Two Things That Helped Me Settle Into Melbourne

Freya and I managed to secure a house and a job in just 24 hours. The last few days have been a whirlwind — we were flitting between beds, spending money at an alarming rate, and excusing our behaviour with the mantra, “We’re on holiday, we deserve to treat ourselves!”

Although we had only been unemployed for two weeks, our lack of income infused us with a lingering sense of insecurity. Everything we bought, whether it was an essential item or a frivolous purchase, was paired with an underlying feeling of guilt. We had also been warned by a few locals that, soon, lots of brits on their “gap yah” would be heading over to Australia in the next coming weeks looking for a job and a place to live, so we should get a wriggle on.

We were also aware that we only had our Airbnb for another few nights, and we were losing out on cheaper accommodation the later we left it. So, we went to a coffee shop one day and locked into the house search. We initially had big plans to live in a three-bed rental with our friend, but after multiple house viewings and one long application process, we realised that no landlord would let us rent a house for only 6 months… and we weren’t so keen on being home owners on (what was supposed to be) a holiday free of strings.

After this sad realisation, we hopped on Facebook and were lucky to find two rooms available for sublet in Carlton North — a beautiful suburb which is a walkable distance from a strip of bars and an easy commute to the city centre. The five girls from the house invited us for drinks, and we hit it off immediately. They were lovely and the house was perfect. The girls asked if we wanted to take the rooms, and we couldn’t hide our enthusiasm. We were kindly allowed to move in at an earlier date so that we wouldn’t be floating between living quarters and, it’s safe to say, we’ve already settled in.

These girls turned out to be our guardian angels. Aware of our job aspirations, they pointed us in the direction of a local pub that had recently opened. We handed in our CVs a day later, and landed ourselves with trial shifts for that evening and the next day. I can now happily announce that we have a house and a job. Aside from work being in a dream location, we have also landed ourselves with fun colleagues. Life is good!