BadgerLady

I'm a bit too old for all that Sadly, yes! I have no family members here and no close friends (although lots of lovely acquaintances / remote friends). No pets or club memberships, not even a gym pass. I travel from project to project across the country, and am currently homeless with all my 'stuff' in a storage unit in Padstow. I could get on a flight on Monday. The only regrets would be later in life, if I were to come back to Australia for retirement... I've always thought that I would build a little house in a sunny spot in the country, just because I enjoy the climate and the landscape here. But with no family members in Australia, that route would likely be closed if I left without PR now.

The only indication I have is that I've been hearing other people in the company who applied end of November were granted this week. That suggests I have two months to go... though of course there's no guarantee...

Hi all, I came here on a working holiday visa in 2012, which was then replaced by a 457 (occupation since removed), and I applied for my 186 TRT in January. So there's a good chance I'm within a few months now of finally getting PR However, yesterday I had a call about my DREAM JOB - something that's a step up but is also a genuine representation of all my passions rolled up into a very rare opportunity, something you see pop up a couple of times a decade anywhere in the world. It's in Helsinki, Finland, and they seem really interested, but are looking for the successful candidate to start by August. I would give up PR for the job (it's that good), but it's a huge thing to do - I might never, ever have the opportunity to settle in Australia again. Timing is so tight! Of course I might not get the job. And I might not get PR. But I just had to tell someone

It has a permanent secure space next to the storage unit near Bankstown I just park up and get a taxi from there (which is covered by work).

Arrived in Brisbane late last night. My house sitting employers came back early, so I packed up and went to the airport to switch my flexi ticket for the last flight of the evening! I contacted the owner of an Airbnb house I stayed in last time I was here, and we struck up a good deal on my staying there for 8 days initially. I'm finding great comfort in going back to the same places, rather than new ones, each time. Thankfully I'm here on a work project so expenses are covered Am still pretty shattered though. It's like that feeling "I need a holiday!" or "Is it the weekend yet!?", but the day never comes... in the meantime I'm always grateful just to be indoors with access to hot running water!

So it looks like I'm being shipped off to Brisbane next week... I have another house sitting gig in Sydney this weekend and will work out whether it's better for me to drive up to Brizzy or fly and book a hotel. After all, it'll be luxuriously warm after Canberra!!!

Hmm, sounds like hard work to me

Okay, I'll admit it, this weekend was pretty magical On Saturday I drove to the farmers' market for a 7:30am start and picked up local chestnuts, fresh strawberries and some homemade fruity dolmar from a nice Turkish man. Then I came to the office to plug in my laptops and walked to a nearby CBD with my dirty laundry to find a laundrette. I sat in a cafe and treated myself to a posh breakfast, and then spent the day nosing around other people's houses as a 'prospective tenant' attending inspections. Pan-roasted chestnuts at sunset with a glass of muscat (a gift from my last house sit)... Sunday, being a rather mild morning, was a lie-in and then a visit to the Canberra Bus Depot markets. It's rather expensive there but lots of beautiful arts and crafts to see, and posh food to sample. I had a coconut turmeric latte (oo, I say!) and bought a bretzel to take away. Then as I was driving back up past the city, not paying great attention to the SatNav, I took a wrong turn and found myself in an empty car park. So I parked up, picked up my bretzel and walked down to the lakeside where I met this group of cheeky fellows! Last night was especially cold - it actually hit -4° in the early morning - so I prepared with a hot water bottle and an insulated bottle of hot almond chai. I was almost 'on the edge' of getting cold but slept well and came into the office extra early (6:30am) for a hot shower! The biggest delay was waiting for the interior condensation on the windscreen to melt... So a few more lessons I've learnt: You might feel like "I'm homeless - I can't afford luxuries", but actually being homeless means you CAN. With an extra $500+ in your pocket every week, why not have that posh breakfast on a Saturday? Use public toilets whenever you come across one. They're all nicer than the rest stop 'drop loo' and, most importantly, they come with proper hand washing facilities. Sneak a little bit of rubbish into bins at a time. I'm still struggling a little bit with this one, but if I carry a handful of rubbish around and drop it in a public bin, it's easier than trying to dispose of a whole carrier bag full. Night cream. Ladies particularly - my skin has really suffered from the extreme temperatures living outdoors, so I picked up a sample pot of night cream from the Body Shop and it REALLY makes a difference. This morning I look less 'frost-bitten' and more 'healthy glow', and feel better too. If you dress up nicely and wear makeup, people look at you differently. You suddenly don't fit into their 'homeless' or 'backpacker' categories and therefore don't judge you. The above doesn't work if you're actually inside the van. At that point, passers-by will just stare at you. Full-on, eye contact, point blank stare at you the whole time until they've walked past.

