Australia
You are currently browsing articles tagged Australia.
As everyone knows, the weather in the UK is nothing to write home about it. Grey, damp and cold tend to be the predominant impressions. Not surprising then that the country’s climate regularly tops the polls of reasons why people want to leave.
Still, as I try to remind myself on yet another chilly, overcast January morning, it could be worse.
For one, in Britain we don’t have to contend with crocodiles waddling down the pavements, as reported in some Queensland towns hit by the recent flooding. The flooding has also brought an increase in venomous snake sightings (my wife’s pet fear), and – my phobia – bull sharks seen swimming down the streets.
But while it may be dangerous creatures that grab the headlines and send shivers down the spine, the real story is the extent of the flooding, and the chaos it has wreaked.
Vast areas of Australia’s north-east have been affected, damaging 30,000 homes and causing more than 30 deaths.
And after years of extreme drought in the country’s south-east, what has been described as an inland sea is now creeping across the state of Victoria.
Across the country, local businesses, the transport infrastructure, agriculture and mining have taken an enormous hit. The government now estimates the reconstruction effort to repair the damage will cost A$5.6bn.
Early forecasts also suggest the flooding could reduce Australia’s economic growth by 1% this year. That is a heavy toll.
Superstorm
Meanwhile, California – long feted for its climate and way of life – may be due its own “superstorm.”
According to a new report from the US Geological Survey, models show the atmospheric rivers that draw warm, moist air from the Pacific Ocean could create an “ARkStorm,” a month-long battering producing 10 feet of rain. The researchers estimated such a storm could cost $725 billion, nearly three times as much as a 7.8-magnitude earthquake hitting Southern California.
And of course there is always that risk of the giant earthquake building in the San Andreas fault, which is apparently overdue.
Maybe the British grey isn’t so bad after all.
Tags: ARkStorm, Australia, Britain, British, California, climate, cost, country, crocodile, damage, earthquake, economic, flood, growth, Pacific, Queensland, San Andreas, shark, snake, superstorm, UK, US, Victoria
What are your biggest worries about moving abroad?
Is it finding or settling in to a new job? Making your retirement savings stretch far enough to provide a decent quality of life? Having a healthcare system that is up to scratch? Getting your children into good schools?
According to Expat Experience[1], the latest report in HSBC’s Expat Explorer series, the top concerns keeping expats awake at night prior to relocating are:
- Being able to re-establish a social life (41%)
- Feeling lonely, and missing friends and family (34%)
The survey also found these worries affected female expats significantly more than men.
Meanwhile, missing family and friends is a particularly big concern for expats based in Australia (49%) and Canada (46%) – not surprising, since the majority were from the UK originally, and so the distances involved make regular face-to-face contact difficult.
Overcoming concerns
Such emotive issues have an obvious link – if you are worried about establishing a social life in your new destination then you are more likely to miss the existing network of family and friends you have back home.
On the flip side, if you can form strong friendships and develop a bustling (and satisfying) social life once you move abroad then you are less likely to be lonely and dwell on what you have left behind.
In short, once you land in your new location you have to make a concerted effort to get out, meet people, make friends and take advantage of whatever exciting lifestyle opportunities the country has to offer.
It’s not always easy to do. Sometimes you may have to force yourself to step out of your comfort zones. But the success of your expat venture depends on it.
[1] Expat Experience is the second of three reports from HSBC’s 2010 Expat Explorer research series,
http://www.offshore.hsbc.com/1/2/international/expat/expat-survey/expat-experience-report-2010
Tags: Abroad, Australia, Canada, Children, country, destination, expat, Expat Experience, Expat Explorer, family, female, friend, healthcare, home, HSBC, job, lifestyle, location, lonely, men, move, moving, quality of life, Retirement, School, social, survey, UK, worries
Living abroad has become so much more viable as the cost of travel plummeted.
The rise of the budget airlines, and the need for other travel operators to slash prices to compete, means moving overseas is no longer the one-way journey of old.
