Great Article & Info mate, I am a Aussie living in Canada for past 6 years, I am a long haul trucker, When I made the move I was told I would be earning 80,000 CND per year, Okay that meant taking a pay cut for me of 30k per year, I could deal with that as I wanted to Truck Nth America, I have no regrets in my decision,So don’t think I am whining:) I have made Canada my home & I have been to every of the lower 48 States more than once, My 1st year here I struggled to earn the 50k I did earn, I was used of more than twice that amount, Also I was hit with “new” cost’s such as the compulsory car insurance, even though I am an experienced Truck driver, driving Nth America all the insurance Co’s seen me as a new driver!!$ 4500 a year on a …get this....$500 Pontiac Sunbird!
Australia is a great country for earning money, No two ways about it, I used to go for an overseas Holiday every year as I would take 4 weeks vacation at once which would leave me with a week up my sleeve, Yes thats true standard vacation given to you each year is 4 weeks, I was working a Continental shift in which we are entitaled to 5 weeks a year, better than the 2 I get now.
Since being up here I honestly cant afford to do that every year now, I actually havent been home since arriving here in Feb 06, I like Ocha Rios & Tj nowdays:)
Again I am not complaining just stating some facts:) I love the 4 seasons here in Nth America, In Oz when it was 5 degrees c I would be freezing! Today its −25 here in Atlantic Canada & I am freezing, but give me 0 c Im in a t/shirt nowdays.
Anyone thinking of going to Oz for a working holiday , My opinion is you can not go wrong, You will get to meet great people from all walks of life , You will come home with money in ya pocket (as long as ya dont piss it all up) I am 46 yrs old now I moved here when I was 40, not a spring chicken !! I love meeting new people from all walks of life , & seeing the “Real America” like the ppl that live in country towns of Tennessee, Montana, New Mexico, Hearing story’s from older black dudes that were around when it was coloured here whites there shit happening,
Im rambling now, But the guy that wrote this article is right, get out of the big cities and go to more remote places, sure visit the city’s , But the real ppl are far and few between there. Its the same for us ocker’s coming to the USA tourists mainly go to LA, Vegas, NYC etc all tourist destinations,
If your thinking of going DO IT!! You have nothing to lose and everything to gain, If you arrive in Oz with 2000 bucks and leave with 2000 bucks and were there for a year well you would have so many memories that money cant buy and it will always be with you,
My motto in life is...” You Only Live Once, Life doesn’t let you wind the clock back to have another go,” There are always planes coming back to the US everyday from Oz so your only a day from home in that respect.
I started writing this to say well done to the guy that wrote it, now I have really rambled on huh!!
Cheers Ginge
Please employ paragraph breaks. The above comment is very difficult to read.
$ 4500 a year on a …get this....$500 Pontiac Sunbird!
Yes, the compulsory insurance is generally liability—it has nothing to do with how much damage you can do to your own car. It is rather protecting against the cost of injuries and damage you can cause to others with the car.
We have similar compulsory Insurance here in Aus too… it’s called “third party insurance” (or your Green slip) You pay it as the same time as you pay your registration.
It costs nowhere near that amount, even for new drivers.
I currently pay around $600 a year but I’m female and 40 years old. I have not been driving for that many years though.
A quick online google shows me that if I were Male and 23 years old.. the same insurance would cost $890 - even for a driver with 1 year of driving experience.
G’day Ginge,
I to came out here to North America. I have been here for 11 years living in Arizona. I haven’t seen all the states but I have seen all the west states. My favorite place for a Burger was in Montana at a place called Bubba’s BBQ. The staff were very friendly and the restaurant was very clean. I also was no spring chicken when I came to the USA, I was 37. I have only been back home twice in the past 11 years to take the family to meet their extended family in Australia. I have a wonderful son to my ex-wife and a step son & daughter with my current wife. My wife wants to move to Australia because she felt so welcome amongst all my old school friends and family. But before I left Australia I was a Jack of all Trades but a Master of None. The past 7 years I have been working in the security industry and would love to find the same kind of work back home. The wages for a security officer here in the US are not the best, most start at $10 per hour. Not enough to support a family of 4. I have been reading different online sites where you can earn 2-3 times that for the right company in Australia.
The part about the Superannuation gets me, don’t get me wrong I am all about getting your true worth. If people on work/holiday visa’s can collect thier Super when they leave the country, why can’t Australians collect thier Social Security when they move back home when they leave? It all has to do with the difference in Government Legislation. I told so many people when I first moved to the USA that they could make so much more in Australia doing the same kind of work. So like everyone has read in Ginge’s & Louie’s articles, if you are young enough, get on a plane and go to Australia, stop making excuses. Save what you need and come home with a little nest egg to at least start your retirement. Trust me, unless you are making the big bucks here in the USA, you can kiss your retirement plans goodbye.
