Daughter going to Sydney for a Year

Candles_by_Lisa

As the title suggests our daughter is going to Sydney for a gap year. Her flight is booked for 18th August 2016. She is going with her cousin and another 2. They are looking for somewhere to stay (preferably near Bondi Beach). Does anyone know of any good sites to search for accommodation or know of anywhere near Bondi to rent.

One very poor worried mum indeed!!:eek::eek:

Rachylou1981

Don't worry Candles, I did this at 28 on my own. Any questions I will be happy to answer.

Gumtree Sydney is the best website to look for accommodation long term. Hostels are the best place short term as they can get pricey. Also great for meeting new people.

Bondi Beach is quite far out from everything and there isn't much there in my opinion so I preferred to live in the city. The Hostels there are brilliant and I made lots of friends. The best one is WakeUp and is reasonably priced for a room sharing with 10 others (it's good to mix and make friends).

Also, if they plan to work soon after arriving, living in the city is the best for commuting anywhere. The bus that goes to Bondi gets so busy that it often goes straight past all the areas en route to Town. The best website to look for jobs used to be seek . com

System

Someone i'm subscribed to on youtube has literally just started a gap year trip to Australia and is vlogging it. She's doing it alone and is staying in hostels with other people doing it. I prefer her comedy skits to her vlogs but i think the vlogs will be very informative for you and your daughter :money:
Here's the youtube channel...

https://www.youtube.com/user/hayleygeorgiamorris/videos

Petra_70

She'll be fine!!!

Young folk are very adventurous and are a lot more resourceful and canny than people think.

Me personally, I went backpacking around South East Asia some 20 years ago, and also spent several years working in Europe, in various countries before that. I also spend 6 months in America some years ago too. I was between 18 and 26 when all this occurred, and I was fine.

Your daughter will be too.

All I will say - if it makes you feel any better, I have known a couple of young people travel all over, to 10 different countries (over 4 continents,) in 5 years, and nothing happened... Then they both got hurt/attacked within 2 miles of their own home. So anyone can get hurt anywhere; and it's no more or less likely to happen if you're 10 miles from home, or 10,000.

Lunar_Eclipse

Personally I'd choose a hostel, so websites via internet searches. I stayed in a hostel in Sydney years ago, but can't remember its name. It's great for meeting people, will be close to the action of an amazing social life in the city and being on the doorstep for work if that's the plan. She will have a ball; I'd do it all over in a heartbeat - and in fact might once the kids fly the nest! :-)

Your daughter will know all this already of course! They are so savvy.

Candles_by_Lisa

Rachylou1981 wrote: »

Don't worry Candles, I did this at 28 on my own. Any questions I will be happy to answer.

Gumtree Sydney is the best website to look for accommodation long term. Hostels are the best place short term as they can get pricey. Also great for meeting new people.

Bondi Beach is quite far out from everything and there isn't much there in my opinion so I preferred to live in the city. The Hostels there are brilliant and I made lots of friends. The best one is WakeUp and is reasonably priced for a room sharing with 10 others (it's good to mix and make friends).

Also, if they plan to work soon after arriving, living in the city is the best for commuting anywhere. The bus that goes to Bondi gets so busy that it often goes straight past all the areas en route to Town. The best website to look for jobs used to be seek . com

Thank you so much for the info. I will pass it onto my daughter. I think she just looks and Bondi Rescue and thinks it looks good, don't know if its that that attracts her or the lifeguards:o

Candles_by_Lisa

Thanks for all your replies it is greatly appreciated taking the time out to reply. I will pass on all the information to her. You have all really calmed my nerves. It sounds bad but when she was talking about taking a gap year and sort of hoped it would fall through but she's got her visa arranged and booked the tickets for 18th August so no going back now.

onlyroz

How old is she? Surely part of the fun will be organising all this for herself?

Candles_by_Lisa

onlyroz wrote: »

How old is she? Surely part of the fun will be organising all this for herself?

She's 20. She has organised visa, flights etch herself but isn't sure about the accommodation side of things so she has asked me to help.

Lunar_Eclipse

Candles_by_Lisa wrote: »

It sounds bad but when she was talking about taking a gap year and sort of hoped it would fall through but she's got her visa arranged and booked the tickets for 18th August so no going back now.

Being anxious is entirely understandable since you care about her so much.

You will also miss her. But ultimately this is what you have prepared her for and whilst dangers are everywhere, it is Australia: a long way away, but a safe first world country. (Actually encourage her to see a bit more of the world whilst she's at it, like Cambodia/Vietnam/Laos, or where ever takes her fancy!)

My 15 year old daughter is volunteering overseas this Summer in a very deprived country. It's not an 'organised trip' and there are significant risks. I'm amazed but delighted she is so keen to go; she's going to encounter culture shock, hunger and return a different person. She is on the young side to do this kind of thing, but I'm proud that she's prepared to step outside her comfort zone considerably and feel that I should only support and encourage it. If I say 'I think you should wait a year or two', the moment is likely to pass.

Your daughter is also likely to grow/change significantly, which can only be a good thing.

Spirit_2

As your daughter is going for a year se may not spend the whole year in Sydney. She may want to arrange short term accommodation for arrival and finding her feet then fix accommodation based on emerging plans. Our daughter has done Sydney a few times. She stayed in yha hostels, on two occassions the one by the railway station as it was good for transport links ( she had time in Tasmania and time in NZ) then another time at the Rocks yha where she liked the view.

Our dd travelled alone. It did her a world of good, she challenged herself in many ways and demonstrated she was a fully functioning adult despite us considering her our "child".

Someone she met had travelled out with friends and they had decided to go their seperate ways as personal interests and funds differed. She and our DD met in a hostel and travelled on together for a while. this makes me think it would be a good idea to ask your daughter to be aware of what she may do if her little group part company (it may be on good terms, but interests change)