Category Archives: Work & Travel

12 Destinations For Working Holidays

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student 12 Destinations For Working Holidays

By TEENA CELIS

You want to travel, see other countries and are yet not able to because you’re strapped for cash. How about a working holiday? Working holiday visas present a golden opportunity to travelers and backpackers to earn money and supplement their travel funds in other countries, while spending as long as 12 months in that country. Here is a list of the top working destinations along with visa eligibility criteria and useful links.

1. Australia

If you are between the ages of 18 and 30 and are a citizen of the Australian reciprocal Working Holiday maker list of countries, you can apply for a working holiday visa to Australia. You are free to travel on this visa, since Australia does not stipulate that you need to spend the whole time in Australia. Australia is the top working destination in the world not only because of the standard of living, but also because of the relaxed rules that allow you to travel, explore and enjoy this beautiful continent.

You can even avail of an optional 12-month extension if you have completed three months work in designated rural areas of Australia. You can work for a single employer for up to six months. You can also take up training courses of no more than four months. The average Australian earns about 900 AUD a week. For more information on visa formalities and restrictions, visit www.immi.gov.au.

2. New Zealand

The New Zealand Working Holiday Visa allows people aged between 18 to 30 to travel and work temporarily anywhere in New Zealand. The average New Zealander is able to earn about 900 NZD a week. A working holiday visa is the ideal opportunity to explore New Zealand’s amazing natural beauty, which makes this one of the top working destinations in the world.

New Zealand has working holiday visa norms for people from different countries. Read these rules carefully and apply online at http://www.immigration.govt.nz/ or via licensed immigration officer services.

3. United Kingdom

The UK working holiday visa is now called the UK Youth Mobility Scheme, a scheme that allows young people from specific countries such as Canada, Australia, Japan and New Zealand to visit the United Kingdom and work for a maximum period of 12 months. Applicants must be aged between 18 and 30 years to be eligible.

You can take up temporary jobs for all 12 months of your visa, or for any period under 12 months. The weekly average income per capita is 400 GBP in the UK, which varies depending on your occupation. To read the conditions and to apply for the UK Youth Mobility Visa, visit the following URL: http://www.migrationexpert.co.uk/visa/tier_5_youth_mobility_scheme_working_holiday_visa_uk.asp.

4. Ireland

The Irish Working Holiday Visa scheme allows young Canadians, Australians, Americans and New Zealanders between 18 and 30 years to visit Ireland for an extended holiday and supplement the holiday with casual employment for 12 months. The average weekly income of a full time worker in Ireland is about 750 EUR. You can find detailed information on the average weekly earnings based on specific fields of occupation at the following site: http://www.visafirst.com/en/irish_working_holiday_visa_info.asp. To apply for a working holiday visa to Ireland, visit http://www.dfa.ie/home/index.aspx?id=80991.

5. Canada

If you are aged between 18 and 30 and are a citizen of Australia or New Zealand, you’re allowed to apply for the Canadian Working Holiday Visa to visit Canada and take up temporary employment. Starting from the date of issue, you have 12 months to organize your trip to Canada. The visa is valid for two years from the date you land in Canada.

On an average, Canadians earn about 860 CAD per week. Canadian visa formalities require applicants to show savings of specific amounts before the visa can be approved. Apply for your Canada working holiday visa at http://www.visabureau.com/canada/working-holiday.aspx.

6. Japan

Japan allows citizens of Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Korea, New Zealand, Taiwan, Hong Kong and the United Kingdom to apply for a working holiday visa to Japan. The entry criteria and age limits vary for different countries, so be sure to check the rules for your nationality.

Japanese working holiday visas are issued only once to an applicant. Citizens of France, Germany, Korea, Ireland and the UK are eligible for a one-year working holiday visa. However, citizens of Australia are eligible for a six month working holiday visa, which can be extended twice. Citizens of New Zealand and Canada are eligible for six month visas that can be extended only once. For more information on Japan’s working holiday visas and visa application formalities, see http://www.mofa.go.jp/j_info/visit/w_holiday/index.html.

7. Italy

Italy allows working holiday visas to be obtained by Australian citizens aged 18 to 30 and Canadian citizens aged 18 to 35. You’ll find detailed information on Italy’s working holiday visa formalities at http://www.international.gc.ca/iyp-pij/assets/pdfs/Canada-Italy%20ENG.pdf. Citizens of New Zealand, Australia and Canada are eligible to apply for working holiday visas to Italy. Applicants must not be accompanied by children, must have valid national passports, and must have sufficient funds for their stay.

8. Singapore

Singapore offers a working holiday visa for six months for current undergraduates and graduates, aged between 18 and 30, from countries such as France, Australia, Hong Kong, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, UK and the US to stay and work in Singapore. You’ll find more information on visa formalities for your nation http://www.mom.gov.sg/foreign-manpower/passes-visas/work-holiday-programme/before-you-apply/Pages/default.aspx.

