Moving from Australia to Poland - Pros & Cons

I’ve been living in Poland for 5 years. If you’re seriously considering moving you will have seen optimistic videos but you need to know some of the cons as well. For me it hasn’t been all that easy and as we all know the grass is greener elsewhere.

I’d love to make more videos about Poland. If you guys have any questions let me know!

Pros:

- Awesome city life, easy to get around
- Easy to rent apartments and cheap. Not too much bureaucracy.
- Low cost of living (for western or tech salary). Affordable food, rent, transport, everything.
- Underrated nature. Mountains, lakes, rivers, biking, hiking etc…
- Very digital and modern services. Government, medical, transport.
- Polish people are friendly, educated and hard-working.

Cons:

- The language barrier is real, even if you are an advanced Polish speaker. It’s hard to fit in. This probably isn't a problem for digital nomads, but it is if you are considering staying here the rest of your life.
- It’s hard to make Polish friends.
- Taxation and small business will be difficult for you as a foreigner.
- Air quality is terrible in the winter, especially southern Poland.

Chapters:
00:00 Intro
00:37 Compact cities, great transport
01:32 Renting in Poland
03:07 Cost of living
04:07 Nature & Hiking
05:29 Digital country
06:13 Polish people
06:59 Language barriers
09:37 Lack of friends
10:15 Difficult taxes & small business
11:52 Air Quality
12:49 Subscribe!

[gregorymikula]

I moved to Poland from the USA after many years of visiting relatives and studying. The Polish people are polite, industrious and always very helpful. I am just sorry I didn't make the move earlier, (I am 69 years old) and have been living here for 10 years. I would never live anywhere else!

[elizabethwebb]

G'day from Adelaide Australia. Ive got relatives in the North of Poland, not too far from the Baltic Sea. I've been there about 5 times. I was born in Australia NSW. My mum was Polish & thank goodness she taught me how to speak in Polish as I'm able to communicate well with my relatives. I say, good onya for living in Poland. Hope all goes well. Pozdrowenia z Australii. Życzę wszystkiego dobrego 🎉😅

[slavomt]

Great video! Moving to Poland from Australia and living here for 5 years - it means you like it 😀 Speak Polish, do not worry about mistakes. Poles will love you for your afford. You are a very nice person. Take care!

[Ark-fjxy]

Simple, honest and true. Good luck living in my motherland.

[Vielenberg]

Regarding taxes: ask your accountant about the posibility to pay lump-sum installements (zaliczki uproszczone) - you would be paying 1/12 of the tax that you paid last year per month without the need to calculate it every month. That option is available for all non start-up businesses.

[cbfowler]

G'day mate... just watched your video & quite agree with all you say. Cheers from another Aussie living in Warsaw, Poland (24 years here now). ✌️👍

[Robert-xqc]

Many foreigners make the mistake of closing themselves off to their English-speaking circles, which prevents them from getting to know us Poles. And reaching out to people even with poor English is how you pick up the spoken language very quickly.
Another thing - Poland is Central Europe, not Eastern Europe - the same, for example, the Czech Republic - everyone considers Austria to be Western Europe, and their capital Vienna is further east than the Czech Prague. Go out to people, go for a good beer in the summer, then it's easier to make contact with people, do some outdoor events, etc.

[zubrzyca]

Gosh, I just came back from Perth, WA, and I'm thinking about applying for a visa there. I have not lived in Poland for long, but when I visit my family, I love it. Greetings from the UK.

[yautay]

Dear Eduard,
It's so good to have you here in Poland. From my experience as a native Pole (around 40 years old), I’ve found it much harder to make friends in big cities. It seems that relationships there are more "hang out" or "hobby" oriented. However, if you move to a smaller town outside the urban areas, you'll find more socially-oriented connections. There are great people who will take care of you, especially neighbors.
Thanks for the great video, and all the best!

[eirienhih]

About making friends, don't be discouraged, you'll find them. Once you're in, you're in. My sister's friend from work (coming fromMoldova) easily entered our friend group and during Covid had no chance of going home, so we invited her to stay with our family for Christmas and Easter for a few years, she's almost a part of our family and is known by our grandparents, aunties and uncles.

[anetafoiadelli]

I am Polish living in Germany and I have the same problem. It is difficult to find a German friend even though my level of German is C1 and I have been living here for 16 years.

[ozlinx]

G'day mate, I'm an Aussie living in Poznan PL and have been for 18 years and would never live back in Oz or anywhere else for that matter. Much of what your saying is quite right although I will say making friends has never been an issue and I've lost count of the hangovers after these wonderful Polish people found out I was Australian matko! :) Enjoy!

[pinang]

very good points about Poland, I'm Polish living in NZ and this year we are considering either Australia or Poland with my wife

[disrealnow]

Other pros: a very safe and clean country, a reasonable common sense attitude to everyday matters, openness of the people to different cultures / ideas while still keeping a more traditionalist / conservative stance, respect for family values / elders, general feeling of freedom in everyday life, optimistic attitude and steady economic progress - these are things that unfortunately you cannot take for granted in many Western European countries nowadays.

[christianbouchard]

Nice and honest video man. I visited Krakow sometimes ago and I really liked it. It is not a country we hear every day and probably not on the top of the list for digital nomads, but it is one of the few success stories in Europe in the last few years and definitely worth mentioning. It is on par of becoming the new locomotive of Europe since Germany and France are struggling so much. What brought you there? do you have any Polish ancestors?

[vedprakashtripathi]

Thanks for this informative video, Please make vlogs for real Poland locations. Villages, town, schools... more travel and food little bit. :)

[katharina...]

That's a very fair assessment. I know what it's like to be an introverted foreigner trying to make new friends. Polish people are much more open to accepting newcomers into their social group than some other nationalities though, so I hope things will improve for you on this front soon. Don't be afraid to suggest a get together with people you already know and enjoy the company of, we are very open to that kind of stuff. Particularly if you suggest a bbq or a hike ☺️ Best wishes!

[miecz]

I'm Polish, I speak English fluently but if I go to the English pub or American countryside I don't understand what they say either. Nobody is using newspaper English. Isnt it the same everywhere?

[janeczek]

Super :) great that you moved to Poland . Welcome :) Hope it will be fine for you and I wish you good stay! . Greetings from Silesia !! :)

[Alex-qgn]

Thanks for the video, I liked it and I agree with everything you said.