I’m looking for outside perspectives because I’ve been going back and forth on this for months.

I’m a 33-year-old British ESL teacher currently living and working in South Korea. I’ve been here for several years and have built a comfortable life. I have a decent job, good work-life balance, plenty of paid leave, private work pension contributions, private health insurance, easy travel around Asia, and I’ve managed to save a significant amount of money.

At the same time, there are aspects of my life that have become very repetitive. I’ve been doing the same job for several years, and while it’s comfortable and relatively low-stress, I sometimes feel like I’m on autopilot. The weeks and months can start to blur together. I don’t dislike my work, but I don’t feel particularly challenged by it anymore, and part of me wonders whether my desire to move is really a desire for growth and a change of environment rather than dissatisfaction with Korea itself.

The dilemma is that I have the opportunity to do a Working Holiday Visa in Australia before I age out of eligibility. My original plan was to leave Korea next year, travel for a while, and then move to Australia. However, every year I seem to find another reason to stay in Korea for “just one more year.”

The latest reason is that my employer may contribute towards a Master’s degree in TESOL, but in return I would likely need to commit to staying for another two years. The Master’s itself isn’t hugely expensive (around 6500 USD in total), so while the funding would be helpful, it isn’t something I couldn’t pay for myself.

I currently teach adult ESL students and would ideally like to continue doing that in Australia.

What keeps me stuck is that there are genuine pros and cons to both options.

If I stay in Korea, I know what life will look like. I’ll continue saving money, have a stable job, enjoy a good work-life balance, complete my Master’s, and keep travelling around Asia during holidays. Having the Master’s would then give me the option for uni gigs in the future.

One thing that makes this difficult is that I genuinely like my day-to-day life here. I enjoy the familiarity, safety, and routine I’ve built. I have my favourite cafés, hiking trails, neighbourhoods, and weekend activities. I enjoy having small adventures after work and at weekends without needing to plan anything major. There is something very comforting about knowing how life works here and feeling settled.

If I leave, I get the chance to experience something different while I’m still eligible for a Working Holiday Visa. Australia appeals to me because of the opportunity to live somewhere new, travel around the country, visit New Zealand, and have a completely different life experience.

The thing that worries me most isn’t leaving Korea itself. It’s whether the reality of Australia would match what I’m imagining. I’m not particularly interested in the stereotypical backpacker lifestyle of hostels, partying, and bouncing between short-term hospitality jobs. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that, but at this stage of my life I’d ideally like to continue building my career in ESL rather than stepping away from it.

One of my biggest concerns is whether there are realistic opportunities for someone with several years of adult ESL experience to find English teaching work in Australia on a Working Holiday Visa, or whether I’d be much more likely to end up relying on hospitality or other casual work.

Financially, I’m in a reasonably strong position and wouldn’t be arriving with no savings. I have a substantial financial cushion and wouldn’t be relying on finding a job immediately to survive. If I went, I’d probably try to establish myself in Perth first, work for a period of time, and then explore more of the country.

The reason this keeps coming back into my head is that I can easily imagine staying in Korea for another two years and then wondering whether I missed my chance to try something different while I still could. At the same time, I can also imagine arriving in Australia and missing the stability, familiarity, routines, and quality of life I’ve built in Korea.

For people who have done working holidays, worked in ESL in Australia, or made a similar move in their 30s, what would you do in my situation?

Hi, I'm actually in a Working Holiday in Australia and I will go in a trip to Korea this year and maybe if I like it, do a WHV there.
I know you might say that Australia is better and all this things, but I'm really curious about the country and experience, so I'm getting some opinions from people.

Do you guys think it's a good idea to try and maybe get a better job in the future and another visa (I'm not graduated) or I will just spend money and is better only go as a tourist?

Thanks

I've been thinking about doing an Australia year 2 working holiday for some time now, and I just checked the website and it seems to have increased 400 aud overnight, as of July 1

Is this normal?

