Why you should quit everything and move to Australia.

For a while now I have been obsessed with the idea of moving to Australia: a place I have never even been. It started with a video by James Smith outlining why he decided to move there.

I came across the video at work. I was scrolling though Youtube on my phone, on the forklift, occasionally taking breaks to lift a box up on the assembly line next to me. This wasn't a very hard workstation to be on, and not a very hard day at work either. Everything was moving very slowly so I decided to use my time in a better way just staring blankly at the workers on the other side of the assembly line. Coming across the video I felt something. "Why you should quit everything and move to Australia". I thought nonchalantly that "Maybe I should". I had been thinking about what I was going to do next for a while but hadn't ever truly considered something as radical as moving countries.

I'm not going to watch the video again in order to detail it here, feel free to watch it yourself if you want. Instead I want to portray how it made me feel. In late November in northern Sweden it's really dark, depressingly so. I think we get maybe 4 hours of sunlight and it feels like less and most days I didn't see the sun all that much since, because we worked shifts, I usually worked or slept during the few hours it was up. There was a sharp contrast between that and the beauty and brightness of Australia. It was sunny all day and warm, too. For anyone who has experienced November in northern Sweden, it could not be described as warm (other than by those of us who compare it to how cold it can get. -10 °C is a lot better than -30°C, which it coincidentally has been on and off during the past few weeks). James Smith described Australia with a feeling of freedom and joy, two things I was actively searching for at that time. Don't get me wrong, I'm a pretty happy person, but I was longing to find something I wanted to spend my time on and perhaps, now, the place I wanted to do it in.

From my perspective Australia seemed a great place to live. It was beautiful, warm and sunny, everyone spoke English and culturally it didn't feel that different from Sweden. I even knew of people that had moved there so it felt possible. So I did what everyone looking to move or perhaps travel somewhere new does: I typed Australia into the YouTube search-bar and did some research.

So here are some reasons why I'm personally considering...

Quitting everything and moving to Australia

• Australia is so beautiful and I wouldn't have to endure the Swedish winters. The Swedish winters honestly suck. It is so very dark and I don't like it at all. A bunch of Swedes get depressed and anxious during this time and I wouldn't blame them, the dark and cold is depressing and anxiety-inducing. The feeling of waking up to the sun shining and actually providing warmth is awesome. Sure, the sun exists in Sweden but most of the winter it is gone. I like Swedish summers but then it never gets dark which could be kind of upsetting for the circadian rhythm. Nevertheless, Australia is much sunnier and warmer while (depending on where you live) it doesn't have to get too hot.
• Everyday can feel like a vacation. James describes that, despite living in Australia for several years, he still feels like this. A lot of Swedes go to Spain or Thailand maybe for a week of the year but what if everyday could feel like a vacation. Imagine how much more excited you would be for the day to start. And I don't mean that you live like you're on vacation everyday but just the simple, permanent location change could perhaps induce this feeling throughout your days.
• I've never really been a fan of Swedish culture. Now I don't mean that I hate all of our weird traditions, they can be quite fun. I think I mean that I don't really care at all about our pop culture or television shows or anything like that. As I'm writing this I realise I'm pretty much only saying I don't like Swedish TV, perhaps some other media too. This doesn't feel like such a big of a deal but it feels liberating to go to a new place where I don't have to even consider ending up in conversations about random Swedish people whom I don't actually care about. I hope this doesn't come across as arrogant, I just care about other things. (Not really a reason for anyone to move to Australia, though.)
• The consistent day night cycles would help my circadian rhythm. It would be easier to get early morning sunlight, which Andrew Huberman discusses a lot as a way to boost your sleep and your health. It would just be way more fun to go outside in the morning if it wasn't cold and I didn't have to put on so many clothes to do it.
• I feel like the people are more open. At least according to the James Smith video, people in Australia are quite sociable and open to new people and I like that. Although I know plenty of wonderful Swedes, it feels like Swedish society in general is a little more closed off. Strangers don't really talk to each other, there isn't usually a How are you? or a polite exchange with the cashier when you go shopping. My perspective of Australia is that the people seem more welcoming but this isn't something I'm counting on.
• I want a new mindset. Australia has become something of a symbol for me. A goal. It symbolises a different path from the norm where you go to university, get a job and work there indefinitely until you change jobs. It feels like a different path. I think, by just being in a different place, I can get new ideas and mindsets about where I want my life to go. Most people I know are either working or are doing a university degree in areas that I don't know if they care about, and I'm not sure if I want that. I hope everything works out great for them and that they made the right choice for themselves but it feels like a different location, a different place to live, could give a necessary perspective on a new way in which I can live my life.
• Also kangaroos.
  

So I don't know what I hoped to achieve with this post. Just something to think about for myself and hopefully for you as well.

Thank you for reading

PS: So kangaroos, did a donkey f— a rabbit? What's up with that? Any Australians please let me know.

PPS: watch out for drop bears.