Work and Travel: The Planning

Why plan for the trip? The unknown is so exciting when you go abroad for a longer period of time. Probably true! However, whether a work and travel trip is good depends above all on how good the jobs are that can be found along the route. So if you are not bringing a full wallet with you, some preparation makes sense.

Depending on the country in which you would like to be traveling as a Work and Traveler, a corresponding visa must be obtained beforehand. In most cases, this is the Working Holiday Visa. Even though these are relatively easy to get - sometimes even online - the messages often only deliver a limited amount. The best example is the Working Holiday Visa in Canada. 4200 of the popular tickets to wild Canada are made available for German applicants. Once the visa is issued, it takes less than 5 minutes for all visas to be issued. A stay should therefore be planned long in advance.

This is also the case for work and travel in the USA. Because for certain jobs, such as looking after children in host families or in summer camps, there is an assigned J1 visa program. The decision about what type of work to take in the United States must have been made beforehand - as one of the first steps, so to speak.

There is good news here from Australia and New Zealand. This visa is easy to apply online and is neither limited nor too expensive!

So you already know which country you should go to, very well. Now it is time to roughly plan your jobs. Having a first job in your pocket before arrival is not only clever, but also very comforting. With the help of a travel organization, this is not a problem, but it is not always so easy for the self-organizers to implement, because the contacts on-site are simply missing. For these, the rule of thumb applies: where, what, when. Once your first location in the Work and Travel Land has been determined, the next thing to look at is which jobs in the city and the surrounding area, and above all whether they are available during your travel time. If you want to work on a farm, make sure there is a lot to harvest. If you want to teach English in a school, check whether it is not vacation time and so on. In this way, the greatest fear of not finding a job can be taken away from you in advance. After all, work and travel is all about finding a well-paid backpacker job.

And there you go to the next keyword: well paid. Of course, getting any job is not always enough. Those who need good pay should plan a little better and find out in advance about the requirements of the work. Are special language skills necessary, are experience or even training required? There are also regulations for work and travel jobs that you should know. In Australia, you have to show a certificate for many jobs, which can usually be obtained on-site in a few days. But please plan with the finances, because they are not free of charge. Finally, it is important for every work and traveler to bring a load of application documents including photos from home. Because the unexpected often comes!

Since work and travel is also about traveling in addition to working, you should also plan your free time a little: how long do you want to travel between or after work and how much money should you have saved? So you also know whether the payment of a job is sufficient or if you should even switch.

What should not be forgotten when planning is how the money should be available on site. Traveler checks are now out of date and quite inflexible. If you only travel with a cash card, the credit card is the method of choice. There are often free offers for students here, and abroad you don't have to pay much or sometimes nothing at all to take off at the machine. However, it is helpful to contact your bank beforehand to ensure that there are no problems.

Before leaving, everyone has to take care of the right insurance cover abroad. This should include at least one international health insurance that covers possible medical expenses abroad. Other formalities to be dealt with as a work and traveler are opening a local bank account and applying for a tax number or social security number. Because without them it is not allowed to work legally abroad. Anyone who travels with the help of an organization is relieved of the greatest work here.

To make it easy for everyone at the beginning, the first accommodation must be planned in advance. The first week is enough to create some buffer for further planning. All of this has already been clarified about an organization.

It is often forgotten to minimize or even stop costs at home. If you are already renting accommodation or a room in a shared apartment, there are many ways to find intermediate tenants online. So you can save yourself a little extra. Mobile phone contracts can also be paused and ongoing costs avoided. Here are some more tips on how you can save money on work and travel through good planning.