Hi! I’m applying right now from Spain (though I’m Portuguese) and was wondering if you ran into any issues during your application.

In my case, the applications are showing as “Open,” but when I fill out the form, I get this message:
“The Work and Holiday (subclass 462) visa has country specific annual visa quotas. Lodgement is currently closed for new applications from the applicant’s country, and the applicant will not be able to continue at this time. More information about the annual quota for this country, including when the applicant can next apply for a visa, can be found on our website.”

It’s strange because I’ve been getting this message since the moment applications opened, so I don’t think it’s because the quota has already been reached.

Did you experience anything similar, or do you have any idea what might be causing it? Any help would mean a lot. Thank you!

It's been half a month and I've applied to 60 places online and 20 places physically and have got no positive response. I have 5 years of tech experience in the corporate world. I understand that white collar job is unrealistic on this visa. Therefore, I've only been applying to hospitality and construction jobs. However, I have absolutely no experience them. I've been programming since I was a teenager and always stayed in tech and corporate, so I never had those hospitality 'first jobs' that many teenagers do.

I don't know what to do with my CV. If I leave out my tech experience, it looks empty and honestly it looks strange to have an empty CV as a 30 years old (of course with contact details and certifications). But if I add tech experience, I look overqualified and will probably get rejected from most. Some people I met told me to fake some hospitality experience. I tried all these ideas and honestly got no positive response.

My goal is not to move here -- just to do some casual entry-level construction work, or hospitality work to be able to explore a bit of Australia and preferably save a little so that I can also see a bit of SE Asia.

Do you have any tips on how to deal with this situation and what to do with my CV?

Hi,
I was wondering if anyone could give me some advise, I’m wanting to go over to Australia for a year on a working holiday visa, but as I have Dilated Cardiomyopathy (a heart disease) I am required to take medication, which I can only get 2 months worth of medication at a time, I have been looking into Medicare but am unsure what to do as it states I need a visa to apply for Medicare but I can’t apply for a visa until I know if I’ll be eligible if that makes sense,
Any help or advise would be much appreciated:)

Hola, estaba intentando aplicar al working holiday de australia hoy que por fun abrian otra vez las plazas. Peroa ahora al entrar dice otra vez que se han llenado y en la lista de paises disponibles salen todos como closed. Alguien sabe si se volveran a abrir, por que se que normalmente cuando se vuelven a abrir dice "paused" en vez de "closed" es posible que ya no haya más working holiday por una temporada. gracias

https://preview.redd.it/cqrdgjlcvmah1.png?width=1873&format=png&auto=webp&s=ca3d37946538dc362d481d1c0a294b92a09535dc

hi im a 25 y/o Aussie planning to travel across Europe, my issue is visa’s.

I want to teach English online to people outside of Europe. I want to apply for a digital nomad visa but it’s quite restrictive and I don’t meet the financial criteria to apply.

I’ve been researching for days and It was suggested I stay in a Schengen zone for 90 days then a non Schengen zone for another 90 days. going back and forth to stay on a tourist visa and teach online to other countries. it seems to be a grey area so I wanted someone else’s opinion to see what others have done.

what did yall do?

Anyone here who has started their own business on the whv? Im on the 417 and thinking of starting a small business not a digital product. Would love to hear your experience and what steps you took

Hi everyone,

I’m a 25-year-old from South Korea planning to head to Perth on a Working Holiday Visa (Subclass 417) soon. My goal is to land a job in the mining sector.

Here is my background:

Education: Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering

Experience: 2 years in the Korean Air Force as a vehicle/heavy equipment repair Trade Assistant (TA)

I really want to target Mechanical TA roles, but honestly, I'm open to any entry-level roles

I'm so scared that I won't be able to find a job after I arrive🫨 can i get a job? help me friends anyone live in earth

I'm currently on a working holiday in Australia, staying in a rural area of ​​Western Australia. I'm not confident in my English skills and have mainly been doing farm work. Now that that job is finished, I'm unsure where to move next.

