AD - This post is in collaboration with Welcome To Travel
Choosing to move to Australia on a working holiday Visa was no easy thing. I had to consider leaving behind my friends and family, quitting a job I kinda liked, and moving thousands of miles across the world to a place I'd only ever seen on the screen. But I did it. I moved to the land down under and so far it's going pretty damn well!
So what did I do to prepare myself for the big move? As a solo traveller, and a female one at that, there were a couple things things I needed to consider that maybe groups or couples wouldn't even think about. That's not to say moving to Australia solo needs to be hard but it's not for everyone.
Let's break down the prep I did for my Australian adventure...
1. Research - I didn't do as much as I should, I'll hold my hand's up to this one. I'd seen vlogs, and tiktoks, and bits on instagram about the girlies living their best lives in the sunshine and I was SOLD. "Get me to the place where it's always summer" I thought! But here's the catch, Australia has seasons too and their winter is still chilly! I wish past Grace did a little more research before hopping on a plane without a jumper to weather that was actually colder than the UK.
So watch the vlogs, watch the tiktoks, and consume all the content, but do some proper research about the weather, the cities, read hostel reviews because you'll want to prepared and safe in the first few weeks of your new life in Australia.
2. Apply for a working holiday Visa - There are a couple of working visa's you can apply for if you want to move to Aus but the most popular one in the UK is the Working Holiday Visa 417. This is the one I'm currently travelling on and it is VERY easy to apply for. In fact I applied for my Visa in about an hour and it was approved almost instantly. Waiting times for Visa approval can vary though so this is something to be aware of.
3. Book the flights - I booked my flight to Australia about 3 months before I intended to leave. This gave me plenty of time to prepare for the move and enjoy some quality time with my friends and family. Booking my flights so far in advance also meant I benefitted from slightly cheaper flights than if I'd have booked them last minute. But even if you do book flights in advance be prepared to spend a few quid on them. I paid £1070 for my flight as I wanted to fly with Emirates and this price seemed to be pretty average, however I did see flights for as low as £600.
As a woman travelling alone, I deliberately booked a flight with a short layover so I wouldn't have to travel in and out of the connecting city with all my baggage as this is when I feel most vulnerable.
4. Book a welcome tour - Before leaving for my big adventure I was feeling a little nervous, which is understandable, so I decided to life life on easy mode and book on to a welcome tour for my first week in Australia. I booked with Welcome To Travel, a company set up by travellers so I knew I'd be in good hands. Starting my working holiday with them meant I would get an airport pick up, a fab introduction to the city with multiple tours, help setting up an Aussie bank account, an Aussie SIM card, and they would also apply for my tax file number amongst other things.
The Welcome To Travel tour helped me get settled into Melbourne very quickly and also gave me 22 new friends who were all on the same journey. For me personally as a solo traveller, making connections with other travellers is so important and in that first week I made so many friendships I still hold very dear even weeks after the tour has ended.
If you like the sound of a welcome tour, the company offers two, one in Melbourne (which I did) and one in Sydney. You can get $50 off either of these tours with my code GRACEBEE*
* I receive a small amount of commission when this code is used.
5. Give notice at work - Once my working holiday visa was granted (and even before I'd really planned anything else) I handed my notice in at work. This one was quite bittersweet for me as I'd finally found a job I didn't hate but the thought of travelling Australia and one day finding a job in the sunshine made it VERY easy to hand in my resignation. Before you do this it's worth checking your contract as I didn't and my notice period was slightly longer than I had realised. It's also a good idea to talk to your managers about references so that you can update your CV ready for working in Australia.
So that's how I prepared to travel and work in Australia as a solo female traveller on the 417 working holiday visa. If I can pull this off anyone can, but I hope my experience helps you plan for you own trip.
I'd be happy to answer any questions about my travels and don't forget to keep up to date with my adventure on Instagram - search @gracebeeuk if you're not already following!
Thanks for reading!
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Hi my name is Grace and I couldn't care less about snazzy job titles, popping out a couple kids, and settling down in the suburbs. In fact the thought of striving to achieve these traditional life goals makes me feel very uneasy. That's not to say that I can't see some value in doing things "the old fashioned way", but it's not the life for me!
Ever since I can remember all that I've wanted to do is see the world. My bucket list consist's of visiting elephant sanctuaries in Thailand, hiking Mount Kilimanjaro, and chucking tomatoes at strangers at La Tomatina Festival in Spain. But climbing the corporate ladder? No thanks!
