If there's one thing we've hopefully taken from the pandemic it's that you can do most things from anywhere. While Australians have previously clung to the coast, more and more of us are heading inland, or to smaller towns, looking for a better way of life and a better way to make a living.
This second series of Movin' to the Country celebrates the entrepreneurs, innovators and dreamers who are transforming the look and feel of regional Australia.
The most recent Regional Movers Index report from the Regional Australia Institute showed that migration from capital cities to regional Australia increased by 16.6 per cent to reach a new high in the March quarter of 2022.
Many of them have a dream and this series looks at some fascinating stories.
From a young couple in Orbost, Victoria, who are collaborating with local producers, foragers and divers to find unique ingredients to make beer; to saffron growers in Orange, NSW; to a thriving Finnish sauna business in Western Australia; Movin' to the Country is inspiring.
Presenters Halina Baczkowski, Kristy O'Brien and Craig Quartermaine travel the width and breadth of the country to find stories worth telling.
"I've always been fascinated by people who have an idea and think they can make a go of it," says Baczkowski, who also reports for Landline.
She thinks the move to regional areas gives people space to think.
"It came up time and time again, people would go 'I just have time to think out here, it's a different pace, I'm not stuck in traffic' ... they all said the same thing."
She said most people they spoke to were full of drive and ambition.
"And there was this idea of making the world a better place," she says.
"It wasn't about money, they're doing something they love, and they don't want to work for someone else.
"They just want to do things that that they want to do and if it's successful, that's great, but for the most part they're doing it so that they're happy in their in their hearts."
- MOVIN' TO THE COUNTRY: Friday, 7.30pm (AEST) ABC TV and ABC iview