Hey everyone, NONE of this legislation has yet been passed - it has to get through parliament and is open to public opinion until 1st June. That means us. With the help of some similarly affected people on the internet, I've made a video to publicise our objection to the proposed citizenship pathway changes: It's already had over 50,000 views on Facebook, has been shared by Labour MPs, has been published on the ABC's Q and A website and is awaiting its first TV appearance on SBS. Please share it, and PLEASE email citizenship.submissions@border.gov.au so that they know we're out here. The consultation papers that informed this were very foggy about how affected migrants might react, so we have a genuine opportunity to repair what's happening :-)

I think I'm finally starting to get settled into a routine :-) I got to the office nice and early this morning (no issues starting) and had time for full hair straightening and makeup application. I actually look like a normal person today! Next plan: find a laundrette before my laundry bag becomes unwieldy. Last night the rest stop was pretty busy, and I befriended a guy with a converted ambulance who's basically doing the same as me, travelling to where the work is and free camping nearby. A chap with a trailer tent arrived just behind me at 2am so he was pretty noisy getting set up. The disturbed nights don't seem to be bothering me though... probably because I generally fall asleep by 9pm anyway (it's hard not to when you've already been wrapped up in quilts in the dark for 2 hours!). Next weekend I've been invited back to a house sit in Sydney, so I'll take the opportunity to visit my storage unit and re-organise. There are a lot of summer clothes that can be popped away to make more room and, if I can dig them out from the back, more winter accessories that I could be making use of...

Dad normally goes off on his own, but I've been a campervan owner for about 9 years now. It's my mental safety net - my 'independence'. 5 years ago I quit my job in the UK and drove round Europe in an old VW... but eventually found myself back in the corporate world down under ;-) This morning the starter motor wouldn't play at all. I've a suspicion it's worse in cold weather, and it was only about 2 degrees at the time. So I wrapped up in a shawl and sat on the benches outside, enjoying the sun on my face and watching cockatoos peck at the grass. An old man "English but lived here 50 years" rocked up with his camera and started taking pictures of the scenery, then introduced himself and gave me one of his photos printed onto a gift card. An hour or so later, the ignition worked and I headed to work, nervously sneaking in my towel for the shower... but I saw a very 'judgy' look from the receptionist who clocked my wet hair as I walked in.

Today I've been very aware of stigma. I had never realised how often someone asks you, "Where do you live?" (or "Where are you staying?" when travelling). Two or three times a day I find myself pausing, assessing the situation and working out what to say. Here are examples just from the last few days: 1. Buying nuts from a wholefood shop, I asked the checkout woman whether they ever stock gluten flour. She said no and followed it up with "Where do you live?" so that she could suggest other shops to try. I decided it was a hippy-style place so responded, "I'm a nomad, I just travel all the time." 2. Visiting the Canberra office and asking for out-of-hours access to the building, the reception asked, "Where are you staying?". She seemed like a really nice person but I paused, worrying that she might have reservations about security if she knew I was homeless and using the building's showers! But I braved it and responded, "Oh, just out on the Highway. I have a campervan." 3. A visit from NRMA when a cable came loose on my starter motor... the guy was a man in his 60s who was incredibly helpful but I couldn't help worrying that he might be on the conservative side. Obviously he could see my van, so he initially asked, "You've just been travelling around have you?". Before I even thought about it, I'd said, "No, no I live here - nearly 5 years now". I suppose I didn't want him to put me in the bucket of 'backpacker'. I told him I normally live in Sydney but am here for work and that this is my car. Goodness knows what he made of all the bedding and washing up in the back!