I honestly don't give a shit about having a career, as long as I have enough money to live and have fun. Having an enjoyable life will forever be my priority and I just don't see how a fancy job role could contribute to that. In fact I can only think of a few jobs that I would consider 'fulfilling', and let's be honest, the traditional folk wouldn't consider those 'real jobs' anyway.
And don't get me started on the bog standard family unit. I barely know what I want, how on earth would I be able to understand the needs of a child. Beside that, I'm not willing to give up the time and money to raise someone in a world like this. It's a no from me.
What about owning a home? Eh, i mean one day maybe. Housing is SO unattainable for young people right now, especially young single people, so I'm spending my deposit on seeing the world and making memories. Now this isn't a decision I've taken lightly, I've been saving for a house deposit since I was 18 so seeing it slowly deplete recently was actually kind of painful. Will I regret spending this money in a few years? Honestly I'm not sure, but like they say 'money returns, time does not'.
Sometimes I wish I was content with a normal life. But life is too short to live it ticking boxes. The world is out there and I'm ready to see it!
People keep calling me brave. Since I made the announcement that I'm leaving to find a new life in Australia I've been called brave so many times but I don't feel it. Sure I'm nervous about a lot of things, I mean moving across the world would make anyone nervous but brave? I don't know.
Getting a mortgage, having kids, and living your whole life in one city? Now that is brave to me! To be so sure that is the life you want forever? That scares the shit out of me! If it all goes tits up while I'm travelling I can just come home, no problems! Does that make me weird? If it does, I don't want to be right!
(AD)*
Do you have itchy feet like me? Maybe a working holiday in Aus could help you scratch that!
I'll be spending my first week in Australia on the Welcome to Travel Tour in Melbourne. The week long tour includes an airport pickup, tours of the city, a road trip to Philip Island, help with all the life admin involved with moving to a new country, and so much more.
If this sounds like a bit of you, use code GRACEBEE for $50 off your tour!
This code can be used on either the Welcome to Melbourne Tour, or the Welcome to Sydney tour.
* I receive a small amount of commission when this discount code is used ☺
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So here are my top cheeky travel hacks...
Need quick transport in a city you don't speak the language? Ask any hotel reception to call a taxi for you. Unfortunately for those who like easy travel, Uber isn't available everywhere yet. So when you need transport and fast, you might find it tricky to communicate with taxi companies if you don't speak the language. If you are near a hotel however it's likely that the receptionist will speak English and be able to order you a fuss free taxi, whether you're staying there or not. Yep it's a little cheeky but I've not yet met a receptionist who wasn't willing to help me out!
Out and about but an item of your clothing has ripped, or snapped? Ask any hotel reception for a sewing kit to fix it quick. When exploring beautiful Almeria a few years back, the strap on my playsuit snapped and I didn't have time to return to my own hotel before my tour started. I nipped into the closest hotel and asked the receptionist very nicely if they had a sewing kit I could use. Luckily they did so I soon had a fully functioning playsuit with minimal hassle.
Low on phone battery? It's always worth keeping a whole phone charger in your bag incase you visit a cafe or bar with an available plug socket. When I go camping I also keep the charger for my battery packs in my bag so that I can charge those up at the pub as I rarely have access to electricity while camping.
Helped yourself to the drinks and snacks in your hotel room mini bar and now you're facing a bill larger that it should be? Restore the items with shop bought replacements. Hotel mini bar items are often incredibly expensive compared to buying them in regular stores so depending on how much you scoffed you could save yourself a good few quid by replacing them.
Minimal hand luggage allowance on your flight? Just hide anything extra you bring! Buy anything from the airport shops, ask for a large carrier bag and put your forbidden hand luggage inside. Most airlines won't have a limit on the amount of duty free shopping you can buy and wont check what's actually inside your shopping bag, meaning you can bring along whatever you want as long as it will fit discreetly inside a duty free carrier bag.
Want a cheeky bev on the airplane but don't want to spend a small fortune? Smuggle it on. I'm not sure about the legalities of this one but let's say in theory you bought a small bottle of alcohol in the duty free store which could be quite cheap. In theory you could also buy a 600ml bottle of Pepsi, drink half of it and then refill the bottle with the alcohol, discarding the empty spirit bottle in an airport bin. I have it on good authority that a whole bottle of 20cl Captain Morgan's Spiced Rum fits completely into half a bottle of Pepsi and also matches the colour quite closely meaning no one on the airplane would be able to tell it was anything other than a regular bottle of Pepsi - in theory.
