Jealousy of friend emigrating

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A friend is emigrating to Sydney, Australia in January. I'm pretty envious of her chance for a fresh start, life on the beach, apparently amazing standard of living etc etc. I really want to give my head a wobble and stop feeling jealous. Please point out some reasons why life in the UK might be better. (Should say that I hate the heat, am fat and menopausal, love culture and city life so probably am better suited to UK life. Aren't I? AREN'T I???)

Hit me with your best tips for any of the following:
Loving life in the UK
Not thinking life in Oz is perfect
Not feeling really dull in comparison with her jetsetter lifestyle

Thank you.

All the wildlife in Australia seems to be designed to maim and kill you in horrible ways...

@Emmamoo89 do you know what the mat pay is like in aus? My sister got 2 months at basic pay! I’d rather take the 9 months we get here thanks.

It’s almost as if some people have never heard of culture shock.

Hardly surprising that some Brits move to Oz, realise it’s a very different culture, don’t like it so much and move home. Likewise, some Ozzies head to the UK, and after a while, also realise life is better at home.

It doesn’t mean one country is better or worse.

It just means it’s home.

Mine is much better in the UK than I’d receive at home. You also need to have worked for your employer for 12 months in Australia to receive any maternity leave (paid or unpaid).

Nursery (daycare) places are also like gold dust in Australia. You literally put your name down once you’ve got two lines on a stick and pray that something comes available by the time baby is 9/12 months old.

You get fewer annual leave days in Australia. Some employers also make you work a full year to accrue them before you’re allowed to take any holiday!

I don't recognise Australia from the descriptions in this post, although I'm sitting in Melbourne!

I have a very nice quality of life here versus London, WFH part of the week, work in a very diverse and respectful company...etc.

I would say that the grass isn't greener anywhere. There are things that I miss in the UK but you have to make it work where you are and choose to be happy.

I loved New Zealand when I visited.

Australia though is not for me.

Just to clarify for everyone that is saying they have to pay for healthcare etc. I don’t pay when I see my GP or have an ultrasound/X-ray/pap smear, blood tests or any other kind of tests done. I have recently had a procedure done in hospital, all bulk billed. You don’t pay in public hospitals. Also I think Australia & UK have reciprocal health care arrangements.

I can also see a GP at short notice, same day.

I appreciate people may have different experiences but I’ve lived here my whole life so I feel like I have a good idea of how things work.

And yes it is bloody hot in summer! But I have air conditioning, as do a lot of people.

Sweeping generalisations there 😂

An employer can't make you wait 12 months to take leave. You accrue from 1st day of employment, and are entitled to take it, assuming it works for the business also.

You do carry forward annual leave is Aus, unlike the UK, and I'm lucky I get 25 days annual leave, plus public holidays.

We also have long service leave where you get 3 months full pay leave when you've worked for the same company for 10 years.

I used to live in Sydney, I’m now in another Aussie city and I do like it here but nowhere is perfect so, OP, content yourself with this -

Sydney does have great weather but is also bizarrely windy. And I never had to deal with smoke from bushfires when I was in London.

MacDonalds no longer put lettuce in their burgers because it is too expensive (floods have ruined lettuce crops this year).

Seriously, iceberg lettuce cost $7.50 in a standard supermarket earlier this year. I no longer eat salad. Your friend will get fat because she has to eat chocolate instead!

Aussies are lovely people but it is hard to make friends. (They tend to stay in the same area so have a longstanding friendship group which can be hard to break into).

Sydney house prices are extortionate. It is not unknown/quite common to offer more than the asking price for a rental to secure a house or fiat.

They call flats ‘units’ which is just weird!

Few people actually live in walking distance of the beach in Sydney. Public transport is generally crap and she will want or need a car. And parking prices by the beach make house prices look reasonable.

Your friend will enjoy Sydney but life isn’t going to be a cheap day out at the beach.

My sister went to visit a friend who had emigrated to Australia a few years ago.

She said the best part about the trip was the stopover at Singapore Airport and the thought of doing it again on the way home was the only thing that got her through three very, very long weeks

Australia is HUGELY sexist. I mean 1930's sexist. And skin cancer, aging quicker. Very very expensive.

No one will say "Ah yeah" at you. Ever.

