Bio

This is just a short biography for me, Mike Rozak. It'll allow people using Internet search engines to find me.

You can contact me at MikeRozak@BigPond.Com.Au.

Why I Moved to Darwin, Australia

Quite a few people have asked me why I decided to move all the way from the US to Darwin, Australia. Even people over E-mail. So, here's my answer:

In Seattle, I moved into a small town on the outskirts in order to get away from the traffic and crowds. (I gained an aversion to traffic and crowds after living in L.A.) The quiet town was soon consumed by Seattle and became the latest growth area. My commute to work went from 24 minutes to as much as 45 minutes, for only 14 miles of driving. To top it off, I heard  that so many building projects were approved that in about two years the town's population would double. I thought about moving to the next town over, which hadn't yet been hit. However, it would only be a matter of 5-10 years before it too was overwhelmed.

The reason for the population growth was fairly simple. The center of the US is emptying out. People are moving to the coasts where there are jobs and nicer weather. Seattle was a particularly attractive place because of the mountainous scenery and mild climate. This trend would only continue in the future. After all, the reason why people moved into the interior in the first place was because of the armies of workers needed for farming. Mechanization is slowly reducing the workforce needed to farm, and anyone without a job is forced to move to a city. Having a choice of cities they head for the nicer ones along the coast.

Meanwhile, I had decided to leave corporate life. Not being in a relationship, I decided that if I was going to move away from the Seattle area I'd have to move soon. Otherwise, I'd end up with stronger friendships, maybe getting married, kids, and the works. By the time the hypothetical children left the house it would be 20 years later. Seattle would have 50% more people and the Tacoma/Seattle megalopolis would start rivaling the Bay Area. (Which was only one step away from the mess in L.A.) And, by the time the hypothetical kids would leave, I and any hypothetical wife would be too attached to the area to get up and leave.

I had traveled around Australia two years before and liked it. Taking a chance, I applied for permanent residency. To my surprise, I was granted it a number of months later. I had to take the opportunity.

I scheduled one more trip in Australia, this time in Western Australia and the Northern Territory. Previously I had visited Queensland and New South Wales. While on the trip I looked around for a place to live.

My criteria was:

1. English speaking. I'm lazy and don't want to learn a new language.
2. Nice weather. Some snow was acceptable, but not too much.
3. Low population. I had learned enough from L.A. and Seattle.

The area I liked best was Darwin. While it doesn't have mountains (something I sorely miss), it has great weather, enormous parks, fantastic storms, and isn't likely to become overpopulated in my lifetime. On the flip side, it has a large enough population that I can actually find people with interests similar to mine, and buy whatever I need at the local stores.

So here I am. I'm doing bushwalks, volunteering at the Territory Wildlife Park, and running mXac.