.

You’re right and that’s really resonated groovergirl

Agreed. I think this is fundamentally what is bothering me - that no matter what, I will feel something is missing. I've experienced both and I miss the UK and all it has to offer precisely because it is so different to Australia. But if I try to move back to the UK I'll no doubt miss things here too.

I didn’t say UK was wonderful, settle down.
I’m not sure where I’d go because it’s difficult to escape bad governments anywhere.

We lived in New Zealand for five years and sometimes regret coming back to the UK, but overall I think it was the right decision. NZ was just so isolated from anywhere to be able to travel. I love the seasons in the Uk, even the winter. I could never cope with the heat in Australia.

Hi - I lived in Sydney for 9 years and it was a huge decision to come back to UK probably biggest decision of my life (basically the other way Round) I think the decision came down to 3 things 1) work opportunities - the UK tends to be the global centre for companies or its NY which means time zones are pretty good and you can fly if needed. This just gives you acccess to a lot more work if you are a career person 2) family - we are both British and just couldn’t accept that our children wouldn’t know their grand parents or uncles or cousins etc to us it felt selfish to stay. The 24 he flight is fine when your adults but with 2 kids it’s horrible and expensive 3) lifestyle - I loved the sunshine and beaches but as I got older it does get a bit boring and isn’t very comfortable or exciting anymore. I loved being back and going to RA or south bank or just something with a diff flavour like Notting hill.I also loved the feeling of being back in Europe - Paris, Rome, Madrid totally took this for granted in my 20s. It’s so tough but also so personal. Your gut is usually right on these things.

I lived in Australia for a time. I felt very cut off from the rest of the world and ,missed the old buildings and multiple European cultures on your doorstep. I love the hundreds of years of architecture and the variation in communities.

I would love to live in Australia (too old now) I'm fascinated by the people , the lifestyle, I love watching Australian TV programmes. The only problem I think is that it is a very long way away from the UK, and its not possible to see family back home regularly. A very long flight!!

Have you been? If not there’s a very good chance that, apart from the obvious few places, it won’t live up to your expectations. I went there for a try out visit and found I had no desire to move there. You really can feel cut off from the rest of the world when you’re used to having Europe on your doorstep and the people were not particularly fascinating (no offence to Australians). I was glad to get back to Europe.

Google The castle and watch that, it’s a bloody good, some might say documentary about life in Australia.

Ummmm! No.

I knew a bloke who went for a try out and couldn't deal with the flies, said they were everywhere.

As someone currently living in Australia, I’m reading this thread with interest.

Flies everywhere?! Haha the ignorance, I mean, Australia is the size of Europe, but okay. There’s a few places in WA that are overrun with flies, but on the east coast, there’s probably fewer flies in our summer than I ever experienced in a British summer. Plus the flies are so docile that you can just do what Jackie Chan did in karate kid, and grab them with your chopsticks.

It’s also not hot everywhere either. Some mountains are freezing all year round and often covered in snow (Aussie Alps).

I do miss impromptu flights to Europe though. I think that’s all I miss about England these days. Love to visit but I personally couldn’t live there again, and I fully understand why some people couldn’t feel they’d enjoy living in Aus.

We are moving to they Cayman Islands next year and I know already I’m going to miss Aus so much.

Yes it's good, and no it's not a documentary, nor representative of life in Australia.

Plus the flies are so docile that you can just do what Jackie Chan did in karate kid, and grab them with your chopsticks

This made me laugh, it's so true: the big, brown, dopy flies. And yes, far less hassle than in the UK as they are very seasonal, and a bit thick and we have fly screens.

And nor is Priscilla, Strictly ballroom, Muriel’s wedding and Wolf Creek. Strangely enough. Nor is babe.

And yes, there are flies, but how many differs on season and where you are. There is plenty of wildlife diversity and it isn’t hard to find.

And if people didn’t meet fascinating a Australians, maybe that says more about them than Australians. Just like here in the UK.

I have lived for a long time now in the UK and I could sit here and list a page of differences and downsides. Just like there are downsides to living in Australia.

There are many aspects not comparable, of course there is. But both countries, like all countries, reflect what opportunities people make for themselves.

This feels pretty accurate.

I grew up rural, went to school in a regional city, lived in two state capitals as an adult and now live in London, so I've got a pretty good handle on the diversity of Australian life. And if you want flies, I can recommend rural Queensland in summer. We'd have to whack each other on the back to get the hundreds of flies off and then dash in the screen door before the settled again.

I'm home for the first time since the pandemic and it still does feel like home, got a strong sense of familiarity and belonging that I don't feel in the UK. Right now having a bit of a crisis of whether we should stay in the UK or move home where we have a lot more family. But my husband and kids are English and we have good, stable jobs that are basically head office-style jobs which limits where we could live in Australia. And I'm under no illusion that my husband would feel as alien and disconnected living in Australia as I often do in the UK.

And if you want flies, I can recommend rural Queensland in summer.

Sounds remarkably similar to my background.

But we didn’t have fly screens….

And not being able to get to family when you needed to or wanted to during Covid was bloody hard for everyone. We have moved back and forth twice now. Not because we didn’t love either country but for family.

No, most people do not hate the UK. It punches above its weight and is a vibrant and central part of the world.

Australia’s sharks, horrendous snakes and horrific spiders would make living there an impossibility for many. It’s also less cultural in an international sense. Basically it’s big, on the periphery and duller because of that.

Thank you, OP - it certainly made a change from the usual ‘The U.K. is shit, where can I go and live that’s not shit,’ type posts.

Though having said that, I do hope you will cease to regret your move soon.