In 2009, after four hectic years at university, I was finally getting ready to graduate.
“What are you going to do after graduation?” “Are you planning to go to graduate school?” “What kind of job do you want?”
The closer graduation got, the more often I heard questions like these.
“I’m going on a working holiday in Australia!”
As soon as I graduated in June, I was lucky enough to land a contract web design job at Chunghwa Telecom. That marked the beginning of my six-month savings plan: I aimed to put aside NT$120,000, and six months later, I would be setting foot in Australia.
To be honest, during the first four months, I was all talk and had done absolutely no research. The working holiday was more like a slogan or an article of faith to me. I said I didn’t need an agency and could handle everything myself, but I hadn’t actually done a thing. I said I could look for work after arriving, but I didn’t even know what kinds of jobs were available where. Then in October, I happened to chat with Jimmy, a friend from my days as an ASUS Campus CEO, and learned that he was leaving for a working holiday in Australia the following month. That was when it hit me: I hadn’t prepared anything, so who was I to keep talking about a working holiday? (Sure, some people make a snap decision and leave in less than a month, but that’s not my STYLE, ha!)So I raced to get my visa within ten days, carefully researched which airline to book, which one was cheaper at what time, and where I should make my first stop, and then bought my ticket. Only then did my Australian working holiday finally turn from a vague idea into reality.
All I can say is this:It wasn’t until I had actually booked my flight and the countdown had begun that I started getting nervous and realised I needed to prepare. After that, I spent every day trawling through posts on the must-read Backpackers forum, reading blogs by countless working-holiday veterans, listing the topics I needed to research (e.g. exchanging New Taiwan dollars for Australian dollars, customs, visas, insurance, jobs, etc.), and borrowing every book about working holidays I could find at the library.The more research I did, the better I understood this unknown adventure. That helped calm my anxiety and gave me the courage to take my first solo trip abroad.
“What? You’re going on a working holiday in Australia too?! Why is everyone going on a working holiday in Australia these days? Is it trendy or something?”
“Oh, really? My xxx/my friend’s xxx is on a working holiday in Australia too!”
Once I started preparing to leave, nearly everyone responded like this whenever I mentioned that I was going on a working holiday in Australia. Working holidays had become so popular—and so heavily covered by the media—that practically everyone knew about them. It made me wonder: Is Taiwan simply so small that we all know the same people, or has Australia really become completely overrun with working holidaymakers? Still, I think most people choose Australia because it’s the easiest first destination to apply for.
For me, though, it all began three years earlier. The first time I heard about the new option of an Australian working holiday visa, something stirred inside me! My first family trip to a “developed Western” country, back when I was in junior high school, had been to Brisbane, Australia. In my memory, Brisbane was a place with wide roads, pleasant air, friendly people, beautiful streets, and adorable animals everywhere. (Little did I know that when I returned, everything would be different XD. For related posts, see the Australia Working Holiday 【Brisbane】 category.) Australia instantly became my favourite country, and as a child I even thought, “When I grow up, I’m definitely moving to Australia!” Now that I’m older and no longer so sweetly naive, I don’t dream about emigrating anymore, but my longing for Australia has never faded.Travelling to Australia again and spending some time living there had always been a dream of mine.
So when I discovered the new travel option of an Australian working holiday, I immediately knew it was something I had to do! It was the perfect way to live in Australia, really get to know Australians, and experience Australian culture—especially for someone as broke as me, ha! At the same time, I couldn’t afford to study abroad, but I still wanted to improve my English and soak up some foreign… foreign water. (No ink for me, haha.)I could earn money while working, learn English, and do it all in Australia!! It was practically designed for me—haha! How could I possibly not go?
So off I went on my working holiday in Australia!
