Woman regrets ditching sun-soaked city for UK as it's 'difficult to live'

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The move did not fill the young Aussie with joy (stock photo) (Image: Getty Images)
The move did not fill the young Aussie with joy (stock photo) (Image: Getty Images)

An Australian woman regrets moving to London just three months after arriving.

Amelia is one of the hefty 54,000 people from Down Under who are currently living in England's capital. While most are happily drinking pints in Clapham and socialising with their expat pals, not all of them are having a great time.

The 28-year-old move has endured a miserable few months since swapping the sunny shores of Oz for the drizzly climes of the UK. She has spent countless, fruitless hours trying to find a job, having thrown close to £9,000 at the move so far.

Amelia had been excited to live in the 'epicentre of Europe', making travel to other countries easy. "I think one of the main reasons is that it is an easy transition, it is quite easy for us to get the visa. Moving from one English speaking country to another that is under the Commonwealth has has reciprocal healthcare," she explained as to why she made the move in a TikTok video.

Do you regret moving to the UK? Email [email protected]

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"You can just take a train from here and go to Paris for a weekend, or hop on a flight and be in Spain in two hours." However, the Aussie soon realised that it is "so difficult to live and work here".

One of her primary gripes is the weather. While the coastal city of Sydney is currently basking in November temperatures of close to 30C, much of England is ensconced in a drizzly misery bubble. "We don't move here for the weather, that's for sure. It is so cold and it's not even winter yet," Amelia noted.

She has applied for hundreds of marketing jobs but hasn't even received a response for many of them. When she has, recruiters have told her she "wasn't right" for the role. Having no job and arriving in London during a cost of living crisis has made her feel like a "penniless beggar".

The Sydney woman has found work as a bar tender, but she has found the hours and pay difficult. Amelia said she earned £12 an hour over the course of an 11 hour shift.

In the comments beneath her video many people offered words of empathy, saying they to had found themselves in a far trickier position than they imagined having moved to the UK.

"I am currently in the same position. I totally understand how you feel. The loneliness is the worst," one person said. Another added: "It takes six months before you really have your feet under the table. It's super hard but worth it. I struggled at the beginning and I'm still here six years later."

A third wrote: "The highs are high the lows are low babes. The first couple of months are really hard but when you fully settle in and have a routine its worth it." Many others implored Amelia to ditch London and move north to cities like Leeds and Edinburgh, where they promised the standard and living are intensity of the grind are more tolerable.

Milo Boyd

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