An American In Brisbane: Australia Working Holiday Visa Month 2 Update
Published January 19, 2026
This blog post was proudly created without the use of generative AI. It was 100% written and edited by a human, for humans. Enjoy, and thanks for your support!
Welcome to the second installment of my newest blogging project! My name is Kevin, and I’m an American living in Australia for a year on a Working Holiday Visa (WHV). I’ve chosen Brisbane as my home base, which is the sunny capital city of the state of Queensland. My first two months here have had their ups and downs, but overall, things are going very well!
In this blog post, I’ll discuss all of the following things relating to my time in Australia so far. To skip down to any particular topic, click or tap the corresponding link below!
Recap of My First Month in Australia on a WHV
My first month in Australia as a Working Holiday Maker (WHM) was an absolute whirlwind! If you want to know all the details about it, check out the first post in this series! I also wrote up an in-depth review of the visa process I went through as part of that post.
Getting to Know Brisbane
Before coming to Australia on a WHV, I had been here a couple of times as a tourist. I had visited Perth, Melbourne, Sydney, and Tasmania on those previous visits, but I had never been to Brisbane, Australia’s third-largest city. That’s why I chose to move here! I knew generally what to expect in the country, but Brisbane would still offer lots of new experiences.
My favorite thing about Brisbane so far is its mix of modern architecture and ample green space. It’s a hot, sun-drenched city, which is exactly what I was looking for when I decided to move to Australia!
Exploring Brisbane's Food Scene
Right from the start, I was excited to explore Brisbane’s restaurant scene. The best meals I’ve had so far have been Vietnamese, Brazilian, and Malaysian, but there are lots of international options. The one cuisine I miss most is Mexican! It’s just not as good, as common, or as affordable here as it was back in Chicago.
On a side note, I recently started a food Instagram page to document my restaurant visits during my WHV. Be sure to follow Kev’s AUS Food Diary if you’re also an enthusiastic foodie!
Finding a Room to Rent
Figuring out housing during my first month was admittedly sort of chaotic. I stayed in two Airbnbs, crashed on a friend’s air mattress for a few nights, then finally secured a more permanent place to stay. Keep reading to see an update on my housing situation for my second month.
Receiving a Job Offer
Many hours during my first month in Brisbane were spent applying for jobs. This was my least favorite part of getting settled here, especially since I didn’t hear back from most places I applied to. Nonetheless, I got a job offer as a teacher within my first month, and I started working within my second month! I’ll discuss how it’s going in the corresponding section below.
How I Celebrated the Holidays in Brisbane
My second month in Australia on my WHV ran from December 16, 2025 to January 15, 2026, so this included Christmas and New Year! (For those wondering about Thanksgiving, I didn’t do anything special to celebrate it in Brisbane.) On Christmas, I had a festive lunch with a few new friends I met here.
For New Year’s Eve, I saw Brisbane’s early firework display, which happened around 8:00 in the evening on December 31st. I actually really like this idea, and I think more cities should do something similar. I appreciated being able to watch fireworks without having to stay up until midnight.
Housing Update
By the end of my first month in Brisbane, I had found a promising room for rent in the Newstead area. This felt like a win at the time; it meant that I no longer had to hop between weekly Airbnb rentals (which was very expensive). However, I only ended up staying at that apartment for a total of three weeks. Between Christmas and New Year, I moved once again, this time to the Woolloongabba area.
There were a couple of issues with the room I rented in Newstead. For one, it was a sublease, so I never actually communicated with the property owner. If I had stayed there long-term, this could’ve presented some headaches that I wasn’t interested in dealing with.
Beyond that, the biggest issue was that the apartment had almost no furniture, as you can see in the pictures above. To be fair, I was made aware of this during the in-person inspection, but I didn’t realize how impractical and uncomfortable it would be to live in such a barren living space until I moved in.
Since I only plan to live in Australia for a year, I have no interest in buying furniture that I would have to sell upon my departure. Many rooms for rent in Brisbane come fully furnished, so I figured it was worth the trouble to move again. Luckily, I was able to leave amicably with two weeks’ notice because the sublease in Newstead was casual without a fixed end date.
In contrast, my current place near Woolloongabba is a much better fit, and it is indeed fully furnished! My new apartment is in a very convenient location with a reasonable commute to my job, so I think I made the right decision to leave the sublease in Newstead. Hopefully, this is the last move I’ll have to do for a while! Finding a suitable room to rent in Brisbane involved lots of twists and turns, but I’m finally settling in to a place that feels like home.
Job Update
I’ve officially started working, and I’m so thankful for that! I left my job in Chicago at the beginning of November 2025 right before flying overseas, so I went a little over two months without working. That extended break was relaxing (when I wasn’t filling out job applications), but I was getting antsy to start working and earning money again.
I began my new job as a teacher a few days after New Year; my first week at work was a lot of fun! I’ve loved being back in the classroom, and I even got my first paycheck! Which is a great segue to…
Finances
Every month, I’ll provide an update on my finances in Australia to let my readers know if I’m able to save anything. I just started working here, so I’m unfortunately still in the red. Hopefully that’ll change soon!
- TAKE-HOME INCOME: 1,400 AUD (985 USD)
- Rent: 400 AUD (280 USD) per week, all utilities included; total rent for second month of my WHV: 1,715 AUD (1,205 USD)
- Restaurants, bars, and cafes: 550 AUD (390 USD)
- Groceries and household items: 880 AUD (625 USD)
- Miscellaneous (clothes, appliances, transportation, etc): 365 AUD (260 USD)
- TOTAL SECOND-MONTH COSTS: 3,510 AUD (2,480 USD)
- MY MONTH 2 SURPLUS: -2,110 AUD (-1,495 USD)
With regard to my cumulative total, I spent 4,010 AUD (2,835 USD) in my first month in Australia, and I didn’t earn any income then. Therefore, my net earnings for my first two months in the country are -6,120 AUD (-4,330 USD).
After crunching those numbers, I can understand why many WHMs online recommend coming here with 10,000 USD or more saved up. The job search on a WHV can be a long, grueling process! It’s a relief to finally be earning money in Australia, but it’ll probably take me a long time to break even. Rent here is no joke, and the overall cost of living is pretty high. Brisbane is a desirable destination, so competition for housing and employment can be pretty stiff.
My Plan Moving Forward
Now that I’ve started working and finally have a stable, comfortable housing arrangement, I’m hoping there aren’t any major changes within the next few months. I still have a lot of Brisbane left to explore! The metropolitan area has beaches, offshore islands, beautiful parklands, and much more.
My friend Ismael is also visiting during the third month of my Working Holiday, and we plan to do a few day trips north to the Sunshine Coast and south to the Gold Coast. Be sure to check out my upcoming Month 3 Update to see what those nearby destinations are like!
Stay Up to Date on My Working Holiday! 🇦🇺
Thanks for checking out this post! I hope that it reaches readers who are also considering applying for an Australian WHV. If that’s you, or if you’re currently in Australia on a WHV, feel free to leave a comment below. I’d love to know how things are going for you!
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This post was published on Jan 19, 2026
This blog post was proudly created without the use of generative AI. It was 100% written and edited by a human, for humans. Enjoy, and thanks for your support!
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