‘Bit icky’: 23yo expat reveals why she is leaving Australia

A 23-year-old Irish woman that thought she might move to Australia “forever” has revealed the “icky” reason she’s not staying.

Irish citizen Dearbhla planned to come to Australia and stay indefinitely, but after four months, she’s already had enough.

Dearbhla, who initially thought she might love Australia enough to stay “forever”, now eagerly anticipates her return home.

“Why am I going home? Because I want to,” she said.

In a viral TikTok, which has amassed over 300,000 views, the young worker said she didn’t hate Australia but some things about living down under didn’t appeal to her.

“Do I think some factors out here are making me a bit sad? Yes,” she said.

After travelling around Australia’s east coast and being amazed by how beautiful it was she then “struggled” to settle in Melbourne.

Ultimately she was disappointed with the career opportunities in Australia.

“The struggle to get work on the working holiday visa, and even when I did get work, the hours weren’t just enough,” she said.

She thought she might stay forever but now she's leaving. Picture: TikTok/dervlaon

Her TikTok amassed over 300,000 views. Picture: TikTok/ dervlaon

When she landed a job in charity sales, she found the experience completely overwhelming.

In fact, it was so “icky” that she had a panic attack on day two.

“I actually got a job in a charity sales role. However, I realised that job was absolutely not for me and quit after two days,” she told news.com.au.

She said she hated the job so much that she had a “dramatic cry” while working and then “quit during work”.

The turning point made her realise she wanted to go home.

While Dearbhla has toyed with the idea of staying and trying to make it work, she ultimately realised it wasn’t worth it.

Still Dearbhla ’s decision to flee Australia isn’t personal. There’s plenty about Aussie culture that she really enjoyed, such as the national obsession with fitness.

“This isn’t me saying people don’t care about fitness in Ireland, they definitely do but the running clubs, the early starts and the vast amount of different fitness classes, I really loved that,” she said.

There were also downsides.

“One thing I didn’t love so much was the fact majority of cafes closed at 3pm. I could never get my coffee fix past 3pm which I never quite got used to,” she admitted.

She found Australia beautiful. Picture: TikTok/ dervlaon

But she's ‘excited’ to return home. Picture: TikTok/ dervlaon

Dearbhla also wasn’t put off by the cost-of-living crisis in Australia because she didn’t find it that different from her home country.

“I don’t believe the cost of living is any worse in Australia than it is in the UK at the moment,” she said.

While she was paying $450 per week for rent in Melbourne, she reckons that would have been manageable if she’d found full-time work.

“If I had found a job that provided me with a decent number of hours, I would have comfortably paid it, along with having money on the side for personal use,” she said.

She said she's homesick. Picture: TikTok/ dervlaon

Ultimately, she said her decision to leave was based on her being homesick and not finding her feet in Melbourne.

“It is an absolutely stunning, very fun country, but it’s just not worth the distance from friends and family,” she said.

Online fellow travellers were quick to share their own experiences with Australia, which were strikingly similar.

“I’m so glad you’ve talked about this! I’m in the exact same position, been here since Oct and it’s been so hard to get a job,” one commented.

“Living away from home is so hard. I left Ireland 6 years ago and the first year was so hard,” another shared.

“I’m so glad to hear that it’s not just me. I arrived in January, backpacked the East Coast, and got a job in Sydney, but it’s just not it, so I’m heading back at the end of May,” one wrote.

“This is exactly how I feel,” another admitted.