From Australia to the UK: Our Personal Relocation Journey and Advice

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We usually post travel and transport guides that we’ve been collating from our 15 month world trip from 2022-2024. However, for this post we thought we’d take a little break to discuss our upcoming move to England. We’ll cover why we’re moving, what we’re going to do there, and how we can afford this after travelling for so long. If you’re moving from Australia to the UK, are interested in doing it, or are just interested in learning more about us, read ahead!

In this post:

  1. How Are We Moving from Australia to the UK?
  2. Why Are We Moving?
  3. Applying for the Visa
  4. How Much Does it Cost?
  5. How Can We Afford it?
  6. What Do We Need to Do Before We Move?
  7. What Will We Do Once There?
  8. What Does This Mean for the Blog?
From Australia to the UK: Our Personal Relocation Journey and Advice. Katherine and Krissie wearing puffer jackets and beanies and hugging in Newcastle, UK. They're standing next to the river with a metal barrier next to it and an arched bridge in the background. On the path behind them are some more people and buildings and the sky is clear above them
We are so excited to live in the United Kingdom for a while

How Are We Moving from Australia to the UK?

Like so many Australians not lucky enough to have access to a British passport, we are going over on the Tier 5 Youth Mobility Visa. This visa allows anyone from Australia between the ages of 18 and 35 to live and work in the United Kingdom. You can also apply if you’re from New Zealand, Canada or South Korea. If you’re from Japan, Iceland, Andorra, Monaco, Uruguay or San Marino you can apply between the ages of 18-30. There are a couple of other nationalities that can apply too. Make sure to check out the website linked above to see if you qualify.

The visa is two years with the ability to extend to a third year if you’re from Australia, New Zealand or Canada. You can apply from 6 months before you arrive in the UK. Along with the application, you have to prove you have at least £2,530 in savings. This money is for emergencies only and you aren’t meant to use it while over there. Once approved, you’ll be able to enter the UK and you can work in almost any profession and study almost any course. You’ll also be able to leave and go back as many times as you like.

It really is a wonderful privilege to have access to this visa and to be able to experience living in another country.

Krissie smiling and standing under an archway with The Houses of Parliament, Big Ben and the Westminster Bridge behind her in London, England "From Australia to the UK: Our Personal Relocation Journey and Advice"
What an iconic London view
Katherine standing on the right side of the photo looking back over her shoulder at part of Hadrian's Wall in England, UK. Right behind her is part of a stone wall and beyond that are hills, a path and more of the wall going along the hill "From Australia to the UK: Our Personal Relocation Journey and Advice"
At Hadrian’s Wall in North England

Why Are We Moving?

The Backstory

Back in 2019, we actually received this visa for a move in mid 2020. For obvious reasons, we had to cancel and luckily as we hadn’t entered the UK, we were eligible to apply again. We would have been able to do this once Australia’s borders reopened in 2022, but things had changed for us by then.

We had spent most of the covid lockdowns working in fields we didn’t really like, and had become honestly disinterested in moving to the UK to work. Instead, we decided to spend all the money we’d saved during lockdown on a big trip. We ended up travelling the world for 15 months and had the most amazing time.

However, if we’re honest with ourselves we could never quite shake the feeling that we still wanted to move. We visited the UK so many times on our trip and leaving for the last time felt so different, knowing we had no plans to go back. We told ourselves to shake it off, enjoy North America, then see how we feel once we got back to Sydney. Well needless to say, we lasted less than 6 months back home before we had flights back to London.

Honestly, we just aren’t ready to settle down and do the whole mortgage and kids thing. Plus, we’re still trying to figure out where we fit in terms of jobs we enjoy. Why not experiment somewhere new!

Why the UK?

We know that a lot of people, particularly those from the UK, will wonder why we would move from Australia to the UK. While we do love Australia, and it’s where we see ourselves settling in the future, we also love the UK. There is so much more to see in a small amount of space in the UK, from history to culture to beautiful landscapes.

We would also be lying if we said the proximity to mainland Europe wasn’t a major draw as well. From Sydney, our closest international destination is a 4 hour flight away. From London, there aren’t that many places in Europe that would take you longer than 4 hours to reach. We intend to explore the UK and also spend a good amount of time travelling to other European destinations while we’re living over there.

