I'm definitely being unreasonable! Comparing lives with Australians!

[teulie]

Watched a lot of Love Island Australia and MAFS Australia this year and follow a lot of the people from it now. Seeing all their stories all year and today for NYE, the sunshine, the beaches, the groups of girls all just having the best time being young in such a beautiful country with the best sort of lifestyle and it makes me feel sad!

I'm in my late twenties married with two kids, boring job, normal family life style but I look and think god could I of done that? Could life of been like that?

One of my old friends is currently in Australia so I'm seeing their insta stories all day everyday and it's made the pining worse than ever, I've never even been there and I find myself just wishing I could do life again and be born there

I've lived in three countries, the UK, Ireland, and now Western Australia. All countries have their plusses and minuses, but my quality of life here is infinitely better than anywhere else I have lived, and my only regret is that I didn't move here sooner. I don't recognise a lot of the bollocks spouted on this thread (often by people who clearly haven't been here (ugly furniture WTF?) and bad food (huh?) for example. I earn about twice what I would earn in the UK, my power bills are practically zero because I have solar, and I have a beautiful house with a pool near the beach, that I could never have afforded in the UK. Of course there are some things I miss from the UK (Sunday newspapers, M & S food hall and my mum for example), but I wouldn't live in the UK again for a million quid. I'm not going to be rude about it though, I had a ball living in London but I like it better here.

But wasn't that based on events from centuries ago? Obviously awful, but not sure you can blame current Sydneysiders for them.

For a more recent BBC documentary (as you like them so much), try "70 Years On: Partition Stories" to see what the British did in India.

The issue for the OP was the dissatisfaction of how her life has turned out. If the social media she followed had been California or Florida, it would be that she is pining for instead.
A lot will depend on her situation, but once you have kids, the reality is that options are limited.
I got sucked into the 'have kids young and you can do things as you will still be young' fallacy. Due to poor decision-making, I will never realise my pre-kid dreams. I do get down over that. If I could turn back the clock, I wouldn't have had kids.

Delete Instagram.

Australia exists still is there it's real, save up and go? Go and follow a dream and travel a bit, I know it's easier say but if you really want Something I'm sure you could afford flights for yourself and maybe travel.

I've been hated the sexist backwards male attitudes and casual racism.

@Mikimoto love the brackets!

Oh God you again. That is historical.
If we are going to do that, how about you have a wee think about how the UK got it's wealth. Cough.cough. Not by being "nice" to people of other cultures. If you've got a chip on your shoulder about your heritage being based on violence and racism that's on you. ( considered handing back those Elgin marbles yet, or the Aboriginal artefacts you stole) Still keep telling you that despite the awful UK influence , Australia is one if not the most harmonious and multicultural countries in the world. One third of people are born overseas ( that means not in Australia). over half have parents born overseas. Have a crack at Japan . Now they are racist!
Oh and if we are recommending tv shows I suggest you watch "Stuff the British Stole" ABC TV. Enjoy.

I think it’s awful Australia forced the British to make The Black and White Minstrel Show for twenty years. Typical backwards Australian racism.

Oh here we go, can't people think of a better way of persuading someone that life in the UK can be great without dissing Australia? <yawn>

Op, what do you value the most? If you have a close, loving relationship with your family, then Australia will be torture for you. Starting afresh and needing to make friends is really hard, whether you try to do it in the UK or in Australia.

There are positives and negatives to both countries.

I'm in my 50s and lived in the UK for nearly 20 years.

I miss it at times, but am glad I'm back in Australia. Overall I've decided I'm a warmer weather person. But if my family were in the UK then I would have stayed there.

I lived in an area of the UK that was very car reliant, so where I am now in Australia is an improvement. Of course when I lived in London I didn't even need a car.

I think for me the biggest difference is that low income in Australia is much higher than in the UK. I suspect the really high incomes are better in the UK.
That's why people say Australia is more affordable, because it is more affordable for average earners, and even for low income earners. That is not to say that it is cheap to live here. Rent has gone crazy, building companies are going bankrupt etc. housing is a real issue.

For those totally reliant on welfare both systems suck, but Australia seems to suck a little less.

The health system isn't on its knees like in the UK, but still has its problems.

I'm very grateful that school intake is based on catchment in Australia, and the school has to give your DC a place if you live in the catchment. It makes things so much easier. My DSs had to be driven to school in the UK, but walk here.

I'm also grateful that there is a culture of children living at home when they go to uni, so my DC won't be saddled with twice the debt, they will only have uni fees (HECS) debt that they will have to pay off.

I miss the snow in winter, I miss the lush green, I miss being able to visit Europe. Spring is particularly enchanting in England, and I always got a thrill going to central London.

But I love living close to the beach, i love our gorgeous sunsets, I love that driving interstate is pretty stress free as the roads are nowhere near as busy as in the UK.

Life, on the whole, is the choices you make, and whether you make the most of what is around you.

I don’t feel the same about NZ - yes, it’s also limited in terms of being so far away from other countries and their influences, but the Māori heritage and language is respected in a completely different way. Children learn Māori alongside English at school. There is an innate respect for Māori history and people. I have heard so many people say incredibly derogatory things about Aboriginal people and heritage in Aus. Mind blowing my awful things. Often.

And the bilingual Māori/ English signs. Which asa Welsh speaker I was delighted to see. Māori culture is way more visible in NZ than Aboriginal culture is in Aus.

More bigotry, a bit like being in the UK 30 years ago

You are joking me right?

I lived and worked in Asia for nearly 2 decades, and I worked for 2 Aussie companies. I made loads of Aussie mates, and I went there 20 times.

