Is a year in Oz a worthwhile experience?

roro1990

Hey just looking for some advice on my situation,

I find myself in the position where i'm not really sure what I wanna do next in life and the passion for travel that I have has caused me to consider going to Australia for a year to work and travel. I'm 24 years of age and have graduated from college and accumulated about 10k worth of savings. I've never lived outta home so I guess part of this is me wanting to grow up a bit more, come out of my shell more as well as the desire to see somewhere new.

Firstly what I'd like to know is, will I be coming home a year after with none of this 10k worth of savings left? I want to enjoy myself there but at the same time I don't wanna deplete all my savings and piss it away. Especially in case it doesn't work out for me over there.

Secondly, i'd be going on my own. Is this a normal thing to do? Are there many solo travellers who go to Australia for a year?

Thirdly, is it worth it? It it generally an enjoyable experience that people would recommend? Is it life changing? I don't even know what i'd wanna work as over there. I guess a variety of different things as part of my problem is that I don't really know what job I really want.

Thanks to anyone for any tips or advice at all.

catbear

Australia is a very expensive place, if it's travel and other cultures you want to see then 6 months in South East Asia can cost you less than 3 weeks in Australia and you'll meet loads of backpackers from everywhere else doing the same thing so going solo shouldn't be daunting.

Never forget that it's a working holiday visa which will restrict you to certain short term jobs so you'll have to take what you can get. Youth unemployment is actually rising here and there's a greater demand for jobs that would have been filled by backpackers unless you're doing regional farm work.

Personally I'm glad I never did the working holiday visa, I passed through Australia on a round the world trip years ago and saw more in three weeks than most of the working holidayers did in a year. Plus I ended up preferring New Zealand.

One thing is for certain regardless of where you go getting out on your own for year will be an experience.

Cake Man

It would definately be worth it in terms of the experiences you would have and especially doing it by yourself. You'd surely learn a lot about yourself which would stand to you.

As for money, well it would just really all depend on what you wanted to do to be honest. You could easily go through that 10k in a few months if your plan was to just totally travel. You'd eat through your money quickly enough staying in hostels, travelling to/from places, feeding yourself, going to events involving drinks with other backpackers you'd meet etc.
Going back home with money again would depend on how much travelling you'd do and if you plan on getting work (or are succesfull at finding work for that matter!)

You'd probably need to pick up some work at some stage, again that would depend on your plan. If you planned to base yourself in Sydney for example, your priority might be to find work, get a feel for the place, make a few quid then head off (likely to meet other backpackers with the same ideas). Alternatively, the plan might be to just hit, for example, Cairns first thing and make your way down the east coast and worry about work later. Again, you might just say fcuk it and keep travelling until the money runs out and head home.

As catbear said, you'd likely have to just take what you're given in terms of work which is likely labouring/manual factory work and getting work related to your college qualification isn't something to really hold your breath on being on a work holiday visa unless it's an area that they're lacking here so it's hard to say.

So it's really up to you what your plan is, I'd say just to have a basic plan or idea what you wanted to do before getting out here and keep trying to save in the meantime. It is expensive here and you eat through money when you're not earning. The more money you have, the more you can do really.

Mezcita

roro1990 wrote: »

Hey just looking for some advice on my situation,

I find myself in the position where i'm not really sure what I wanna do next in life and the passion for travel that I have has caused me to consider going to Australia for a year to work and travel. I'm 24 years of age and have graduated from college and accumulated about 10k worth of savings. I've never lived outta home so I guess part of this is me wanting to grow up a bit more, come out of my shell more as well as the desire to see somewhere new.

Firstly what I'd like to know is, will I be coming home a year after with none of this 10k worth of savings left? I want to enjoy myself there but at the same time I don't wanna deplete all my savings and piss it away. Especially in case it doesn't work out for me over there.

Secondly, i'd be going on my own. Is this a normal thing to do? Are there many solo travellers who go to Australia for a year?

Thirdly, is it worth it? It it generally an enjoyable experience that people would recommend? Is it life changing? I don't even know what i'd wanna work as over there. I guess a variety of different things as part of my problem is that I don't really know what job I really want.

Thanks to anyone for any tips or advice at all.

To me this things are invariably what you make of them yourself. So (as mentioned below) you could to Asia for a year and live like a lord without having to worry about money for the entire time. But I think the key thing that you should ask yourself is what you are hoping to get out of the whole thing.

I wouldn't just restrict yourself to Australia as a place to go to. While you don't know what you want to work at, hopefully you might have an idea of things that interest you. So go wherever you can do those things. Be it Australia, Asia, wherever.