Katherine sitting on the edge of the white cliffs of Dover in the UK. You can see a bit of the white cliffs, the green grass on top of the cliffs, the blue water below and the blue sky above "From Australia to the UK: Our Personal Relocation Journey and Advice"
The white cliffs of Dover
Katherine and Krissie holding each other and smiling in front of a big bridge across the water with 3 large arches for the water to go through in Knaresborough, England. Around the bridge are green trees, houses and in front of it is a boat house with some little boats "From Australia to the UK: Our Personal Relocation Journey and Advice"
In the cute town of Knaresborough

Applying for the Visa

Online Application

The process of applying for the Youth Mobility Visa is quite straightforward. You apply online, directly through the UK Government website. Most of the questions on the application are easy to answer, but there are a few that might take you a bit of time. The most time consuming section for us was the entry and exit dates into countries you’ve previously visited.

They will ask for:

  • The details of the last several times you entered or exited the UK.
  • The last several times you entered and exited a group of countries including the US, Canada, and much of Europe.
  • All of your entry and exit dates in the last 10 years for any other country.

For many people, this could be a bit tricky if you’ve travelled a lot, as finding the entry and exit dates can be hard. Thankfully we had tracked our entire world trip in a spreadsheet, so we had all of those dates available, but it was still time consuming!

We also got a bit stuck on a question about medical attention in the UK. They basically want proof that you paid for any medical treatment you’ve ever received in the UK. Unluckily for us, Katherine visited a GP while on exchange in London back in 2016. The appointment had been paid for by her travel insurance, but getting hold of proof was a bit trickier. Thankfully, the insurer was able to send her a receipt.

If you’re applying for the visa, make sure you have this information ready to go to save you time. You can save the application to come back to at a later date, but it’s obviously so much easier to have everything ready.

Krissie and Katherine wearing puffer jackets, beanies and hugging on a big green hill in Northern England, UK. Behind them are more green hills and a tree in the gap between two hills with bare branches and people walking around it "From Australia to the UK: Our Personal Relocation Journey and Advice"
In front of the Sycamore Gap tree which was devastatingly cut down less than a year later

Make your payment

The final step in the online application is to pay for the visa and the IHS surcharge. As of when we applied in September 2024, the visa application fee was £298 ($600). The IHS surcharge, which covers your health insurance while you’re in the UK, was £776 per year. Since the visa application is automatically for the full two years and you can’t change it, the IHS surcharge was £1552 ($3,125) each. If you decide to extend your visa to a third year, you will have to pay another £776.

In Person Biometrics

Once you’ve completed your online application and paid for the visa and IHS, you’ll need to visit a biometrics collection office. You’ll select a date and time for your appointment at the end of the application. We are lucky that we live close to one in Sydney. In Australia there is one in each capital city except for Darwin.

At your appointment, they will double check all of the details on your application with you, collect your photo, fingerprints and signature, and take your passport. We then had to pay a $33 fee each to have our passports couriered back to us once our visa had been approved.

After your appointment, all you need to do is wait to receive your passport. They told us it could be up to 6 weeks, but we received them in only 4 days. Make sure you apply early enough that if it does take 6 weeks, you’re not cutting it too fine with your flight out.

Katherine and Krissie looking at each other and smiling with a big green hill behind them and a view of the London Skyline behind that in London, the UK "From Australia to the UK: Our Personal Relocation Journey and Advice"
Primrose Hill in London
Krissie sitting on a stone seat in an old college in Oxford, UK. Behind her is a wonderful stone arched window with a design in it and behind it is more of the building, green plants and a big green tree "From Australia to the UK: Our Personal Relocation Journey and Advice"
In beautiful Oxford

How Much is the Move Costing Us?

We have been considering the money for this move as two different pools. The first is for the cost of getting over there and getting set up initially. While the second is the money we intend to live off while there until getting jobs.

The first set of money includes the cost of flights, insurance, visa and IHS surcharge, and our first 5 weeks of accommodation. These expenses are all in the table below in AUD. All amounts are per person, so we actually paid double.

A screenshot of a table that's how much we've spent on moving to the UK. The categories are flights, travel insurance, visa application, IHS surcharge, courier and 5 weeks accommodation. There's prices next to each of those and the total amount is $6820.87 "From Australia to the UK: Our Personal Relocation Journey and Advice"

*This also includes the insurance for a two week trip to Turkiye once we arrive.

The second pool of money was a little trickier to figure out. We definitely lean more on the safe side, so we’ve assumed it might take us a while to find jobs. We have each saved $20k (around £10k), which is for things like housing, groceries, bills and transportation until we secure jobs.

