Travelling – to work or to play?
It’s a tempting prospect to spend your entire travelling experience simply having fun and treating it as an extended holiday. While there is nothing wrong with this, you may find that before you know it, your funds have been whittled away on all the cheap booze and thrill-seeking activities that have crossed your path. Rather than abandoning your trip, one way to avoid going home early (bar using that back-up credit card your parents’ gave you as an “emergency”) is to pick up some part time work. Many backpackers take advantage of casual, seasonal and short term work which they can do as they go along to supplement their travels. Here are some travel guide ideas:
1 - Fruit picking
Probably the most common form of short-term work for backpackers is fruit picking, available in most rural areas of Australia. Essentially, it involves picking, pruning and packing fruit from trees and bushes - hard work, but one of the easiest ways of earning some casual money, not to mention making friends. Check out the site Australian Job Search Harvest Trail for a list of current jobs.
2 – Working in a hostel
Hostel work has become an increasingly popular option way of backpackers to gain free accommodation. In return for a few hours work cleaning or helping out in the kitchen, you can earn your keep and be fed for free, some even providing you with a small wage.
3 – Working on a golf course
Not one of the more common options, but helping out on one of Australia’s many golf courses allows you to earn some much-needed cash as well as enjoy the incredible Australian landscape. Roles can include golf ranger positions or helping out with golf course maintenance. Check out The Royal Melbourne Golf Club in Black Rock, near Melbourne, which is a particular favourite.
http://www.yourgolftravel.com/royal-melbourne-golf-club.html
4 – Admin/Clerical work
If you have some prior office experience, it’s likely that you will be able to gain some administrative work in one of Australia’s major cities. The best thing to do is sign up to as many recruitment agencies as you can when you arrive and make sure you have a suitable reference.
5 - Nursing
Travellers with nursing qualifications can quite easily gain temporary nursing work whilst in Australia. For more information, visit www.nursingagency.com.au/.
Don’t forget to apply for a Working Holiday Visa before you go - it will set you back about £115, but this will allow you to work for up to a year in Oz, with an option to study for up to 4 months as well. Visit http://www.immi.gov.au/visawizard/ for more information.
This entry was posted on Thursday, November 5th, 2009 at 1:58 pm and is filed under Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
