I definitely enjoyed my time in Australia, as the number of posts about this year will tell you. But if I had to do it all over again, would I change anything? The answer is YES. I did a lot of things wrong and I hope you can learn from my mistakes!
When to Leave
I wish I had left earlier for many reasons. One, I wish I had been there for more of the Southern Hemisphere summer instead of spending the majority of my time there in Australian winter, which is mild, mind you. Secondly, I wish I had spent New Years Eve in Sydney since I ended up leaving before Christmas.
But at the time, I was glad I didn’t leave until the end of January since I celebrated my dad’s 50th birthday with friends and family and I also got the chance to work for a few weeks before leaving.
Flights
I was searching for deals for a long time before I settled on my fare on United with a layover in Los Angeles. It was a reasonable price, but I wish I had considered a one way ticket. Instead, I picked a return date after three months, just in case I hated it, and ended up spending $250 to change the ticket to a more reasonable return date in December.
Packing
When I left, I had no idea how long I would want to stay in Australia, so I packed only for one season: summer. Unfortunately, by the time we got to Melbourne, I was freezing my butt off in my shorts and dresses. I clearly didn’t do enough research about the differing climates in the country.
Once it finally got cold, I had to buy an entire new wardrobe and have items sent from home. I also expected to be traveling for most of the time I was away and packed mostly backpacker clothes, nothing I could wear to a job interview or nice dinner. I packed lots of things I didn’t even need. My backpack felt too large to carry on short trips, so I ended up borrowing a duffel bag for shorter jaunts.
Savings
Before leaving for Australia, I had about $2,000 saved up, which was not even enough for visa requirement, about $3,000 short. I soon learned why that number was chosen in the first place: Australia is freakin’ expensive. I didn’t save enough to travel for more than two weeks and didn’t have enough money to save for an apartment.
I ended up borrowing money for the bond on my apartment and paying it back after I got a job. Had I saved up more money prior, I wouldn’t have had to stay at my job for six months to save up for the East Coast and Uluru trips.
Expectations
Having spent a decent amount of time in Europe, I figured the exchange rate couldn’t really be that different. But I was wrong. My wallet was hit very hard my first few weeks in Sydney because I hadn’t figured out what was expensive and what was reasonable. I also thought I wouldn’t really need a job and that I could coast with my $2,000 for a while. Wrong. And did I mention Australia is huge? Flying from one side to the other is like it is in the US.
Job
I didn’t really want to find a job in the first place, since my goal there was to travel and to leave behind the boring cafe job in the states. I wanted to live off of my freelance writing, but once I realized the Internet situation Down Under leaves a lot to be desired, that concept changed.
I handed out my resume at nearby businesses but didn’t ever hear back from any. It wasn’t until I got my RSA and went from place to place talking to managers that I finally got a job. I didn’t expect to stay there for six months, but I got so comfortable, made so many friends, and enjoyed having a steady paycheck.
Trip Planning
As I said, I had very unrealistic expectations about how far my money would get me. In my mind, I could do the East Coast, Uluru, Melbourne, Perth, and Darwin and still have time for New Zealand and Fiji. Little did I know that it takes more than a year to see Australia properly. I wish I had planned out my finances and time better so that I could have seen at least Perth and Tasmania. But I suppose that’s one of many reasons for me to go back to Australia?
I definitely had similar expectations: I didn’t realize it would be quite so expensive (we definitely timed it wrong with the super strong Aussie dollar) and I wish I had spent more time in summer. I also thought I’d be able to travel a lot more–it’s much bigger and more expensive to do so that I thought! Definitely some things I’d do over if possible, but overall, fell in love with the country–and have more than enough to go back and see when I’ve got the funds :)
I didn’t work in Australia like you guys but my expectations for a 2 month visit last year were also kind of out of whack. Who knew the place was so insanely expensive?!
My biggest mistake was underestimating rainy season. Spent a lot of time getting very, very wet.
Once I was there, complaining about how everything was expensive, the Aussies told me that it depends on where you are (city vs. smaller town, etc.) and if you are making Aussie money. Once I had a steady paycheck, I was no longer overwhelmed on how I would get by. But I definitely should have saved more! So bummed you experienced so much rain!
I love how colorful the Aussie money is! I had no idea how expensive it was to live there, to get the visa, etc. This is great information for anyone thinking of heading there for a long-term trip.
I know, for the first couple of weeks I treated it like Monopoly money! The $100 bills are green, but I never possessed one of those…Thanks for commenting Diana! Big fan of your blog, especially since we share a love of Croatia.
All really good things to know. My friend Sarah (sarahbux.wordpress.com) wants to honeymoon there someday. I’ll have to put her on to your blog so she can start getting tips and save some moola. Great blog!
Yes, I definitely recommend bringing at least $3,000 if you are staying for more than a month or two. It adds up fast!
I live- AND travel – in OZ so my best advice is to start out in places less expensive than Sydney (ie almost everywhere)! Road-tripping with your own accomodation (ie tent, camper etc) is WAAAAAY cheaper than tours and tourist accomodation – free camping and budget campsites can reduce the daily cost considerably. Although I realise that won’t work for everyone.
Sadly, I can’t do anything about the $AUD exchange rate … but hope you come back real soon!
Definitely should have! I found Queensland significantly cheaper as well. I could have done it very cheap but even though I spent lots of money, I am pretty happy with all I saw! I hope to come back as soon as possible to see the parts of the country I couldn’t get to. Thanks for reading!
Thank you so much for this post! It helps those of us who are looking to get a work/travel visa in the future tremendously. We are planning on heading down under in the around June or July 2013. I hope the US$ perks up a bit before then!
Good luck! Contact me if you have any questions.
I only packed for the summer season as well. Melbourne gets cold!
Thanks for the tips eventhough you had to go through those experiences at first. Keep having fun :)
A lot of people do not realize how large and diverse Australia is. As you said, it can also be quite expensive, particularly areas like Sydney. The climate is also diverse – there is a vast difference between the tropical north and the temperate south.
We did an outback driving tour last year (family of five) for ten days, starting and leaving from Sydney, and we still spent over $3000 – using mostly cheap hotel accommodation. FYI we also went on a driving tour of NZ about 18 months ago and it wasn’t much cheaper (not counting the flights and vehicle hire).
It just goes to show that it is really important to do some planning for your trip and try to realistically estimate how much money you will need. With the internet and guide books you should be able to develop an estimate so you can set reasonable expectations of how much travel you can afford.
So happy I found your blog! I will be leaving for Australia in August on a working holiday visa. I have around 5000 dollars saved and hopefully will find a job soon after arriving. Hoping this will be enough to accomplish some of my bucket list items! I was going over your budget that you blogged about and was wondering how many hours you were working per week to make those wages?
Hey Courtney! Thanks for reading! I’m so happy you’re doing a working holiday! I worked almost 40 hours per week, Monday through Thursday, typically 5-12, and Fridays 12-12. So a lot! But you can work as much as you need to.