I've had a request from a soon-to-be expat to do a post about what we would have done differently regarding our move to Melbourne (hindsight is 20-20 of course). So, in no particular order, if I was moving to Melbourne, here are the top 10 things I wish I would have known/done:
1. I'm glad we didn't do a sea shipment and bring over all of our furniture and household items. There was really no point (at least in our case). I do wish I had gone to IKEA right at the beginning to get decent (yet affordable) items right off the bat all in one place. Instead, I tried to be too thrifty by scouring Gumtree for deals and ended up repurchasing better items later anyway. I am glad we brought our instruments and that Zack brought his mountain bike, because those are important parts of our lives. But he still hasn't used his golf clubs!
2. I think I wish we had purchased a vehicle (one that would accommodate bikes and/or surfboards) at the start of our stint. We've built our lifestyle around not having a car now, and it's fine, but it does limit our mobility on some weekends and makes us depend on friends too much sometimes.
3. You always hear that clothes, shoes, and linens are ridiculously expensive over here. With shoes, I would agree. I would definitely bring shoes over from the US (especially athletic ones). You can find decent deals on clothes if you go to the right places at the right times, but overall, it was good to bring boxes of our own over with us. I wish I had known earlier about stores like Spotlight and Big W for linens and basic household goods; there was no need to bring towels, sheets, etc. Online shopping is a lifesaver sometimes too.
4. I think I wish we would have brought our dog over with us. I'll always question this one. I know the cost would have been outrageous, and the flight and quarantine time would have been torturous, but overall, we often wish Molly was with us. It would have made finding a rental place more difficult, and I'm not sure what we would have done when we went on trips, but she would have loved Australia. I guess we have to trust the expats we talked to before our move who had brought their dogs and said they regretted it.
5. I'm glad we joined some Meetup groups online and went to events right away. They have been the source of almost all of our friendships we now cherish here in Australia. I wish I had known that making new "couple friends" was going to be almost exactly like dating!
6. I wish I had not obsessed over the electrical appliances issue before moving. I did all sorts of research on voltage changes and transformers and converters and such. The few American items we did bring have been a pain to deal with overall, and you can find decent enough appliances for reasonable prices to get by for a few years. I would suggest not bringing any items you need to plug in if you can help it. The exceptions would be my laptop and camera battery chargers. A simple adapter plug makes those work just fine.
7. I wish I had known that we would end up becoming good friends with other expats. I don't know if I expected that we would hang out with mostly Australians, but I was surprised that we naturally gravitated toward those in our same situation. I guess it makes sense, but it was unexpected (to me). We do have some Australian friends, but I think it's just easier for expats to be friends with other expats, because you all know what you're in for (a friendship where someone is eventually going to leave), and you are going through the same things.
8. I wish I would have known that Melbourne is often a rainy, gray city. I would suggest investing in a good umbrella and raincoat. Also, it does get cold here. I wish I would have brought more winter clothing over with me.
9. I wish I would have gotten a job earlier. You can make good money over here, and we could have had a lot more in savings if I had started teaching last year. Oh well.
10. I wish I was better about embracing the once-in-a-lifetime opportunities we are afforded over here. We're making the most of our time on this side of the world and taking lots of trips and doing lots of things, but sometimes I freak out about the cost. To be happy (with no regrets) and not drive yourself and others crazy, you basically have to just "get over" the prices, especially of rent, postage to/from other countries, and food at restaurants!
So there you have it. I'm sure there are things I'm forgetting, but hopefully that's somewhat helpful to people who are trying to plan for expat life. I know I felt completely overwhelmed when we were trying to decide what to pack and such, so please feel free to contact me if you have any other questions about moving down under. Thanks for the post idea; anybody else have a request?
Hi Aubree, as someone who just moved here from The States, I've loved reading your blog. And I think all of the above suggestions are great. My wife is from here, but works a lot...so I am looking for ways to meet people. What meet up groups do you suggest?
ReplyDeleteI would definitely suggest the American expat group, and then it depends on your interests. There are couples' groups (including an American-Oz one!) and ones for everything under the sun...surfing, photography, book clubs, running, etc. Melbourne City Adventures is a large group with all sorts of activities. I stay on their list mainly to just find out what's going on around town! Good luck-I hope you find some you like!