To all the wonderful friends and family I have here in the USA, thank you for being there when I needed someone to turn to as all my family is back home in Australia.
Thank you all for letting me express my opinion, as that is just what it is My Opinion. I will leave you with some words someone told me many years ago:- Life is what you make of it, if you don’t take the chance don’t complain. Your future is there for the taking, God gave you 2 feet you have to choose to take the steps!
I know that reading through so many post’s on here that everyone has certain points of interest that all play an integral part of making a decision to make this move. 2 years ago I was making a little over $45k a year until I was let go under Voluntary Termination. Like I would voluntarily quit while I am being treated under Workman’s Compensation!! Anyway, it seems that at least 90% of bloggers agree that this would be perfect for a single person who has no ties? When I left Australia in 2001 for the USA, I had no degrees, I hadn’t even completed school. When I was 14, my parents wrote a letter to the Education Department to have me exempt from school. I was 1 of 8 boys and both my parents were out of work. I helped my father do whatever we had to to bring home an income. This sometimes meant collecting bottles, cans and all kinds of scrap metals. So after meeting a girl from America, I decided that I have to do what I feel is right for me, so I came to Arizona to be with her. Leaving everything I knew back home in Australia, family and belongings. My parents in law suggested I get my GED, which I went for the test 2 weeks after they suggested without studying and passed with an 84%. I am not on here to diss on anyone or say that anyone is wrong but coming from my background I personally know that you sometimes have to chase your dreams. Otherwise that’s all they will ever be, Dreams. In 2010, I went from a job where I was earning $18.80 per hour to Unemployment Insurance for 3 months ($1100 total) and when I did finally find work, I was back at $10 per hour. Drastic change, but my current wife and I made it work for us. All this after we bought a nice house to boot. Would I like to find something better, yes. Do I have time or the funds to go back to school to earn a degree to pursue a better job, No. So I say to anyone who has No Ties and would like to visit Australia or any other Country take a leap and go. America will still be standing here waiting when you get back. It is much harder to uproot your whole family and move.
Good luck to you all and may you always be happy with the choices you make. Aussiemate64.
Great Article & Info mate, I am a Aussie living in Canada for past 6 years, I am a long haul trucker, When I made the move I was told I would be earning 80,000 CND per year, Okay that meant taking a pay cut for me of 30k per year, I could deal with that as I wanted to Truck Nth America, I have no regrets in my decision,So don’t think I am whining:) I have made Canada my home & I have been to every of the lower 48 States more than once, My 1st year here I struggled to earn the 50k I did earn, I was used of more than twice that amount, Also I was hit with “new” cost’s such as the compulsory car insurance, even though I am an experienced Truck driver, driving Nth America all the insurance Co’s seen me as a new driver!!$ 4500 a year on a …get this....$500 Pontiac Sunbird! Australia is a great country for earning money, No two ways about it, I used to go for an overseas Holiday every year as I would take 4 weeks vacation at once which would leave me with a week up my sleeve, Yes thats true standard vacation given to you each year is 4 weeks, I was working a Continental shift in which we are entitaled to 5 weeks a year, better than the 2 I get now. Since being up here I honestly cant afford to do that every year now, I actually havent been home since arriving here in Feb 06, I like Ocha Rios & Tj nowdays:) Again I am not complaining just stating some facts:) I love the 4 seasons here in Nth America, In Oz when it was 5 degrees c I would be freezing! Today its −25 here in Atlantic Canada & I am freezing, but give me 0 c Im in a t/shirt nowdays. Anyone thinking of going to Oz for a working holiday , My opinion is you can not go wrong, You will get to meet great people from all walks of life , You will come home with money in ya pocket (as long as ya dont piss it all up) I am 46 yrs old now I moved here when I was 40, not a spring chicken !! I love meeting new people from all walks of life , & seeing the “Real America” like the ppl that live in country towns of Tennessee, Montana, New Mexico, Hearing story’s from older black dudes that were around when it was coloured here whites there shit happening, Im rambling now, But the guy that wrote this article is right, get out of the big cities and go to more remote places, sure visit the city’s , But the real ppl are far and few between there. Its the same for us ocker’s coming to the USA tourists mainly go to LA, Vegas, NYC etc all tourist destinations, If your thinking of going DO IT!! You have nothing to lose and everything to gain, If you arrive in Oz with 2000 bucks and leave with 2000 bucks and were there for a year well you would have so many memories that money cant buy and it will always be with you, My motto in life is...” You Only Live Once, Life doesn’t let you wind the clock back to have another go,” There are always planes coming back to the US everyday from Oz so your only a day from home in that respect. I started writing this to say well done to the guy that wrote it, now I have really rambled on huh!! Cheers Ginge
Welcome to Less Wrong!
