Hello everyone! My name is Jesko, I'm 24 years old and I'm currently in an airplane high above the clouds. Beautiful Australia is moving away at tremendous speed. But don't worry, I won't be away for long. I'm just taking a short detour to Fiji for a few weeks. It's practically around the corner from here. 

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I was in Australia for the first time four and a half years ago. Back then, I was there for almost 9 months and circumnavigated Australia completely in a van and learned to absolutely love it.

Looking back, the experiences and memories are the best ever. It changed my life completely, I got a different idea of life, learned a lot about myself, what is important to me in life, what matters to me and created memories forever.

After 9 months, I returned to my hometown of Cologne in the summer of 2020 and did a dual degree in business administration for 3 years. Simply because I didn't know what to do with myself before Australia. I'll tell you one thing: after 9 months of absolute freedom, it was a very tough culture shock to suddenly find myself in Cologne's Covid lockdown. But somehow this time also passed. After not too long, I realized that my commercial job in a large corporation wasn't the right one for me. So I successfully completed my dual study program after 3 years, didn't extend my contract and, with infinite luck, got the working holiday visa in Australia again. Now I've been back in Australia since November 2023 and realize that it was the best decision for me to make the "cut" again and start a new adventure.  

But before I get too far off topic, I'd rather get back to the actual subject. Because today I want to give you a few tips and tricks for backpacking in Australia, so that you can perhaps save a few thousand euros for some travel organization, because you can do it all on your own! 

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First of all, congratulations! Because if you're reading this post, then you don't seem to be too averse to traveling, work & holidays and backpacking. And here, too, I can only say one thing: if you're still unsure and are struggling with the decision, just go for it! Have the courage! It's the most exciting, thrilling and coolest thing you can do. No matter how young or old. Whether you've just graduated from high school or your job just isn't that much fun anymore... No matter what and why - go for it! By traveling, you will create the craziest and most amazing memories. Memories for life.

As I said, for me it started almost 5 years ago. I had just graduated from high school, worked a bit and then flew to Australia. At the time, I didn't know what to expect. I had no idea how life and my experiences in Australia would change me. I also had no idea that flying to Australia would be the first time I would really leave my bubble and comfort zone. Before that, I had perhaps taken a vacation further away once a year at most, but I always knew that I would be back in the same everyday life in 2-3 weeks. This time, everything was uncertain. And I'm not going to lie, the uncertainty was also kind of scary. But that's exactly what made it so exciting at the same time.

So: I flew to Brisbane with my girlfriend. We had already done some research from Germany about what we needed to do. For the first 4 weeks, we looked for an Airbnb in a small part of Brisbane. And that's where I'll start with the first tip. 

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Checklist

Tip 0 (0, because it's best to organize this from home)

Tip 1

Tip 2

Tip 3

Tip 4  

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Now that all the organizational stuff is done, the big question is: travel straight away or work first? Buy a car or take the Greyhound from A to B? 

This also depends entirely on your personal preferences. I would definitely say yes to the question "car - yes, no?". You'll soon realize that the distances are different in Australia. You can drive all day, look at the map of Australia at the end and you might have moved a centimeter. In Germany, you would have crossed the country once from north to south. That's why I say a car gives you an incredible amount of freedom. You can get to places that you simply can't reach by Greyhound. Of course, a car is a more expensive purchase than a monthly ticket for the Greyhound and the purchase is always associated with the risk that something might be wrong with the car. However, you have to consider that in the best case scenario you can sleep in your car and thus save a lot of money on hostels. 

If you are interested in the topic of buying a car, I will be happy to write a separate post about it. 

Summary of Australia To-dos for your start!

Finally, let's summarize the first todo's (after you have arrived at your accommodation):

1. Australian cell phone number Aldi Mobile  
2. Apply for a tax file number 
3. Open an Australian bank account Westpac 
4. Open an Australian Super Fund Australian Super 

I hope this article helps you! And don't forget, even if you are faced with this mountain of uncertainties at the beginning, somehow everything falls into place and in Australia the words "no worries" really do mean business. Find out for yourself and embark on your adventure!

Cheers,

Jesko