About

We emigrated to Australia. You can too.

Short version: we emigrated from South Africa to Sydney in 2023. We still have the scars. I want to make it easier for those that follow.

I love South Africa

I love the land, the people, the sky, the animals, the trees. I love the Rainbow Nation. I love that we voted to throw off the terrible past and unleashed so much of our human potential. I very much want to see it succeed. We left it too long because we love the country!

It’s okay to emigrate

South Africa is our home, but the world is big and there is much to see and experience. Our ancestors moved many times, by foot or by animal or by ship, when it was much harder than it is now. Now, you can jump on a plane and be anywhere within a day. Why do we restrict our movement now that it’s easier than it has ever been?

If something isn’t working out, it’s okay to love it and still move on. Do what is right for you and your family. That might be staying, or it might be moving.

For us, it was time. Jobs (us and our daughter’s), education, Eskom, crime, increasing tax grabbiness, government waste and the NHI were just the push factors, but the pull factors of adventure were getting stronger. We’ve been fairly slow to travel, are getting on in years and we owe a better future to our daughter. The process wasn’t easy or cheap, but I realised over time that part of our gift to her is that we were making the hard choices so she didn’t have to. We’ve since met people whose parents did this years ago, and none are anything but thankful.

We currently live on the Northern Beaches of Sydney, NSW, Australia. There aren’t enough words to convey how happy we are with that decision, despite any challenges. It’s a beautiful part of an amazing city in an amazing country. There are so many beaches and playgrounds, nature reserves, dams and rivers. Within 50km we could probably do something new every weekend for a decade.

This is my gift to you, who might be unsure, scared of what’s out there. You come from stock that did far scarier things, many times. Stay, or go, but don’t let others make you feel bad for your choices.

“Ships are safe in harbour, but that’s not what ships are for.” ~John A Shedd, 1928