How Australia has changed me

It was once in the year 2014 when I and another friend decided to create a profile on the website AuPair.com. It was going to be one of those gut decisions that you more than likely could bring with you for life.

I always got to save some money to travel at least once a year during the high school period, but the situation I was pondering had a different scope. Trying to move into another country to stay, find a good job and settle down, while all the other trips lasted a time of fun, seasonal gateways with friends. However, I was looking for something more. That choice dropped onto Australia, precisely to the city of Melbourne; not exactly in the vivid city but a place quite far from it, where I decided to let my once in a lifetime adventure set off. The small village is called Port Campbell. Three and a half-hour by car. 230km from Melbourne. The first months went down fantastic!- I was completely on it, being so far from my native country, curious and excited to begin this journey.

The picture above sums up fairly good what the surroundings looked like. I was probably on the verge of regretting that choice that sounded so enthusiastic. It hadn't been even three months since my arrival when I came to the conclusion that I wouldn't hold up for too long. The area was desert, there weren't guys or girls to interact with, and no pubs or place to gather at all except the one on the main pier. I made that choice being entirely aware of all the plausible consequences following. It just wasn't the right place to start! With the days were passing through, I realised that the time frame I was required to assist the family in the case, it wouldn't pay off.

I was feeling alone and without the minimum social contact with the external world, even though minding three little boys did require a lot of outdoor activity! Perhaps, the one and only social contact I had were when the grandparents came around to visit us. They were very nice to me, however, the situation was unbearable. I had the overcoming impression that I wasn't optimising my time: I needed to move to Melbourne. It might sound a bit juvenile or inconsiderate of myself, yet, back in time, I was turning 31 and it wouldn't have been possible to renew the Visa to stay in Australia. The choice of the location was pretty hasty, I admit it, but I was running out of time back in Rome and had to make a quick decision to move on the other side of the earth (Port Campbell)! Anyway, the process was already halfway through and all my willingness was too.

Back in Port Campbell, there was something not as nice as I had expected it would be; even if the family provided me with a personal car and was given Saturdays off, I could still sense the confusion and frustration inside. Some pleasant things helped me crack the monotony of my days, such as driving on the road stopping by to every lockout along the Great Ocean Road, running into a few of the weirdest animals, soaking up every possible landscape; all that gave me a sort of thrilling and fizzy freedom. Despite all, that constant state of being on my own, followed by a splash of solitude, didn't quite work to me.

I took the bull by the horns and terminated the work with the family. It wasn't super easy, but I was running a risk of not enjoying my time in Australia: What happened next, at least for the first couple of years, was far from being called enjoyable.

At that point, once I arrived in Melbourne, the big heavy burden that weighed on my shoulder until then has suddenly vanished. Neither I can say that I knew somebody who could help me, because I didn't; there was an Italian boy who was one of my cousin's friend arrived in Melbourne a couple a weeks after, but he wasn't able to give me any decisive help. The bottom line? I ended up spending all my savings to find a place to stay every 2 weeks, jumping to one house host to another until, when no job opportunities on the horizon, I was left with a few dollars in my bank account. Panic!- someone might say- I was stubborn instead and eager to stay in Melbourne at all costs. I knew that my adventure hadn't begun yet.