I lived on the Gold Coast for 18 months - here's what I have to say about it
6th November 2024
14.10.24 - As I’m writing this I’ll be moving to Melbourne in less than 48 hours, leaving the place that I’ve called home for the past 17 months. Ironically, I never intended to move here or stay here. The Gold Coast was supposed to be a 4-week intermission to figure out what the fuck I was doing after leaving a very low point of my life in Cairns and before I had to buckle up and commit to doing my regional work.
Evidently, I didn’t ever go and do that.
I remember sitting in a coffee shop in Cairns with four pros and cons lists: Noosa, Brisbane, the Gold Coast and Byron Bay. Arguably, the sole reason I actually moved here was because I knew a total of two people, and that was two more than in any of those other places. I booked a flight to Brisbane for the next day and here I am now.
Moving to the Gold Coast at that point in my life was one of the best decisions I ever made, it came to me when I really needed it, and has been one of the reasons I’m now a big believer that everything happens for a reason.
When I moved, I got two jobs within the space of a few days and found the most beautiful house with a gorgeous bunch of girls a couple weeks after. Everything fell seamlessly into place, and has done ever since; I’ve lived in three houses with amazing housemates, and whilst let’s save my not-so-fun working situations for another blog post, most things have come easy.
It was the most stability, security and sense of routine I’ve had since coming out here two years ago, and I am immensely grateful for that.
That’s why leaving is bittersweet, I’m currently sat writing this at a coffee shop in Kirra facing out onto the ocean, the iconic city skyline stretching far in the distance and I can’t help but wonder whether I’m making a huge mistake. I’m trading all of this in: the sunrise swims, the beach walks, the perpetual blue skies, for what?
Burleigh Heads National Park
Springbrook National Park
Unfortunately, for me, the Gold Coast isn’t quite what it was a year and a half ago, what once was a beautiful place promising the quintessential Aussie experience I was craving, has since turned into a bit of a different reality.
When I went back to the UK and S.E. Asia in October last year, and returned in December, I was greeted with an overwhelming sense of ‘home’, more so than I’d felt when I actually went back to England. Yet now, after having spent a month in Indonesia, I was consciously aware of the absence of that feeling this time around when pulling out of the Gold Coast airport.
Someone I worked with once said that the Gold Coast was the LA of Australia and fucking hell was he right; ever since he made that comment I couldn’t un-see it. It truly is an amazing place to move to if you’re laidback and like a slower pace of life; for me personally, as someone who's never been relaxed … ever ... I need something a bit faster.
I personally find the Gold Coast to be two-dimensional, lacking depth and culture. And it definitely feels like a bubble. It is the most aesthetics-driven place I have ever lived, and whilst the abundantly positive mindset has so many advantages, it quickly becomes toxic in many areas, like if you’re not up at 4am doing a run club and posting it on your insta story then what are you actually doing? Underlying competitions between who is the fittest, the most active, the most productive, increasingly came to occupy my mindset, and I found myself not only feeling constantly and subconsciously criticised but becoming extremely self-critical - god forbid I ever slept in past 8am.
It became an overwhelming sense of appearance over substance. One night out in Burleigh could be enough send your self-esteem spiralling, and I found myself asking, is anyone actually having fun here?
My circle of friends thankfully didn't add to this, which was definitely a blessing as your lifestyle is undoubtedly influenced by those you surround yourself with.
This feeling, however, has become inescapable, and I feel myself needing to get the hell out of here, before that disdain develops into resentment. I don’t think I have it in me to ever dislike the Gold Coast, I mean, take literally one look out the window; but I just didn’t want to let these suffocating feelings fester.
'"Familiar discomfort" feels the same as "comfort." Which is why so many people are stuck in "ruts" or absolutely do not want to change even though they know it's what would be best for them' - Brianna Wiest
Brianna West summarises this feeling exactly in her essay Why You Shouldnt Seek Comfort, I felt stagnant in every aspect of my life and that's why I know I have to move on.
So goldy, I will be back. It will remain to me as such a special place, bringing me peace, stability, friendship, and that's something I will always be grateful for.