We’ve heard of people going over with the bare minimum (the required £2,530). We absolutely wouldn’t recommend this. Firstly, that money is meant to be saved as it’s intended to be spent on a flight home if you are required to leave the UK at the end of your visa. It’s basically so you can’t tell them that you can’t afford to leave. Not only that, but housing is expensive in much of the UK. If you’re planning to live in London, like us and most other people, you’re going to be looking at a minimum of £600-700 per month for rent in a share house. Transportation is also expensive, so you would burn through that money in no time.

Krissie and Katherine wearing puffer jackets and hugging in front of a giant pointy green hill in Northern Ireland, UK. In front of the hill are people and everyone's standing on the hexagonal rocks of the Giant's Causeway "From Australia to the UK: Our Personal Relocation Journey and Advice"
The Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland is one of our favourite places we went

How Can We Afford it After Travelling for 15 Months?

The most basic answer to this question is that we simply prioritise travel and moving to the UK in our budget. Throughout most of the Covid lockdowns, we were both working full time and not spending much. This allowed us to really bulk out our savings to afford our world trip. We did our best on the trip to stick to a budget, which we went in to detail about in this post. We had also allocated some of our savings as “home” savings, which we were not allowed to touch on the trip.

Once we got home, we knew that there was a good chance we would want to set off again, so we had to get creative with saving money. We both worked part time in retail for the duration of our time back in Australia, so earned less than $70k combined throughout 2024. After paying for our flights, travel insurance, first 5 weeks of accommodation, and our visas, we’d still managed to save almost $20k on top of what we had left after the trip.

Krissie smiling and standing in front of the gothic looking Holsten gate in Lübeck, Germany. The gate is made of red brick with two giant round towers on each side with big grey roofs ending in points. There are little white windows on the gate too and an archway in the middle to walk under. On either side of Krissie are grassy patches "From Australia to the UK: Our Personal Relocation Journey and Advice"
In Lübeck, Germany
Katherine standing on a cobbled stone street in Naxos, Greece and looking up at some rainbow umbrellas. Around her are some colourful clothes from a nearby shop hanging on the walls of the street "From Australia to the UK: Our Personal Relocation Journey and Advice"
In Naxos, Greece

Here were the biggest factors in our ability to save this much:

Aussie Housesitters

Housing is one of the biggest expenses for most people, and in Sydney in particular, things are crazy right now. We knew that with our incomes, we wouldn’t be able to save if we were paying rent. Instead, we’ve been using Aussie Housesitters to find house sits around Sydney. Through this website, we can look after peoples pets in their homes while they are away. The website cost us $75 to sign up for, but we’ve spent around 32 weeks of the year at sits. It’s absolutely paid for itself! Not only has it been a game changer in helping us save money, but we’ve also gotten to meet some beautiful animals.

We are SUPER lucky that we’re able to stay with Krissie’s parents in between house sits, although we do contribute to groceries while there. If you don’t have somewhere to stay between sits, it can be a little harder. However it would still be cheaper to pay for accommodation in between than rent full time.

Krissie kneeling next to a yellow lab called Rose in Sydney, Australia. Behind them is a barrier, a green bush and Sydney harbour with the Sydney Opera House and some buildings on the other side of the harbour "From Australia to the UK: Our Personal Relocation Journey and Advice"
One of our pet sits Rose who we miss!
A body of water in Sydney Park, Sydney, Australia. On the water are some stones to step on and lots of plants both in and around the water. In the distance are some trees and a blue sky above it all "From Australia to the UK: Our Personal Relocation Journey and Advice"
We get to explore such beautiful areas of Sydney while we house sit!

Choosing what to prioritise

We’ve never been huge spenders, but when we have a savings goal, that is our first priority. Especially with lower incomes, we’ve had to be careful about what we spend money on. While we know the way we budget won’t work for everyone, sometimes you do need to cut back on some things to be able to afford others. Our most cost-effective habits are:

  • Tracking our money! Knowing where your money is actually going is the best way to get on top of it.
  • We always take lunch to work instead of buying it.
  • We only order food occassionally (maybe once every month or two), and we NEVER pay for delivery. If we don’t want to go and pick it up, we won’t be getting it.
  • We don’t drink coffee or alcohol, which honestly is a big one. If you do drink coffee, consider making it at home as much as possible.
  • Use public transport or drive instead of using rideshare services.
  • Find free or cheap hobbies! We love watching TV, doing jigsaw puzzles, going for walks, having picnics, reading, writing, and Krissie loves to craft as well. None of these things are that expensive, and we’ve built them in to our budget.
A train coming in to the platform with a yellow front and a blue and yellow line on the platform letting people know how far back to stand. Behind the train is a view of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, some trees and some apartment blocks "From Australia to the UK: Our Personal Relocation Journey and Advice"
We use public transport as much as possible
Krissie sitting at a wooden picnic table in a park in Sydney, Australia. On the table are some crackers, bread, lollies and cheese and her rainbow water bottle. She's also sitting on a blue picnic blanket and in the background are some green grass and trees "From Australia to the UK: Our Personal Relocation Journey and Advice"
We love a good cheap picnic in a free park

What Do We Have To Do Before We Move?

