back to article Worst … commute … EVER – Surrey to Sydney

More than a few of the expats we've quizzed have moved from the UK to Australia, but only Simon Pearson has found himself bouncing backwards and forwards to between the two. The developer-turned-manager came for the lifestyle, but went back to Blighty for … well that'd be telling wouldn't it. So read on to hear Simon's tale of …

  1. Mark Chapman

    That would be telling...

    "but went back to Blighty for … well that'd be telling wouldn't it" - I guess it would, it doesn't actually tell us why he did?

    1. TWB

      Re: That would be telling...

      Indeed, I've read and re-read the article and I'm no clearer on why he came back.

      Thanks for these articles - I enjoy them even though I have no desire to go to Australia to live, work or holiday.

      1. Mark Chapman

        Re: That would be telling...

        Yeah been a very interesting series. I'd like though to find out what brought him back, he only went out in 2012 and seems to have fond memories, but what prompted another 55000 move within 2 years?

        1. LucreLout
          Joke

          Re: That would be telling...

          but what prompted another 55000 move within 2 years?

          The place was full of Australians!

      2. OzBob

        Re: That would be telling...

        Sounds like the Mrs said "sod this, I want my Burberry and Kappa, I;m taking the kids back with me". (You remember the "Wanted Down Under" BBC series? When they refuse to go, or come back within 1 year, dollar to a knob of dingos poo it's the whining wife).

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: That would be telling...

          "Burberry and Kappa". That's last decade. A bit behind are we OzBob?

        2. SiJP

          Re: That would be telling...

          Hah, I'll let her know you've envisaged the missus wearing kappa and burberry .. she'll spit her tea out faster than a dingo can p*ss for sure!

          Alas for the trolls, it wasn't her decision solely. As noted above we moved for the lifestyle and underestimated the need to have our family around us.

          :)

    2. Kingston Black

      Re: That would be telling...

      Perhaps the sentence "Simon's top tip on settling in? Find some friends pretty quickly. FOR BOTH OF YOU." contains the answer?

      1. Mark Chapman

        Re: That would be telling...

        A possibility, interestingly most of these articles have talked of making local friends, and avoiding the expat community, although work in this case was 95% expat so maybe that was a factor?

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: That would be telling...

        " FOR BOTH OF YOU."

        That's true of any relocation. As I'm single - when doing projects abroad I had to handle both the office and domestic sides of the culture. Colleagues who had their wives and kids with them only had to handle the office - they expected the wife to handle the domestic side.

        In the office English was the common fluent language - but for domestic things that was not the case. So a wife was doing a big cultural learning curve - and was generally unable to find even a part time job like she had had in Britain. You could see the relationship stresses - and a divorce after returning to Britain was not unusual.

    3. Lars Silver badge
      Happy

      Re: That would be telling...

      Perhaps the second page to this story was lost in Bondi, IT glitch or something, I was actually so surprised there was no second page that I decided to stop drinking for a short moment, wow. And I had to explore Bondi on the internet.

    4. SiJP

      Re: That would be telling...

      Hi chaps - seems the message on why we came back did get a little lost, but the crux of things was that we needed to be close to our family back in the UK.

  2. x 7

    I'd guess he's no longer married

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Not so sure. As a free man, why would he choose to desert the lifestyle he enjoyed?

      1. 142

        He's got children, so I guess it's understandable.

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I worked in..

    Oz for four years as a manager of a development company. It was alright but I kept struggling to stop the blood rushing to my head.

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I don't want to be pedantic, but...

    Didn't he get "live to work" and "work to live" the wrong way round?

    "I work to live" = I work because I have to, otherwise I would have no food on my plate.

    "I live to work" = I love my work so much that it fulfils my purpose for existence.

    1. OzBob

      Re: I don't want to be pedantic, but...

      You are being literal rather than figurative, (or just plain thick)

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Literal_and_figurative_language

    2. phuzz Silver badge
      Facepalm

      Re: I don't want to be pedantic, but...

      That's the way round I'd expect to see them, but it's pretty obvious what was meant.

      The other side of the world is a long way to go to figure that bit of life learning though.

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Answer to the question///

    The Register: What advice would you offer someone considering the same move?

    Don't do it unless you can get a senior well paid role. Life in Sydney is bloody expensive. I would guess that to have the Bronte lifestyle and move on a same-wage basis he was on around £150k/$225 at the quote exchange rate as a minimum. More likely near £200k. Unless you can command those kinds of incomes then Sydney becomes off limits as you'd be living bloody miles out and their public transport in terms of a "Surrey commute" is shithouse. There's a reason the term "ping-pong Pom" exists and that's because you fall in love with the lifestyle then eventually realise you cannot afford it.

    What doesn't often get included in the life down under type programs is the fact that cars a way more expensive and healthcare is not free. Yeah sure, there's the concept of universal care i.e. you'll be treated if you are involved in a car accident at no cost. However, doctor's visits are charged, x-rays and MRIs can be charged depending on whether it is termed an acute injury, A&E departments will often palm you off with a "nothing's broken" even though you may have a muscular joint injury and force you to get a private MRI and subsequent treatment. The system is shite and getting worse. At least the NHS is free.

    Healthcare for a family works out at several thousand dollars just for the policy before the out of pocket costs.

    Electricity is more expensive and you'll use plenty running the air-con depending on where you live and in what. Sydney can also get bloody cold in winter, despite what was said here, mainly because of the wind chill and the fact houses don't have heating.

    I could go on but you get the idea.

    My answer would be "if you're going to do it make sure your eyes are wide open and there's not a rose-tinted piece of eye-wear anywhere near"

  6. werdsmith Silver badge

    The gentleman prefers the easier going lifestyle and his 2012 job here didn't suit him because of the "live to work" attitude. I've found that there's no need to change countries to change your job to one that suits you better. My current job is an easy going, low stress, flexible hours, interesting work, with education offered. I'm usually home by 4PM every day except Friday when I'm earlier. That's the reason I'm still doing it and not one of my previous jobs that didn't offer all that.

    Having said that, I still haven't worked out why I don't live in Australia, NZ or California. Or why the entire planet doesn't just gravitate to these places. I guess some places offer better weather than others but actually, life is what you make it, not where you make it. Just not in a sink estate.

  7. This post has been deleted by its author

  8. gr00001000

    Dreaming

    Yes it's the find friends for you both angle, why he came back. And friends aren't family either, will they babysit your kids for 3 days?

    Sydney is a rat race.

  9. Kubla Cant

    a "Bronte lifestyle"

    That would be living in a chilly parsonage next to a seeping graveyard, writing a classic novel, and expiring on the sofa at an early age?

  10. Herby

    Idea??

    Setting up paid WiFi for Bondi Beach (or something similar) that would "earn my keep" would be n interesting thing to do.

    Turns out my wife's nephew (form the wine country in California) met his wife while working in Oz. He is there right now, and in the process of getting her a perm-resident card here in the USA. It takes a while to do it the "right way". He really likes the Aussie life style. For a while he was living right on the beach.

    Me? No I haven't been there, only NZ back a long while ago for a brief stay for work.

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