Pros and Cons of Moving to Australia (An Honest Review)

Despite the cons, I still believe Australia is today the best country to live in. And if you do have the opportunity to come here, whether it is for a short visit, to study or permanently, do so! It's an amazing experience that will change your life indeed. 🎬 MORE VIDEOS LIKE THIS - I Tested an Australian on Aussie Slang (How Much Does He REALLY Know?) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuXc0zm7kYU - Is Brisbane Really Worth it? - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Pz2Nirss3U - 9 Must Watch Australian Films and TV Shows (Learn Aussie Culture) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uB-3jFXbCYU - Avoid these MISTAKES IN AUSTRALIA! - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hZKlbowg3E - 10 Quick Things to Know Before Moving to Australia - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TxjAfT6DkY - The TRUTH About Making Friends in Australia - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55SfQEGQuT4 - 8 Reasons Why I Love Living in Australia - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpkkIy27Lsk - The Reality of Migrating to Australia - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlFgNbi7KLg - Australian healthcare system - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAx0YQkqyHw - Top 9 Most Amazing Places Around Melbourne - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ag-msCmo80s - How to Buy a Car in Australia - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEwtYYtsKhI - Is it really worth studying in Australia? - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57JcqDzZ0ME - 7 Tips for Getting a Job in Australia without experience - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TB9xtk-D1c - Australian School System and Costs - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqRrgImT1Os

I'm a Malaysian who migrated to the United States in 2016. The first location I settled down in the U.S. was Houston, TX. I had the same feeling that making friends was difficult. I'm a runner, so I decided to attend social running groups and that's how I started making new local friends. I moved to Utah in 2019, I met my wife here, she's from the state of Mississippi. We find that making friends with local Utah-ians isn't easy either, then I started joining local running groups and I ended up making a lot of new local friends again. I came to the conclusion that you don't force yourself to make new friends, you just have to do what you enjoy doing, be yourself, and friends will come later. If you keep being concerned about making friends and wondering if there's something wrong with yourself, you will end up having anxiety.

Although I have never lived outside of Australia, I have lived in multiple locations within the country. My method of making friends, was to throw a "welcome to the area" party and invite all of my immediate neighbours. Each time, I was shocked at how many of them did not know one another, despite being long term neighbours.

I'm an Aussie, and I think you're right about friendships. It's hard for ppl who grew up here too, especially if you move interstate a few times like I did. It definitely requires effort and patience.

As a local I also found it difficult to make friends at University. After my first year I think I had made one real friend. It wasn’t until I lived on campus that things got a lot easier and social.

I'm from India, living in Perth, married to an Aussie. Perth people are , friendly and it's clean too. I went to Kolkata last year after 8 yrs, for a month holiday. I started to miss Australia.

A balanced review, and excellent video. I definitely agree - and I have lived in Australia all my life. Your comments on friendships, cost of living and suburban lifestyle are very accurate. It takes Australians a while to warm up to people on a genuine friendship level. I have worked overseas (short assignments only), and I don't think Australians understand how lucky we are. It's a wonderful country.

Making new friends is actually difficult for everyone, especially in terms of different age groups. Sometimes, loneliness is someone’ carnival, or carnival is someone’s loneliness, it really depends especially for maturers. It is truely a relief if someone looks at things from another perspective.

I'm sorry that you felt so alone when you were at uni. And, yes, the universities need to review the policy of segregating local and overseas students. And may I compliment you on your English. You speak English very well. My daughter and I are learning Spanish together using Duolingo. This is now day 147 of my Spanish journey, and it's a slow journey! I'm always impressed when I hear someone, for whom English is a second language, speaking such lovely, colloquial English. And I'm glad that you've grown to love living here. Australia is a wonderful place to live.

