We left Australia and moved our family-of-four overseas because we couldn’t afford it anymore – and now our quality of life is better than ever

An Australian couple sold everything they owned to move their family of four overseas after discovering they couldn’t afford a comfortable life in the lower Moscow region.

Jimmy Mitchell, 36, and his wife Pauline, 35, abandoned the “stereotypical Australian lifestyle” in Western Australia and have spent the last 10 months traveling around South East Asia with their sons Riley, seven, and Liam, eight.

Jimmy, co-founder of digital marketing agency My Online Guy, told FEMAIL that he worked endlessly to earn a decent amount of money but felt he was “never getting ahead” and would at times come home in tears.

At the time, the couple were renting a four-bedroom house in Mandurah, an hour’s drive south of Perth, and were struggling to save up a deposit on the house despite working long hours.

“The main reason we decided to travel full-time was to improve our quality of life and spend more time together as a family,” Jimmy said.

In addition, they now save up to 50 percent of their income in a good month, instead of 0-5 percent.

The couple haven’t looked back since making the jump and aren’t sure when (or if) they’ll return to Australia permanently.

“We were making good money in Australia – something I couldn’t imagine. We were doing a good job, but we always felt like we weren’t moving forward,” Jimmy said.

“The more I worked and the harder I worked to make money so we could have everything we needed, the less time I spent with my family.”

The stress felt like such a heavy burden that sometimes Jimmy would come home from work crying and the situation would get “ever worse.”

“I came home and told Polina: “I can’t live like this anymore.” And it was a combination of the fact that we both worked in business, the kids were in school, and we didn’t see each other much,” he said.

“We just got tired of it and couldn’t continue.”

Polina agreed and said that every day is like a repetition of the previous one.

“We felt like we were living the same stagnant life. You just do the same thing day after day, and there was no reprieve from it,” she said.

“Even on weekends you think you can spend time with your family or go somewhere, but those plans never materialize.”

Due to the stress of running a business, even during short family trips, the couple always received calls or emails from employees and clients.

So they decided to take the plunge and move abroad.

From the initial idea to leaving the country, it was an 18-month process – during which time they held four garage sales to sell all their possessions and downsize the business.

They booked a one-way flight in February and have since visited Malaysia, Vietnam and Bangkok.

They stay in new places for two weeks to three months through Airbnb or short-term rentals and thoroughly research areas before moving on.

They can also continue to work full-time for themselves through their digital business.

Next year they will return to Malaysia for a month and then go on a cruise to Hawaii and then Japan.

The children are homeschooled, which can sometimes be difficult for parents, but other than that the boys enjoy learning together.

In their free time, they are always with their children exploring new places, trying new foods and going on adventures. They’ve been on safari, spent a week in the jungle and visited countless theme parks.

The cost of living in Asia is incredibly low compared to Australia, so the couple no longer worry about money.

In Australia, they spent $460 a week ($1,840 a month) to rent a four-bedroom, three-bathroom house, while in Vietnam they lived briefly in a luxury four-level townhouse for $1,500 a month.

At home they spent between $200 and $300 a week on groceries, while abroad this expense was reduced to $70 to feed the entire family.

“In Australia you knew your minimum expenses. I used to worry about the bills every single day and now I don’t,” Jimmy said.

Prices for public transport, medicine and dental visits are also decent, and the couple has no vehicle expenses because they don’t have a car.

Jimmy claims the cost of living in Australia is so out of control that “families can’t be families.”

He also criticized the government and called on politicians to “do better.”

“I think the Australian government is completely out of touch with what families and Australians in general are actually going through. In my opinion, when it comes to politics, they have the wrong priorities,” he said.

“It feels like they are putting big business before people.

“We’ve been in places where you can see the planning has been done 10, 15, 20 years in advance, which is so different from Australia.”

But the decision to leave home was difficult and they miss Australian barbecues.

Jimmy said: “As far as I’m concerned, I’ve already made my decision. We make a lot of sacrifices in business for this, but I think the opportunity to spend more time as a family outweighs any negative aspects.”

Pauline, who has a large family, added: “It was much harder for me to leave my family, friends and the life we ​​had created in Australia. I felt that way for the kids too because I made friends at school and had all these connections.”

The couple say they also had mixed reactions from family and friends after sharing the news, with some thinking they were “pissed off” while others praised their choice and were happy to hear how it went.

They will return home for Christmas, but have no plans to return full-time for now.

They acknowledge that this may change as the children get older, but they will likely continue to travel the world while the children are young.

If they do return, it will most likely be before the boys start secondary school, as they believe this is an important age to have a sense of security and make friends.

At the moment, the children have no problems with their lifestyle and do not want to stop anytime soon.

Jimmy has also gained a following on social media under the handles @themothfamily and “Mitch’s On The Horizon” to share how other families can travel full-time too.

“You’d be surprised: there are actually a lot of US and UK families in different situations who also travel full-time,” Jimmy said. “It’s all about changing your thinking and thinking about what other options there are.”