Instead, expats within a short-haul flight of home have suddenly been able to afford to pop back for regular weekends to catch up with family and friends. And those who relocated to another continent can make their annual pilgrimage home without needing an investment banker’s salary or a second mortgage.
For those expats flying to or from the UK though, the November 1 rise in Air Passenger Duty (APD) may shift the balance.
The new rates mean a family of four flying from the UK to Europe will pay £48 in APD when travelling economy class. For journeys to the US the family will be charged £240, to the Caribbean or South Africa £300, and to fly to Australia it will cost them £340 in tax (a rise of 55%).
Add in the actual cost of the ticket, plus the inevitable wad of spending money, and face-to-face contact with old friends and family looks a lot less appealing.
Tags: afford, Air Passenger Duty, airline, APD, Australia, budget, Caribbean, economy, Europe, expat, family, flight, friend, home, journey, living abroad, money, overseas, price, relocate, South Africa, travel, UK, US
We’ve long suspected it, and now it appears to be true – the French, those lucky blighters, have the best quality of life in Europe.
Or, at least, so says a new study by consumer comparison service uSwitch.com[1].
Its research examined 16 quality of life factors – such as net income, food and fuel costs, life expectancy and working conditions – across 10 European countries to see how they stacked up.
France emerged with the best overall score, followed by Spain. The UK came ninth, with Ireland propping up the bottom of the table.
The reason for the UK’s poor score, said uSwitch, included its high living costs, below average government spending on health and education, shortage of holiday entitlements, high retirement age and lack of sunshine.
France, by contrast, was found to have the lowest retirement age, the longest life expectancy and the highest healthcare spend.
Meanwhile, Spain benefited from low living costs (especially for alcohol and cigarettes!), the highest number of holidays (at 43 days per year) and most sunshine hours.
The firm went on to note that three in ten people in the UK believe now is a good time to emigrate[2]. Given the low quality of life it seems they can expect to enjoy, is it any wonder?
The Full Picture
Yet before everyone starts packing their bags for France and Spain, it is important to remember that while such surveys make for attention-grabbing headlines, they don’t show the full picture.
For instance, the uSwitch report gives no consideration to the countries’ current or expected economic growth rates. Or what about the 20% unemployment rate afflicting Spain?
It gives no weighting either to the burdensome red tape that is so often cited as a feature of life in France and Italy.
The percentage of GDP spent on health is a blunt tool too by which to measure and compare the efficacy of countries’ systems. The United States, for one, spends a considerably higher percentage of its GDP on health, yet millions of its citizens remain without adequate, or indeed any, health cover.
The uSwitch survey also takes it as given that the greater the hours of sunshine the better. Yet the impressive sunshine quota seen in southern Europe – as well as places such as California and parts of Australia – bring with it high summer temperatures that frequently provoke raging forest fires, water shortages, pest infestations and crop failures.
In addition, the summer heat may force residents, especially the elderly, to spend weeks of the year trapped indoors, and can even lead to spiking death rates (as seen in Europe during the 2003 heatwave).
In short, these types of reports and surveys – a plethora of which are produced around the world each year – can give some helpful indication of the life you can expect to find when moving abroad. But to get a real picture, don’t forget to consider all the elements, the pros and the cons, and what they mean specifically to you.
[1] UK and Ireland Trailing the Rest of Europe for Quality of Life, uSwitch.com, 22 September 2010,
http://www.uswitch.com/press-room/press-releases/uk-and-ireland-trailing-the-rest-of-europe-for-quality-of-life-1769.pdf.
[2] uSwitch.com Consumer Opinion Panel, May 2010, amongst a sample of 3,640 adults.
Tags: Australia, California, citizen, cost, countries, Education, emigrate, Europe, Food, France, French, GDP, growth, health, holiday, income, Ireland, Italy, living cost, Moving Abroad, quality of life, resident, Retirement, Spain, summer, sunshine, survey, UK, unemployment, United States, uSwitch.com, work
The headlines this morning are full of the news that Quentin Tarantino’s Oscar-nominated film editor, Sally Menke, has been a victim of the heat wave that has hit Southern California.
