Would you pay £20k for a year in Sydney?

[DilemmaDame]

Not an AIBU but a WWYD.

Have NC’d for this as very outing.

No kids (and don't want any)

29 and 31

Married

One of us has a City-type job; one of us has a media-type job.

Own two properties in London: one flat (rented to long-term tenant) and one house (would rent out if accepted posting)

Together currently earn £165,000

Spouse with City-type job has been offered 12 – 24 month posting to Sydney with right of return to UK (would slot back into same role / position / team).

Should be good career-wise (expanding network, new work, new challenges, fresh environment)

Company would cover both spouses’ flights (at start and end of posting), shipping allowance for personal possessions, apartment for 2 weeks while a rental is sorted out, but no other benefits / perks.

The catch is that spouse with City-type job would need to accept a drop in salary (£20k p.a.) for duration of stay in Sydney.

Mortgages back in UK can still be covered easily, and there would still be plenty to live on and to enjoy a nice lifestyle with, but £20k is a huge sum of money.

If you were me / us, WWYD?

*My DH and I were there for 2 weeks, and had to call the police on one occasion as a licensed taxi driver was trying to extort more money out of us, and ordered us out of his taxi on the side of a motorway where he began threatening us with violence. Thankfully the police tracked us down and were fabulous.

We also witnessed a few drunken racist hooligans barging into people on purpose before yelling racial abuse at them and trying to start fights - and this was in the daytime.

We also saw some men openly dealing drugs in the street, and another man urinating on a train.*

I’ve seen and experienced this is London and in many other areas of the UK.

The taxi scam happens everywhere unfortunately, as does violent racism.

I’m surprised the drug dealing and urinating even stood out tbh. I can’t think of a single Western city I’ve visited where I haven’t seen plenty of that. When I lived in London I used to see multiple drug deals daily (dozens if I was in a sketchy area), there were stretches of pavement near my work that I’d specifically avoid because the whole area reeked of piss, and many times I couldn’t take a seat on the underground because someone had pissed or vomited everywhere.

I'd go for the experience, but you might well notice an impact in your finances.

We worked there for 8 years; were sponsored, had fairly high salaries and were eligible for Living Away From Home Allowance (which helped enormously).

Having said that, rents and food were horrendously expensive in Sydney.
It's an expensive city.

Sydney is an amazing city - a perfect place for a year long adventure. Yes it is expensive but worth it. The ignorance on this thread makes me so glad that I moved here from the UK (not from people who have been here/live here, we are all entitled to a different opinion). It always cracks me up when English people talk about the Aussies being racist and rude. Pot, kettle.

OutyMcOutface do fuck off with your stupid, insulting generalisations. I live in a major Australian city and I can assure you I am perfectly well aware of "how to behave myself" and am neither "extremely inconsiderate" nor "have very little awareness of others' needs".

Perhaps what you perceive as a lack of manners is just a natural reaction to your rude and abrasive attitude?

I kinda suspect Outy is one of those people who doesn’t realise that if they’re encountering the same issues everywhere, maybe the problem is them.

I think you often regret the things you don't do and there are some risk adverse people on this thread. Bearing in mind you have jobs to come back to what are you waiting for? Two years will go in a flash and what an experience. I loved Sydney when I visited.

London has completely lost its way. It cannot decide what it wants to be. I speak as an ex Londoner as well..

Go - even if your career is slightly interrupted, at your ages it really would be a tiny blip.

Life is for living, this is a massive opportunity to see a different part of the world, go and enjoy yourselves.

Outy thanks for the clarification. Where I'm from there's a very strong sense of community and everyone looks out for each other. That being said, I lived in Melbourne for ten years and loved it. (I have to agree re Sydney though, am not a fan but then my Victorian/Melbourne bias may be coming to the fore there!)

@Althea Australians (those who live in cities) are less friendly than Brits-I grew up there. Believe, I can see a huge difference.

Interesting. My experience (lived there until my late 20s, rural, regional and two east coast capitals, have lived in England now for more than a decade) is exactly the opposite. Much harder to develop new friendships in England, especially outside central London. People are much less welcoming to newcomers, and there is less sense of community (including urban communities, though I am fortunate where I live now).

They are also extremely inconsiderate and have very little awareness of other's needs or how to behave themselves.

Interesting again. My Australian family regularly comment on how rude and thoughtless they find many British people, both here and at home, and how they find things that are fairly accepted here quite troubling and occasionally disgusting. But they get over it, because Australia is not Little Britain and they recognise that different nationalities value different things, and embrace difference rather than writing off an entire people.

The only positive is that Australians are less likely to judge if you are rude yourself because they wouldn't even notice in the first place.

Oh sweetheart. We judge you. Trust me.

