June 2026
While I was doing humanitarian work in Ukraine in 2022, I was also working for the United Nations, and somehow ended up homeless in London afterwards. This is my untold story of what happened after Ukraine.
My Financial Situation
I was running multiple projects for Building Memorii, where every donation went directly towards the humanitarian needs of children and families across Ukraine. I made a living through my work with the UN, but as a contractor, my pay had to be processed manually every month. Due to circumstances beyond my control, the payment would often be delayed for many months which meant that I had to use my emergency savings, reserved for accommodation and flights home. Having then-recently graduated, all my savings had gone towards paying for my combined law degree and admission as a lawyer, amounting to a whopping total of $70,000!
After finishing up with my projects, I was fortunate to find freelance work leading up to the Christmas period. I just had enough money to book the cheapest flight from London to Sydney, which was on New Year’s Eve. I had originally planned to hitchhike across Scandinavia and live in London again, but my gut feeling was telling me to visit my friends in London and spend some time back in Sydney before deciding on my next steps.
As I made my way to Warsaw airport departing for London, excited to start work and see my friends, I slipped on ice outside the entrance and my laptop broke :[
My source of income was gone and I had no money left. Well, of course, that was not completely true, as I had emergency emergency savings, which was physical cash at the bottom of my backpack — £200 that I could use. I was fortunate enough that my friends invited me to stay with them for several days (and I was too ashamed to explain my situation). I had a week left before my flight to Sydney, so I devised a plan to survive the rest of my days in London.
The Airport Shemozzle
I decided to live at the airport. After paying for luggage storage, I had enough cash to survive on £5 ‘meal deals’ for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I felt relieved that I was finally going home. With my plan, I was no longer stressed. I imagined this would turn out to be a humbling experience as I spent my remaining days reflecting on my time in Ukraine. But my first night turned out to be a nightmare. As I was staying landside (before security) and my flight was not the next day, two airport security guards directed me to leave the terminal. They advised me to take a bus to the nearest McDonald’s to spend the night there.
I had to get out of the airport. I explained my situation at the bus stop, but nothing could be done. The security guards were just following protocol, though they were interested in my humanitarian career, and we bonded over making the world a better place. As we were talking, a deaf stranger needed help taking a taxi and one of the security guards signed back, which he had learned from taking care of a relative. Also, it turns out the last bus didn’t arrive. I was told it was my ‘lucky day’ and that I could stay at the airport for one night!
I went back into the airport. Phew. And the very next morning, I had a new plan. I refunded my money from luggage storage and found a hostel that included free dinners, meaning that I could live it out until the 30th and stay at the airport for the final night. And so that’s what happened. I even saw the same security guards again, and we laughed over our brief encounter. I safely made my way to Sydney, and even had time to visit Taiwan during my layover.
What a series of events! The story doesn’t end there actually. Shortly after, the UN deposited my remaining pay into my account and with those funds, I made my way to Türkiye to support the earthquake relief efforts, partnering with a South Korean NGO. I’ve been in a much better position since then.
I had fun sharing this embarrassing story :] After all, we’re all human.
We should laugh at our imperfect moments and embrace the good and bad parts of ourselves, but not repeat the same mistake — just once is enough!