Don't worry about the money. Try and choose a place to go to where you would actually like living. Best of luck.

d.pop

Yes.
A year anywhere away from home is a worthwhile experience. Everybody should go abroad for a while. It's the best way to broaden your life experience.
Australia is certainly worth a visit but with regards to returning home with your savings intact I would say highly unlikely. 10k euro is about 16k Aussie (ball park), problem is with most Aussies earning well over 2k a week things are priced accordingly and you will spend your money fast unless you supplement with work.
Why don't you pay for flights and bring 5k with you and leave rest at home. Easy to transfer if you need it but hard enough at same time that you can't access it on a whim and maybe some left when you return?
Problem with having a lot of money at beginning is you are under no real pressure to work, then, oops! Too late, money gone, pressure on.
Australia is huge, pick some places you want to see, come over, find some work, get lie of land then go on a month or two road trip, but do come over, you won't regret it.

aido79

d.pop wrote: »

Yes.
A year anywhere away from home is a worthwhile experience. Everybody should go abroad for a while. It's the best way to broaden your life experience.
Australia is certainly worth a visit but with regards to returning home with your savings intact I would say highly unlikely. 10k euro is about 16k Aussie (ball park), problem is with most Aussies earning well over 2k a week things are priced accordingly and you will spend your money fast unless you supplement with work.
Why don't you pay for flights and bring 5k with you and leave rest at home. Easy to transfer if you need it but hard enough at same time that you can't access it on a whim and maybe some left when you return?
Problem with having a lot of money at beginning is you are under no real pressure to work, then, oops! Too late, money gone, pressure on.
Australia is huge, pick some places you want to see, come over, find some work, get lie of land then go on a month or two road trip, but do come over, you won't regret it.

90% of Australians don't earn anything close to 2K a week but I agree it is an expensive place. OP it depends what you want to get out of your year. If you are looking to experience different cultures then I would probably recommend backpacking around Asia and South America with a trip around the best parts of Australia somewhere along the way which you should be able to do on 10k.

Laura Steph

roro1990 wrote: »

Hey just looking for some advice on my situation,

I find myself in the position where i'm not really sure what I wanna do next in life and the passion for travel that I have has caused me to consider going to Australia for a year to work and travel. I'm 24 years of age and have graduated from college and accumulated about 10k worth of savings. I've never lived outta home so I guess part of this is me wanting to grow up a bit more, come out of my shell more as well as the desire to see somewhere new.

Firstly what I'd like to know is, will I be coming home a year after with none of this 10k worth of savings left? I want to enjoy myself there but at the same time I don't wanna deplete all my savings and piss it away. Especially in case it doesn't work out for me over there.

Secondly, i'd be going on my own. Is this a normal thing to do? Are there many solo travellers who go to Australia for a year?

Thirdly, is it worth it? It it generally an enjoyable experience that people would recommend? Is it life changing? I don't even know what i'd wanna work as over there. I guess a variety of different things as part of my problem is that I don't really know what job I really want.

Thanks to anyone for any tips or advice at all.

I read this and eerily, it sounds exactly like me a year ago for the most part, especially wanting to move out from home and grow up a bit more.

I left Ireland after finishing my Masters, and saving a substantial amount from two crappy jobs, in mid January.
Although I have relatives here, my goal was to really go solo on this year away, which I have overall. Its been one of the more challenging, difficult but rewarding and maturing experiences I have undertaken to date.

You need to push yourself to meet people, try new things, job-hunt, deal with homesickness and other milestone moments that may happen while you're away. But social media and apps have made it all the easier, as do various social meet up groups online. You learn to stand on your own two feet and alot about what you're actually capable of dealing with.

It is true parts of the job market is shrinking here at the moment. Youth unemployment is rising and the WHV is off-putting to many potential employers. I came out here for a legal internship, followed by door-to-door fundraising to an au pair position....so extremely varied, simply to earn money!
Having said this, I have been able to travel to various Australian cities and regions whilst maintaining my various positions.

It is easy to burn through money but with clever management and a determination to take almost any sort of work, you'll manage no problem on $10k. I'm going home in two month and all going well, I'll have almost half of what I started off with.

Don't let the thought of going alone put you off, its one of the more liberating things to do and leaves you free to do what you want without being held back.

The very best in your decision, I certainly haven't regretted mine.

d.pop

aido79 wrote: »

90% of Australians don't earn anything close to 2K a week but I agree it is an expensive .

Fair enough, you're right when averaged across the whole population; a few years tied up in the construction FIFO game out of perth skews reality somewhat with most people in the industry earning high thus driving Perth prices up. Tend to assume it's the norm after a while. Probably not an issue in the OP's case unless they decide to try buy a house in Perth while here....

bladebrew

If I were you I would get a round the world ticket and go see more than one country, I was in Australia for 3 months and managed not to work due to some free accommodation but we spent a fortune, now I realise we should have got a round the world trip and gone to a few countries, so that's my next plan!

catbear

bladebrew wrote: »

If I were you I would get a round the world ticket and go see more than one country, I was in Australia for 3 months and managed not to work due to some free accommodation but we spent a fortune, now I realise we should have got a round the world trip and gone to a few countries, so that's my next plan!

This. If it's other cultures and sights you want to see then an RTW is the way to go.
We're leaving Aus soon but plan to buy an RTW (no intention of returning to Oz) but combined its a lot cheaper for seeing new countries and experiencing new cultures and we'll have a few flights to use for holidays when we're topside.