Yes I agree to some extent. I'm an Australian, I've always lived in Sydney. I feel that there are two worlds. The temporary traveller / student / backpacker world and at the same time the australian word. I'm in the middle of these, because my partner is brazilian. I feel the 'coldness' or 'being closed' might be because in these big cities, everyone is so transient. even people from Sydney are always moving, always coming and going, you feel that everything is temporary. It might be because you always meet foreigners, every day, so it's hard to invest in friendships when maybe subconsciously you know that they might not be around

Moved to Sydney from Adelaide for my husband's work. One of the most isolating experiences. It is so hard to break into some resemblance of community. I have got use to my own company now after 9 years. My husband's friendship are from work. I think in Australia in the big cities, you have to be a part of something to connect.

Ay che! Qué lindo escucharte. Bien completito y honesto. Nos ayudás un montón, hasta con el listening. Gracias totalass! ✨

I’m an Australian who was born here. I’ve lived in all cities except Adelaide. In terms of friendliness and friendships - Sydney is the hardest. Not only the most expensive city but the hardest to gain friends. Melbourne is probably the friendliest place in Australia. Good luck to all with your future plans. Overall Australia is a nice place to live.

Enjoyed every bit of your video. Thank you so much. Really hoping of living and settling in Australia really soon.

Back in year 2001, I found it quite difficult to make friends in Australia too as an international student. Classmates just go off straight after class and the only way to interact with them was if you're a drinker or a smoker, which I did neither. 😮‍💨 I made a few friends though that I still keep in touch till now.

We moved from Ireland to Perth about 8 years ago. I'm Indonesian and I found friends immediately. It took a while for my husband because we got different personalities interm of friendship. Most of my local friends are mostly lived abroad before so we got something in common. When I lived in Ireland it was so difficult for me to make a friend. Because I'm Asian they assumed me with a lot of weird things which I finally gave up looking for a local friend. And in Ireland they have tight needs group. For instance my husband's friends mostly developed during university, so I'm always outsider. Since Perth it's so close to Bali the local are not strangers to Indonesian or Asian. I think it depends where you live in Australia. I'm definitely happy here in Perth.

As an American who moved to Australia to do a PhD at UNSW, I also found it difficult to make friends with Australians. This was not the case when I did my undergrad in the US where it was very easy to make friends, both international and Americans. I think the biggest reasons for this is that the Australian and American university systems are very different. In Australia, most Australians attend a university located in the city where they have grown, e.g., so if they are from Sydney then it would be one of the Sydney universities like UNSW, Sydney Uni, Macquarie, etc., in Melbourne that would be Melbourne Uni, Swinburne, etc. Since Australians attend one of the local universities, often times the Australian students will live at home instead of on campus or live with friends off campus and therefore be surrounded by their friend networks. In the US, the situation is very different. Most US students move away from home to attend a university/college which is usually not located in their home town. This means US students are not around their friend networks and must make new friends while attending college. Also US universities have far more social events than Australian universities, such as sporting events to attend (i.e., college sports), many different clubs and social groups, fraternities and sororities, etc. Additionally, there is only a single orientation week for both domestic and international students (this is something I wish Australian universities would do). I found it way easier to make friends when I attended college in the US than during my PhD in Australia where most of my friends were international students and not locals. The situation could change in Australia if perspective university students are encouraged to attend a university not located in the city they grew up in. In saying all this, I do like Australia and I now consider this to be my home. And as you have said, making friends takes effort and patience.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts! All the best with your future in Australia! ❤

It was super hard for me as a born and bred Australian to make friends at Uni too ❤️ I went to Uni after most of my peers and to a different campus, and I found it incredibly difficult to break into any of those established social circles that you mentioned - I got along better with mature aged or international students! You'll also find that city culture is also quite different to country or rural culture. Living rurally, stopping and chatting anywhere and everywhere is MUCH more common. We know almost all of our neighbours, we wave at people as we drive by, we stop and chat at the supermarket or the bakery. In the city, this is just not a way of life that is quite as common. Clubs and groups are definitely the way to go for making good friends as adults!

Making friends is really hard. Completely agree.