The Brits I met whilst working overseas: Where are you from? What school did you go to? Do you know XXXX, their great grandad was a Lord/ Brigadier/ made millions doing XXX. Where are you going on holiday? Depending on your answers, you'll be put in a class box, and then treated accordingly.

The Aussies I met overseas, and in Australia: At first they are a little reserved because they can't tell you apart from the stereotype above, but after they get to know you and realise you are not like that, you are onto a winner. They are super friendly, and they don't give a toss where you are from, what your accent is, or what class you are.

So, please do not come on here and say Aussies are bigots when IME, the most bigoted people I have ever met are English.

I do like the culture of living at home for uni - where people tend to live in a few big cities it does mean they have a choice of uni to go to.

Where we are sprawled out here there isn't a local uni we could use where I live in England.

I think the hsc is much less pressure than 4years of having to learn everything and high stakes exams at 16 and 18.

Im amazed people can buy a better house in Oz than in England currently though. When we looked at it we would have been in a suburb miles away from anywhere and not one of these lovely houses!!

On the flip side I do love in England that where I live I can drive to coast/forest and completely different villages and towns within an hour and national trust places and really a huge variety of things. Within an hour from a friends house in Melbourne you're still in Melbourne. And it's a flight or very long drive to the next city. I would find that tricky. But that's preference - many people in England live in London and never leave London!

Everyone on here bashing Aus has
A. never been
Or B. Went on holiday once
But definitely lives a gloomy boring existence in the UK. Literally getting up each day and going through the motions and cannot bear to think a better life exists somewhere else and so must be negative about better places in justification.

Of course Australia is a better place to live FFs! The reasons people give on this thread and all others like it are ridiculous nonsense:

You will not encounter deadly animals ever unless you live in the outback or bush

Yes it can be hot. In the same way that the Uk can be miserable, damp, dark and freezing most of the time. Most cities eg Sydney, Melbourne, Perth Canberra are very climate and only very hot briefly

Houses are expensive. Same as anywhere And unless you want to live a new build estate on the outskirts of Hull they are in the UK too..

Culture? So everyone is visiting the Opera and visiting Reykjavik alternate weekends? Less boring stately homes yes but saying Aus is culturally bereft is disgracefully Euro and Caucasian centric. Aboriginal art is everywhere. Cave paintings dating back over 30'000 years can be found within a train ride of Sydney for example. And weirdly enough there might be an Opera House in Sydney....as well as many museums, art galleries, theatres.

Yes it's better. There's be loads along with a bunch of sour grapes in their mouths to tell you that's wrong and 'there's ugly furniture'.

@honeysuckleweeks Oh god, yes, me again.
What assumptions have you made about my background and ethnicity?

I don't think it's an "of course it's better in Australia". We had the chance to emigrate and decided against it. Many people on this thread have lived in Australia. And many people move back to the UK after trying Australia. Just as many Australians emigrate to the UK....

I think "of course Australia is better ffs" is just as blinkered as the "hot/snakes" repsonse. It's a bit like the American belief of growing up convinced your country is where everyone wants to be.

And yes we looked into house prices as we considered moving at one point as family were there!!

As a mixed raced born Brit who’s been to Australia several times, I do raise my eyebrows when Brits claim Australia is more racist.

Outside cities, parts of the UK can be unwelcoming to foreigners and non-white people. The country which had Brexit as well as people like Suella Braverman spouting the most odious rhetoric, isn’t in a position to call Australia racist.

UK often does racism more covertly but there is still plenty of racism, as you will see from Daily Mail comments.

But definitely lives a gloomy boring existence in the UK. Literally getting up each day and going through the motions and cannot bear to think a better life exists somewhere else and so must be negative about better places in justification.

Of course Australia is a better place to live FFs! The reasons people give on this thread and all others like it are ridiculous nonsense

This is the attitude I found of so many aussies! Can’t fathom that lots of people don’t want to live in Australia/ have a better life not in Australia. I have an amazing life in the uk and I’m sorry if you can’t get your head around that.

Probably not as many as you've made about Australia. Night. I'm off to bed. It's late for me at after 9pm on new years day!. Don't forget to watch that show. "Stuff the British Stole" ABC TV. Eye-opening.

Yes this is my take. You can have great, bad or middling experiences in both countries

It doesn’t need to be everyone has to prefer one over the other anyway. Both countries are obviously attractive for many who choose them. People will like different things, that’s good though we don’t all need to be the same

It's very very expensive from the moans of my friend's dc - stayed living at home for university, working now in a professional job but can't afford a flat share even. He has applied to transfer to Britain - I have warned him Bristol isn't cheap but he reckons it's about 1/3 rent of where they live and pay is 2/3 ... definitely better off here in uk (he's a dual national)

Friends of ours just outside Perth recently had to leave their home for 48 hours because a bush fire came incredibly close.
They’ve been there for over 30 years (big house, extensive grounds) and this was the first time a bush fire has been a real threat.

We’ve visited Oz twice (not recently) and both times there’s been severe drought in the areas we visited (mostly Melbourne and the E coast area). The effects of climate change would really put me off.

Thank you!! When people say there's no culture, what they mean is no European style culture. And in the same breath, Australia is more racist?! Wow.

Life on Instagram always looks great

Main difference is in Australia you can become whoever you want. In England there is an ancient and ingrained class system that will not change. The gap between rich and poor is wider in England but there is also more access to Europe. Nowhere is perfect.

Op sounds like a candidate for wanted down under! Loved that program wish they would bring it back.

Never been but love sun and beaches so the lifestyle looks amazing to me. But I love my family our jobs not transferable without huge effort and enjoy the “feel” of the history of England so guess it will have to be Australia in another life! A family member moved from NZ to Australia then back to NZ as it was too hot and her kids couldn’t cope with the heat.