Simple question.... Is living in Oz better?

[Imapla]

Thank you. I know it's a complex question to answer which is why I was asking for personal experience. I am not asking if Australia will be better for me , I'm asking was it better for you.

 

Thanks for taking the time to reply x

 

Yes definitely better for me - I love the sunny days - I love sitting outside - windows open - wearing t shirts and shorts, beautiful beaches in close proximity, sitting outside at restaurants late into the evening still nice and warm; the streets seem to be much cleaner less rubbish around, I love the sound of the birds (though I must admit that took me a few years to get used to - at first I thought they were a bit brash compared to UK. The kids had (IMHO) as good an education as in the UK. The only downside for me was/is the distance from my family and that is a big -ve but regular holidays to visit and Skype chats compensate for that and we all get used to living apart.

I like the work ethic, the standard of technology and the standard of living and sometimes you can forget you are in Aus when you have the same cereals in the supermarkets, same sweets, same beers. A big YES from me

[Imapla]

I see the youngers finishing work at 5 and jumping on a plane to Barcelona for the weekend....I want that for my kids!

 

I don't think they'd do it that often ........ maybe once a year - maybe twice - yes you can do it but how often do you do it ! A weekend visit to Port Douglas or Sydney would be just as fun

[Veronica41]

Yes definitely better for me - I love the sunny days - I love sitting outside - windows open - wearing t shirts and shorts, beautiful beaches in close proximity, sitting outside at restaurants late into the evening still nice and warm; the streets seem to be much cleaner less rubbish around, I love the sound of the birds (though I must admit that took me a few years to get used to - at first I thought they were a bit brash compared to UK. The kids had (IMHO) as good an education as in the UK. The only downside for me was/is the distance from my family and that is a big -ve but regular holidays to visit and Skype chats compensate for that and we all get used to living apart.

I like the work ethic, the standard of technology and the standard of living and sometimes you can forget you are in Aus when you have the same cereals in the supermarkets, same sweets, same beers. A big YES from me

 

 

That sounds wonderful , you sound very content in life and I live to hear that. Life is to short to be anything but happy

[Guest]

I don't think they'd do it that often ........ maybe once a year - maybe twice - yes you can do it but how often do you do it ! A weekend visit to Port Douglas or Sydney would be just as fun

 

Port Douglas versus Barcelona? :biglaugh:

 

Port Douglas every time obviously.....

[Sassy Duck]

I don't think they'd do it that often ........ maybe once a year - maybe twice - yes you can do it but how often do you do it ! A weekend visit to Port Douglas or Sydney would be just as fun

 

I don't think anybody does it that often. Although it's only a few hours flight away, you finish work at five on Friday, get a late night flight and arrive late in Barcelona or where ever....so you have Saturday & half day Sunday before you fly back for work on Monday. Unless of course you take Monday off but then you're eating into your annual leave allowance. Some people would use their leave to book weekends away but I'd say the majority like to save it for the one/two week summer holiday, week at Christmas etc. Also it gets more expensive if you go on a weekend. I would expect most people only do it twice maybe three times a year.

[Gbye grey sky]

I see the youngers finishing work at 5 and jumping on a plane to Barcelona for the weekend....I want that for my kids!

 

We do not intend for our daughter (currently 12) to be tied to our apron strings. When she is of an age to do so she may have the opportunity to live and work in the UK (as she has dual citizenship) and she can experience Europe for herself. She may choose Asia, or Africa, or America, who knows?

 

You shouldn't assume that because, as a parent, you are living in Australia or the UK then your kids have more or less opportunities to travel should they wish to - everywhere is reachable.

 

Growing up in the UK I never jumped on a plane to Barcelona (nor anywhere else for that matter) for a weekend and nor did anyone I know so just because they can it doesn't mean they will.

[JockinTas]

How old are your sons and could they do the same now? I know a 1 bedroom apartment in the inner west is now $600,000+. You need to be making close to $150,000/yr to afford this. Which rules out most people in their 20s.

 

My sons are 30 and 31 years old. They bought very small one bedroom flats which were in dire need of 'doing up' in old apartment blocks. Yes, they have mortgages which they will be paying for many a long year but they seem to be happy with that. They've made improvements in they units and were lucky that my OH and his friends in the building industry were on hand to help with the re-wiring, plumbing, carpentry/painting etc. Their flats were nowhere near $600,000.

[janlo]

We do not intend for our daughter (currently 12) to be tied to our apron strings. When she is of an age to do so she may have the opportunity to live and work in the UK (as she has dual citizenship) and she can experience Europe for herself. She may choose Asia, or Africa, or America, who knows?