DeleteDo your research before coming! By that I mean finding other expats and their HONEST opinions about the living situation and the job situation. In my own situation, I would have asked "How easy is it for an temporary resident to get a job?" The answer: easy enough to get an entry level job but if you are expecting to "fit in" at the level you left in your home country, forget it! If I had realized this and managed my expectations about what my experience was going to be like it would have saved me some heartache and wasted time. Arming yourself with knowledge about the culture and how that culture relates to your own will also help you deal with awkward experiences with the natives when you arrive. You can't avoid them but if you at least have a clue, it makes things easier to deal with.
ReplyDeleteAnd also, bring all the shoes from home you can fit! I totally agree with your shoe assessment. I have had the biggest struggle finding quality footwear that fits. I have just started buying shoes on endless.com and paying extra for shipping!
Good one, and to that I would add, don't expect the laid-back, "no worries" Australian attitude to carry over into the amount of hours worked. My husband has had some periods of 90+ hour work weeks, and it was insane. Granted, it's partly because of his industry (IT) and the nature of working on projects with deadlines, but we really thought that his work-life balance would be much easier to manage here than in the US. As an expat who received financial assistance from his company to move over here, he sometimes feels like an indentured servant, and I think he works like a slave at times!
DeleteWe brought our dog over, for me I just couldn't have left him behind but I respect all decisions on this one, not easy. He has proved to be the best way of meeting new people ever, every where we go we get stopped and he is always the talking point. I have made 2 new friends through him and he has been a major support to me in settling in here. I cant imagine rattling around our home without him.
ReplyDeleteHe doesnt stop us going anywhere or doing anything we want to do, I have found a brilliant place for him to go (Melbourne's doggy day care is some of the best in the world I think) and he loves going.
I am sorry you were advised not to bring Molly, I can't see how you would have regretted it at all. My advice to ex-pats would be, if you can suck up the cost, then bringing your dog is definitely worth it. :-)
This is a great entry; thank you. #4 is especially touching. I have a cat and I struggle so much with the idea of leaving her behind.
ReplyDeleteThanks. Yeah, it breaks my heart when I think about it, even though I know Molly's in great hands with my brother and sister-in-law.
DeleteOhmygosh this was so helpful. Thank you very much! I'm probably most freaking out about the making friends thing. But it sounds like you just dove in and met the right people along the way.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure I'll come up with more ideas for you to write about, since you asked! Stay tuned.
No worries! I would definitely say to join a lot of Meetup groups and go to a bunch of gatherings at the beginning. You'll find yourself drawn to various people along the way, and after a few "dates," you'll know who will end up being long-term friends. I've found that now that I have a good core group of friends, I rarely even go to Meetup activities anymore. Our closest friends tend to be other expats (or those in a temporary situation) who live nearby. Feel free to ask more!
DeleteExcellent post- though I wish I read it before I moved to Melbourne! Especially related to Nos. 3 and 10. PS- Go Irish!! (ND '94)
ReplyDeleteWoohoo-Go Irish!
DeleteHi Aubree,
ReplyDeleteI've just started following your blog as my husband and I are moving to Melbourne from London in January (he's British, I'm Canadian). This post was really helpful (especially the advice about the shoes!) - I keep reading about how expensive everything is so its good to know about IKEA and the places to go for cheap linens. I'm also a teacher so it would be interesting to hear about your experience teaching there.
Anyway thanks for all the posts, it's really interesting reading!
Glad it's been helpful. Let me know if you have any other questions. Also, if you plan on starting to teach right away, I would start working on your VIT registration now, because it takes awhile to get everything together.
DeleteHa-just kidding-I just read your blog and saw you already have it-woohoo!
DeleteYa it came through the other day, thankfully - it took ages to get all the paperwork together!
DeleteMy school in Melbourne are sponsoring me so now its time to start getting the 457 visa documents together, fun times!
Hi Aubree,
ReplyDeleteWhat made you decide to carry on all of those boxes instead of shipping them or using a moving company? We are moving to Melbourne next year and have quite a few things that we will be bringing with us (like TONS of baby gear/furniture since that is outrageously expensive there and we will be having another baby after we get there). Did you do much research on the costs of the various options for moving household goods? We have just decided for sure that we are going, so we are just starting our research and am not sure where to begin.
Sorry for the late reply-just now catching up on e-mails and such. We looked into shipping things, but we were getting outrageous quotes (at least $5000-some near $9000), so we decided to just bring clothes/shoes, instruments, and a few other things in boxes, which were only $200 each on the plane. If you're bringing a lot, it's probably worth it to do a shipment. We just didn't want to use up our entire reimbursement allowance on shipping things that we knew we could do without or could find cheaply abroad. Let me know if you have any other questions!
Delete