Today we’re talking to Mayu, who comes to us via recommendation by Akshay and Anushri, two previous interviewees for our Beyond Borders series. 

Four years ago, Mayu — a developer by trade — relocated from India to Sydney, Australia. This is notable because, up to that point, Mayu had never been abroad, let alone moved to another country. Knowing this, we were super curious to hear about how he met this opportunity (and challenge) head-on.

Mayu's relocation to Australia - his first abroad trip

Q: What prompted you to relocate to Australia?

I’d been working in India for about 8 years when my wife and I relocated abroad. I had relocated for work before, but always within India, and ironically never for companies that were actually based there. That’s one of the reasons I wanted to move — the constant adjustment to American, British or Australian time zones was figuratively killing me (editor’s note: Mayu really, really likes his nine-to-five).

Apart from that, I disliked that my actual clients, i.e. the people whose pain points I was trying to solve, were always located on the other side of the planet. It bugged me, I felt like I could help better if I was closer. 

I had a list of likely destinations and narrowed it down to Australia, then to Sydney — the latter simply because it had the most career opportunities worth taking advantage of.

Q: How did you prepare for relocating?

Unlike a lot of other nomads, I wasn’t actually applying for a visa, but directly for a permanent residency. I knew I wanted to stay for good. The permanent residency is great because it gives you all the rights and liberties that Australians have, with the exception that you cannot vote. For us, it was ideal, because it gave me and my wife individual working rights, independent of each other.

The downside is that it is extremely tough to apply for Australian permanent residency.

Because of this, almost all of my preparations were geared around the application and meeting all of the requirements connected to it — which, for those that don’t know, include jumping through various hoops such as literacy tests and health and fitness checks! 

Some people opt to get paid support for applying for permanent residency, but I wanted to do it on my own (and was confident that I could). 

Q: Did you face any challenges or adjustments?

Apart from the hassle of acquiring permanent residency, probably everything connected to being outside your home country for the very first time! There are so many small things that are different, and it’s exactly those that will trip you up.

For example, how would I have known that you stand on one side of an escalator and let people pass on the other? And traffic laws? Nobody really follows those in India, and suddenly they meant everything. My wife and I found ourselves constantly observing and trying to catch all the small things that people were doing differently than back home. 

Don’t get me started on the Ozzy accent, by the way.

Q: How did you overcome these challenges?

Maybe I couldn’t have handled it had I been alone, without my wife. There were also a bunch of friends who had already relocated to Australia, so I essentially had a good network waiting for me when I arrived — that made a huge difference. 

My friends were also a super useful source of knowledge, helping me avoid mistakes they had likely already committed during their own relocation. For instance, they helped me with finding a house to rent, which is much harder than in India. 

It also helped that there are a lot of things I am interested in and passionate about doing, it’s a little bit like a compass to rely on. I run, I love DIY and I do gardening, too. 

Q: Were there any support systems or resources that helped you settle into the new location?

I think, as I mentioned, my wife and my friends. Then there are always wonderfully specific Facebook groups for ex-pats to take advantage of. One of them was literally called “Indians in Sydney”. 

Q: What is the one thing you wish you had known before relocating?

I wish there had been a comprehensive guide about moving to Australia somewhere out there — maybe I should compile one by myself. 

There is no centralized source of information for foreigners to rely on, a lot of critical information is scattered across the internet or shared by word of mouth. The process of acquiring my permanent residency, as well as the actual move, was a constant quest of “figuring it out”. 

And we still made mistakes! We lived by candlelight the first two nights in our new house because we hadn’t known that you needed to connect the electricity 15 days before moving in. 

Q: How do you like living in Sydney now? Where do you see yourself in 5 years: living there, moving back home, or moving to a different place?

I like it over here! My wife and I are super happy and we’re settling — just the way I was planning for us to do. We’re actually expecting a baby soon (editor’s note: congrats!) and we’ve bought a house, too.

My work-life balance now is great, which is both due to the new location and having switched to a fully remote setup. There’s no commuting, I can keep my sacred 9-5 rhythm, it’s all wonderful. I have plenty of time to follow my hobbies and interests and spend time with my family. I’m excited about my career too, I love what I do.

Q: How would you describe your hybrid working life in three words?

I honestly feel like balance and productivity perfectly summarize it! (Editor’s note: I think they do, too, so we left it at that.)

At the end of the interview, almost as a byword, Mayu mentions that he’s planning on running a marathon for the first time soon. He says this casually; as if it was no big deal. More than anything, it’s this type of quiet confidence that stuck with us — and left us inspired.

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