Arriving in a new place? Always take a free walking tour! If you've been reading the blog for a while you'll know I'm a huge advocate for free walking tours, but for a good reason. If you're new to a city taking a free walking tour provides you with an affordable way to view important parts of the city, as well as gaining valuable knowledge from the guide. Often guides will also hand out free resources like vouchers and city maps which you might not get for free elsewhere.
You can find more reasons to take a free walking tour here.
Hotel with no pool? No problem, just nip to the hotel next door! When on one of my recent trips I met a lad who was working in a small Spanish town. His apartment block didn't have a pool so when he wanted to go swimming he simply found out which local hotels had easy access swimming pools. I've never done this one myself but I think it's a brilliant idea!
So those were my top cheeky travel hacks! I've love to know some of the travel hacks you sweat by! Let's have a chat about them on twitter or in the comments below!
Thanks for reading!
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North Wales is a beautiful region but not one known for its exotic cuisine. When you think of North Wales your mind would likely picture mountains and pretty little seaside towns, it's doubtful you'd even think about food, but let me tell you there is some good grub to be had there.
Throughout my trip I munched my way across Conwy, Llandudno, Anglesey, and more, so here's everything I ate in North Wales...
Finley's Sandwich Bar - Llangollen
5 Abbey Rd, Llangollen, LL20 8SN
In the tiny picturesque town of Llangollen you'll find Finley's Sandwich bar and cafe. The dog friendly eatery serve's all sorts from full breakfasts and burgers to sandwiches and salad, and they delivery it all with a smile.
This was our first pit stop in Wales and being hungry tourists we all ordered the largest breakfast option - Finley's Big Breakfast. For £7.50 you'll receive 2 slices of bacon, 2 sausages, 1 egg, 2 hash browns, black pudding, mushrooms, baked beans, or plum tomatoes, and 2 slices of bread. But if something doesn't take your fancy they had no problems swapping a couple of items up!
The breakfast was delicious and it was clear that they only serve really good quality ingredients. Not only that everything was cooked just right - hello perfect dippy eggs!
Would I recommend a breakie at Finley's? Absolutely I would, and I think my pooches who were also well looked after would recommend a trip too!
Finley's big breakfast
Windsor Fish Bar - Abergele
Towyn Road, Towyn, Abergele, LL22 9HE
Eating fish and chips on the beach was high on my to do list for my Welsh holiday. Luckily for us we found a chippy not too far from the seafront where I was able to make my dream a reality.
Windsor Fish Bar near Kinmel Bay looks like your bog standard chippy, and well it is, but take a short drive (or a 10 minute walk) and you'll find yourself on a beautiful beach. Now this stretch of land from Rhyl to Abergele is packed with other takeaways and fish bars and I can't tell you if this one is the best, but I can say that we all thoroughly enjoyed our boxed up chippy tea. The batter on the fish and sausage was delicious and the chicken kebab my sister ordered was cracking quality for a takeaway!
There was quite a queue when we went for our food, this is to be expected at tea time in the school holidays, but it might be worth keeping in mind if you're looking to eat in the area.
Overall I very much enjoyed my tea by the sea, and I didn't even have to fight back any seagulls this time - bonus!
Battered Sausage and Chips on the beach
Horizon Shine Kiosk - Colwyn Bay Beach
Promenade, Colwyn Bay Beach, LL29 8HH
Is it even a UK holiday if you don't have an ice cream in questionable temperatures? Well I don't think so, which is why I treated myself to a little chocolate ice cream at the beach kiosk the second the sun appeared.
Regardless of the temperature (which was not at summer holiday levels) I wolfed down my delicious icy treat while the rest of my family sipped on hot chocolates from the same kiosk.
Would I recommend? Of course!
The Mulberry - Conwy
Conwy Marina, Ellis Way, Conwy, LL32 8GU
Conwy is very quickly becoming my favourite seaside town. It's gorgeous castle, fantastic history, and quirky little streets have so much to offer tourists, and that's ever before you take in the gorgeous views across the harbour. One thing it doesn't specialise in however is dog friendly pubs. Now we could have very easily missed them (so feel free to drop your recommendations in the comments) but we did struggle to find somewhere we could sit inside with our little angels.
