Jealousy of friend emigrating

[Bookridden]

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.

If I was going to make assumptions about British People based on threads that appear here you all:

Need to LTB

Fret when someone knocks on your door so you don't answer

Your neighbours are either busybodies or make a noise and are therefore anti social. Diagram obligatory.

Very Eurocentric "I wouldn't want to live away from Europe" I couldn't bear to live somewhere that didn't have history or culture" etc. News flash! all countries whether they are old or new have a history. Just because it's not your Eurocentric one doesn't make them any less valid.

The racism threads. "Is Britain racist"? Usually followed by posters saying oh no there's no racism here even despite being told by many non white posters about the racism they've experienced in Britain.

Brexit. Need I say more?

Meghan Markle threads see above.

Your media is appalling I. E the hounding of Princess Diana, Meghan Markle, etc. Granted, Oz media isn't the greatest either but the UK is home of The Daily Mail and The Sun and we all know what they're like.

OP what exactly do you want to get out of this thread? Do you want to feel smug and satisfied that where your friend is moving to isn't perfect? (nowhere is).

Once your smugness and satisfaction has abated then what? Your friend will still be going and you will still be where you are. Instead of asking people to find reasons for why my country and my people are so awful spend time with your friend and create lasting memories that you'll always remember.

You won't know when you might see her again and wouldn't you want her to have a happy send off? She's taking a big leap into the unknown and her gushing is probably a sign of nervous excitement.

I can assure you we're a friendly bunch over here and are very welcoming of everyone (except if you behave like a dickhead) yes there is racism (no where is immune from it even the UK) but we are a lot more accepting than some are claiming.

I wish your friend the best of luck on her new adventure and hopefully you can visit one day so you can see for yourself how nice and welcoming we can be.

Great, another thread giving people an excuse to trot out the usual stereotypes about Australia. I am lucky enough to live a great life in Sydney and the idea of having to live in the UK again would give me the horrors but each to their own.

A lot of the comments made me smile, as I moved to Australia 12 years ago and some of them are just perceptions. I hardly ever see big spiders and then the other day a huntsman fell onto my arm while I was driving the car!
Your friend has a long road ahead of her, and it takes hard work to build a new life.
There will be moments that will be amazing for her, but others that will test her.
I still get homesick, but there is no way I’ll ever live back in the UK again. I love to visit but my life is here now.

Honestly, living abroad is much like living in UK but with better weather. We still have to go to work, do house chores, have the same worries about money and crime. Yes our quality of life is better and we spend more time outdoors but it's not all sunshine and beaches.

Hppe this helps op.
Hello from Perth where I've always lived and it's 36⁰ today and not getting any cooler and I always pine to live in a mid sized UK city in a cosy terrace house where i can put the beer outside to chill on xmas day, and wear a big warm coat, and drive across the entire country in a day or 2 and catch the train to London or Paris for the weekend and see a great live band every night of the week and hear lots of fantastic regional accents and incomparable British slang and sit in a British pub rather than a beer garden full of tattooed bogans and go to the British museum and walk along magnificent cliffs and see green hills not endless flat brown land and feel cool drizzle on my face not flaming sunrays.
I've only ever visited the UK, i must have some kind of genetic memory from my great grandparents or something.
Oh and Perth is probably one of Australia's nicest most affordable cities. Sydney is an absolute shithole, less livable and affordable than London with very rude locals!
You could always organise a house-exchange with someone like me, and we could both conclude that there's no place like home!

The sun damage thing is fact, too. I envy British women their beautiful skin and it upsets me to see pommy backpackers tanning themselves at the beach.

Sorry OP, I hate it here in the UK. I literally have nothing good to say about it. At a stretch I might point out that it’s a ‘safe’ country to live in and provides more opportunities that many countries.

When comparing with other Western countries though, I’d move in a heartbeat if I could. Somewhere with a hot climate and a beach/outdoor/ocean culture would be perfect for me.

I could just picture myself living in a colourful Caribbean style bungalow in the Florida Keys…not too done up, no point due to the hurricanes. Sandy floors even inside the house a little, and the odd lizard living behind the fridge. Perfect. I’d have a small motorboat to take out fishing/diving most days and I’d drive a big Ford F150 so I could through my spear gun and paddle board in the back.

Yep, I’d be jealous too 😂 but Id also be happy for my friend.

Oh fantastic another thread for bashing Australia.
The UK has some of the most stuck up, pompous and self aggrandising pp I have ever met.
far better off away from all that.

Friends of mine made the move. The outdoor life means camping and outdoor sports - sea swimming, surfing etc. - so they love it. It sound amazing for the right type.

But two things they complain about compare to UK cities at least. Unless you’re a pub goer, night life is limited: no local restaurant serving food after 9pm, no theatres, no exhibitions or author talks.. Everything is geared towards early rising and early to bed.

The second thing is that Australians rarely socialise at home. They tend to meet at the beach or parks but despite the image of the barbies, they rarely invite non-family over.

When last here, they were stunned at how many electric cars there are. These are rare in Australia.

There’s a lot wrong with the UK but there’s also a lot of good things. There’s so much culture that we take for granted, our public transport system is wonderful in places , the focus on green initiatives (more needed), we can travel cheaply and our weather is a good compromise in winter and summer generally.