A 1990 diesel Nissan Urvan. Yeah, it's a good solid machine that just keeps on going. My Dad's driven it to Perth and back, down to Tassie, up through the NT to Darwin... it just keeps going :-) This is my home outside Canberra at the moment:

Today I can truly call myself a Nomad :-D Yesterday I checked out of my house-sit and drove to Canberra because, well, why not. I'd booked myself an Airbnb room but, as the day went on, I grew increasingly nervous that the host (who has 'instant booking') was non-responsive. Long story short, Airbnb refunded me in full and offered to help find an alternative, but the capital was pretty much booked out. So instead I skimmed through my 'Camps 8' book and found a free rest stop on the Federal Highway just 18kms away. I did some grocery shopping, filled the fridge, unpacked the bedding and made the campervan really homey. Two other campers pulled up as well but they kept their distance. I then had a message from my colleagues in the Canberra office that they wanted to have a team dinner in Braddon, so I drove back into the city for that before heading to my pit-stop 'home'. This morning I thought I had it all worked out. I'd come in early (7:30am), nab a parking spot and then jump in the office showers to get changed before work. Great plan! Except I could get access to the building that early. So I instead sat in the van on a residential street, charging my phone and eating breakfast, then had a quick wipe-down and change. Think I got away with it...

LOOK AT THIS FACE! :-D

In fact, just checked my budget sheet - in the last year almost 20% of my gross income has been from 'gaming' travel expenses...

Not as well as my colleagues :-( Honestly, I could go back to London and claim a 40% pay rise immediately! Sigh. It really hasn't been an option for me in the last couple of years. Even to buy a studio flat (which I'd have to do off-plan and I HATE modern flats) would have been a huge cost, and I've still got a house in Wales in negative equity!

No, that's right - when I'm on a project I'm 100% dedicated to just that project. I'll almost always be based in the client's offices, decorating their walls with notes and maps, heading out to do research and coming back to run workshops. It's not the sort of thing you can dip in and out of :-P Between projects I take a bit of a breather and look internally for ways to help my employer, such as by mentoring new graduates and career switchers. At the moment I'm creating some training materials that can be used by my global colleagues.

I'm an innovation consultant. I work with different clients each time - I lead a team of researchers, business analysts and designers to solve the client's problems and work out their future strategies, and try to teach them a bit about bringing innovative mindsets into their everyday work. So yeah, it just depends on when that client signs the contract - they always want me to get started 'straight away'! This financial year has worked out roughly like this: Melbourne 5 months Sydney (home) 4 months Canberra 2 months Perth 1 month When I'm on a client project, I get my travel expenses paid for and I can also choose to claim a 'weekly allowance' instead of a hotel. So if I move into a low-cost Airbnb and claim the allowance I can sometimes make a little extra. It's when I'm between client projects that I have to splash out... my rule is to always choose accommodation that's cheaper than my own home was. So my last flat was $515 per week rental (plus utilities), whereas my Airbnb room is $374 per week (including utilities). I'll always prefer a house sit if I can get one, but again I can't be sure where I need to be more than 1 week ahead, so opportunities are limited.

My client in Perth emailed yesterday with some not-so-positive noises, so I've decided to base myself in Canberra next week. I attempted to book an Airbnb room this morning and am just sitting here waiting for confirmation. One thing I've noticed a lot today, and in other moments of disappointment, is an overwhelming urge to 'go home'. I've volunteered to mentor a networking group this evening so I'm stuck here anyway, but the idea of going to a place that's mine, where I have no obligations to anyone, where I can just be me and recharge for a few hours... yeah I'm missing that :-( Going back to an Airbnb room in someone else's house just isn't the same. Sigh.

All empathy to your friend. I work with Australian NGOs on their projects in developing countries, which might mean for example spending 3 months in Kenya or Vietnam talking to women about their health needs. I have a choice to either abandon that work (ouch!) or abandon my chance of ever becoming an Australian citizen.

31% of jobs in Canberra require you to be a citizen. As an innovation specialist working with governments and NGOs, my work options are becoming more and more limited and I'm getting pressure to abandon my 15 year career in favour of something corporate, simply because of my immigration status. Under the old rules, I would finally have citizenship next year and have freedom to work for any agency. Now I'm looking at 2021.

Surely the 1 week wages for redundancy is on top of a 6 week notice period?

There's also a Facebook group that's VERY active - they're organising city protests (though some of us question the effect that might have)... last night we teamed up to contribute questions to Q&A... the main thing the campaign needs is Australian citizens who support the cause. Could be people who've previously been through the process and support those who have it ahead, or could be spouses / family members and friends of immigrants. https://www.facebook.com/groups/1000834103380575/

My usual removalists (yes, sadly I have 'usual removalists') let me down on quality and performance last time, so I wanted to start fresh. I didn't have any personal recommendations from my network and the Yellow Pages would have been a stab in the dark. I'm a regular on Airtasker, both as worker and poster, and have had some really great experiences. I know that any removals task will get a lot of quotes quite quickly, which means you have a broad range to choose from and you can read their reviews before choosing.