as you may have already seen i am on a work & travel tour through down under at the moment. i kind of always wanted to do this & so in december last year i decided that this was the right time to go !! so now after almost two months of travelling through australia i would love to share my experiences about work & travel with you. hopefully you can use some of my tipps & tricks for your own work & travel holiday :)) there are always a lot of things to plan before going on a journey .. but the hardest part is simply to get started .. so here is a little overview about how to organise your work & travel journey:
1. preparation & organisation: first of all .. check your passport validity .. just in case :)) then try to find out where you want to go & where you want to start your journey. have a look at skyscanner.de .. they always have pretty good & cheap offers :)) so after booking your flight to your next travel destination you have to apply for a visa. germans as well as all other citizens of other nationalities need a visa to enter & visit australia. for travellers who want to work down there the `Working Holiday Visa 417´ is the best way to go (apply on online.immi.gov.au) .. you need to create an online account answer all the questions plus pay 450 AUD (state of december 2018) it will take about one week more or less until you receive the final confirmation for your visa .. so don’t panic if you have to wait for a few days :)) the next step is to pick a website for your job search & as there are a lot of different websites to find jobs abroad this might be a pretty hard choice !! i am currently using workaway (for more information visit workaway.info) as a lot of travellers recommended this website to me but there are loads of alternatives as well. just let me give you a few examples: WWOOF, gumtree, helpX, workabout, CareerOne, jobsearch, TAW, seek or simply have a look at the notice boards in hostels or talk to other travellers .. there is always something to do out here !! anyway i am pretty happy with the workaway website as it is super organised well structured & easy to use on laptop & phone. the only thing is that you have to pay 42 USD (state of december 2018) for an one year membership but actually i prefer paying some money for a job search website instead of dealing with a shitty website & untrustworthy job offers !! by the way workaway also offers the possibility to create couple accounts .. just in case you want to work & travel together :)) so after that you have to create a personal profil: upload some nice pictures of you write about your references skills & whatever seems important to you plus give some helpful information about yourself & maybe tell something about your travel plans as well. furthermore you have to provide information about general things like name, age, home address, nationality, spoken languages plus about if you have any allergies or special dietary requirements :)) attention: some hosts will require an international driving license !! so just make sure to bring along your driving license if you have one or even better: apply for an international driving license back home .. it will take you 5 min & costs you about 15 bugs for a three year validation .. so why not ?! once you have done all that you are ready to explore the working world in australia .. just take your time have a look at all the job offers & try not to get overstrained :))
2. work & travel: i should probably mention that work & travel doesn’t compellingly mean that you get paid for your work !! most of the hosts offer accomodation & three meals a day for about 4 to 5 hours work on 5 days per week. however some hosts offer payment or some pocket money .. so just have a good look at the hosts profil & read it carefully before applying for a stay !! once you made an arrangement make sure you have the exact address plus an emergency phone number of your hosts .. just in case :)) well & then you are finally going to meet some hopefully very nice aussie hosts aka your new family for a week or two !! mostly they will pick you up at the airport the next bus stop or even give you a lift to their place .. just make sure to arrange this in advance. what is it like to work in down under ?! hard to tell .. every place every host & every work is different. as lots of australians are farmers many hosts will need some help with gardening & landscaping as well as with feeding animals or picking fruits. however there are a lot of families looking for help, too !! so if you are more into babysitting, childcare, cleaning & cooking you will find something for sure :)) once you work alone other times you work in a group together with other workawayers .. it really depends on what your are looking & applying for. anyway you should always remember you are on holidays .. you don’t need to work all day long !! make sure you are working under fair conditions. if there is anything wrong if you are not happy with your working tasks or you feel like having too less time for yourself .. talk to your hosts !! they will help you for sure. however .. if you really don’t like the place where you are staying: remember .. you can always leave !! just book some nights in a hostel or search for a new hosts .. there will always be a solution :)) anyway .. no need to worry .. you will have a great time. i worked for 5 different hosts so far & i only had amazing experiences with all of them !! just make sure you have enough free time for exploring the beautiful country of australia just because this is why you came here, isn’t it ?! try to enjoy your time & make the most out of it !!
3. caring & sharing: once you leave your workaway place & move on further remember to write a feedback !! this might be helpful for other workawayers & also for the hosts themselves. you don’t have to write about good things only .. just tell about your very own experience !! furthermore hosts can also leave a feedback for you .. so try not to mess up completely .. haha :)) all in one: i found work & travel as the perfect way to travel to gain some work experiences plus to get involved into a typical aussie lifestyle. furthermore work & travel makes it possible for young people to afford travelling through australia .. it would be way too expensive just to travel around here for some months !! all in one: you will have the time of your life while exploring beautiful places making new experiences & meeting loads of interesting & inspiring people from all over the world.