 

You shouldn't assume that because, as a parent, you are living in Australia or the UK then your kids have more or less opportunities to travel should they wish to - everywhere is reachable.

 

Growing up in the UK I never jumped on a plane to Barcelona (nor anywhere else for that matter) for a weekend and nor did anyone I know so just because they can it doesn't mean they will.

 

 

Im sorry.....this is what I see from the short time I've been back.

 

 

Everyone, and I mean everyone at work have booked hols to Spain, France, Malta, USA etc....every night I hear ....see ya....off now for a week! It has blown me away. Maybe it's the time of year but I'm constantly thinking this just doesn't happen in Oz.

 

Now some folk who came to Oz many years ago will say we don't need holidays, we sit by our own pool, in our big detached house. Good on 'em as it just isn't that easy anymore.

[Parley]

People in Australia (who want to) go on cheap holidays all the time to Asia flying Jetstar or AirAsia.

 

Bali, Fiji, Thailand, Vietnam, New Zealand, Vanuatu - places like that.

[Guest]

Im sorry.....this is what I see from the short time I've been back.

 

 

Everyone, and I mean everyone at work have booked hols to Spain, France, Malta, USA etc....every night I hear ....see ya....off now for a week! It has blown me away. Maybe it's the time of year but I'm constantly thinking this just doesn't happen in Oz.

 

Now some folk who came to Oz many years ago will say we don't need holidays, we sit by our own pool, in our big detached house. Good on 'em as it just isn't that easy anymore.

 

Guess it depends who you interact with, most I know have been to the likes of Bali, Japan, Vietnam, Thailand, Europe, Fiji etc.

 

I have less desire to holiday now when I can drive 1.5 hrs up the coast and be in Noosa for the weekend. Or down the coast to Goldie or Byron Bay. People spend thousands to visit these places from around the world with world class beaches and climate (isn't that what your average Brit loves)

[janlo]

People in Australia (who want to) go on cheap holidays all the time to Asia flying Jetstar or AirAsia.

 

Bali, Fiji, Thailand, Vietnam, New Zealand, Vanuatu - places like that.

 

......people in Australia who WANT to, go to Asia all the time? ...that's fantastic (but not true)

Edited May 7, 2016 by janlo

[Parley]

Of course it is true.

[janlo]

By its very title it's an OZ V UK thread.....not enjoying it....I'm off to bed....I love and miss lots about Oz just saying it's dead cheap to go to Spain from Manchester. Night :SLEEP:

[Gbye grey sky]

Maybe it's my age group but so many here go on cruises. Have never seen the attraction of cruises myself.

[ramot]

By its very title it's an OZ V UK thread.....not enjoying it....I'm off to bed....I love and miss lots about Oz just saying it's dead cheap to go to Spain from Manchester. Night :SLEEP:

 

Most posters have just given their own examples, only 1 or 2 decided to high jack the thread.

 

By the way thought Barcelona had the reputation of being one the most likely places to be mugged and robbed!!!?

[Skani]

......people in Australia who WANT to, go to Asia all the time? ...that's fantastic (but not true)

 

In the 12 months to June 2015 2.99 million Australian tourists left for holidays in Indonesia, Thailand, China, Singapore, India and Japan.

 

Another 600,000+ visited the Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia and Sri Lanka.

 

That's 3.6 million...or about 1 in every 7 people. That's in addition, of course, to those holidaying in New Zealand, South Pacific, USA and Europe.

[JockinTas]

Im sorry.....this is what I see from the short time I've been back.

 

 

Everyone, and I mean everyone at work have booked hols to Spain, France, Malta, USA etc....every night I hear ....see ya....off now for a week! It has blown me away. Maybe it's the time of year but I'm constantly thinking this just doesn't happen in Oz.

 

Now some folk who came to Oz many years ago will say we don't need holidays, we sit by our own pool, in our big detached house. Good on 'em as it just isn't that easy anymore.

 

My sister and her OH and my sister often take wee trips to Europe but not in the summer when it's a lot busier. My son and his girlfriend who are living in Ireland have also taken advantage of those holidays while they have the chance. OH and I did all that years ago too.

[16000km]

Port Douglas versus Barcelona? :biglaugh:

 

Port Douglas every time obviously.....

 

PD is just down the road from where I live, in my 7 years in FNQ I've been 5 or 6 times - and still loking for the excitement of Barcelona ? or in fact ANY excitement....

