‘Confronting’: Why dad thinks Aus is ‘ruined’ after returning home from overseas

An Aussie dad and travel blogger has revealed the “confronting” things he’s noticed about Australia since returning home from overseas.

An Aussie dad has revealed why Australia has been “ruined” for his family after spending a year travelling overseas.

In a TikTok video on Wednesday, travel blogger Jimmy Mitchell shared the “confronting” things he’s noticed about Australian lifestyle after returning home from travelling in South East Asia.

“Asia has ruined Australia for us,” he said in the video, which has amassed over 4,000 views.

“We’ve been back [in Australia] for three weeks now, we’re supposed to be here for two months but we may even leave earlier now.”

Mr Mitchell said one major difference he’s noticed about Australia is that people don’t often wave or acknowledge each other when walking down the street.

“I took the dog for a walk the other day and I was just walking along the street and there was several people I passed … I waved and said hello, not a single person acknowledged me,” he said.

“That’s something I never realised noticed when we lived here but coming from South East Asia where everyone is friendly, everyone says hello, everyone waves, everyone smiles, it’s really quite confronting. I don’t necessarily know why that is, maybe it’s just the area that we’re staying in, maybe people like to keep to themselves,” he questioned.

“I don’t know what it is, it’s jut the little things that I’m noticing that really make me miss Asia and really make me [think] what has changed in Australia to make it feel this way?”

Mr Mitchell said Australia has been “ruined” for him after visiting South East Asia. Picture: TikTok@themothfamily

He said his family might not stay in the country for the two months that they had originally planned. Picture: TikTok@themothfamily

Mr Mitchell said he was also taken aback when he noticed there were no children playing sport outside or enjoying outdoor activities.

“I know everyone is worried about their own lives and their own routines but to walk down the street and not see a single kid playing outside, to me is really weird, especially that it’s school holidays.

“You go to Asia and there’s kids running around and kicking balls and playing badminton on the side of the road, I came here and there’s all these jungle gyms and all these play sets and not a single kid is on them, there’s not a single kid out there kicking a footy or playing [with] a cricket ball.”

He went on to say the suburb he’s staying currently in feels like a “ghost town” compared to Asia where there’s “life and activity” on the streets.

He warned others looking to follow in his family’s footsteps and travelling overseas for a period of time, that the “shine will come off Australia” when you return home.

“I don’t know if it’s just me and my perception has changed … but it really has been quite a confronting experience coming back.

“I still love Australia, it’s still my home, but to be honest I can’t wait to get back to South East Asia.”

Jimmy Mitchell and his wife Pauline. Picture: @themothfamily/Instagram

Mr Mitchell previously shared why he “decided to give up on Australia” and travel around the world full-time with his wife and sons, aged seven and eight, in a separate TikTok video last month.

“I really want to preface this by saying I love Australia. I think Australia is the best country on the planet to the point that I served almost 10 years in the Australian navy, that’s how much I love Australia,” he said in the video.

“[But we] just couldn’t afford to live in Australia as a family anymore … That’s the long and short of it.”

“We had good jobs but we always felt like we weren’t getting ahead. Between the cost of living, the cost of groceries, the cost of fuel, the cost of housing, all these costs, I felt like we were making this extraordinary income and just not getting ahead.”

Mitchell, who now runs an online marketing agency, explained that “the more I worked and the harder I worked to earn the money so we could have the stuff, the less time I got to spend with my family and my kids and my wife”.

Mitchell argued the cost of living in Australia was “getting so ridiculous that it makes it impossible for families to be families”.

“We were just sick of it. We were at the point where we can’t continue like this, so we just made the decision to check out of it. We were like, we are just moving away from Australia because clearly we can’t afford to be here anymore. If we want to be together as a family, we can’t afford to stay in this country anymore.”