KATT PENN: FALLING IN LOVE WITH ‘DOWN UNDER’

“Blessed are the curious for they shall have adventures.” – Lovelle Drachman

Wander-lust is when you decide on booking a one way ticket to Sydney, Australia after visiting Perth a few weeks earlier. Kat Penn was there for a two week excursion, she had travelled with friends from Perth to Exmouth & back.

Upon landing in Heathrow on February 7^th 2018, she knew she wanted more than snow and dark skies. By the end of the week, she met with a mortgage broker to discuss being a landlord and renting her flat. It took about 5-6 months to complete her new mortgage and secure a new tenant. Once it was done, she handed in a notice to quit her job.

Kat thinks she was inspired by a friend who had done something similar in 2016. She was ready to leave behind a fulltime job that she loved, a flat, a mortgage, access to healthcare plus check -ups that she needed to complete. She had a feeling of being pulled to Australia. She felt that if she didn’t go ‘then’ she would deeply regret it and live to wonder ‘What If?’

LET’S PAINT MY IDEAL COUNTRY – POINTS TO REMEMBER

THE UPSIDE

COMMUNICATION: You should be able to speak to people and understand what is being said for most of the time. Except if you are ready for the long haul, to start afresh,renewing your tongue as well as space.

And so I chose- Australia, because they speak English there, which made life a lot easier. It includes some slang words that takes a while to understand (togs, slab) and everything has an ‘O’ at the end of it (bottle-o, servo, smoke-o) but apart from that, it’s pretty much the same! Oh and out here, being called the ‘C word’ is a good thing! Very odd!!

TRANSPORTATION: choose a space that you can navigate for less. 

It’s great out here – the councils really look after the trains and buses and they’re really cheap, quick and clean. It used to cost me £27.90 per day and here it cost $6.76 (£3.60) for the same time; both a 35 minute commute into the city.

BEWARE THE WEATHER

This is a big factor in making decisions around travel. If you do not like the weather then you are in for a long ride.

I wish I could get used to the weather, it can be crazy. The phrase, ‘when it rains, it pours’ is very true out here. I have ruined a few good pairs of shoes by being caught out in the city downpours. And then the very next day, it can be 42 degrees and super -hot. My tip would be to wear sunscreen and take an umbrella with you every day.

ACCEPT THE ODDITIES

I find that some of the  food are weirdly expensive – a cucumber is about $3 which at home you can pick up for about 50p.

To get a beer/bottle of wine from a bottle shop is a bit pricey or difficult (they close really early and are sometimes not near the main town.) And the fact that you can’t do your weekly food shopping and drop a bottle of wine into your trolley is weird.

“Travel makes one modest. You see what a tiny place you occupy in the world.” -Gustav Flaubert

MY 5 TIPS FOR MOVING TO A FOREIGN COUNTRY

• Sync with their lifestyle – most people sleep in sync with the sun. I am always up before 7am and often in bed by 9pm. The stores close early compared to the UK and you’ll find the cafes really busy around 6am. It’s often really hot in the afternoon so the streets will be quiet.

• Pack an extension lead – my friend brought one on holiday with us a few years back and it is the best travel buddy. It makes charging my life so much easier and you only need one adapted plug.

• Bring a home comfort – I had a fluffy blanket back home that I loved wrapping myself in when I’d had a rough day at work. I found a scarf in similar fabric in Primark last year and packed it into my suitcase. Although some people commented that it was ridiculous (I flew out to +35 degree weather) when I had days that I felt down or sad or just wanted to feel at ‘home,’ I can wrap it round me and make myself feel comforted.

• Be open to changing the original plan – I have had plans change in a matter of hours based on emails, conversations with new friends, seeing something on Instagram… I used to be structured in my day and decisions but now I am definitely happy to go with the flow, play things out.. It’s Wednesday evening out here now, we are checking out of our apartment on Sunday and we haven’t booked anywhere to stay next yet!

• Add your home countries time zone to your phone clock. It makes it easier knowing when to call/text home and also I find it nice to wonder what my mum is doing (e.g. So in the UK it’s 11am on a Saturday.. she’d just be on a break at work now etc)It’s huge here. Like, a really really big country. If you want to go to the next town, it’ll be 2 hours away. If you want to get to the next big city, you’re probably looking at an overnight 10 hour bus (Melbourne to Sydney) or 14 hours on a Greyhound (Sydney to Brisbane) My friend out here has a car and we can smash 6 hours on the road with ease. Back home, I would complain if I was in the car for more than 40 minutes!

GET READY TO MAKE IT THROUGH CULTURE SHOCK

The most ridiculous and funniest time I’ve had was when I lived in Gatton Caravan Park for a month. It was all very spontaneous – I was living in Melbourne after I’d holiday-ed with my mum I had a bus booked to take me back to Sydney where I was going to start a new job and ‘settle.’

Then an email from the new role came through, which was pushing back the start date and at the same time, a new friend I’d made out here was heading to start her Farm Work (88 days of rural work is required if you want to apply to stay for a second year) Within 3 hours, I had cancelled my bus, written a ‘farm’ shopping list and was arranging when she’d pick me up. After a 2 day drive, my friend and I (and a guy we met along the way) rocked up and settled into a caravan which was probably older than all of us put together. It had ants everywhere, no oven or proper cooking facilities and communal toilets.

But it was the best time I’ve had.
I made more friends in the first few days there than I have since school. I laughed every single day until I had a stitch. There was no wifi so we played volleyball in the pool or play cards by our caravan. I read books, I chatted about everyone and everything, I didn’t scroll through Instagram to see what the Kardashians were up to or who-wore-what to the Oscars. (Don’t worry; I’m all caught up now!)
It was ‘good wholesome fun’ … with a lot of alcohol and cheese toasties!!

THE WORLD IS YOUR OYSTER BUT YOU HAVE TO BE WILLING TO GO OUT AND FISH FOR IT….

I am so glad I am the kind of person who wants to do this; wants to see the world and has a hit list I want to cross off. I am really proud of myself for taking the leap but also for working really hard back in the UK so that I could be in the position I am now in!

LASTLY LET’S TALK WORLD TRAVEL AND INTEGRATION OF CULTURES

I think it starts with RESPECT, you should respect the country; Speak that language / understand the culture, learn the laws (weird things here like if you want to smoke, you have to be 10m from a bar) and adapt to the communities lifestyle.
I think it’s great to learn from each other and experience new things and I would recommend everyone try something a little different. I’m glad I did it at this age too, rather than being 20-22 (when I first wanted to come here) I turned 27 a week after I arrived and I think being this age has been a great benefit in understanding what I want, what I like and how to make that happen! Australia’s 417 Working

Holiday Visa (which I’m on) is for pretty much anyone under 31 and I think that age / slightly higher (35?) should be encouraged globally as it gives people to figure themselves out a bit, before making a leap!

MY RECOMMENDATIONS

STA TRAVEL for flights, trips and inspiration

statravel.com

TIME OUT – I used it a lot in London so was glad to see there’s one out here for the cities

www.timeout.com

Instagram: @visitbrisbane @australia @visitmelbourne @sydney

for events going on in the areas and cool beaches / brunches!

and then really, google maps is your best friend – finding out how far everything is and how big the country is!