Luke Tweddle is a 25-year-old Brit who has been living in Australia for almsot three years and despite having the time of his life he is now preparing to move back home
A Brit who has lived in Australia for three years opened up about the unexpected challenges – despite declaring it the best country he has ever lived in.
Luke Tweddle, 25, is from Surrey and he is currently based in Perth after previously living in Sydney and Adelaide. He said the positives far outweigh the negatives but revealed why he was unwilling to commit his long-term future there.
And speaking one month after a deadly terror attack in Bondi Beach, where 15 people were killed, Luke was asked whether he still felt as safe as before.
He said: “I would say for a short amount of time after the shooting it definitely had an impact. I had never had any issues or worries while walking around Australian cities as they are generally very safe from my experience.
“But definitely for a couple of days after that it was in the back of my mind. However, I do know that these things can happen all over and generally I do feel the threat to be considerably lower here in Australia maybe compared to somewhere like the UK.”
Luke runs his own YouTube channel and this week he shared his “honest review” of living Down Under, where he offered three reasons for why he is returning.
Missing friends and family
The most obvious reason to return for Luke was being so far from family and friends. In the first two years, this wasn’t an issue for Luke, who described simply riding the wave of excitement. However, he believes year three compared to year one in Australia is totally different because you start to think about life a bit differently.
He added: “I think being away from friends and family for so long, once it’s been three years that’s when you start to feel it. The fact you haven’t been around friends and family for a very long time. You will only know the feeling if you’ve lived abroad for so long. It’s not really homesickness but more of an, ‘Oh I am starting to feel a bit disconnected from certain people because we’ve not interacted in about three and a half years.’”
Isolation
Secondly, he said the isolation of Australia from the rest of the world also becomes a strain if you are not from there. He said he missed England being so close to Europe and how you could fly to America and back in the time it takes to get to Australia from the UK.
Changes in third year
And thirdly, he said there was a reality to living in Australia in year three. Offering insight, he said: “As amazing as Australia is, you do get very used to the weather living here, and I know it’s easy to say the weather, the beaches, everything here is better, but when you actually live here long-term your realise the weather feels very normal every day. Realistically you only end up going to the beach once or twice a month.”
Despite these issues, Luke was still overwhelmingly positive about the country, explaining: “My overall view is there are very little negatives about Australia and a massive massive list of positives. So anyone looking to move to Australia, I would highly recommend it. It’s the best country I’ve ever lived and there’s nowhere else I would recommend more.
“I don’t think there’s many countries in the whole world where you can find so few negatives, from my experience at least.”
He listed a number of positives that greet any Brits flocking to Down Under.
Positives
Moving to the other side of the world in his early 20s has led to two major personal changes, according to Luke. He said he was now much healthier and someone who does not crave a big night out on weekends.
And secondly, his confidence has skyrocketed, and he feels he would not have had the same personal growth if he had stayed working the one job in the UK. He explained how moving to Oz forced him to find different jobs, meet new people and that big character building came from having to move apartments at short notice.
But as for the main positive of moving there, he said: “Let’s get the most obvious point out of the way, that is the weather and the lifestyle here in Australia. It just goes without saying it is unbelievable. The lifestyle in Australia is genuinely better than anywhere I’ve been over the last couple of years.
“I love the early morning culture, getting out first thing in the morning, doing things before and after work.”
He said the scenery and number of outdoor activities was one of the best things before explaining how the wages in Australia are “by far the highest” compared to what he experienced both in the UK and from briefly living in New Zealand.
Luke also said the weekend rates were “very good” and that people were well paid for working normal jobs.
Another plus point is the locals, and making a UK comparison, he said: “The biggest thing I will miss about Aussies and their culture is number one how unserious they take life. In the UK life feels very serious, everyone takes life too seriously in my opinion, Aussies living here are so chilled out.”
And he went on to say that Australians took tremendous pride in their own country and defended it at every opportunity.
He felt this was demonstrated by how clean the country was where rubbish and vandalism was rare to see. Luke added that the major cities were much “cleaner and safer” than UK ones and when he does move back to Britain, he will choose to live in the countryside as a result.
He also said simply travelling through various different parts of Australia has been a highlight, explaining how the hostels were great and the variety of things to do and see was mind-blowing.
Luke said he would enjoy going back to visit Australia one day and would “never say never” regarding possibly moving back if he ended up “hating” being in the UK after a few years.