I've had enough of life in the west, so I'm thinking of returning to the east. My options are: sell my car in Perth or nearby, fly back, and stay in a working hostel; or keep the car and road trip to the east.

The former would give me some money by selling the car, but the time it takes to sell is a concern. The latter offers more freedom with the car, but I'm worried about whether I can find work and accommodation in the east at this time of year.

My working holiday visa expires in November, meaning I only have four months. My funds aren't abundant either.

What would you do?

Please give me your honest opinion.

Hi! I’m currently on a Working holiday in Australia.
I’ve noticed something at work that I’m curious about.

Sometimes when my Australian coworkers want to get my attention or tell me to do something, they just point at me or use hand gestures instead of saying anything.
It’s not a noisy workplace, and it’s not just one or two people it happens fairly often.

In my country, that would generally be considered pretty rude, so I was wondering if it’s just a normal part of Australian workplace culture

Would it be reasonable for me to tell them I’d prefer if they spoke to me instead, or is this something I should just accept as a cultural difference??

Hola! Quería sacarme unas dudas antes de pagar el seguro para presentar en la embajada. Necesito uno por un año para aplicar a Working Holiday Francia. Tengo que pagar el año completo y llevarlo ya listo al momento de presentar la solicitud con lo demás, o existen seguros para pagar parcialmente y pagar la totalidad después de aprobada?

Mi duda es porque, en caso de que no me aprueben la visa, que no creo porque tengo los requisitos, no sé qué pasaría con el seguro y por lo que vi por cobertura de un año es muy caro, saben si existen seguros que sean planes anules pero pagos mes a mes por ejemplo ?
Disculpen las preguntas tontas 🙏🏽 jaja acá tratando de ahorrar cada centavo

Hola! 😄

Soy chileno y estoy muy interesado en hacer una working holiday en Australia. Cumplo con los requisitos y tengo las ganas, pero me quedan algunas dudas :

1. Me titulé de abogado hace poco. Si me voy a Australia, sería irme inmediatamente, sin experiencia en mi profesión. Dudo que allá trabaje en algo relacionado. Mi pregunta para gente en situaciones similares ¿Les afectó mucho ese hueco en su CV cuando volvieron de la WH?

2. ¿Cómo está el trabajo en Australia? Veo muchas historias de gente que le va la raja y ahorran mucho, pero uno nunca sabe. ¿Hay trabajo allá? ¿Realmente se puede ahorrar para después viajar o volver a Chile con un dinero?

3. ¿Qué tal sus experiencias como chilenos allá? Realmente lo recomiendan? Cuales son las luces y sombras.

Muchas gracias!!

So google is telling me I should aim to save between £3,600 to £4,400 (yes im from the UK) , im currently still seeking work in the uk and still waiting from this employer... I've also created a gofund me page too , realistically I know i can only stay in Australia for 6 months with a WHV , but I'm just wanting to travel for the experience of taking in the culture whilst working whatever jobs i can do whilst I'm there. What areas are most popular for British people on a WHV and what are the common jobs people go for there?

Hi! I start my time in Australia in October and I’ve seen so many different opinions. Should I be bringing a backpack or suitcase?? People say suitcase because there’s lots of sidewalks and for shopping. And others say backpacks for obvious reasons. I’m torn!!! Please help.

Hey guys,

I’m a first-year college student from China, and I really want to get out there and see the world. I want to travel, experience different cultures, and learn new things, but here’s the catch—I’m basically broke. I have pretty much zero budget.

I’m looking for ways to make this happen sustainably. I’m thinking of something like a working holiday, or any setup where I can travel while working to cover my costs, like exchanging my time and labor for free food and a place to stay.

The thing is, holding a Chinese passport makes getting traditional Working Holiday Visas super hard or competitive.

Are there any cool programs, platforms, or paths you guys would recommend for someone in my shoes? I’m open to going anywhere, and I’m ready to work hard for it.

Would love to hear your thoughts or any stories if you've done something similar. Thanks a ton!