Proud ex-Navy vet delivers brutal reality check on why he and his young family have dumped life in Australia to travel the world
An ex-serviceman who dumped his life in Australia to travel around the world full-time with his family says the cost of living crisis forced them to make the life-changing move.
Travel blogger and TikToker James Mitchell revealed his family couldn't afford to live in Australia anymore even though they were earning enough money to live off.
The former navy vet who served almost 10 years as a mechanical fitter says he's now able to spend more time with his wife Pauline and two sons Liam and Riley after ditching Australia for a nomadic lifestyle.
James Mitchell (pictured) revealed his family couldn't afford to live in Australia anymore and decided to travel fulltime as way to spend more time with his family
He said he was sick of not being able to get ahead due to the soaring costs of food and groceries despite working a nine-to-five job.
Mr Mitchell, who runs a TikTok page featuring videos about his travels with his family said in a video uploaded on Thursday that the move to traveling full-time was one that he had to make.
'About a year ago, my wife and I decided to sell everything we owned and travel full time as a family around the word with our two boys,' he said.
'If we want to be together as a family we can't afford to stay in this country anymore because… Australia is slowly tearing us apart with how much it costs to live here.
'We still have to earn a decent income to do what we do but are we spending way more time together as a family.
'Do we have a way more better quality of life than we did in Australia? Absolutely,' he claims.
The father of two quit the navy to start a digital marketing agency around seven years ago.
He said the agency along with side hustles such as his YouTube channel and partnerships with streaming giant Amazon are now the family's main sources of income.
The veteran said the family had traveled across parts of south-east Asia including Malaysia and Philippines because of the high costs of maintaining a life in Australia.
'In the countries that we're traveling to in south-east Asia especially, the quality of life that you get for the money that you earn is way better and ultimately that was the issue with us living in Australia,' James said.
Hundreds of users who commented on James' post agreed that moving overseas had served them well and said they haven't looked back.
'I'm an Australian who left at 24, spent the last 25 years in Indonesia; the “lucky country” days are long gone,' one user wrote.
'My wife is Indonesian, we are selling up and buying a house in Indo… Australia is sold by our s*** corrupt government,' another said.
'Well done, understand. I'm retired at 57 mainly in Bali now living on less than 40k per year no debts no kids no alcohol.'
James Mitchell (pictured left) delivered a brutal reality check on the cost of living in Australia and said they couldn't afford to live in the country anymore
The father of two (right) quit the navy to start a digital marketing agency which is now the family's main source of income to fund their traveling lifestyle
Others said the cost of living was forcing them to barely scrape by on a decent wage while working long hours.
'When earning $100k+ was a good wage… now days it's nearly a minimum to live comfortably… sad days ahead that's for sure,' one user said.
'I remember saying, I can't wait to earn 100k income I'll have financial freedom I think I'm worse off now, than when I was earning 45k,' another user wrote.
'I'm in the same boat. I work 13 hours a day 6 days a week.'
Mr Mitchell's complaints about Australia's cost of living comes as the nation's annual inflation rate came down to 5.4 per cent in the September quarter but the figure is still above the target inflation range.
The RBA has raised interest rates 13 times since May 2022 with new RBA governor Michele Bullock delivering the latest rate hike last month by 0.25 per cent with the interest rate now at 4.35 per cent.