An Australian woman living in the UK has declared she will never move back home for one reason that some are scratching their heads at.
Expat Rhiannon Cunningham, who said she moved to England four years ago, explained in a video to TikTok why she would never return Down Under – even if Brits are always shocked when she reveals where she hails from.
“Every single time I mention to someone British that I’m originally from Australia they’re always like … ‘why would you leave Australia? Australia is so good, I’ve always wanted to move there’,” Cunningham said.
“And, like, I get it. You kind of always want what you can’t have. It’s kind of like the grass is greener sort of thing.
“But you want to know the number one reason why I could never move back there?” she asked.
“It is because I’m way too attached to my silly little holidays and my little weekend getaways … you just literally cannot do that in Australia and I feel like people just don’t understand.”
Cunningham’s biggest gripe with Australia was that it is an “isolated little desert away from everything”, whereas England was on the doorstep of Europe and dozens of different countries and cultures just hours away.
“In England I can literally get to Spain, France, (The) Netherlands, Belgium, like so many close countries in like one or two hours on a plane,” she said.
“Where as in Australia, when I used to visit my grandparents – they live in Queensland and I live in Sydney – that was one hour flight and it was just still in Australia.”
She said: “I feel like people just don’t get how big (Australia) is.”
“I once did the drive from Sydney to the Gold Coast. It took me 10 hours. Or if you want to go from Sydney to Perth … (it) is about a five hour flight. A fire hour flight to be in more Australia? No, thank you.”
As for getting to another country, our nearest is New Zealand or Bali which are hours away and cannot be squeezed into a “weekend getaway”, Cunningham said.
Instead, Australians have to “really commit” to a week-long holiday if they want to go anywhere.
“In Australia, like, you are literally just trapped. And, like, yeah, it’s cool, you’re in Australia. But you literally have so many different cultures and countries on your doorstep … like you have everything here,” Cunningham continued.
“So why would I want to go back to Australia and be like an isolated little desert away from everything? Like, it’s just not for me right now.
“I love living in England, I love living in Europe and you guys just don’t understand how good you have it here.”
Her video drew mixed reactions, some fellow expats agreeing with her sentiments while others pointed out her reason for loving England had nothing to do with living in England.
“So the best thing about living in England is how easy it is to leave England?” one person wrote.
Another chimed in with a similar question for Cunningham’s reasoning, but said they “agree” with her.
“Every Aussie says this!” one woman replied.
“So never (stay) for the lifestyle in the UK, to visit and enjoy every other country but ours.”
Some expats who moved to Australia (and even New Zealand) added their two-cents about moving to the other side of the world, saying said the “freedom” to travel is “so much easier” in Europe.
Users from other massive countries like Canada and the US said the isolation was as real for them, too.
One commenter said being “trapped” in Australia was “the idea” of it being a penal colony for England to send its convicts: because “(they’re) not supposed to break out”.