Ha this made me laugh. 😂Actually I love an "ah yeah" but 😂

I'm not a huge Sydney fan. I much prefer Melbourne. A good friend of mine moved to Sydney (from Melbourne but she's originally from England as her family emigrated when she was a teen) and I'm visiting her in March. I have the arse about it frankly as I'd rather go back to Melbourne. My friend loves the Sydney life but the whole beach life thing? (she lives in Manly). It's just meh. Hate sand. Really hate sand. And don't even get me started on the sea. I wouldn't get it in. Australia had more shark attacks (fatal ones) last year than they've had in years. Why would you get in that water?!!

My friend gets frustrated at Australia being so far from everywhere else which means expensive and time consuming to go abroad. Which probably partly explains why there's a lot of casual racism in Australia.

Slightly randomly, toothpaste is really bloody expensive in Australia. Like 2-3 times the price in the UK!

In the UK we have an Ozone layer.

I’m Australian, so no sweeping generalisations here.

I can assure you that employers can make you work 12 months before leave; my last employer (large listed company) required it.

la Nina is giving us crazy weather, it’s been a cool spring/ summer.

Used to watch Neighbours. People still fall Ill, have affairs, businesses fail, have accidents etc. Not everything is golden.

Like a previous poster I lived in Florida then New York, I enjoyed it! But it’s very different to being on holiday and after a few years I really missed the UK…
I missed… some of these are random!

Our food, so much crap out there
Cold winter walks with a pub lunch
How we treat animals and our high welfare farming standards
my local scarecrow festival in my village
decent cheese
sense of humour
pretty landscapes
cheap groceries
NHS
homeless problem in the states is awful, drug use also awful
I saw more racism there, people were openly rude about Muslims, I missed how inclusive we actually are
Maternity rights much better here
British sports (cricket, rugby, boat race)
Our journalism (newspapers, national radio, the BBC)
M and S, actually very affordable healthy quick food in general!
Australia I’ve heard so many of the issues listed in this thread from others.

You need to look at Fairwork.gov.au

I can assure you that annual leave can be taken as soon as it's accrued. Your 'large listed company' had an illegal policy.

Look, your jealousy's not about Australia so stop bashing it. These comments are appallingly inaccurate, offensive and rasict.

She could be going anywhere & you'd feel the same. It's about your friend being bold, taking the leap off on a new adventure, while you feel like your left behind. I've felt it. Taking the safe option while others fly off into the unknown, and often being pointed out that we're 'still here'. It's just a choice she's making to live elsewhere.

It might work, it might not. Visit. Enjoy the holiday. (We're usually pretty awesome, and nothing like most comments here!) Travel more yourself. Do new things. Whatever makes you feel like you're living a good life.

Loving all the the posts from people who have not spent more than a week in Australia.

Having lived there, I'd emigrate in a shot. I even found myself an Australian DP to facilitate the process. Only problem is he'd never go back. He loves our history and culture and says it would be career suicide for him.

As for the poster talking about lettuces- my BIL was over a few months ago and said exactly the same. He couldn't believe we could buy an iceberg for 45p!

I missed my family and friends. And Jaffa cakes.

Coles stock Jaffa Cakes. $3 a box.

We emigrated here without visiting (Melbourne) and bounced around the outer suburbs for a while but then we settled in the west about 10 years ago. Wouldn't live anywhere else and apart from a few family in the UK don't miss anything else. Yes we pay for healthcare but very short waiting periods, can visit any doctor when needed. Life is very relaxed, people are easy going and will talk to you in the street, shops etc. I read a lot of the posts on Mumsnet and think that a lot of the thinks that wind people up in the UK, Aussies wouldn't give a second thought to. Not saying that the grass is always greener (usually brown here) but these are my thoughts and experiences.

As a mixed race person, I really wouldn't want to live there. I understand the racism is more overt than in the UK. At least here it's supposed to be politically incorrect. And I hate spiders, especially large furry ones. Neither could I get used to Christmas day in summer. It's supposed to be cold.

I'm fairly sure you're white.

I loved Australia when we went on an extended holiday. It felt amazing to be there and visit the east coast. but we stayed with friends for about 2 weeks in Sydney as part of our stay and you see that life is just life. They were getting up super early (5am) to travel 1.5 hours on the train to be at their desk for 8am (in the boiling heat) then not home until 7.30. This is akin probably to living in a London/ city outer suburbs- but I would live there either. Everything was expensive and travelling out of the country was a full on holiday instead of a long weekend to Rome.

I lived in another European country to my home one for 15 years and moved home with my family 2 years ago. We had a lovely life but when it came down to it connections and family won. We're so glad we came home.

Op it sounds like you're 'jealous' of the adventure rather than the place. Create your own adventure. Shake things up, do something different!