[Quinkla]

When I lived in Britain I did the popping away for the weekend or the occasional week. Did Warsaw, Marrakech, Egypt, Finland, the Caucasus, Algeria, Istanbul, Cork. In Australia (Melbourne), everywhere overseas is at least 4 hours by plane, probably nearer 6 or 7 for the places you'd want to go. It just takes things up a notch in terms of inaccessibility.

 

I tend not to travel much within Australia because it's all a bit samey. All the main cities are identical and one beach, forest or desert looks much like another.

[Diane]

People in Australia (who want to) go on cheap holidays all the time to Asia flying Jetstar or AirAsia.

 

Bali, Fiji, Thailand, Vietnam, New Zealand, Vanuatu - places like that.

 

Not often I agree with you (!) but this is definitely true - we've been to Fiji, Vanuatu, Borneo, Thailand, and off to Indonesia soon, as well as a cruise round New Zealand and Tasmania. And that's from sleepy Adelaide that has comparatively few direct cheap flights. I should imagine if you live in Perth, Sydney, or Brisbane there is more options too. I think the reasons Brits clamour for weekends away is to (a) get some sun (which we don't need to go away to get here), (b) chill on a nice beach somewhere (ditto), © to escape the place they are living for a while for another reason, or (d) experience s different culture and/or language - which is the main reason we have holidayed abroad from here.

 

A weekend in Melbourne (flights from $19 one way from here) or Sydney is just as much of a culture change for us too .... and we've not even experienced FNQ, WA or NT yet.

 

Don't forget in Britain too you get fined for taking your kids away during term time - that's one of the things I found so refreshing here, that the schools recognised how much of a good learning experience a family holiday could be. Obviously I wouldn't take mine out of school near exam times or in the top high school years, but at primary school I think fining the parents is just ridiculous!

[Bound4Tassie]

By its very title it's an OZ V UK thread.....not enjoying it....I'm off to bed....I love and miss lots about Oz just saying it's dead cheap to go to Spain from Manchester. Night :SLEEP:

 

It might be cheap but I have no interest in a costa del chav holiday with a load of lobster red drunk Brits. Some of the European cities interest me but not really the type of holiday we'd take with young kids. Would definitely bring them back here as teens to 'inter rail ' though. I like that you can have a weekend away at a different sunny location in Aus. You don't even need to get on a flight if you don't want to. I think it's easier to enjoy what is on Aus's doorstep. In the UK sometimes you have to grit your teeth and say

"yes we're all really enjoying this despite the driving rain" and I'm especially looking forward to the extra 3 hours we will sit in a motorway tailback with 2 fractious kids on the way home! Lol!

So yes you can get cheap flights to Europe from the UK. I don't know many people who jet off every weekend though.

[Veronica41]

Wow that all took a fast turn to a new direction!! Very interesting though.

[starlight7]

We nip off to Asia approx once, sometimes twice a year. You get used to the longer flight times pretty quickly and for us Asia is cheaper than Australia. The cost of Australian holidays is pretty high if you like to stay in good places- for example we are going with a group to stay in a cabin in a caravan park- $110 per night. Now you can get a 5 star hotel for that in Asia.

[Marisawright]

Wow that all took a fast turn to a new direction!! Very interesting though.

 

It is interesting and another example of how hard it is to weigh up the pro's and con's of the two countries.

 

If you're the kind of person who travels to Europe all the time, it's likely you'll miss that when you move to Oz. Sure, you've got the whole of Asia to explore, but (a) the flights are far longer unless you're in Perth, so they're not practical for a weekend, and (b) it depends what kind of holiday you like - some people enjoy holidays in Asia, others prefer Europe. There's also a lot to explore in Australia but if you're going to be there for the rest of your life, you've got to be the kind of person who enjoys revisiting the same things - you'll run out of new unexplored places faster than in Europe.

 

On the other hand, if you're not the kind of person who loves jetting off for a weekend in Paris, then it won't bother you one jot!

[Marisawright]

What if your landlord is negative gearing? Like many in oz?

 

What does that have to do with it?

 

Negative gearing is where you make a loss on a property to reduce your tax. Done properly, the loss is only on paper, not in reality - because you can claim expenses for depreciation (i.e. wear and tear), which you don't actually spend, and in the meantime, you're making money because the value of the property is going up. That has no impact whatsoever on the tenant.

 

Some stupid people are so desperate not to pay tax that they buy property that makes a genuine loss - more fool them.

Edited May 8, 2016 by Marisawright