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brisbane flies under the radar It's not
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as flashy and popular as Sydney It's not
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as artsy as Melbourne and a lot of
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people don't talk about it anywhere near
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enough but that's exactly why people
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including me completely overlooked what
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it's really like to live here It's
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beautiful it's peaceful and it's
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surprising And honestly it shocked me in
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ways that I wasn't even prepared for So
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here are the 10 things that I wish I
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knew before I moved to Brisbane The good
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the bad and honestly stuff that no one
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else is going to tell you Hey mate
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Welcome back I'm Sam a British expat
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documenting my journey of leaving the UK
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to start a fresh and a better life in
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Australia So number one is Brisbane
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feels small and that's both good and a
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little bit weird You expect this massive
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city when you see its skyline all these
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big skyscrapers in CBD and you're like
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"Wow this must be a huge city." But it
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operates kind of like a town A lot of
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Brisbane is very suburban and the actual
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central business district of the city is
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relatively small compared to other
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cities I've visited in my life Now I'm
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originally from a town called Chelnham
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in Glstershare in the Cotswwells in the
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UK And Brisbane compared to Chelnham is
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massive Absolutely massive Chenham is a
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teeny tiny town It takes you about 15
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minutes to get from one side of the town
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to the other in a car So that just puts
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things into perspective But growing up
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because Chenham is sort of split between
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the countryside and the town lifestyle I
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sort of grew up thinking "Oh this is a
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pretty builtup place." and then you know
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move to Japan move to Osaka move to
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Brisbane and I'm like how wrong I was So
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if you've got a car it's super easy to
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get around I mean some of the motorways
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can sometimes get clogged up with the
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rush hour traffic as any city Also the
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buses are really reliable here much more
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reliable than the UK buses I have to say
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And currently they're doing a deal where
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any bus ride across the city is only050
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which is so awesome Now I've heard some
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people refer to it as boring but
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honestly unless you want to be clubbing
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until 6:00 a.m in the morning Brisbane
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is not boring at all There's actually so
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much to do and I see Brisbane as the
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more wholesome familyfriendly city Now
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I'm married and my wife and I we do plan
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on having children one day and living in
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a safe and family-friendly city is
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really important to us For example in
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the center they've got South Bank which
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has this gorgeous long route that you
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can take your kids out on bikes And
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they've also got a man-made beach and
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then right next door to it a swimming
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pool that is completely free to use and
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you can put your towel on the man-made
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beach grab an ice cream chill out for a
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bit dip in the water Yes it gets quite
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crowded but this is also right on the
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river's edge and it just is a really
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wholesome familyfriendly thing to do
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They've just opened Blueies World You're
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also in a really good location to theme
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parks like Dream World and Movie World
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and SeaWorld The suburban lifestyle is
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very chilled out There's loads of great
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places to eat There's loads of amazing
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cafes and you just feel safe there
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Number two is it's not very walkable Now
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despite what I was just saying about
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being able to wander through the city
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yes the city's great Also if you love
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your suburb very walkable And there are
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gorgeous suburbs There's gorgeous places
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to run and gorgeous open green spaces to
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you know take your family and to go on
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bike rides and all of that but you will
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find that to get to a lot of those
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places comfortably you will need a car
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or you'll need to get an Uber So that's
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one of the very few downsides about
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Brisbane And public transport is pretty
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good here with their buses and their
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trains but it can obviously have its
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patchy moments as you would expect on
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certain holidays throughout the year And
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this might seem obvious but the reason
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why I'm saying it is because it affects
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your lifestyle a lot more than you think
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When my wife and I first moved here we
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didn't get a car for a couple of months
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cuz we thought "Ah we'll be fine We
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won't need one." But then we quickly
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realized how frustrating this is But the
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good news is that in Australia things
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like registration and insurance and fuel
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in my experience is much cheaper than
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the UK So it's a really good place to
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get a car Also if you're enjoying this
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would you mind just doing me a favor and
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hitting the like button It really helps
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to support my channel Thank you Number
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three is finding a rental apartment is
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difficult I thought after my experience
