It’s a dream for many us, but is a move to the country as idyllic as it seems?

Dreaming about leaving the hustle and bustle of metropolitan life behind? If you’ve got your eyes fixed on a farm-centric future, you’re far from alone. According to the Big Movers 2023 report, 614,144 Australians made the move from our capital cities to regional areas across the country during the last census period (2016-21) – an increase of 120,750 on the previous one, with COVID restrictions probably driving some of this. Interestingly, the same report shows Millennials left Sydney and Melbourne (the cities experiencing the greatest loss) in the highest numbers, as they likely embraced greater work flexibility and chased better affordability and work/life balance around the country. But is the move worth it? Three women who’ve done it in recent years share their highs and lows.

“We lost everything in the floods, but we have no regrets”

Sue Bourke, 54, PR and marketing professional

“My husband, Brad, was diagnosed with prostate cancer seven years ago, aged 51. Until that point, we’d been living like many urbanites [in Sydney’s north], often feeling like hamsters running on a wheel but never able to get ahead. We were exhausted and dreaming of getting out of the rat race. When Brad was undergoing treatment we said, ‘If we make it through this, let’s move to a country town.’

Moving to Wauchope [in the NSW Mid North Coast region] made sense from the get-go. We wanted a country town experience, yet still to be close to the sea as well as a regional centre – and Wauchope ticked those boxes. When a local work opportunity landed in my lap, everything fell into place.

We moved up here in 2019 and, straight after settling into our new home, went into a six-month period where we were badly affected by two natural disasters and the pandemic. The bushfires at the end of 2019 left many of the towns around us cut off, but we lost almost everything we owned in the floods of March 2020.

I can still remember having to swim out from the house late at night in the dark and returning to find 90 per cent of our stuff either gone or destroyed. It wasn’t ideal, but since we were insured, we were luckier than most. It also gave us a moment to detach ourselves from ‘stuff’; it’s not often you’re given a chance to start with a clean slate.

The first thing you notice when you move to a country town is the depth of the community spirit; people share their abundance with their neighbours here. Some will drop off fruit and vegetables from their garden, and others will drop off jams they’ve made themselves. I put a post on our local Facebook community group the other day asking about manure and someone dropped off 16 bags of it for free.

There are challenges with making a tree change; obviously we’re exposed to natural disasters in a way you only ever see on TV back in metropolitan areas, and I must admit I still really miss my hairdresser, but outside of that, I’d say we’ve never really looked back – especially since our son (now 25) moved up here three years ago.

Living between the mountains and the sea means we’ve adopted a healthier, outdoor lifestyle which has seen me shed close to 50 kilos and drop from a size 22 to a size 12. Work has picked up too – I’m now working with The Rural Woman [a co-op putting women in touch with services], helping women living in rural and regional areas become digitally savvy.

Women living in the bush are chronically under-represented in parliament, which is a real shame because there are so many forward-thinking, fearless female entrepreneurs doing amazing things around the country and their voices – their talents – should be amplified.”

“Our family gap year gave us the courage to make the leap”

Tamara Scenna, 47, caravan park operator

“Our tree change began as a 12-month family gap year around Australia. Before we fled Sydney’s inner west in our caravan at the start of 2019, life was all hustle and bustle. I worked in public service, leaving the house at 7am to avoid heavy traffic that saw my journey to work take more than an hour.

With the kids [now 16 and 13, respectively] at school, it often felt as if we all were ships in the night, so we thought a year to travel and bond before our eldest started high school would help us reset and ease back into city life with a fresh mindset. Of course, we then all realised there was so much more to life than what Sydney offered; during our time on the road, the seed to try something else was planted.

Initially, we tried to settle down back in Sydney; we even got a new dog and a cat, but when COVID-19 hit, we started to think about buying a caravan park as a way to earn a living outside the city. We looked at a few options in Queensland, then we fell in love with what is now Daintree Siesta [in the state’s far north], which also had motel rooms and a restaurant.

With school-aged children, timing is important, and we were aware that if we wanted a tree change, it was now or never. So after serious discussions with our kids, we sold up and – after a few border closure complications – arrived to our new lives at the end of 2021.

Moving to a remote location, particularly with teenagers, isn’t for everyone. Mossman is our closest town, so our local supermarket and pharmacy is an hour away, while Cairns is 2½ hours away. My kids have always played soccer, so one of the non-negotiables of our move was that they would continue to do so. But for that to happen, we have to take them to training in Mossman every week and down to Cairns for games on Saturdays. It’s a lot of time spent driving, but we get someone to cover for us at the park and do it as a family, which provides quality time to talk about the big topics.

The benefits have been plentiful. The schools my children attend are much smaller than the ones they went to in Sydney – my daughter’s primary school has 20 kids – so they get plenty of one-on-one with teachers. Shared experience has brought our children closer, and now they’re working after school in our restaurant and navigating all sorts of interesting situations, they’ve blossomed into wonderful young adults. Of course, we’re mindful they’ll likely leave for university, so it’s important to enjoy this time we have living and working together.”

“Buying in Sydney made little financial sense”

Tahlia Crinis, 40, PR consultant

“I never realised how over the whole ‘Sydney thing’ I was until lockdowns forced us to live indoors for an extended period of time. Until that point, life felt like one social event after another. My husband, Alex, and I must have had at least three dinners out with friends each week, and there were endless work events during the day as well as casual coffee catch-ups and morning gym sessions.

Once we were cooped up inside, we realised how much we enjoyed not having to go to places and being able to take life at a slower pace. When we started looking for a place to buy, it soon became apparent that we either had to downsize into a shoebox apartment or look well beyond city limits. Sydney has many wonderful attributes, but affordability is not one of them

The move to Wombarra [on the Illawarra coast south of Sydney] made sense from the get-go; I grew up in nearby Bulli so knew the area well, plus we needed a sea-change location that was still close enough to Sydney to make Alex’s commute to the office at least three days a week a little easier to bear. The house we bought was the first one we looked at, and we couldn’t believe what our budget could stretch to once we left Sydney. In place of a one-bedroom apartment in Potts Point, we now have a three-bedroom home with ocean views and a large backyard.

Life has changed in the way we’d planned since we made our move in 2023. I work from home, so during warmer weather I start my days with a swim at the beach. I always make time for the things I’d forgotten how much I’d always enjoyed, like sitting in the garden with a book and a cup of tea. Alex enjoys his commute, too; he says doing a lengthy train trip twice a day gives him a chance to complete any outstanding work, so his brain can be clutter-free by the time he gets home.

A sea change isn’t only about moving house, but about changing aspects of how you live your life – or so we found out pretty quickly. Down here, we can no longer rely on ordering takeaway, which was a big part of our week in the city, and our suburb doesn’t even have a cafe or grocery store. Over time, however, we’ve learnt the importance of buying a good-quality coffee machine, and planning meals adequately so you don’t have to drive to the nearest shop, but they’re small adjustments in the grand scheme of things. We’re enjoying the peace and quiet so much – not to mention all this space we suddenly have – that we’ve never really given Sydney a second thought!”

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