It doesn’t need to be said, but there is a whole world (above and underseas) to discover as a Black expat in Perth, Australia. Without playing it down, life in Perth, Australia is unquietly gorgeous and straight-up impressive. When Kaya Piro-Stoute set out for life down under, she had no idea that it would charm her. As a creative, podcast host and long-term world traveler, Kaya is well-versed in the expat life. Cruising through this exciting chapter of life as a Black expat in Perth, Australia, Kaya shares her routine:
A day in Kaya’s life as a Black expat in Perth, Australia
I left my hometown in 2006 after graduating high school and I haven’t really looked back since. I’d spent more than a decade exploring the U.S. and wandering around many different parts of the world as a solo backpacker on a budget. I’ve always loved travel, and in that, I always knew that one day I’d want to experience living abroad. I would fantasize about finding love and settling down for a while in another country, but I never imagined that country would be Australia, nor that I’d invest in applying for permanent residency in order to stay here!
For the last year and a half, I’ve been living in a town just south of the river in Perth, the only major city in the massive state of Western Australia. Greater-Perth currently has a population of just over two million people, and the state of Western Australia covers about a third of the continent. The climate here is hot and dry in the summer and then chilly with rain in the winter. The swan river runs through Perth and flows out into the Indian Ocean, making is a great city for water-based activities in the summer such as boat parties, beach days, diving and cliff jumping.
I arrived in Australia on August 30, 2019 and did a lot of traveling around the country, whilst living in a campervan with my partner, before finally arriving and settling in Perth in early 2021. I didn’t know what to expect when we decided to move out here to the west coast, but I knew that something about this area felt different to me than the rest of Australia. Finally, I felt like I’d found a place I could truly call home. How magical that I later learned that “Kaya” means “Welcome” in the indigenous language of this region. I still get chills every time I hear and see my name here!
For the last 10 months, I have been pursuing a creative path as an artist and entertainer, so I have a very flexible schedule. This has allowed me to make every day an adventure (or a relaxing day off), which has felt very similar to the life I lead prior as a backpacker. The only difference is that, now, I always have a cozy little place to call home where I can rejuvenate after a full day of being out.
Now, imagine it’s a cloudless Friday in early March (late summer here), the temperature is 85F/30C:
8:00am – I like to wake up slow, even on a busy day. After traveling so much, my body has been really enjoying moving to it’s own rhythm during this time of putting down roots. So I welcome the day by opening the blinds, putting on some music, stretching and then enjoying a green smoothie. I’ll almost always hop on a video call with a friend or family member back in the U.S. as well, since the extreme time difference makes my mornings the ideal time to connect.
9:00am – I get ready for the day, figure out what to do with my wild afro, clean the house a little because I’m a neat freak, and I’m good to go.
10:00am – I dedicate a couple hours to creating! Usually, that means learning a new song on my bass guitar, creating a playlist for DJing or warming up my singing voice. I will also spend time taking photos/videos for content creation or writing show notes for my podcast.
12:00pm – I head to the weekend market in Fremantle where I like to buy my veggies and have lunch at one of the many international food stands. I like to try different ones, but my favorite is Kachapas Venezuelan Cuisine. I love Hispanic food and speaking with the friendly owners to make sure I keep up my Spanish skills. Then I buy my bi-weekly bag of Peanut Butter M&M’s on the way out which cost $11.80AUD – so expensive, but they remind me of home so I can’t resist!
2:00pm – I’ve stopped back home to drop off my goods and grab my play toys for the day. After I head back out to arrive at my local beach around 2pm. I arrive to the parking lot full of campervans. Locals, families and international backpackers from the local hostels fill the grassy area. There are slacklines, picnic parties, different music playing from different groups and people spinning flow toys. The ocean calls to me right away after melting on the 8 minute drive from my house, so I grab my snorkel and mask to go spend an hour in the blue, crystal clear water. There are baby flatheads, herring, and pufferfish floating about. I’ve been lucky enough to catch the occasional manta ray gliding by as well as I swim along the shore from the rock wall to the pontoon.
4:00pm: After the salt water works it’s magic on me, I head back up to the grass to spend time with friends. There are ALWAYS friends to bump into or new ones to be made whilst hanging around at my local beach; the people of this town are such beautiful souls.
6:00pm – The heat of the sun has mellowed out and now it’s time for a skate! I put on my headphones and I cruise up and back along the coastal path for about a half -hour. Then I come back to my friends to watch the sun go down and give thanks for another beautiful day. Sometimes there are sunset drum circles, and almost always there will be people spinning LED flow toys as it gets dark. I’m not a big city person as you can tell. I love nature, so with the beach so close, I spend most of my time there as it’s always a vibe.
8:00pm – If I’m still feeling energetic after the beach, I will head out for a night on the town. There is plenty to do in Perth City and in Fremantle. I love to discover new places to eat, catch live music, go salsa dancing or hit up a house party. The small-town vibes of this coastal city make it a great place find the perfect balance of always having options for something to do, yet also being ok with doing nothing and just cruising.
Keep updated with Kaya’s life by checking out her Instagram as well as episodes of the travel podcast, A Little Less Crazy.
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