I left Wales for Australia to save £50,000 to buy a house back home

Many Brits have taken the leap by emigrating to Australia for a "better life", but one man has taken the plunge in order to build a better life back home in Wales.

Tom Cowan, 23, said going to Australia has always been his dream, and in March he decided to move 10,600 miles from Blaenau Ffestiniog, Gwynedd, to Melbourne.

Unlike many other expats, Tom has a very clear plan to raise £50,000 over two years of living and working down under in the hopes of being able to buy his own house in Wales and look after his family.

"Mum never went for a night out with her mates, never bought clothes for herself, she just gave me and our little sister everything she could to have as good a life as possible," said Tom.

"I like being in a position to be able to give back and be able to improve our lives."

Describing himself as a really simple person, he plans on spending his time working as much as he can and "not spending a lot" in order to reach his goal.

"I don't need new clothes or a fancy car. I don't want instant gratification – I want to be more comfortable in life, to be able to create more opportunities for myself and my family," he said.

Tom said he had -£400 in his bank account when he completed his degree in business management at the University of Liverpool in 2025.

With his sights on sunny Australia, he spent the next seven months saving about £11,000 by working as a ground work labourer.

Tom first travelled through Asia before arriving in Melbourne in March, where he found a place to live and a job in construction.

When asked why he chose Australia, Tom said: "I always wanted to live abroad, so why not go as far as I possibly can, see what my life would look like if I started from scratch, without the influence of my friends, family or town.

"I'm living the type of life I always knew was best for me but struggled to make it a reality due to my environment."

Despite the cost of living being higher down under, Tom said the overtime pay was good, enabling him to do a job that "pays less but provides more hours".

He earns about £20.50 an hour compared to the £15 hourly rate he got for the same job in the UK.

His rent is also less, Tom said. He pays £100 a week sharing a room with his girlfriend, less than the £140 a week he paid at university halls in Liverpool.

So far, Tom has raised £2,000 but has a long way to go to his £50,000 target and estimated he needs to save about £400 a week to meet his goal.

"Sometimes you have to make choices that hurt you now to improve your situation in the future. That's the choice I've got to make," he said.

To hold himself accountable Tom started an Instagram page to monitor his progress and he's been shocked by the support, with his page gaining more than 2,000 followers in just six weeks.

Documenting his daily life with videos, many people - fellow Welshies and Australians alike - have offered him advice, a place to stay, and jobs.

"I'm really expecting nobody to see these videos - and a lot of people have now, which is surprising."

As strange as it felt at first to talk to the camera on his phone while recording his videos, Tom is used to it now – especially as no-one knows him as he films walking down the street in his new city.

The videos are usually in English but when recording one video, in which he talked about having to leave his family behind in Wales in order to improve his future, it was the Welsh that came from the heart.

"I'm able to talk about my feelings better in Welsh for some reason," he admitted.

Trying to save money is not his only challenge, Tom said he is also keen to improve his health and fitness.

In keeping with this thrifty living, most of his exercise is done using free outdoor gyms, with his online followers holding him to account for that, too.

"I use the audience to keep me accountable... If in a month I decide to spend all my money or stop exercising, I now have over 1,500 followers who think 'what is this guy doing'."

Tom said the longing for his family and the mountains of Snowdonia would eventually draw him back home, but for now, he is enjoying his new life in the Australian sunshine, and all the hard work of trying to achieve his ambition.

"The times I am happiest in life are when I have something to work towards," he said.

"Maybe some people see that working a lot of hours and not spending money doesn't look like fun - but the feeling behind it gives me respect for myself, and that makes me happy."