At the age of 25, Nick Hanson knew he had a problem.
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Clockwise from top left: Santiago Suarez; Bridie Hull; Nick Hanson; Monyque Watson-Jones; Ali Mumtaz and Awesh Khadal, and Katie Kendall.
Working every job he could and hustling hard to get a house deposit together, it soon became clear there was just no way he could make it work in Sydney or Melbourne. The solution was to buy in a regional area, a move that has paid off well for the young Tasmanian.
"In terms of wage growth versus house pricing, your wage has to be doubled and tripled," Mr Hanson said, making his decision to settle and buy in Launceston a no-brainer.
He is part of a growing movement of young Australians leaving the cities in search of a better life in regional Australia. According to the latest Regional Australia Institute data, capital residents moving to the regions outnumbered regional residents moving to cities by 31 per cent.
But a new series by a group of seven young ACM reporters reveals that path to a better, more affordable life doesn't always go as expected.
But the reporting also shows those making the move are discovering ways to work around those challenges, from using volunteering to sport to find their place in a new and often very different environment.
ACM National Trainer Scott Hannaford said the series was an illuminating insight into the experiences of thousands of young Australians often overlooked in big debates around housing, employment and infrastructure.
"Who better to tell these stories than a talented team of young reporters, themselves living in different regional areas?," Mr Hannaford said.
Back to the Bush launches across ACM websites and newspapers on April 27.

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