For Australia, I don’t think it’s the only pathway but it is the most practical.

I would recommend speaking with a migration agent in the Philippines and they can guide you through the process.

Makes it a lot clearer.

You will typically need specific qualifications for the role, a minimum number of years work experience and proof of funds in your bank account.

The government has recently relaxed a lot of the rules so it’s definitely a better time to consider applying.

There are usually trade offs. In my experience, it’s far easier and quicker to see a GP in australia when compared to England.

However, when it gets down to surgeries or treatments, Australia’s system is less likely to offer the newest in the market. So it can be a a bit dated in that sense.

A running theme here is that many industries are often 5 years or so behind.

Too old for TikTok but I definitely felt better after getting rid of Instagram and Facebook.

Reddit and signal for my close friends and family serves me much better.

I do lurk on a few YouTube channels for entertainment but even that’s getting a bit annoying, especially the YouTube Shorts, which is basically TikTok 2.0

America is the best place to live period…providing you have a high income.

Anything close to average and it’s not worth it.

Man i do get it. That field of work has a time limit I feel. Eventually you have to move on or you get burned out.

What visa were you even on all this time?

I’ve had a right roller coaster of a journey.

Came to Australia back in 2016 and did the usual backpacking route, over to New Zealand, South East Asia etc.

I ended up going back to Sydney on a working holiday visa, starting out sleeping with my suitcase in this basement hostel room.

Eventually found an advertising company to sponsor me but the government at the time were much more anti immigration and abolished most of the easier option, so it was strictly “temporary” for 4 years, with no pathway to PR.

I spend quite a lot on various immigration agents to explore potential ways round it but it was too risky and they were trying to charge me well over $12,000, with no guarantee it would work.

Then covid hit, complicating things further. I moved down to Melbourne for a while to try and reduce my living costs (whilst working remotely for the same company)

Then moved to a smaller town in Victoria as a last ditch effort to secure a regional visa (494) that would allow me to stay in the country before my current one expired.

Moved there and literally, one month before it was due to expire, the new labour government got in and changed a bunch of rules…meaning I was suddenly able to apply for PR.

It was honestly so much bullshit and sacrifice. Over 6 years of constantly moving around and worrying about losing my job and being kicked out, all for them to turn round and change their mind at the last minute.

So now I’m here, finally free of visa worries and will most likely apply for citizenship but was it worth the mental distress? Probably not.

I still have those same conflicted feeling as you, wanting to return home to family and old friends but I know it wouldn’t be the same as before.

I mean fuck I left when I was just 24. So much has changed since then and the majority of my former social group has moved on and have families.

I feel you brother. Similar age and also came to Australia as a backpacker originally.

Studied a similar degree back home as well and I think it’s normal to have such feelings about it. Our generation were more or less encouraged to get ANY degree, even if it wasn’t necessary to enter a particular field.

How you feel about people back home and family moving on is also completely normal. It’s just one of the trade offs for going travelling and seeing the world unfortunately.

How did you go with getting your PR here. Any luck?

How would you describe life living in the UK, outside of London? Benefits / drawbacks etc

Amazing. Now I can put that label on all my social media profiles. People will think I’m very unique and special. Maybe I’ll add polyamorous and vegan on there aswell for extra clout.

Lol “ neurodivergent”, the latest buzzword.

It’s the eternal expat / immigrant conundrum.

What your experience isn’t unique to London or the UK.

Especially when you edge closer to your later 20s and the likelihood of people settling down and having families increases, they aren’t going to be as motivated to socialise. Meeting and greeting new people no longer becomes their priority.

At 40+, it’s bound to be a challenge so i definitely wouldn’t be too hard on yourself.

Yeah that happens. Try 7 years away and you are only more out of the loop.

I’m at an age where those old friends are having families of their own now, so it’s to be expected.

I try and remind myself that even if I were to have stayed at home, it’s very likely my social circles would have changed anyway.

Friends coming in and going out of your life is pretty normal.

I can’t answer this but it’s fairly likley I won’t have them due to cost of living and housing.

I think it’s just human nature unfortunately. We tend to love our families unconditionally, regardless of our faults.

In many ways, I really hate my father, a very self absorbed man who rarely thinks about anyone but himself…and yet there’s a part of me that still wants to have a connection there.

Best I can suggest is to spend time with them and communicate with them in a way that is most comfortable to you.

A second thing to take into consideration is that while you can keep existing savings accounts that earn interest open, like ISAs, you cannot pay into them while you are a tax resident somewhere else.

You give them too much credit. They aren’t organised enough to do that. When I left it was me doing the chasing and requesting information haha.

Damn son, marriage at 21. That’s brave.