Ms Menke reportedly died from heat stroke while hiking in Los Angeles’ Griffith Park on Monday. The day saw temperatures in the city climb to a record-breaking 113°F (46°C). Tuesday was cooler, reaching a high of 99°F, but that was still 17 degrees more than is normal for the time of year.
To make matters worse, the record demand for electricity as people turned up their air conditioning caused outages that left 11,000 Los Angeles residents without power.
Seeking Better Weather
You couldn’t get much more of a contrast with the weather hitting northern Europe at the moment. In the UK, we woke up this morning to cloud and heavy rain showers. More is forecast for the rest of the week.
And with October just around the corner we can hardly expect an improvement. Nope, autumn – with its shortening, squally days – has well-and-truly taken hold.
Faced with such weather conditions, moving to somewhere that promises year-round sunshine, short winters and long, guaranteed summers has an obvious appeal. No wonder places such as California, Australia and the countries of Southern Europe are so popular with expatriates.
But a life in the sun can brings its discomforts, as LA’s population can attest. And as Ms Menke’s tragic death shows, it has its dangers too.
Tags: Australia, California, death, editor, Europe, expat, film, Griffith Park, heat stroke, heat wave, LA, Los Angeles, Menke, rain, record, sun, Tarantino, temperature, UK
A couple of months ago I was interviewed by the features director of the UK’s Good Housekeeping magazine[1].
She was writing an article on the pros and cons of moving abroad, and wanted my “expert opinion” on the topic … which naturally I was more than happy to provide (not least since the magazine has a monthly circulation of half a million readers!).
The article has just come out. And – aside from my own contribution – it makes for fascinating reading.
Expat Challenges
The piece features case studies of people who have moved from the UK to some of the world’s most popular expat destinations: France, Italy, Spain, Australia and the United States. Each highlights the issues they have faced, and offers pointers to anyone following in their footsteps (much of which echoes the topics I address in my book).
Among the biggest challenges the expats encountered were:
- Housing problems
- Unfamiliarity with local legal processes and requirements
- Acclimatising to the local weather
- Finding social outlets and integrating into the community
- Having a viable way to earn money
- Missing family and friends
Hopefully the tips and advice contained in the article will prove a valuable primer for those readers also dreaming of a life overseas!
[1] Good Housekeeping magazine,
http://www.allaboutyou.com/home/channel~index?source=1
Tags: advice, Australia, community, destination, expert, family, France, Friends, Good Housekeeping, Housing, Italy, legal, life, magazine, money, Moving Abroad, overseas, social, Spain, tips, UK, United States, weather, world
At a wedding last week I got talking to a doctor within the UK’s National Health Service who is about to relocate to New Zealand.
She will be joining the thousands of doctors and nurses who have left the UK in the last decade to practice in the Antipodes. Many have gone willingly. Disenchanted by the NHS, they are eager to take up positions on the other side of the world that will be relatively better paid, and offer the lifestyle benefits that come from living in Australia or New Zealand.
The doctor I spoke to is moving for similar reasons: she can’t find a job pursuing her specialism in England, but has the chance to do so if she goes abroad. And as she has family in New Zealand already it makes the relocation that much easier.
Nevertheless, she hopes it will only be temporary, and that within five years she’ll be back in the UK, which is where she said she really wants to be.
It makes for a tricky choice – stay at home and compromise your chosen career path, or leave the country and the life you know for a better job and its future prospects.
And it is not just medics in the UK grappling with this quandary. Many people in many professions in many countries around the world face similar dilemmas.
Which would you prioritise?
Tags: Antipodes, Australia, career, country, doctor, England, family, home, job, life, Moving Abroad, National Health Service, New Zealand, profession, relocation, UK, Wedding
The UK is projected to add another 9 million people to its population by 2030, bringing the total to 70 million. And that, says a new report by think tank Forum for the Future[1], will put enormous pressure on the country’s long-term living standards.