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of trying to rent a place in London
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finding it really hard to get accepted
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on a struggling actor and freelance
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video editor's salary we thought it
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would be way easier in Australia And we
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very quickly realized no there is also a
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cost of living crisis here And it took
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us a solid month of going to many
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viewings every single week to find a
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place And some of these viewings you go
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to there would be quite a few other
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people there And honestly these
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inspections only last a few minutes
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before you awkwardly feel like you need
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to shuffle out there Whereas in the UK
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typically you can expect to be going to
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a private viewing where it's just you
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and the real estate agent taking you
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through a wander of the property can
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really give you their time and energy
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and attention So we got quite lucky but
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you could expect to be looking for an
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apartment for upwards a month or two or
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even three So I can't say this enough If
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you're planning on moving to Australia
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make sure you've got some short-term
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accommodations set up after your visa
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has been granted I'm really grateful I
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have my in-laws here to look after us
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and that we could stay in their spare
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room because if we didn't have them you
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know we would be staying in like Airbnbs
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and spending thousands of dollars So
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yeah definitely get that sorted out
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before you come here because finding a
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rental can take time Number four is your
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lifestyle will be upgraded And this
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applies even if you're an Aussie moving
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from a different part of Australia There
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is something here for everyone in
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Brisbane Brisbane is such an active
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community People are out walking their
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dogs and running and exercising in the
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park and hanging out with friends at
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coffee shops outside in the gorgeous
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sunshine And you don't necessarily plan
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to do this but because you'll start
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making friends here that have this way
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of life as well you'll start you know
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following what they do and getting out
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with them And your life just slowly
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starts to get better here And from what
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I've seen unless you're a CEO of one of
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those skyscraper companies in CBD the
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work life balance is super healthy here
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which you don't see in a lot of cities
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around the globe You know cities thrive
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off that capitalism Once people clock
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off from work they're getting their city
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cat home along the river going out for a
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beer with some mates They're getting out
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in the sunshine and they're actually
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resting and relaxing instead of driving
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themselves and working themselves into
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the ground And just a quick one guys I
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was looking at my analytics today and I
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noticed that over 98% of you who
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regularly watch my videos aren't yet
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subscribed So if you're enjoying this
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video consider hitting the subscribe
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button Really helps me to improve these
00:06:20
videos all about Oz Thank you Number
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five is it's not cheap Everyone thinks
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because it's not Sydney or Melbourne
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it's the budget option No not really I
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would say rent is going to be the
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biggest hit to your bank account For a
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two-bed property in Brisbane expect to
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be paying anywhere from like at the
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absolute lowest $2,000 Australian
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dollars a month all the way to even4
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5,000 Australian a month depending on
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where you pick Now if you live with
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someone this is going to make it
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dramatically cheaper So if you've got a
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partner or mate that you can share with
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even better The supermarkets are a bit
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more expensive here but you get what you
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pay for and you get fresher fruit and
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vegetables and dairy in my opinion
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because a lot of it is made and grown in
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Australia instead of imported like we do
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in the UK But what you pay for is what
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you get And I would argue that Brisbane
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is worth every penny you spend here
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because of the gorgeous clean city you
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get the lovely friendly people the
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gorgeous sunshine which if you're
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British makes a huge difference to your
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overall happiness and the beautifully
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fresh produce that you get in the
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supermarkets Number six is you feel
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pretty safe Now like any city there's
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going to be crime but in my experience
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having lived in a few unsafe cities in
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the past Brisbane feels by far the
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safest Obviously it's easier for me to
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say as a man but I can go for a run at
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night and feel relatively safe You feel
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like you can leave some of your stuff
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like your phone on the table at a cafe
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and no one's going to nick it because in
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the UK it would be gone Obviously this
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isn't advice You know someone could
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still nick your phone in Brisbane And my
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wife who felt incredibly unsafe in
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London and would often get really
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intimidating creepy stairs from like
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creepy men on the tube and stuff she