9. Thailand

Thailand allows citizens of Australia and New Zealand to apply for a one-year Thai Working Holiday Visa. Applicants must be aged between 18 and 30, and should have completed full time courses with at least three years of study. Applicants must have either an Australian or a New Zealand passport, valid for at least six months and 12 months, respectively. They must also have a return ticket, or enough money to purchase one, and at least AU$5,000 or NZ$7,000 in their accounts at the time of applying. Thai working holiday visa applications can be made Thai Embassies and Thai Consulates in the respective countries.

10. France

France offers Permis Vacances Travail (PVT), which is the French working holiday visa to citizens of Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea. You can avail more information on visa formalities and eligibility criteria for your citizenship from your local French embassy. You need to be aged between 18 and 30 years at the time of application. The visa allows you to undertake paid employment for up to one year. Several other rules apply and you can read them at http://www.anyworkanywhere.com/whv_fr.html.

11. Sweden

If you hold an Australian, New Zealand or South Korean passport, and are aged between 18 and 30, you are eligible for a working holiday visa to Sweden. Working holiday visas are granted only once per applicant. To apply, you need to approach the Swedish embassy or consulate in your native country or in the country where you are presently residing. For rules of visa application, see http://www.international.gc.ca/iyp-pij/assets/pdfs/Canada-Sweden%20ENG.pdf.

12. Austria

Austria has a Youth Workers Exchange Program called Swap to which Canadian graduates aged between 18 and 30 can apply.  Based on the understanding between the two countries, an exchange or swap is made and a young person is issued a working holiday visa to Canada in exchange. For visa application formalities, check with your local Austrian embassy. For more information, see http://www.swap.ca/.

Teena Celis is a Freelance writer working as content developer for Adrenalin.com.au,an Australian experience provider offering a large range of experiences like tandem skydiving, V8 race cars, rally driving, and hot air ballooning all across Australia.

When Travel and Work Converge

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stewart When Travel and Work Converge

Stewart the Courier Bag.

By JORRIT JORRITSMA

My wife Nicky and I love travel. My own love of travel sprung from an instinctive delight in heading off over the horizon, combined with the pleasure of reading childhood tales of Victorian expeditions and adventuring.

However, as we travelled over the years, Nicky and I have found ourselves increasingly challenged by travel to change our lives back home. What we’ve seen around the world has impacted how we want to continue our lives once any of our travel trips comes to an end.

Today, we’re running a business based in the United Kingdom’s Lake District. Our passion is creating travel bags based on timeless, vintage designs – bags as functional and flexible for everyday use as for more exotic travels.

Our other great passion is for finding ways that we can produce these bags in ways as eco-friendly and sustainable as possible, using organic or recycled materials. We want our bags to be used by our grand-children, to have that long a life.

Periodically we’re asked how we came to this convergence of travel bags and eco-friendly lifestyle. Well, the answers lie dotted around the world in several different continents and by what we’ve seen and experienced along the way.

Take bags. We’ve always loved the kind of worn, cracked leather bag you might find in a grand-parent’s attic. But we’ve also had our fire fed by things we’ve seen on the road. Take the time we were trekking to Machu Picchu. It was fascinating to learn from our local guides that the Incas built inns and depots at distances exactly conforming to how far a fully packed Llama can walk in a day. This led us to investigate llama packs, the kind of bags the Incas carried, and the style still being used in Peru today.

Travelling through the Australian outback, we quickly realized the life-saving value of a good bag. We heard plenty of stories of pioneers and explorers who only had a single swag bag thrown over their shoulder as they trekked thousands of miles across the forbidding landscape.

In Melbourne, we visited Nicky’s Uncle Jim who, at seventeen, embarked on a £10 boat from Liverpool to Perth via the Suez Canal, then to walk from Perth to Sydney with just a single pack on his back through the outback.

Later, we gained a glimpse into more colonial traditions, visiting tea plantations in Sri Lanka. As we visited bizarre Tudor-style houses, grand Victorian hotels and racecourses, we saw how the British colonials had sought to create a home from home. We also pored over the enormous travel chests, wardrobes, and wooden trunks that had enabled them to ship their treasured possessions from home.

And more recently, we’ve enjoyed our second visit to the souks of Marrakech. Here we’ve encountered members of the Touraq tribe, nomads of the Sahara who dress in vibrant blue. As we’ve examined their saddle packs, money belts, water carriers and leather pillow cases, we’ve found huge imaginative inspiration for creating future products.

But we don’t just have bags on the brain. Because there’s been another thing that has impacted us as we travel the world. And that’s the increasing need for our generation to make lifestyle changes that will improve the future prospects for people and planet alike. It’s not that we’re eco-warriors but our eyes have certainly been opened by some of the things we’ve seen.

Tsunami Anniversary Sri Lanka When Travel and Work Converge

Tsunami anniversary on Sri Lanka.

A major influence was our visit to Sri Lanka on the anniversary of the tsunami. It was humbling to gaze out at hundred of paper bags filled with lit candles along the shore, placed by local people to commemorate each person who had died. At the same time, we were greatly encouraged to see how international support was making a difference. Micro-finance was working well. For example, a local fisherman who’d lost his boat and livelihood was given enough money to buy new rods and netting, enabling him to take the first steps to re-establish his line of work.

