Its been a while since I’ve done a post and I’ve forgotten half of what’s gone on in that time. I will cover the things currently swirling around my head. I’ll touch base on the end of 2025, the initial struggles settling into Sydney life and my assets during this time.
End of 2025
The final 2 months of the year were also our first in Australia, starting with a week in Perth before starting a road trip to Melbourne, before heading to Sydney in time for Christmas.
We stayed in Spinners Hostel. Holly’s first experience being in a mixed dorm and it’s probably safe to say it’ll be her last. The excitement wore off after finding out she was the only girl in the room and the constant bombardment of snoring and farts throughout the night. Little did she know the majority were probably coming from myself. Apologies Fred for shifting the blame to you!
Perth was a chilled week settling in, sorting out some admin before exploring the area. The highlights besides catching up with some old faces were Freemantle, Rottnest Island and a trip to Mullalloo Beach. Perth is a remote city and doesn’t have a big buzz, but has some beautiful places in the region.
One thing that really took us by surprise was the wind and the relentless nature of the flies. They see any swat as a challenge and might even bring a mate along for the next one. Laughably persistent.
I’d be here all day talking about the Roadtrip so what I will say whilst it was amazing, it’s isolating and a really strong way to test out your relationship. A large amount of silence at times with running out of things to say and if there are any pet peeves either of you possess, you’ll find out.
I’m sure I had plenty of my own bad habits, but nothing that really stuck out that Holly had. Maybe just her constantly banging her head, better than banging her elbow though as we discovered…..
Sydney: Rocky Start
The first month or so in Sydney was a dream. Catching up with old faces from my last time here, making new friends and experiencing the best of Sydney’s city, beaches and national parks.
After Australia day it was down to the business of trying to find longer term accommodation and work. Both of these turned out to be a lot harder than expected. I was ignorant to how busy Sydney would be with new arrivals also starting their lives here and the competition for housing was ridiculous. We ended up in a 3 month houseshare paying for more than we expected, with housemates and landlords that weren’t exactly what you would call our people.
Whilst being a FIRE Blog and having the dream to retire early, I’m not in that position yet and whilst haemorrhaging funds not doing a whole lot, the volume of job rejections and the duration this stretched out over was brutal.
I had a real identity and confidence crisis in this time, becoming a bit of a shell of myself. Holly was able to get a job pretty quicky and she was brilliant in that time, whilst to be honest, I wasn’t the greatest person to be around. I’m highly grateful to her for that.
However, in the words of an internet legend Demi Demi “Tough times never last….. WEUHVUOWBEWBNFEWWDKHDD!” We was able to find a lease with our friends and I managed to get a job in accounting. Whilst the job isn’t perfect, it’s paying the bills and helping me build up some funds in order to enjoy more of this wonderful country at a later time.
Finance Update
Prior to leaving the UK, I built a decent level of cash to fund this trip. The main financial aim when coming out was to not have to withdraw any further money from my investments during my time here. That was very close to happening!
The cost of the campervan was paid off before we got here, so our overall costs during that trip were relatively low. By the time Sydney come round, a lot of nights out meant a big outflow during this time. It only continued with the high rent and then going on to signing a lease that needed to be furnished. Now winter is here I’m just starting to recover some of that damage to the cash position.
I haven’t really looked at my investments the whole time I’ve been here and it’s been nice. It seems to have been on an unsurprising ride in the time with everything going on in the world currently. At the time of writing, the investments have gone up by £12k since starting our travels. Summary as per below.
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