The Things That Hit Me When I Came Back to Australia

1. Australia Feels Heavily Regulated Once You Have Lived Elsewhere

Coming back, I immediately noticed how controlled everyday life felt. There are rules layered over almost everything. Where you can drink. Where you can park. Where you can sit. Even how you relax feels monitored. Growing up, this felt normal. After living overseas, it felt constant. That low-level sense of supervision never quite disappears, and it subtly changes how free a place feels.

2. Being Able to Drink Almost Anywhere in Berlin Changes Your Perspective

In Berlin, grabbing a beer from a Späti and sitting on the street is completely normal. People gather casually, talk, people-watch, then move on. No one interferes. No one cares. The city feels alive because people are trusted to exist in public space. Coming back to Australia made public drinking laws feel less about safety and more about control.

3. Cheap Beer in Germany Ruins Australian Beer Prices Forever

Beer in Germany is cheap, accessible, and treated like a normal part of life. You buy it at supermarkets, corner stores, even train stations. It is not wrapped in heavy taxation or moral judgement. Back in Australia, paying premium prices for average beer felt absurd. Not because of affordability, but because of what it said about how tightly everyday pleasures are regulated.

4. Vietnam Resets Your Expectations of What Food and Drinks Should Cost

Living in Vietnam quietly changes you. Eating out is normal. Coffee is cheap. Drinks are affordable. You do not constantly calculate whether something is worth it. Returning to Australia made daily life feel heavier. Meals, drinks, even casual outings started to feel planned and priced instead of spontaneous. That mental load returned faster than I expected.

5. Getting Around Europe Makes Australian Cities Feel Inefficient

Europe rewires how you understand movement. Trains are fast, frequent, and intuitive. Cities are dense and connected. Berlin has around four million people, yet you can cross it in about thirty minutes by train. Melbourne has five million and it can take two to three hours to get from one side to the other. That difference shapes your entire relationship with a city.

6. Australia Feels Isolated After You Have Experienced Europe

This is not just about geography. It is about access. In Europe, visiting another country feels casual. A train ride, a cheap flight, a weekend decision. Borders exist, but they rarely dominate your thinking. Back in Australia, distance feels heavier again. Travel becomes something you plan carefully rather than something that fits naturally into life.

7. Japan Felt Like Australia, But With Better Systems

Japan was the closest place I experienced to Australia in terms of cleanliness, safety, and structure. Streets are spotless. Cities feel safe. Systems work. The difference is transport and trust. Public transport is fast, cheap, and constant, more like Berlin or Europe. Convenience stores like 7-Eleven sell alcohol at all hours, yet people drink quietly and respectfully. It raised a genuine question for me. Can Australians simply not handle alcohol without strict restrictions? Japan showed that order does not require suffocation. There is structure, but also controlled chaos, and it works.

8. Public Space Feels More Alive Overseas

In Berlin, parks and streets feel like shared living rooms. People sit, drink, talk, read, play music, or do nothing at all. Cities feel lived in. In Vietnam, street life spills into everything and gives places energy. Australian cities felt quieter and more curated by comparison. Public space often felt like something you pass through rather than truly inhabit.

9. Conversations at Home Felt Narrower Than I Remembered

People were friendly and welcoming, but conversations looped quickly. Work, property, schedules, weekends structured around recovery from work. Overseas, conversations more often drifted toward place, movement, food, culture, and the unexpected moments of daily life. That difference was subtle, but it added up.

10. I Realised I Had Changed More Than Australia Had

Australia did not feel wrong. It just did not feel aligned anymore. Living overseas changed how I valued time, movement, simplicity, and access to the wider world. Coming back showed me that I could stay and be comfortable, but comfort was no longer enough. The life I wanted had shifted elsewhere.

Why I Left Again

Leaving was not about rejecting Australia. It was about recognising that the way I now live did not fit the structure Australia quietly demands. Home is not just where you are from. It is where the way you live actually makes sense.

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