Bittersweet? An opportunity missed?

What if? Was the time spent worth it?

Those are some of the questions that ramble through my mind after reflecting on my time down under.

After a little over 2 years and 2 months of experiencing the Australian life, Sanna and I have decided to try our luck back in Europe.

We of course don’t make this type of move without a lot of consideration. We made the big decision to uproot ourselves and migrate to Australia from England. At this point and time, Sanna and I have established a stable life financially and professionally.

However, if you take a nuanced and honest view at our current lifestyle plus if you truly know me and Sanna then you will see our “stability” built in Sydney as a safe form of professional and personal complacency.

We had been there for over two years, however we never quite got the chance to fully settle down. Professionally and logistically we accomplished what was needed. We found a place to stay and jobs to work. Yet, that was how far we were able to go.

We couldn’t fully foresee a permanent base there for a multitude of reasons.

Sanna and I agree that Sydney (and Australia for that matter) didn’t work out for specific reasons but Sanna and I differ on our feelings about Australia after our time here. I will not speak on her behalf as Sanna is quite eloquent with her thoughts on Australia and Australian culture if requested. So I will just offer you reasons, rationale and feelings behind our departure from my perspective.

Before I begin, let me rewind the clock a little bit. Maybe taking a moment to explain the whole move to Sydney to begin with and this should help clarify why we are leaving Australia.

It was early 2016 and Sanna and I were living in Shrewsbury which is a quaint little market town in England.

Honestly, we were doing alright. We had a nice centrally located flat near the train station and in front of the Shrewsbury Castle. We had secure jobs that paid the bills and allowed us to start the repayment of our graduate school debts. We traveled here and there including being able to visit home in either Sweden or Florida. We were technically in a good spot.

However, we were still lacking some amenities of a typical married couple of young professionals who wanted to start a family, but also have opportunities for upward professional mobility.

We were good, but we couldn’t really afford a house. Or start a family. Or really get my career going. Or really make a dent into our collective debt (my graduate school loan is the real financial threat here compared to Sanna’s but as Sanna states: your debt is my debt and my debt is your debt).

So, after some time, we decided to look for a place were we could possibly accomplish those goals. Sanna and I then started the deliberation of where to go to next.

USA?

No. Can’t happen. Sanna’s visa was not completed at the time and I was not (and frankly still not) ready to move back to the US.

Sweden?

Getting my visa would be very slow in combination with the strong chance that I would have to settle on my current role as an IT professional. In other words, I would continue working as a computer technician until I get the chance to pivot out of that role.

I didn’t want that.

Where then? Where can Sanna and I go that might present the best place to grow our careers and family?

After some thought (and research), we came to the choice of Sydney and decided to give it a try. Sanna could do an internal transfer within her company and I could hopefully find better career prospects.

Now fast forward two years and we are on the move again. But why?

The reasons for leaving are quite simple. You can break down our break up with Australia into these areas: Career, Money & Visas.

Career

I am ambitious. I will put that out there and make sure it’s known. I have dreams and aspirations plus the drive to pursue them. That’s why I do the things I do including, get an education, obtain strong and respectable work experience and overall develop the credentials for better career opportunities.

I am currently looking to either work up or out of my field. I have been attempting this feat for a little while now with no luck. Don’t get me wrong, I am good at what I do however I don’t enjoy it like I use to. I enjoyed my craft years ago when I knew it was useful for building my fledgling CV and it was new to me. Moreover, I was satisfied earlier in my career with the knowledge that this work is a vital stepping stone in my career. But it was a stepping stone nonetheless.

Unfortunately, I have been stagnant on this stepping stone for far too long leaving me honestly frustrated and anxious.

I left England for Australia for the possibility for better opportunities. That was the thinking that I would arrive with the right experience, attitude and work ethic then I should really see my professional trajectory improve.

Well, after biting the bullet and continuing to work in the same role, it seems that I can’t break the ceiling that has been firmly placed over my professional head.

Because of that, I decided to quickly think of another plan.

Money

Can money buy happiness?

No, not directly. However money can buy the things that bring happiness.

Like a place of your own. Right now on average it will take 8 years to buy a house in Sydney with a twenty percent down deposit. It would be even longer for us since for us to stay in the country that long we would need to pay a lot money pay for a long term visa (I will explain that later). Plus, we still have that pesky graduate school loan hanging over us.

Lastly, I fail to mention costs like childcare in the event of Sanna and I having children which would be higher since we don’t have either of our parents (or extended family) to assist us.

Money is the most lucid and obvious reason for staying or leaving. Explicitly, we’d have needed more money if we really wanted to stay in Australia.

Visa

The Temporary Work (Skilled) (Subclass 457) Visa.

Or simply the 457 Visa.  That is the visa Sanna and I obtained for us work in Australia. To be precise, Sanna was the holder of the that visa and myself being the spouse to the visa holder and thus being granted the same rights of 457 visa as well.

Also, this visa is (or at least was) a direct pathway to a permanent residency visa which leads to an eventual Australian citizenship.

Sounds straight forward, right? But there is more to it. Also, this visa doesn’t even exist anymore as it was recently abolished.

But the main issue we had with our visa setup is that it prevented us from considering to have children. Sanna as the primary visa holder was only allowed to have 3 months of maternity leave and that’s it. Australian citizens (and permanent residents) are given little over 4 months in paid maternity leave. Beyond the 3 months maternity leave as the visa holder, Sanna is required to return to work as her visa is dependent on her working a certain number of months in any given year.

That wasn’t going to fly with me and Sanna. Plus, there is only 2 weeks of paternity leave for me as well which is not that great.

This goes back to the whole topic of needing more money.

For us to have children here in Australia, I would have needed be well paid and sponsored but that never came in fruition.

Even if we had children and decided to stay, the next hurdle would be to fork out at least $10,000 AUD in lawyer and visa fees and wait for a long time for a permanent residency.

Overall, the calculus for us to staying and truly settling in Sydney didn’t add up. Because of that, we couldn’t justify staying here let alone staying somewhere so far away from both of our families.

If we were going to stay, I need a better job that paid very well and sponsored me. If that happened, we would have been able to save for a house, have children and justify being so far away from everybody.

However, it was not meant to be. Now we’ve departed Sydney looking for the next locale that might yield better results for us.

That destination we think is Denmark. I will be studying for my second graduate degree at Copenhagen Business School while Sanna continues to work full time. We think pragmatically that this plan is the best move in regards to us advancing our careers, moving closer to our families and eventually start a family.

What are my thoughts about Australia?

I would have been happy to stay in Australia. Even with the distance from both of our families. I envisioned buying a home, starting a family and seeing me and Sanna’s careers take off. But it just didn’t happen that way. Which is unfortunate.

Fortunately, I have had the chance to meet some great people through my work and Sanna’s work. Those relationships that were nurtured here will continue to be with me even if I am back in Europe. Introspectively, I think I have grown more as well and my perspective on life naturally has become more layered and thoughtful. Or least I hope it did.

Do I have ill feelings about Australia?

Not really.

I think Australia is very similar to the US as Australia can negatively react to honest external criticism. Either to the ongoing fraught situation of the aboriginal people or human rights violations occurring offshore near Australia orchestrated by the Australian government.

Sydney can be a great place to live. From my perspective, I would advise that if you want to succeed here as a young couple, then you need the husband to be the visa holder. In addition to that, make sure you have enough salary to quickly save for a house and permanent residency while being able to pay for the high overall cost of living.

If you can do that then give Australia a go and god speed.