Please employ paragraph breaks. The above comment is very difficult to read.
Yes, the compulsory insurance is generally liability—it has nothing to do with how much damage you can do to your own car. It is rather protecting against the cost of injuries and damage you can cause to others with the car.
We have similar compulsory Insurance here in Aus too… it’s called “third party insurance” (or your Green slip) You pay it as the same time as you pay your registration. It costs nowhere near that amount, even for new drivers. I currently pay around $600 a year but I’m female and 40 years old. I have not been driving for that many years though.
A quick online google shows me that if I were Male and 23 years old.. the same insurance would cost $890 - even for a driver with 1 year of driving experience.
G’day Ginge, I to came out here to North America. I have been here for 11 years living in Arizona. I haven’t seen all the states but I have seen all the west states. My favorite place for a Burger was in Montana at a place called Bubba’s BBQ. The staff were very friendly and the restaurant was very clean. I also was no spring chicken when I came to the USA, I was 37. I have only been back home twice in the past 11 years to take the family to meet their extended family in Australia. I have a wonderful son to my ex-wife and a step son & daughter with my current wife. My wife wants to move to Australia because she felt so welcome amongst all my old school friends and family. But before I left Australia I was a Jack of all Trades but a Master of None. The past 7 years I have been working in the security industry and would love to find the same kind of work back home. The wages for a security officer here in the US are not the best, most start at $10 per hour. Not enough to support a family of 4. I have been reading different online sites where you can earn 2-3 times that for the right company in Australia. The part about the Superannuation gets me, don’t get me wrong I am all about getting your true worth. If people on work/holiday visa’s can collect thier Super when they leave the country, why can’t Australians collect thier Social Security when they move back home when they leave? It all has to do with the difference in Government Legislation. I told so many people when I first moved to the USA that they could make so much more in Australia doing the same kind of work. So like everyone has read in Ginge’s & Louie’s articles, if you are young enough, get on a plane and go to Australia, stop making excuses. Save what you need and come home with a little nest egg to at least start your retirement. Trust me, unless you are making the big bucks here in the USA, you can kiss your retirement plans goodbye. To all the wonderful friends and family I have here in the USA, thank you for being there when I needed someone to turn to as all my family is back home in Australia. Thank you all for letting me express my opinion, as that is just what it is My Opinion. I will leave you with some words someone told me many years ago:- Life is what you make of it, if you don’t take the chance don’t complain. Your future is there for the taking, God gave you 2 feet you have to choose to take the steps!
True Blue Thru & Thru, E C aussiemate64
I know that reading through so many post’s on here that everyone has certain points of interest that all play an integral part of making a decision to make this move. 2 years ago I was making a little over $45k a year until I was let go under Voluntary Termination. Like I would voluntarily quit while I am being treated under Workman’s Compensation!! Anyway, it seems that at least 90% of bloggers agree that this would be perfect for a single person who has no ties? When I left Australia in 2001 for the USA, I had no degrees, I hadn’t even completed school. When I was 14, my parents wrote a letter to the Education Department to have me exempt from school. I was 1 of 8 boys and both my parents were out of work. I helped my father do whatever we had to to bring home an income. This sometimes meant collecting bottles, cans and all kinds of scrap metals. So after meeting a girl from America, I decided that I have to do what I feel is right for me, so I came to Arizona to be with her. Leaving everything I knew back home in Australia, family and belongings. My parents in law suggested I get my GED, which I went for the test 2 weeks after they suggested without studying and passed with an 84%. I am not on here to diss on anyone or say that anyone is wrong but coming from my background I personally know that you sometimes have to chase your dreams. Otherwise that’s all they will ever be, Dreams. In 2010, I went from a job where I was earning $18.80 per hour to Unemployment Insurance for 3 months ($1100 total) and when I did finally find work, I was back at $10 per hour. Drastic change, but my current wife and I made it work for us. All this after we bought a nice house to boot. Would I like to find something better, yes. Do I have time or the funds to go back to school to earn a degree to pursue a better job, No. So I say to anyone who has No Ties and would like to visit Australia or any other Country take a leap and go. America will still be standing here waiting when you get back. It is much harder to uproot your whole family and move. Good luck to you all and may you always be happy with the choices you make. Aussiemate64.