Life in Australia on a Working Holiday Visa

Let me introduce myself— my name is Madison and I’m a former US government employee who left my job in April of 2025 and ended up moving to Australia. The sequence of events that led me to Melbourne were both unfortunate and blessed. I applied for a Working Holiday Visa on a whim and bought a one-way plane ticket to Melbourne. My journey so far has had ups and downs, but has been nothing short of transformative.

When I applied for the Working Holiday Visa, I was accepted within 2 minutes. It was so fast that I actually missed the email at first. I thought it was just confirmation I’d applied— but no! That was in early February of 2025. At that time, I already had the suspicion I would be leaving my job, whether by choice or by force. I had no idea how bad things would get at work, and in the government more widely. Certain newly-elected officials made it clear that their intent was to traumatize public servants and cause as much destruction as possible. It was a knife to the heart when they shut down the US Agency for International Development, where I had spent some time working and had once dreamed of a future career. It really hit home when they fired all the government employees with under one year of service— including my new boss, who got notice while out at dinner on Valentine’s Day…

Needless to say, when they offered a deal to leave (and heavily implied we would be fired anyways), I took it. I started planning to move to Australia in earnest.

After a few months of traveling and spending time at home, I hopped on a plane with just a suitcase, duffel bag, and backpack. I had no job lined up, knew no one, and only had a hostel booked for two weeks. Here’s how it went…

Immediately, I felt more lost than ever and really doubted my decision to move to Australia. However, I ended up getting a job within a week of searching, and secured a place to live at just the right time. It was fast, but at the time it felt like the biggest challenge I’d ever faced. To get a job here, you really have to go hand resumes out in person, which involves a lot of face-to-face rejection (same with searching for a place to live).

This period of time involved many tears and times when I felt like giving up. But when everything finally fell into place, the joy and relief was euphoric. I feel so lucky to live in such a beautiful place and I’m glad I kept going even when it got tough.

That’s one of the biggest lessons I’ve learned from moving to Australia. You can’t give up. You will get so many “no’s” but it only takes one “yes.” The frustrating part is that sometimes it just takes a day to get that “yes” while other times it can feel like forever.