The report makes seven recommendations on how to tackle the challenges. They include:
- Planning for the growth to ensure adequate public services, infrastructure, jobs and training exist.
- Trying to change attitudes to consumption.
- Improving family planning to reduce the birth rate.
- Having an objective discussion on immigration, to discuss its benefits and discover ways to reduce the economic, social and environmental drivers that incite people to migrate.
As the think tank points out, population and immigration issues are hot political potatoes. Nevertheless, immigration has returned to the mainstream political agenda for the first time in years, as was evidenced during the recent UK election.
Indeed, the Government has just announced a new measure (the first in a series) to tighten immigration policy, in the form of an English language test for spouses and unmarried couples. This will require all non-European migrants to demonstrate a decent grasp of English before they can receive a visa.
According to Theresa May, the government’s Home Secretary: “The new English requirement for spouses will help promote integration, remove cultural barriers and protect public services.”
For expatriates of all stripes, local language knowledge is certainly a huge part of the integration equation. Without it, you are condemned to remain on the sidelines of society, restricted in your ability to make friends and deal with everything from local shopkeepers to the gas company.
The UK government’s initiative therefore sounds fair enough. I wonder how we would feel though if other countries – say Mexico or the United Arab Emirates – put onerous language restrictions in place on expatriates from English-speaking countries like the United States, Britain and Australia?
[1] Growing Pains: Population and Sustainability in the UK, Forum for the Future,
http://www.forumforthefuture.org/files/population_web.pdf
Tags: Australia, Britain, country, cultural barriers, English, government, Immigration, integration, jobs, Language, living standards, Mexico, Population, spouse, UK, United States
The majority of Britons want out of the country. Or at least, that’s what a recent survey from foreign exchange broker Currency UK reports.
According to the research, this year an incredible 75% of Britons have considered moving abroad. The main reason for wanting to go was the economy (cited by 31% of respondents), followed by 23% who pointed to poor job prospects at home.
Most popular target destinations were found to be Australia, then Canada, the United States, New Zealand, Spain, France and Thailand.
The last such survey conducted by Currency UK was in 2005. That one reported a much more moderate 25% of respondents were considering leaving Britain.
Sounds terrible doesn’t it, as if the country has really gone to the dogs in the last five years, and a mass exodus is imminent. Maybe. But I have a couple of cautionary observations:
1) Survey results are fallible. The outcome depends on the question asked, and so it is easy to skew the response according to how the query is phrased. So 75% is probably an over-inflation of the number of people seriously considering emigration.
2) What the survey does highlight is a link between expatriation and current fears about the UK’s economy. In other words, things seem bad at home, so let’s move abroad. But this is to overlook the fact that similar – if not worse – problems are happening elsewhere.
Moving abroad is too-often seen as a panacea – offering an escape from all the woes of life at home, and the prospect of sun-filled, carefree days ahead. But it’s essential to be realistic. Recognize there are both pros and cons to living overseas, and make an informed decision on that basis.
The chances of finding happiness – whether at home or abroad – then become a lot higher.
Tags: Australia, Britain, Britons, Canada, country, economy, Emigration, expat, Foreign, France, home, job prospects, living overseas, Moving Abroad, New Zealand, Spain, Thailand, UK, United States
A special treat today – I’m joined by fellow expat author Mike Harling, whose wonderfully-funny Postcards From Across the Pond is a must-read for anyone dreaming of a life abroad, wherever you are and wherever you may be going. Mike is finishing up his virtual tour promoting the book, so without further ado I’ll hand over. Mike …
Mike Harling - author of Postcards From Across the Pond
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Abroad, adventure, Australia, author, book, Britain, Canada, England, expat, Foreign, globe, life, location, Paul, Pond, publisher, Spain, Tenerife, tour, world
Recent Comments