It's easy, we're not used to high fuel prices. It's our own fault. We are in the land of SUV's and energy gluttany. I always drove small, fuel efficient cars but even then when when the price of fuel jumps way beyond the cost of living, we $@!&*. It used to cost me around $12 to gas up. Now it's between $35- 40. Shipping charges also rise as do the cost of goods and services. i have to jack up my photography services to keep up. Only the large cities here have mass transit systems.

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Life...... It's sexually transmitted and always fatal

All good advice, I grew up in a military family and lived all over the world. All over the US, Alaska, and parts of Europe. There is no place like home. I only wish I Knew where home was. I feel like I belong in Texas, and I'm stuck in Washington State. I love it here to. My advice is to stay home where you are familiar with the way things are, and not complicate your life with a major Mistake, that may not be easy to rectify. Your certainly Welcome to come to America, give it a good bit of study first. Australia is a very cool place.
----Danny,

Hey, wanna know something funny?

My car is a Honda Civic. A quick one, but still a Honda Civic.

To put 10 gallons of fuel in it costs me $120.

Now, you were saying..?

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'01 American Deluxe HSS Strat.
'87 Japan HSS Strat.
'11 Custom Shop FMT HSS Strat.

"Without music, time is just a bunch of boring production deadlines and dates by which bills must be paid."

If I lived in a place as beautiful as Australia I wouldn't dream of living anywhere else,I'd live there in a heartbeat.I have a lot of extended family there especially in Tasmania and from pix they've sent me Australia is the closest thing on earth to Heaven.

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'65 Strat,65 Mustang,65 Jaguar,4 more Strats,3 vintage Vox guitars,5 Vox amps,'69 Bassman with a '68 2-15 Bassman cab,36 guitars total-15asst'd amps total,2 vintage '60s Hammond organs & a myriad of effects-with a few rare vintage ones.

tasmania's a really great place....went there for a couple of days when i was 10, loved it

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riley

I'm not discounting what people pay in Europe or down under. It's seems like it's always been really high there. Unfortunately in the U.S we have a pretty crappy public transportation system. Unless you live in a large city, it's almost non-existent. The oil companies made something like four hundred billion dollars profit in the first quarter. I'm all for free enterprise but geez. We have oil fields in the U.S. The thing is, this happened pretty much overnight, (even though I saw it coming for years) and the prices went way beyond the cost of living.

Anyway, the OP asked what it's like here and didn't ask for a whine fest about gas prices. That would be the least of my worries. Fact is, if you don't have some serious skills and education, you'll be working at Walmart or Target. Right now you can get some decent housing deals. I'd be more worried about the job situation here more than anything else. The economy here has seriously impacted my business. I'm just glad I own my home and business outright. Otherwise I'd be out of business and selling my home like many of my associates.

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Life...... It's sexually transmitted and always fatal

I spent 21 years in the U.S. military and have lived in Germany, England, Kuwait, Iraq (during war), Denmark, Canada, and all over the U.S. (including Guam). For me, Germany winds hands down. The country is beautiful, the arts abound, the people friendly and interesting, and you have close access the the rest of Europe. I retired from the Army in 97 and if I had the money, we would be back in Europe in a heartbeat.

Supro what are you guys paying now, around $5 per gallon? I agree with you, the price hike difficulties are relative to how you were living in times gone by. We're all suffering.
In the UK we are probably suffering less than most. Our prices have always been high, so we're used to it. The majority of the western world has had oil prices kept artificially low. Now that has ended everyone feels it.

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No no and no

Come on over and travel a bit and get the feel of the different areas. The trend here is movement of population to the South. (the part that broke away for a while)

The economy is slow currently and that will not change until we get rid of the Marxist in the White House.

If you are a professional and have a job waiting for you here it will be much easier.We have out problems, and I will tell you it's not the country that I grew up in in the 60's and 70's, but it's still a great place.

Come on over!

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I remember when we were free!

Imported Oil prices are the same for everyone, some nations tax imported oil heavily to support government programs etc. The U.K. pays the same as the U.S. for Mid eastern crude. etc.

U.S cost of gasoline is lower because it is taxed less, and we also have quite a bit of domestic production.

Crude prices have increased because of more global demand and partically due to outright manipulation and speculation.

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I remember when we were free!

Don't turn this into another political slam fest. It always gets ugly.

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Life...... It's sexually transmitted and always fatal

As a Canadian living in the US, you might want to start reading up the immigration laws. They ain't going to let you in just because you think it's a cool place.

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Tune Low, Play Hard & Floor it!

Gas here in Newfoundland has finally crested the $6 a Gal. mark and is now $6.07 a Gal.

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'65 Strat,65 Mustang,65 Jaguar,4 more Strats,3 vintage Vox guitars,5 Vox amps,'69 Bassman with a '68 2-15 Bassman cab,36 guitars total-15asst'd amps total,2 vintage '60s Hammond organs & a myriad of effects-with a few rare vintage ones.

Price of fuel?? are you kidding!? My friend, There is a bit of an exodus going from New Zealand to Australia. We live in the most beautiful places in the world down here.

Perth, Western Australia has a lot of wealth. Western Australia is where a good percentage of Australia's Economy comes from. I have a friend that has just moved there and he is blown away about how clean the city is. Every photo he posts on Facebook is just amazing. The weather and the beaches, you dont know how lucky you are.

I can say the same thing about my country too, but hey, your life = you choose.

I'd strongly advise to relocate to either Brisbane or Melbourne. I would give Brisbane or Queensland a good chance if you can. You seem to forget Australia wasn't hit that hard by the resession. That is because your economy is very strong. Something Australians seem to forget You pay a lot less at the pump than what we do in New Zealand, you make your own cars, Australia has good infrastructure, trade and industry. At the moment, the last time I visited the gasser was sitting @ $2.09 per litre- lowest its been in ages. How much do you pay?

If you go to America, generally on average you wont be paid as much as in Australia. A lot of people are struggling with employment & paying mortgages. Also, you have to look at how the economy is. No disrespect to Americans on here, the country will have it's advantages too. You have to go where the opprtunities are, you may find they are already in your back yard mate

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Blertles, no disrespect taken. The economy in the U.S. has taken a huge hit. Until we stop farming out all of our manufacturing jobs and paying decent wages, the economy will never turn around. So many of our jobs are now in Mexico, India, China, Vietnam and Korea, just to name a few. The writing is on the wall and our government just can't read it. No jobs, no economy. Walmart and the paper hat jobs just can't pay the rent.

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Life...... It's sexually transmitted and always fatal