At a time when we often hear much cynicism about Western aid and its administration, it was heartening to see it making a significant difference in Sri Lanka.

In the Australian outback again, we were struck by something very different – the importance of water for survival. Wide riverbeds lie dry for much of the year. However, when the rains come and flash floods strike, entire valleys spring to life. Fish emerge from the mud while flowers and plants erupt into bloom. It has led to our being fascinated by the rising global challenge of water provision.

And back at home in the Lakes, where we moved after busy lives in the city, we’ve also watched how local communities are caring for their environment and making a living through the conservation and preservation of nature.

All of this has led to a concern that our company should be eco-friendly, ethical in its practices, and committed to sustainability rather than a here today, gone tomorrow mentality. It isn’t always an easy road. For example, we’ve faced the issue of whether to collaborate with ethical partners in China when other factories there may be profoundly unethical. There are no easy answers but our own view is that its only by encouraging the success of companies that work to high standards and ethical guidelines that other companies will be led to adopt similar practices.

However, overall, we are hugely grateful to be part of a growing movement of businesses and brands committed to making conscious choices for a better future.

And funny to think that this joint passion for bags and sustainability all began and grew as a result of our many travels across the globe.

We love travelling for pleasure but it’s been a real added pleasure to be able to carry the fruits of our travels back into our work.

Co-founders Nicky Forbes and Jorrit Jorritsma live in England’s Lake District with their daughter Kiah, enjoying the essence of outdoor living, while running the Millican business from their back garden.

A Life of Travel: A Travel Professional’s Story

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travel A Life of Travel: A Travel Professionals Story

By ROSS GARNAUT

Traveling has always been in my veins. I have been lucky enough to have parents that greatly enjoyed international travel and had the ability to do so. That helped ingrain travel in me from the earliest age, as I witnessed Big Ben first hand, experienced a Manchester United soccer game in the flesh, and saw the beauty of the Egyptian pyramids.

As I got older I decided I wanted to do everything in my power to become a travel professional. I studied international relations and English in college, I interned with a small travel agent in my area, and I constantly researched and networked with travel professionals whenever possible. I knew travel writing was probably my best and easiest bet to seeing everything, so I did my best to polish my writing skills while maintaining my international skill set.

I dropped first into a few jobs that didn’t specialize in travel, but had connections abroad. My skill set and training made me a great candidate to take on business trips abroad, and so my journey began. I networked, grew my skill set and spread off, eventually splintering off into one other job that increased my traveling schedule. This finally landed me with Lowfares, a company that has enabled me to use my love for travel to its fullest.

I have been to six continents and hope to encounter Antarctica first hand at some point, whenever life allows me. While traveling professionally is usually a life of glamour and excitement, even it, sometimes, comes with its own downward spirals.

lowfares A Life of Travel: A Travel Professionals StoryCommunication barriers constantly strain on you, liftoff is still as scary today as it was fifteen years ago, and the loneliness that comes from being disconnected from your family is a constant stress that you must live with on a day to day basis.

Despite the few stresses that come with the job, I wouldn’t trade it for the world. Smiles are still universal, there is still something beautiful to see wherever you go, and the vastness of this planet makes travel something that we can never fully conquer in any of our lifetimes.

If you have any interest in becoming a travel professional, feel free to drop me a line at my personal e-mail, rosstraveler@gmail.com, and I’ll do my best to point you in the right direction. The jobs are scarce and in high demand, but, as it is with most things, a steadfast dedication and hard work ethic will go a long way towards landing you the job of your dreams.

Ross Garnaut is a travel writer for Lowfares.com, a travel search engine that provides cheap flights and discount airfares. With ten years of experience as a travel professional, Ross has been to six continents and over thirty countries.

Break Into Travel Writing From Home

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woman Break Into Travel Writing From HomeWhat some people seem to forget is that no matter where you live, people visit. Even if you haven’t traveled far outside your hometown, you can break into travel writing.

First, research the markets. Major newspapers and glossy magazines are difficult to break into with no or little experience. Start small to build up a portfolio and save the tougher publications for later. Your local newspaper is probably the easiest one to approach since these outlets often have more space for freelance writers.

Think about the town or city you live in. Every place generally has something that attracts visitors. Brainstorm; find something you would feel passionate to write about. Are there any popular events or festivals where you live? Any famous sights or attractions? Perhaps your local restaurant serve an unusual or delicious specialty? Or, if you live in a town surrounded by vineyards, write an article on where to attend wine tastings and savor local wine.

Quotes are a perfect way to make your travel story fresh and original. If you opt for the wine angle, contact a wine expert for a short interview. You can easily find an expert through The Premiere Online Experts Directory.

If you have no idea what to write about, contact your nearest tourist office for free tips and brochures. Most tourist offices have websites with media pages where you can find story ideas. Keep in mind that a destination is not a story. Come up with a unique and interesting angle.

Don’t forget to study professsional travel writers’ work to get a feeling for how to mix facts with history and personal observations. Inspiration is great because it can help you finding your own voice, but imitation is not. Trust your own writing ability and keep going until you get there.