Other than applying for the visa and booking flights, there are still quite a few things to do before you leave Australia. These are the things we did (or will be doing) before leaving:

  • Pause or cancel private health insurance
  • Pause or cancel phone plan
  • Inform the ATO and the Electoral Roll that we’re leaving
  • Inform our banks that we’re going overseas (especially the bank with our card that we’re intending to use while we get set up)
  • Collect our proof of previous rental history
  • Get any required vaccinations and make sure you’re up to date with medical and dental checks
  • Pack up our belongings that we aren’t taking with us

What Will We Do Once There?

Our initial plan is to move to London, even though we know it’s just as expensive as Sydney. We’re going to spend a bit of time getting over jetlag and reacquainting ourselves with the city. We’re then travelling to Türkiye for a a couple of weeks before heading back to the UK. Here we will stay in an Airbnb while we start doing the boring adult responsibilities. These will be getting a bank account, finding phone plans, signing up to a doctors office and beginning the job hunt. Once we get jobs and start getting some income, we’ll need to find a more permanent place to live.

If the jobs and housing doesn’t go to plan, there are so many other places we would live. Brighton, Bristol, Liverpool, York, or Edinburgh would be our top choices. There are so many amazing places in the UK. This is one of the great things about the country, and we can’t wait to find our spot there!

Katherine standing and smiling on Victoria Street in Edinburgh, Scotland. The street has tall buildings on either side with the bottom stores all different colours and the top layer all stone coloured. There are also Christmas lights running down through the street "From Australia to the UK: Our Personal Relocation Journey and Advice"
Victoria Street in Edinburgh. We would absolutely move here one day!

What Does This Mean For the Blog?

As you can imagine after 15 months of full time travel, we still have SO many blog post ideas. It will take us years to get through them all. So we will continue to post on this blog as regularly as we can. We’ve got so many budget travel guides, public transport guides, where to stays and many other great posts coming.

Of course, living in the UK means we will also be travelling a lot while there so there will be lots of new post ideas from those trips too. We will continue to travel on a budget as we have been, as it’s our favourite way to see the world! So if you’re interested in travelling like us, keep following along. There is so much good stuff still to come.

Krissie standing on a brick path leading into the water where the tide was down so you can walk across to a hill with a castle on the top in Cornwall, UK. Around the path are rocks, water and lots of people walking on the path "From Australia to the UK: Our Personal Relocation Journey and Advice"
St Michael’s Mount in Cornwall
Krissie and Katherine wearing yellow and black jumpers and hugging in a town in the Cotswolds in the UK. On the right side of them is grass, on the left is a river, behind them are trees and a path with people walking down it and a cute English building. Above them and the river is heaps of bunting with UK flags because it was almost the Kings coronation "From Australia to the UK: Our Personal Relocation Journey and Advice"
England truly is a happy place for us

You can also keep up with us over on our Instagram or our YouTube Channel, where we’ll be sharing more of the daily aspect of moving overseas. If you have any questions about our move, or if you’re planning a move of your own, reach out to us! We’re always up for a chat!

If you want to see our journey from the day we booked flights to when we got our passports back with our visas, check out our vlog:

Our favourite travel planning resources

Flights: When planning a trip our favourite websites to compare flights on are Google Flights and Skyscanner. We then personally prefer to go through the airlines official website to book flights.

Travel Insurance: Once you’ve booked flights, the very next step should be travel insurance. We highly recommend booking travel insurance for every international trip no matter the length. For our Australian readers, we use and love Travel Insurance Saver, as they accept one way trips.

Travel Items: We have some favourite travel items that we’ll never set off without. We wrote a post here about the best items that we recommend for all travellers!

Accommodation: For everywhere we stayed, we booked on either Airbnb or Booking.com. Both websites allow you to filter to only show you places in your budget, and pick from inclusions such as kitchen and laundry so it’s really easy to find exactly what you need!

Travel SIM: We used Airalo e-SIMs for data while overseas and loved them. You download the app, pick the plan you want and install it on your phone in less than 10 minutes. Our referral code KRISTE3325 will get you $3USD off your first purchase.

Tours & Activities: We booked all our day trips and some activities through GetYourGuide.

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