Not too sure about Sydney as somewhere to live, so no comment but am very content in Melbourne. That life on the beach malarkey the OP mentions; while most Australians live on what looks like the coast on maps, they actually don't, and to live in sight of the water costs a fortune. If I stand on tiptoe, I can see a sliver of sea from my balcony. It's worth $10,000 on the price of my house

What PPs have said about sun damage is true: I've learned to say nothing in the age-guessing game as so many Aussies look way older than they are, and I'm talking here about comfortably-off people, with indoor jobs, not the horny-handed sons of toil. And yes, I'm often complimented on my English skin, though I gave it some hammer on holidays in my pre-Aussie days.

I'm glad for your friend that; she's thrilled to be coming to this wide brown land, but don't waste your time envying her, consider for yourself why you feel discontented.

By the way, Australia does have culture, lots of it of the kind I take it you mean: art galleries/theatre/ballet/ opera, as well being home to the world's longest continuous culture, the Indigenous Australians.

But two things they complain about compare to UK cities at least. Unless you’re a pub goer, night life is limited: no local restaurant serving food after 9pm, no theatres, no exhibitions or author talks.. Everything is geared towards early rising and early to bed

Ignore this. It is categorically not true.

Spiders.

@NOTANUM funny I have been to 17 live
shows, operas, theatre ect this year… unless I imagined it all. Also managed to see some exhibitions as well. But hey you seem to have
a clear knowledge of Australian life so tell me, how can I have seen all these things if Australia has no theatre and live shows etc?

We are clearly imagining it - where the heck did they get that info from?! Our local bookshop always has an author in doing talks and book signings. I can’t keep up with the exhibitions in the local art galleries (yes, plural). There’s an abundance of theatres and live shows, any genre you can think up, there’ll be something for it. So many are free and family orientated too.

When British people tell me that Aus lacks culture, I always smile to myself. Australia is culturally rich. We are not a ‘new’ country. That sentiment is actually very racist. Something else that we get accused of too, ironically. Brit culture is literally watching corrie or eastenders or going to the local pub to complain about life, maybe a pub quiz once in a while.

Someone said BBQs are rife but only family are invited?! Mmmm ok. I’m at a bbq most weekends and have no family whatsoever here.

Spiders and snakes and sharks haha! I honestly saw more in the UK than here, but again, okay.

Most of this is a load of shite, but oh well, I'll bite.

Australia also has lush landscapes. They are just different to yours. The jellyfish are way up north, nowhere near Sydney (which is relevant here because that's where the friend is moving to).

Yes the fires are shite but they don't happen every summer (in that scale).

I agree about the faster ageing and the men, no arguments here. Sunscreen!!

As for british people dying in the currents...well, that's not really Australia's fault is it? I mean there are warnings everywhere. If you aren't used to this kind of swimming - learn.

This made me laugh and I'm British!

Culture is more than that here though. Where were you in the U.K.? Did you stay in one place

These threads always descend into people sniping about U.K.. Granted if you lived a depressing life in U.K. that’s all you did.

But everyone I know who moved from Aus moved to London and there’s loads going on.

Anyway enjoy where you are. Op just so you know these threads bring out the worst.

There's more to Sydney than beaches. You can live in Sydney and be 40km from a beach and never visit one in your life. Far more to Sydney than places like Manly and Bondi (most overrated beach in Australia in my opinion) but for some reason Brits love to flock there.

Hmmm, I would say that there's more sniping at Australia, NZ and even the US...are we reading the same thread?

Same old all you do is watch Corrie. Bit silly.

Anyway I love London and although can see positives of Aus London is in my heart.

All this competition always happens and ok it’s a way to feel better but honestly both countries can be great and have a lot to offer.

I agree. This thread is helping no one. I understand it's not always easy when you have kids and commitments. It doesn't matter where you live, everyone has ups and downs. It does strike me OP maybe you wish for something exciting to look forward to like your friend. Is there something you've always longed to do in life and not had the opportunity? Maybe it's something you could look at pursuing over the next few months.

Without resorting to stereotypes about Britain/Oz, the main reason not to envy your friend OP is that she is presumably leaving all of her family and friends in the UK for a leap into the unknown. And she may miss them and be homesick etc. Lots of people find themselves in this position and, when kids are in the equation they can feel trapped. Also, life is going to have lots of mundane aspects wherever you are.

Yes I agree...with Australia it's always oh deadly animals, it's too hot, etc...frustrating. Ok Rupert Murdoch is definitely toxic!

All countries have their good and bad, and suit different personalities. One isn't better or worse than the other.

Rupert Murdoch gave up Australian Citizenship in 1985 when he moved to the United States.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rupert_Murdoch

I lived in Sydney and the weather was crap a LOT of the time. We had so much fog in the Spring. Way more than I've ever seen in the UK.

I did love it for many many reasons but yes, Sydney is expensive, weather is a bit extreme, it's big and you probably won't live near the beach. Also agree with the PP who said that Aussies are lovely but hard to really get to know.

Unless you live very very centrally it's also quite suburban. It suits a lot of people as you get a lot of space - big plots and properties- but not much in the way of character.