Contributing Author: Laura Lopez

Throughout my travels I had the chance to experience life in four different English-speaking countries (England, USA, New Zealand and Australia). I always thought I would make my permanent home in the US but somehow life took me to the other side of the world and, I must say, I wasn’t expecting that Australia would tick all the boxes of a perfect home for me.

Why move to Australia

They knowhow to live life

People who visit my country always talked about how good the quality of life is in Spain. However, this comment is most likely to come from people who don’t work there; they are just on holidays, they probably brought with them a much higher currency, and they spent their days having tapas, beers, and soaking in the Mediterranean sea.Well, the reality of a middle-class worker is far from that, we work long and hard hours and don’t get much pay in return.

In Australia, no matter what job you have, the salary is generous enough, which means you get to decide whether you want to work full time and save money or work fewer hours to free up more of your time, whilst still having enough money for the essentials.

The Climate

If you are not a fan of winter like me I have good news for you, you don’t have to go through it ever again!  In Australia there are plenty of spots for you to choose where you can enjoy the sun year round.

My winter choice last year wasCairns, where I spent winter snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef, discovering the rainforest, and chasing waterfalls.

They know the art of Making Coffee

I’ve always drunk coffee out of necessity: either to stay awake or to warm up in winter. However, I still enjoyed the taste of it while I was in Spain and fell in love with it when I was in Italy.

When I was living in a small town inEngland my coffee standard became low. To me the coffee over there wasn’t the greatest so I always ended up buying it from a big coffee chain like Starbucks.

When I came to Australia I had low expectations of finding something similar to my beloved Italian coffee. But after a short time discovering coffee shops in four different states I was amazed by the unique coffee culture in Australia. I can say confidently that I hadn’t tried a coffee as good as in Italy until I’d tried one here. Probably because Australia was influenced by a large Italian population or simply because they know “the art of making coffee”.

Their Diverse Cuisine and Culture

Despite the fact that there isn’t exactly a uniquely Australian cuisine like there is in most European countries, thanks to their multicultural society (43% of Australians were either born overseas or have a parent who was born overseas) you can find your favourite dishes from every part of the world.

In addition, being a vegetarian has been extremely easy since I moved here, and I don’t really have to worry about finding a place to eat that will have a meat-free dish. Not even in the Outback where there is not much around apart from red rocks and snakes, I still managed to find decent vegetarian options.

The Wildlife

The only place to see wildlife whereI grew up was in a zoo, and I was never a big fan of those. Animals in a reduced space, far away from home, always looking sad and often being disturbed… Why would you pay to see something like that?

So I found a wildlife lover’s paradise, Australia. Even if you live in a big city like Sydney you only have to drive a couple of hours away and you could end up seeing more than 5 different species.

In one of my favourite road trips, I got to see a tortoise, a crocodile, a cassowary, a wallaby, a parrot, and a clownfish on the same day. Awesome, right? I thought so too.

Of course, there is always something good and bad about a country and while this is simply my own personal list of what I look for in a “perfect home”, you may find that you have different priorities. If this sounds like you, though, hit me up if you have any questions about moving to Australia, I would love to answer them.