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 :(

Australia will be even less bearable soon…

All of Australia? (Oh. that is right, except for Tasmanian and New Zealand) How interesting and not at all hyperbolic.

Maybe I missed the memo, I had better let all my family and friends know and cancel my plans for moving back. Or maybe, Australians have been facing global warming for quite a while and are quite well aware of it. And will adapt and change.

Like the rest of the planet.

i think Northern Europe is set to be MUCH more pleasant than any part of Oz. (Payback for “Poms”, the silliest word.

Close brackets -

)

And maybe pretty apt in this case though.

People make such a funny fuss about the heat in Australia. I’ve lived here for 15 years and yes, we have hot summers but most days are between 24-30 degrees, then a few days of 31-35 and then the occasional 40+ days. It’s not THAT bad. It’s not like the Middle East. This is Sydney and Melbourne is even cooler.

Why do “Ozzies” make up words and shorten others illogically?

www.studiesinaustralia.com/Blog/about-australia/the-modern-guide-to-aussie-slang

tenor.com/search/australian-gifs

My favourite!

Some words have a consistent meaning what ever country you are in .... I can think of quite a few at the moment.

My favourite is the word 'winner'! It has all types of meanings, and I think that one is very appropriate here. 'Legend' is another.

Aussies, sweetie. It's a really logical contraction.

But to answer your question - I don't know, why do Brits do the same? Why is slang?

You seem crazy insecure about Australia and Australians. Why is that?

Helleofabore

Can I ask what you base this on please? What changes do you you believe will make it so much more ‘uninhabitable’ in 30 years?

The sort of question Scott Morrison would ask. And if he asked me I suppose my answer would be 'lemmings'.

TomPinch

Yeah? Nah!

Your previous answers pretty much covered it. And my previous post works here too.

Tell you what. If you are living in Australia, you should probably leave and go and live somewhere more to your taste.

I know, totally agree. Plus we are used to the warmer temperatures. Anything under 25°C and I have to put a hoodie on, 35°C to me is bliss! 40’s is when it starts getting uncomfortable.

We had 7°C a few weeks ago very early in the morning and my goodness, it took everything to drag my butt out of bed. It felt like -12! Yet when I used to walk around New York at 1°C, it felt warm. You just do adjust and adapt very quickly.

I used to think about moving back to England and fantasised about sitting in a meadow on a deck chair in the sun listening to the Archers while sipping pimms, but the grey skies and brown sea, crowds, packed roads and general pessimistic outlook or most of the population would make me pine for here.

I love being British though. When I visit or see a fellow Brit, it always reminds me of the quirky behaviour of British people, I just love that. We’re pretty cute and our sarcastic, dry and witty humour tops any other nations imo. And the history of the county, good and bad, is just simply amazing.

Ha ha coming from the people who invaded and are still living off the spoils of the countless and ongoing trauma the British empire caused worldwide.

Yesterday, I wrote a post in answer to all those complaining about ‘culture’ (as narrowly defined as art, history, theatre, music, old buildings) and how Australia lacks anywhere near enough in some people’s minds. With some suggestions as to why that was so.

Then I realised, those complaining are not really going to understand. Otherwise, they would see the hypocrisy of what they were saying in the first place. I am not really sure they quite get the ‘why’ Europe has all of those things they love. From any aspect.

Best leave them to it really.

This. The utter hypocrisy on MN about this, when it was the British that did the most damage and set up a terrible legacy.

And then those British (and Irish) magically became Australians, New Zealanders, Canadians etc and completely unassociated with it, and not the beneficiaries of it in any way.

*For example, my son injured his finger playing football. We took him to A &E and they triaged him straight away and then we waited for a while.

Nurse came over and apologised, said that more serious patients had come in and if we wanted to we could go over the road and pay for an X ray (of which about 80% would be refunded) or equally we were welcome to wait and have a free one*

for comparison in the Uk: my ds injured a finger. We went to paeds a&e, were triaged Immediately and sent to X ray by the triage nurse. X rayed, back to a&e for a short wait while the radiologist checked the x-ray. Yep, broken. Strapped up by a nurse practitioner, quick chat with a doc, referred to physio and fracture clinic. Took a couple of hours.

oh and they emailed me the X-ray so he could show his mates 😂.

not quite the queue of ambulances the media like to sell…

And then those British (and Irish) magically became Australians, New Zealanders, Canadians etc and completely unassociated with it, and not the beneficiaries of it in any way.

Do you actually believe this? Or just continuing the ‘bantz’?

Or are you applying this on just an individual level and believe that in 1901 all internationally owned investment ceased and Britain no longer had any profit from the colony they set up? Just like all other European colonies after the colony was independent.

Or do you believe also that the legacy stopped on declaration of independence and ‘all care, no responsibility’ kicked in then… how has that worked elsewhere?

I am stuck in the long queue for skin cancer treatment on the NHS that was diagnosed within 2 days in Australia on holiday…. Because the NHS can’t accept an Australian biopsy and specialist medical report.

It really is a pointless to get into a ‘this is shit’ back and forth when it comes to which is better - Australia or UK.

Sorry, ‘it really is pointless’. No random ‘a’…. Although I am a Queenslander….

Came on to see why this post suddenly cropped up again after several months.

I have never been to Australia but would love to go - maybe one day. I do have several friends and family who emigrated there. Some loved the life style and stayed and others didn't and returned to the UK (well England) and are happier here. Differing opinions - just like on MN!

These kinds of posts really are quite ignorant of the reconciliation movements in countries like Canada and Australia, the campaigns for constitutional change to ensure a permanent indigenous voice in the legislature, traditional ownership, etc.

It's far from perfect, it has its detractors and deniers and indigenous people still suffer generational levels of injustice and hardship. But saying that Australians, Canadians etc see themselves as 'completely unassociated' with it is pretty ignorant.

Quite a contrast from the 'Don't say bad things about Empire, it makes us feel bad and besides there we're good aspects' from some quarters and popular publications in the UK. I haven't seen a serious reconciliation movement in the UK in nearly 20 years here...

I wonder if those complaining about a lack of culture in Australia are defining culture as European. Australia is one of the most culturally diverse places in the world - around 30% of Australians were born overseas (compared to around 15% in the UK and US) and is home to the oldest continuously existing culture anywhere in the world.

I think people don't understand that the