I’m currently trying to figure out my personal optimal employment. (I’m a German CS student and will get my degree next year. Most importantly, I want to leave the country and live in some English-speaking country. I can’t stand the cultural isolation any longer.) I was already considering Australia and you have just made it look a lot more attractive.
The specific job you provided, however, isn’t right for me. Remote areas are exactly where I don’t wanna be right now. I’ve lived in villages and small towns most of my life and I’m sick of them. But I am very interested in hearing about other options like this, especially if they would involve less telephones or similar activities, as Alicorn already mentioned.
Note that a lot of the financial benefit described here comes from living somewhere remote—in particular the housing and food costs. That’s the reason for the strenuous warning not to live in “Sidney, Melbourne or any major Australian city.” From a larger perspective, it partly accounts for choosing Australia over America (low population density --> low housing costs, etc.).
For a full analysis, the cost differentials of living in the Australian outback vs. an American city (or whatever) have to be decomposed into price level, consumption, and other factors. For example, I pay a very high cost for living in New York. But I recover part of the cost in various benefits. Broadly: 1) New York may be the only place in the world where my employment situation is possible, 2) New York is a social coordination point where it is especially easy to meet the kind of people I would like to meet.
This is probably the case for many people who decide to live in New York.
Great article!
I’m currently trying to figure out my personal optimal employment. (I’m a German CS student and will get my degree next year. Most importantly, I want to leave the country and live in some English-speaking country. I can’t stand the cultural isolation any longer.) I was already considering Australia and you have just made it look a lot more attractive.
The specific job you provided, however, isn’t right for me. Remote areas are exactly where I don’t wanna be right now. I’ve lived in villages and small towns most of my life and I’m sick of them. But I am very interested in hearing about other options like this, especially if they would involve less telephones or similar activities, as Alicorn already mentioned.
Note that a lot of the financial benefit described here comes from living somewhere remote—in particular the housing and food costs. That’s the reason for the strenuous warning not to live in “Sidney, Melbourne or any major Australian city.” From a larger perspective, it partly accounts for choosing Australia over America (low population density --> low housing costs, etc.).
For a full analysis, the cost differentials of living in the Australian outback vs. an American city (or whatever) have to be decomposed into price level, consumption, and other factors. For example, I pay a very high cost for living in New York. But I recover part of the cost in various benefits. Broadly: 1) New York may be the only place in the world where my employment situation is possible, 2) New York is a social coordination point where it is especially easy to meet the kind of people I would like to meet.
This is probably the case for many people who decide to live in New York.