Six Months Down Under

Six months ago I packed up everything I own and moved to the most isolated city in the world: Perth, Western Australia.

Before embarking on this adventure, I had never even heard of Perth, let alone knew where it was on the map. For this reason alone, I was intrigued and had to see it for myself. In order to make the move, I applied for my working holiday visa and instantly connected with a family who were looking for an au pair. If you have been following along, you know that I have done this in the past and it seemed like the right fit for me at the time. I have been very much off the grid and MIA on my socials so to fill you in, for the past six months I have been living like a local in the land down under.

To be as transparent as possible, my absence on socials speak for itself when I say that I was struggling-struggling to settle in, struggling to find another job to help fund my time abroad, struggling feeling like I should have been doing more with my life. I have moved abroad multiple times before so I could not figure out why this time around it was much more difficult for me. I was in this beautiful place, meeting beautiful people, and having these beautiful experiences, but from the moment I stepped off of the plane, something just felt off. I told myself to give it time but six months in, I still couldn’t shake the feeling. I knew I had to listen to myself and get crystal clear on what I want my life to look and feel like. This ultimately led to me making the difficult decision to leave Australia and return back home.

Whereas things did not turn out exactly how I expected them to, I have learned a lot about myself during my time in Australia and I truly believe that I wouldn’t have come to the conclusion about the next steps in my life had I not made the move across the world. I do not want my struggles to discourage anyone who is looking to do their working holiday visa in Australia. I think it is an amazing way to live abroad without having to worry about language barriers and huge cultural differences. I have met so many people who go there and end up wanting to make the move a permanent one, this just was not the case for me and that is okay. Everyone experiences a place differently and Australia truly has so much to offer. Although I only stayed in Western Australia throughout my six months, I look forward to returning one day to see more of the country.

All of that being said, I took a chance on myself and a chance on a place that I have never even heard of before and I am really glad that I did. I am so grateful for all of the people that I have met along the way who have encouraged me to follow my heart, as well as all of the experiences that my time in Australia has allowed me to have. If you ever find yourself in the little corner of the world that is Perth, Western Australia, here is a list of twenty things to do while you are there.

Fremantle Markets

Trigg Beach

Keller’s Farm

South Perth Foreshore

Rooftop Movies

Scarborough Beach Sunset Markets

Elizabeth Quay

Caversham Wildlife Park

Summer X Salt Markets

Cottesloe Beach

Hillary’s Boat Harbor

Dawnbreak

City Beach

Perth Upmarket

Lake Monger

Little Paws Yoga

Rottnest Island

Mandurah Giants

Busselton Jetty

Margaret River

Like I mentioned before, please do not let my experience discourage you or cause you to put Australia off. This experience was completely my own and at the end of the day, I still left with a grateful heart. I am on a continuous journey of finding myself and Australia was just a small chapter in my story, but it somehow feels like the biggest one yet. Stay tuned for my next adventure!