A British woman who made the move to Australia has detailed the ‘big mistake’ she made, leaving her scrambling to get back to her dreamy life.
Making a big move to a sunny location would be a dream come true for most people, but for Helen Humphrey-Taylor, it quickly turned into a nightmare.
The 21-year-old has spoken out about the realities of living on the other side of the world -as it isn’t quite as idyllic as one might think.
It all began when she finished her A-levels and embarked on a six-week holiday around Melbourne and the east coast.
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Initial excitement
Helen, who had believed she was starting a new life for herself told MailOnline: “At the end of the trip so many people that I met were planning on staying and they all had these visas that I had no idea about, a working holiday visa.
“And I was just on a tourist visa but I thought I have no money now because I've spent everything and I really did not like the idea of coming back to the UK with no money."
So, she decided that she would stay and work in Aus, creating a new start for herself.
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Once she nabbed herself a visa, she moved to Melbourne because she’d heard that it was a 'cool' and 'livable' place to reside, and she wanted to ‘go and just chance my luck’.
From there, she lived in a hostel and began to hand out her CV before securing a job she could build from.
Helen said: “I found a little coffee shop with one man working there and I said ‘Do you need anyone to help you’, I was so desperate.
“I asked if he wanted to see my CV and he said ‘no why would I want to see your CV, just make a coffee’.”
She added of the interview: “I was thrown in the deep end, I had minimal skills.
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“I just made a coffee and he said I could start on Tuesday.”
Through her newfound job, she was able to land an apartment in the middle of Melbourne, earning $500 a week and spending 300 on her weekly rent.
However, it was all about to change thanks to Australia’s unusual visa requirements.
Having to move back to the UK
Unfortunately, according to the country’s visa requirements, people aged between 18 and 30 have to apply for three Working Holiday visas for each additional year they want to live and work in Australia.
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When you apply for the first one, it only lasts a year, and you need to have a passport from an eligible location.
The one Helen applied for was the second one, which would allow her to live for a second year, and when that expired, she had to move back home.
But she was left feeling like she was cutting her time short.
“I thought I really haven't finished what I was doing, I felt it was cut so short and I still didn't know what I wanted to do,” she said.
“I thought university wasn't right, so in September that year I booked a ticket back to Melbourne and went back.
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“But I was back to square one having to find a job, find accommodation.”
Her 'big mistake' as everything went downhill
She then decided on a change of location, explaining that she wanted to go and live in Sydney, which was a ‘big mistake’ for her.
Helen explained that it was hard to find somewhere to live in Sydney, so she moved back to Melbourne after a week.
She then landed a shopping centre job and then was able to get a one-bedroom apartment.
However, it went downhill fast.
She said: “After about six months of living there, living alone, it started to get cold and it was starting to feel lonely.
“It felt like the real life had started, I wasn't travelling anymore, I wasn't living on an island.
“My routine had just become this one place in Melbourne and I felt like, ‘Why am I living halfway around the world doing this when I could be at home with my family?'”
That’s when she ‘started to lose the purpose’ and began to ask herself why she was spending so much money to live alone when she could leave and live cheaper.
There was also a culture gap, leaving her unable to relate to many people.
The hot and cold weather also posed issues for her, so she decided to return home to the UK and figure out her next steps in life.
Britt Jones