I’m moving abroad again! I was a Londoner for almost 5 years and are about to make Australia my home for the next 2 years. The decision to move to Australia is something that has slowly evolved over a long time.

There are so many things that I absolutely love about London; it is dynamic, multicultural and there are always a thousand new things to do. London is a wonderful playground because it’s always something fun going on, new bars and restaurants to try and new people to meet. Constantly. 24/7.

But there’s also so many things that I hate about it; the economic and social inequality, overcrowding and the housing shortage. Those things didn’t matter to me when I first moved there because all I wanted was to experience something different and to have fun. Things are different now. I’ve reached a point in my life where that’s not enough anymore. I want all of that and more. It’s a lot harder to create a more ”adult”-lifestyle in London. I don’t even dare to dream about getting my own flat, etc. because it feels so far away.

London can be hard and demanding at times. The large economic gaps have divided the society into two groups; those who can afford to live, and those who can’t. However- earning more money is normally not a good solution either. The majority of the people that is earning well is more or less working themselves to death. They have no life outside work. I have friends that earn a much higher salary than most Swedes can even imagine, but they are making large sacrifices. They hardly have time to eat dinner because their lives are just about work and sleep for 6-7days a week. It’s not even uncommon to work a lot more hours that what’s legal, but that’s just how the work culture is, so they continue to clock more and more hours. They have the money, but no time to live.

The only way that I would ever be able to achieve a decent living standard that I’m used to, is if I became a very high earner that spends all of my time at work. But it means that I won’t have any time for any one the things that is important to me. It’s simply a price that I’m not prepared to pay, because I would much rather have a lower income and live, than being rich without a life. That’s what scares me the most about London. Nobody seems to have a more or less balanced life. It doesn’t matter who I ask because they all seem to share the same struggles. It always seems to be either way. You either have money or time (or neither if it’s really bad).

I have no interest in designer bags or to always have the latest gadgets. I’m not looking for a life in luxury, but I want some kind of balance in life. I want a life that is full of experiences and to be able to get my own place eventually. I want that, but I don’t want to work 80 hours a week to be able to pay my bills because I want to have some time to live as well. That’s something that feels almost impossible to achieve in London and that’s why we have decided to move somewhere else.

Neither of us have even been in Australia and we can’t even imagine how life will be there. We don’t know if it’s going the be the right place for us or if we can ever find what we are looking for. We don’t know, but it doesn’t really matter because we will try. Europe is just two flights from Australia, so we could always come back if we want. It’s not very complicated to move back so there’s nothing to lose. 😉