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feels so much safer here in Brisbane Now
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I'm no psychologist but we all want to
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feel safe and that feeling of safety has
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a massive improvement on your life And
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Brisbane is one of the safest cities
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I've ever lived in And just a quick one
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guys if you've been watching my videos
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and they've helped you I've just
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launched my Patreon and it's the best
00:08:19
way to support this channel So links
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below I'd love for you to join us Number
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seven is the pace of life is slower
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which is nice Living in London oh my
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gosh it's not even a stereotype how
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everyone's like business hustle be an
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entrepreneur It really is like that And
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that's why people will push into you on
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the tube and they will forget their
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British politeness That happens you know
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only really in London In the UK people
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are you know generally a lot more polite
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But in Brisbane less hustle fewer
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impending deadlines by the feel of
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things Some people might think oh surely
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this is bad for your you know ambitious
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goals Surely this is a hindrance Not at
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all Having this overall calmness of all
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the things we've spoken about today and
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especially the slower pace of life It
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actually makes you more productive You
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start working on the important things on
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the things that energize you and make
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you happy get you closer to your goals
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instead of just doing things for the
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sake of money for the sake of company
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growth But this slower pace of life is
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so good for you in so many more ways
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than people realize And it does not make
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you less productive Number eight is that
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it is in a prime location And you don't
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realize it at first but when you move to
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Brisbane you realize that some of
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Australia's prime locations are on your
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doorstep If you want to go to the Gold
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Coast 1-hour drive If you want to go to
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the Sunshine Coast 1-hour drive If you
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need to fly across the country well
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pretty much anywhere you live in
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Brisbane you're going to be relatively
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close to Brisbane airport because it's a
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much smaller city Also got amazing
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family activities like Lom Pine Koala
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Sanctuary Not to mention you're much
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closer than you think to gorgeous hiking
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trails with so much nature to get
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immersed in And that's the brilliant
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thing about Brisbane It gives you the
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city life without boxing you into it In
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London once you're there you feel locked
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in and you have to break out But here in
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Brisbane you feel that freedom
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especially because you've probably got a
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car here It's the kind of variety that
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people would fly to so many different
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countries to experience but it's all on
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your doorstep here It's amazing And this
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leads me on to number nine Nature is way
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closer than you think Mountains islands
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rainforest they are all in a 1 to two
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hour drive You've got Strabroke Island
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you've got Morton Bay you've got Mount
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Tambourine you've got Towa you I could
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go on and on and on but you've got all
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of these different experiences And if
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you want to stay in the city you can go
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rent a kayak out and go kayaking down
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the Brisbane River Just don't fall in
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like I did because I've heard there's
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bull sharks in the river That was a very
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scary time And number 10 it will change
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your life Cliche yes Is it true though
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Also yes If you move here Aussie or not
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it will completely change your life for
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the better Yes I can't guarantee you
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won't get homesick and you won't have
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some struggles here as you would with
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any place No place is grass is 100%
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greener on the other side But will it
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improve your life with your social
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connections your health your overall
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happiness maybe even your wealth I would
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think so Even if you're Australian if
00:11:09
you move here you will have a new
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outlook on Australia Now I have had a
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couple of comments in the past being
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like why bother moving You know why not
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just try and enjoy life where you are
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But what's the point of being human if
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we don't make a conscious effort to
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improve our lives Some people say that
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the only reason you feel stuck and
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miserable in the country you're in right
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now is because of you and not the
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country itself And I completely disagree
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with that There are certain places that
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are suited to certain people And for me
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personally I feel suited to the Brisbane
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Queensland lifestyle And honestly
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Brisbane will give you the breathing
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room that you never knew you needed Now
00:11:44
if you're thinking "Okay this all sounds
00:11:46
amazing but how can I actually afford
00:11:47
this?" Then don't worry I've got you
00:11:49
I've made a full and completely honest
00:11:52
breakdown of every little cost that you
00:11:55
will run into moving to somewhere like
00:11:57
Brisbane Australia I put it all into
00:11:59
this video for you here so go watch that
00:12:01
next It could save you months of stress
00:12:02
and even thousands of dollars If you've
00:12:04
made it this far to the end of the video
00:12:06
then you may as well hit that subscribe
00:12:07
button Thank you so much for watching
00:12:08
and I'll see you in the next one Take
00:12:10
care