I wouldn't do it again unless I was living in a 'rural' area on the edge of which city it was that I needed access to.

I don’t think you know what ‘rural’ means.

Degust, I loved living in Melbourne because of the really strong sense of local communities there, even without kids. Different areas have (or had!) real identities and so welcoming to a newbie starting out there knowing absolutely nobody.

One of my British friends in Australia warned me before I moved here that I might find it quite odd and not as ‘welcoming’, in particular about people inviting you to their homes - which I found definitely true; British people tend to live their social lives outside their own homes much more than Australians do; you need to know someone pretty well here before you’d be invited to their home for a drink/meal. That’s changed since having kids, but before then I definitely found it to be true.

I wouldn’t go, not because of the money but because I didn’t really like Sydney. Way prefer London for culture and tolerance.

Just my experience though - you may well love it! Good luck with your decision

Jassy I agree wholeheartedly! In my experience people are much more friendly in Australia than the southeast of the UK. That's not to say I don't have some wonderful friends here, I do - but coming from country oz where pretty much anyone drops in whenever they like, I was a tiny bit taken aback at how guarded people are about inviting you to their home. (Possibly something to do with the size of houses here?)

Hi all so sorry been slammed at work - I just wanted to say I am reading all of these v helpful views/input carefully

Much appreciated

As a couple you’re really wealthy so can easily afford to do it, if you want to.

Dilemma, having been through this process happy if you wanted to email me with any questions.

I'd be gone in a heartbeat! What a fabulous opportunity.

We just came back from 2 years in Sydney, on similar income. I took a “pay cut” to move out there as job in Sydney paid less than equivalent in London but honestly can say we didn’t notice, and we had a very very nice lifestyle.

We lived Lower North Shore, so 30 mins door to door in CBD, 2 bedroom townhouse and 20 mins drive to Manly beach. Rent is expensive but you get so much more for your money (and we could have gone cheaper had we wanted to). Travel within Sydney- so much cheaper than London. Groceries were more expansive, but I found eating out less expensive - so many lovely small cafes and the quality of food was so much better. Yes, Sydney is smaller and less to do culturally, but many more opportunities to be outside, whether that’s walking,hiking, surfing or scuba diving etc. Amazing countryside and scenery within a few hours drive.

I found Australia a hard working culture, especially in finance, and people put in long hours. On plus side, weekends always felt like you were on holiday! People were very friendly and welcoming up to a point- I agree with pp who say that it’s hard to get break into established circles of friends there, hence my close friend were other expats.

Oh and re insects- I saw large spiders maybe 2-3 times in 2 years and snakes only at the zoo! Saw some (non dangerous) sharks.

I miss Australia loads, we had family reasons to come home and were slightly older than you when we went out there. I often wonder if we had gone out there when we were younger, if we would have stayed longer. But it was the best experience I’ve ever had.

GO
Chance may never come again

Wild horses wouldn't drag me to Oz for 2 years ... But if you want to go, then go.

Sydney is very expensive though.

As has been said, you're not spending £20K on a trip to Oz are you?

Very misleading title.

Agree, go and do it, very few people would get this opportunity.

We are just returning from a year abroad (somewhere less desirable than Aus) and it was a fantastic experience.

In short, you’d be nuts to turn down this opportunity.

I wouldn’t knock back a chance to work in a different country. What an opportunity!

There is the sunshine and nicer weather, gorgeous Sydney harbour, Sydney weekend markets and harbourside suburbs to explore. The Blue Mountains/ Hunter Valley ( Wine ) and Southern Highlands, the sandy beaches, coastlines. There are museums, art galleries, Theatre and musicals. There is tons to do!

What is rude differs from culture to culture. Rudeness is often in the perception from our own cultural norms. When working with people from different culture & nationalities I try to take a step back and read what is just my perception and what is actual rudeness (eg see how other people from the same nationality/culture react to the behaviour).

Always remember that your own national & cultural norms may come across as rude to someone else

I think living and working abroad is a great opportunity. A chance to and experience something different. Just doing normal every day things becomes an adventure and a challenge.

Since moving back to the UK I have become a lot more sympathetic towards people who struggle with local bureaucracy because I know I struggled with it abroad.

What I have noticed is a lot of english people have a tendency to say one thing and mean another. They will censor what they say to you out of being polite.

Whereas in the Australian and American cultures, there is a tendacy to speak their minds and sometimes they are blunt. I can appreciate that the English might be taken back by such openness and directness.

DH is English and wouldn’t openly say the things I would to others despite there being no rudeness or malice to it. It’s like being polite to the point of walking on egg shells.

It’s like how Americans are proud to be Americans and Aussies are proud to be Aussies. The English are embarrassed to be proud of being English. Which is really such a shame!

Amarriedcatlady that is exactly what I meant!