The Cumbrian

If there's anything I have learned in my 50 odd years on this planet, it is you cannot escape your troubles by running away. If you are depressed in England these blues will manifest themselves sooner or later in Australia. Happiness/contentment comes from within and it means more often than not a radical overhaul of your thought process. Learn to change your negative perceptions and you could be happy anywhere. Easier said than done but I'm working on it!

Antney

Hi Chelsea,

You mention family and friends being the reason not to move away from Bradford. Australia is a long way from the UK with airfares for a family of 4 about $8000 return.

Just something to bear in mind if family\friends are a big part of your life.

Belle121

Hi Chelsea,

I'm an Australian/British (am 7th generation Australian) and have been to and forth to Australia all my life as have been resident in UK for majority of it.
When I was younger I found Australia frustrating with lack of culture, history and generally everything very samey same. Every town the same, every district the same...
I wanted back then more going on and didn't feel Australia could offer me what I wanted so I've lived in the UK but every few years visit Australia.

Australia for many in the UK is a classic case of grass is greener. It's not. It's different. You need to live there not just holiday to get a real grasp of what it's like.
I could list the disadvantages for both countries and advantages. It's down to personality, preference.
You will struggle if you have family in the UK, homesickness is the main reason people return back to the UK. Also, the idea of moving to Aus is a wonderful idea, but when it comes to packing up a house, putting notice in for jobs, finalising everything then saying good bye to family this is where it begins to get stressful. You wonder if your indeed making the right decision.

on the positive side, yes Australia is underpopulated but that's because most of it is desert! Once you get out of the cities then the smaller towns have high unemployment. This raises the cost of living in the cities as this is where the jobs are.

You need to go into this with eyes wide open not with rose tinted specs. Australia works for a lot of people, it doesn't work for many people too. just so you're aware, you will have many obstacles to cross and any hoops to jump through. You need to be 110% focused and know exactly what you're moving to. The cost of the move with visas, transportation, having a lump sum in the bank to satisfy the visa ect.

On the positives, I totally get you when you express how the uk is and will continue to get worse. I also totally agree with you about wasted weekends and evenings doing nothing because of the weather.
Australia is an outside way of life. Beaches are free, surfing, body boarding ect, lakes, fishing, hiking (winter if in Brisbane), even Brisbanes Southbank pools are so amazing and free.
The cafe culture is huge in Oz, especially the Sunday breakfasts.
Markets on a Sunday, eat and browse far better than walking round a shopping mall on a Sunday because there's nothing else to do. The list is endless.

For this reason, this is why I'm upping sticks, my eldest boy is 18 and finished school here in UK. My youngest is 12 a good time to move and change schools before roots made. He's going to a Brisbane school which he spent the day doing a trial last month and his highlight was the water polo in an outdoor pool..... That wasn't heated because it didn't need to be! school finishes at 3pm, sensible time as there's an outdoor lifestyle to live when you get home!

Again, pros and cons. If you have an opportunity to go, then do it with eyes wide open. The opportunity may pass by and you will always love to regret it. Just don't set yourself up to fail. Good luck!

bcworld

Pity the adults can't share because no daylight savings means it gets dark not long after you get home from work, even in summer!

Pollyana

But we can't possibly have daylight saving cos the chickens will get confused and the fridges will fade through having an extra hour of sunlight every day......