We did however take a suggestion from one of the local sales assistants who recommended we take a walk to The Mulberry which is roughly a 20 minute walk from the main town of Conwy.
The Mulberry overlooks Conwy Marina which makes for a beautiful setting to have a relaxing meal. They are also dog friendly which is essential for us. Dogs are allowed on several tables inside the restaurant and at all of the outside tables as far as I am aware. Water bowls are placed in various locations across the venue, though we did have to ask for these to be refilled as it seems that must have had lots of little visitors that day.
The menu at the Mulberry is fairly standard for a more upmarket pub, though I did find several dishes I quite liked the look of which is very unusual for a picky eater like me. I ended up ordering the Chicken Schnitzel and let me tell you I left feeling very full.
I would absolutely recommend a trip here if you don't mind a short stroll (which is actually quite lovely) and you need somewhere dog friendly.
Pound bakery - Llandudno
54 Mostyn Street, Llandudno, LL30 2RP
I'll be honest, I didn't even realise this was a chain until it was too late. I thought I'd stubbled across a nice little local bakery but nope. We all had cheap little Cornish pasty's here which filled the gap but were actually pretty rubbish. I didn't even get a proper photo of them but believe me you're not missing out on much.
It wasn't horrible but I wouldn't rush back to buy from there again. I mean what did I expect for £1 really?
Emperor Chinese Restaurant - Llandudno
2 Mostyn Street, Llandudno, LL30 2SW
If there is one thing I love it's Chinese food. I could happily eat noodles, spring rolls, and satay chicken every single day - no seriously. But I didn't expect to get good oriental grub in the pretty little seaside town of Llandudno.
Well how wrong I was! While hunting for food one night we stumbled across a fairly well hidden all you can eat restaurant, jackpot! For just £14.99 per person we stuffed our faces silly with a mix of buffet food we could plate up ourselves, and main dishes which were cooked to order.
Everything we ate was super fresh and very tasty which was a pleasant surprise. The dishes we ordered were also good portion sizes so we left very happy and very full.
Unlike many of the other places I visited, this one isn't dog friendly but we were able to park on the street below and check on them frequently.
Pantri Beach Cafe - Abergele
Promenade, Abergele, LL22 7PP
Abergele wasn't actually a stop on my to do list but we were absolutely starving one day as we were heading towards Conwy so stopped at a little beach cafe. It was serving a good breakie, had parking, and was dog friendly - perfect.
Pantri Beach Cafe is exactly that, a cafe overlooking the beach, and so we thought it would be an overpriced venue targeting tourists but we gave it a go anyway. We ordered our meals and waited, and waited, and waited a bit more before asking when our breakfasts were likely to be served.
It was clearly quite busy so we didn't expect have our meals immediately but in all honesty I think our order may have been misplaced. It wasn't ideal but it happens from time to time and the staff were so lovely about it even though they were clearly under pressure.
All of our drinks were taken off the bill and when our food did arrive it was delicious. The quality of the breakfast was good, and the portions were generous too. We definitely left happy despite the hiccup, which I think the young members of staff handled incredibly well.
Anglesey Arms - Anglesey
Mona Road, Menai Bridge, Anglesey, LL59 5EA
Another stop were weren't planning on making was to Anglesey. We only really stopped as I saw we were quite close to the fabulously named town of Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch (YES that is it's real name) and I couldn't resist taking a photo with the sign at the train station! Once I'd snapped away we really needed some grub so stopped off at the first dog friendly pub that served fish and chips.
And that pub was The Anglesey Arms! The pub/ restaurant was surprisingly nice inside and had a cracking menu with several options for us all. It also had a lovely view of the Menai suspension bridge which I think is quite famous? Anyway, it was a good choice for our final meal in the wonderful North Wales.
I ordered the Brewery Tower burger with 2 beed patties, pulled beef brisket, bacon, cheese, relish etc etc and it was just as massive and delicious as it sounds. I would definitely recommend. Mom went for the fish and chips - standard. And Dad opted for the Slow Braised Lamb Shank which I think he probably still has dreams about now.
The Service at the Anglesey Arms was also very good and one of our waiters was even from the Midlands which we very much enjoyed.
So that's it, every single thing I ate in North Wales!
Now while I'm no food, critic I did experience some tasty eats (and some not so tasty ones) on my trip so hopefully this gives you a good idea of where to eat well in the North of Wales.
Let me know your favourite holiday snack or meal in the comments!
Thanks for reading!
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