I moved to Australia with my partner 5 months ago now, knowing we’ll go back to the UK at some point but with no real return date in sight. And we love it here. I can tell you for a fact that I have met more people over here who aren’t Australian than are, and most of them have mentioned in some way or another what I’ve decided to call The Australia Effect: never wanting to leave.

If you’re in Australia you may know what I’m talking about. How many times have you heard someone say “I only came out here for a year, but 5 years later and here I am.”?

It’s something to do with the draw this place has on us on a fundamental level. How much better life feels when you’re by the beach all the time and when the days are filled with more sunshine than rain. Once you stay here and experience what it has to offer, it becomes rather difficult to imagine going back. I actually think ‘The Australia Effect’ has more to do with our intrinsic desires as human beings, but I’ll get to that later.

I was getting my nails done at the salon a few days ago and the woman attending to me was asking all about England. She’s from Vietnam but has lived in Aus for over 20 years and she was extremely surprised that I would choose to live here over the UK. “The UK is a good place to live isn’t it?” She asked, clearly under the same false pretence as the rest of the world that the quality of life is something to marvel at*.

*For the sake of avoiding a misunderstanding here, I am not ignoring the privilege that having grown up in England brings, nor am I ignoring the struggles of countries that can’t offer the same opportunities. I recognise these things, but this is not my focus here.

However, when you are comparing, as I am, two “first world” countries, that speak the same language and from the outside you would expect to be pretty similar… it’s a different story. Australia on the weekend feels like England 20 years ago: children playing in the streets, families on days out together, long bike rides and coastal dog walks. And these activities are not saved for the summer because if there’s one thing the Aussies are good at it’s making the most of the great outdoors.

Being a bartender, working in hospitality has its own perks as the wages are miles better here and you are rewarded for working late nights and longer hours. To give you some perspective, back in the uk I was doing the exact same job working 10hrs more each week while earning almost £200 (AU$400) less! Not only this but the work/life balance is a significantly bigger priority here. Ensuring you get your well-earned free time means there is enough time to do all the things you always say you’re going to do but never get round to.

Since I moved here, I have taught myself to crochet, I do yoga much more frequently, go on runs and walks to explore. I’ve finished reading one book and started another, I socialise with friends and somehow still manage to work enough to be living in a flat 10 mins from the beach, to have bought an electric bike and started saving towards buying a camper-van. My life has never felt so full.

Now, I mentioned before about our intrinsic desire. Humans and nature have a much more powerful connection than I think most people realise. Scientifically of course we are a product of this beautiful planet we live on but also on a spiritual level, people and nature are strongly linked. The chemicals in our bodies respond to sunlight and fresh air in different ways than how they respond to moonlight and frosty mornings and that is no coincidence.

You see all these videos from influencers now saying “I’m rich because I’ve seen this with my own eyes.” and it’s a beautiful mountain range, or rolling fields. Without realising it they’re speaking to this very same feeling.

“We often forget that we are nature. Nature is not something that is separate from us. So when we say that we have lost our connection to nature, we have lost our connection to ourselves.”

-Andy Goldsworthy (environmentalist, sculptor and photographer)

This past August in Sydney has actually been one of the wettest on record so if you were (like me) one of the people who thought Aus was sunny and hot all the time, think again. On the whole the weather and how much time is spent outdoors makes a huge difference to all of us. How does your mood change when the rain continues to pour? How does your energy change when the sun finally comes out? It may not be something you’ve paid attention to before but it’s happening nonetheless. Today was the first day of spring, in that it’s the first warm day bringing winter to an end, and Coogee Beach was the busiest I’ve seen it in the 5 months I’ve been here — people react to the weather.

Therefore, as much as Australia offers more free time, more money, and all the rest, the real reason people come, and don’t want to leave, is to fulfill the innate need to connect with the great outdoors. It’s simply human nature.

Generally, exercise comes with spending time outdoors and when your emotional bandwidth is no longer full of worries, it l;eaves you space to actually start feeling happy and excited about life. As Andy says, to reconnect with natures is to reconnect with yourself. Ultimately The Australia Effect is a combination of things that open your eyes to this possibility – it snaps you out the bubble of whatever you previously believed life had to be, and raises the standard entirely.

So, whether you live in Australia or not, go outside just a little bit more and let me know what happens.

~ Teya