It’s decided: I’m heading down under, mates!
If you have been following my blog for a while, you know that I have been planning my escape from the corporate grind for some time. Originally, it began as an off-handed idea to take a round-the-world trip in which I would work as an ESL teacher, volunteer and live off my savings. I soon realized that seeing the whole world in one trip might be a little hectic, (and expensive) so I focused my attention on Eastern Europe. As soon as I expressed interest in teaching English in Prague, people started questioning why I was going back to Europe. Was I afraid to branch out? Maybe at the time, I was. Their comments made me realize that I needed to step outside my comfort zone, so I started researching SE Asia. A couple of my friends from college had studied abroad in Thailand and had nothing but amazing things to say about it, so I decided to begin my journey there. Plus the flight was cheap, though that was not a determining factor.
Once I had booked my flight to Bangkok, the plan was to spend a year backpacking around SE Asia, ending in Nepal where I would do the Everest Base Camp trek before heading home. I didn’t think I would need to teach ESL, because the US dollar is strong and these countries are all pretty cheap. I honestly didn’t believe I would need to supplement my savings because I figured I had enough to last me a full year. Then the stock market started tanking… To remind you, I leave in approximately 2 months, giving me little hope for a market rebound, and thus my savings started to dwindle before my eyes.
To put this in context, my entire trip is being funded by my Amazon shares that I have been granted since I started working here. In December, the stock was priced at $690 a share, and has since fallen to about $480 a share. That is a HUGE chunk of change that I watched vanish. So last week, I had a straight up panic attack. I started over-analyzing everything and even considered cancelling or postponing my trip indefinitely. I cried on the phone to my parents, fearing that I would be stuck at Amazon forever. See every year, you are given more stock which is supposed to incentivize you to stay with the company longer. We like to call it the “golden handcuffs”. They give it to you in large chunks that vest over 2-4 years. Thus, you feel obligated to stay until the stocks vest. I just couldn’t imagine staying for 2-4 more years before taking the trip that I had been planning for the past 6 months.
My travel partner Chris, who is a saint btw, sent me this quote during one of my freak outs:
Though I had read it before, it really resonated with me at that particular moment. He was right. I could stick around Amazon for another 2-4 years, save up and be able to travel longer, or I could take the leap and let things work themselves out. I knew, for my sanity, I needed to choose the latter. Obviously my savings was no longer going to sustain me for an entire year. I needed a new plan, and I needed it fast. I don’t know if you realize, but 60 days is a relatively short time frame when you are deciding to pack up your entire life and live out of a backpack, potentially indefinitely.
When I headed back to the drawing board, I started listing out my options. Obviously, I could still get TEFL certified, teach English in Thailand or Vietnam for a few months and then use whatever savings I was able to accumulate to continue my journey through SE Asia. OR… I could apply for a Work Holiday Visa to Australia or New Zealand. Since both countries offer 12 month Working Holiday Visas to Americans on which you can work in basically any industry to support yourself while you travel, I knew this would be the best option for me. Plus I wouldn’t necessarily have to deal with children, which I would prefer.
But when confronted with the opportunity to choose between the two, VERY DIFFERENT countries, what is a girl to do? I knew more people had taken the Australia route. I belong to an amazing group called Girls Love Travel #GLT, and there are many women in the group who have chosen to relocate to Australia. I have come across far fewer people who have chosen New Zealand, so obviously this peaked my interest. I spent days researching the differences between their visa processes, the prospects of finding work in either country, the minimum wages for hospitality work in both places and eventually realized why more people end up down under. New Zealand, though amazingly diverse and beautiful with a climate more suitable for this Pacific Northwesterner, is simply not as Work Holiday friendly. The living costs are a bit higher in New Zealand, the wages a bit lower, and it is harder to find work and housing as a backpacker. For these reasons, and these reasons alone, I began my application for a working holiday in Australia.
The process was not complicated, but the website was a bit annoying. When you first arrive on the Work Holiday landing page, they assume you are British, and so I filled out the assessment to see if I was able to apply for the Working Holiday visa and it kept telling me I was not eligible (how frustrating!). After fumbling around for a few more minutes, I found the correct application for Americans, the Work AND Holiday visa which you can access here. The whole process took about 10 minutes and I was immediately pre-approved. From what I read, I should receive my accepted visa within the next 24-48 hours. The cost at the moment is about $420 Australian dollars which amounts to around $300 USD.
Now that I have decided to spend a year in Australia, I need YOUR help! I have read that most people start their Australian adventure in either Sydney or Melbourne. I assume this is because they are the cheapest airports to fly into, so I will likely start in one of these places. HOWEVER, I need recommendations for where I want to eventually settle down. I am not a huge city girl, preferring smaller beach/resort towns. I am likely going to be working in hospitality, as this is where my experience lies. In your opinion, which city is cooler: Brisbane or Cairns? Or is there a third option I am overlooking? Let me know your thoughts! If you have blog posts about your time on a Work and Holiday Visa in Australia, I would love links!
Happy Travels!
B