Work & Travel

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Work & Travel (or work 'n' travel ) is a form of travel that is particularly popular with young adults. The purpose of these trips is to get to know a country, its culture and the language. Work & Travel differs from other forms of travel in that the traveler earns the necessary financial means by doing short or longer odd jobs on site (“job hopping”). Work & Travel provides students with an alternative to the classic stay abroad, e.g. B. as an au pair , where you are usually tied to a fixed location during the entire stay abroad. For some countries, a special visa is issued for the duration of the trip , with which one can work and travel for up to twelve months. Shorter stays are possible in many countries without an extra visa.

requirements

The requirements for a working holiday visa are usually between 18 and 30 years of age, for travelers from Germany, German citizenship and, if necessary, appropriate language skills of the country visited. Working holiday visas for German citizens are i. d. Usually only awarded by states that have corresponding bilateral agreements with Germany . A language course is often offered on site at the beginning of the stay abroad as a refresher. Popular travel destinations are Canada , Australia , New Zealand and (as an exception without a bilateral agreement) South Africa . But Germany also has agreements on destinations such as Argentina , Japan , South Korea , Hong Kong and Taiwan . The United States is another popular work & travel destination. As a counterpart to the Working Holiday Visa, the J1 visa entitles you to work & travel. As a rule, the relevant visa should be applied for as early as possible, as many countries only issue a certain quota per year.

An insurance that covers health insurance - and, if desired, liability and accident insurance - is mandatory in all countries and highly recommended. As a rule, you cancel your German health insurance or leave it on hold for the duration of your stay, as no contributions are paid. As a replacement for this comprehensive insurance cover, there are special long-term travel health insurances. For organizations, this service is usually included in the total price for a small monthly fee. The costs for the required working holiday visa must usually be borne by yourself. Only the health insurance contributions for Canada deviate significantly from the norm due to the generally higher treatment costs in the country and are many times higher than the usual rates.

Pro and con

advantages

  • You don't just get to know foreign countries and cultures as a tourist, because you are confronted with the peculiarities of everyday life on site.
  • You have the opportunity to organize your stay abroad very freely.
  • You can travel a lot and see more of a country.
  • In particular, the insight into the world of work in the respective destination country opens up perspectives that go beyond the experiences of package travelers.
  • Since stays abroad often span months to a year and require interaction with the local population, travelers have a lot of time and a keen interest in learning the country's language.
  • The long-term character of this form of travel also supports the development of friendships with other travelers.
  • The experiences made serve the personal development: Flexibility, intercultural competence and tolerance of the travelers are promoted.

disadvantage

  • The biggest disadvantage for many interested parties is the maximum age for corresponding visas, which is often set at 30 or 35 years.
  • Long-term stays abroad are relatively expensive.
  • Long-term stays abroad also take up a lot of time, which can be missing in career planning for studies or training.
  • The organizational effort is relatively high, even if you travel with an organization. In general, you have to take care of your next job, possibly accommodation and meals as well as transport yourself during your trip. As a typical form of an individual trip, a work & travel stay is contrary to the relaxation-oriented package tours .
  • A work & travel stay requires a high degree of independence and stamina, as the job search usually only takes place on site and can sometimes stretch over a period of several weeks.
  • Because of the great freedom the traveler should be able to live with a great deal of uncertainty, since more than a few weeks can rarely be planned into the future.
  • Commercial organization programs often provide very inadequate local support.

organization

Basically, there are two ways of doing a Work & Travel stay: On the one hand, you can book your trip directly with a study trip organizer in Germany, who usually cooperates with private or state job agencies abroad. The preparation and implementation of the year abroad can also be organized entirely by yourself, which saves considerable travel costs. In this case, the effort involved in planning the trip increases and there is no need for advice and support from the tour operator or his partners abroad or during preparation in Germany. However, organizations can usually not completely remove the basic, elementary planning steps, but usually only offer help.

Procedure on site

Many travelers are students or pupils who are looking for an alternative to being an au pair after graduation. The odd jobs are very diverse, they range from the animator in the hotel to the call center agent to the farm worker , furthermore from simple payment to free work with free board and lodging (see " WWOOFen "). When you travel and when you work, you can usually determine yourself. Journeys in which a language course is first taken in order to get used to the country and the language are also common. Afterwards, volunteer work (for example in the areas of environmental or animal welfare and in the social area) is done for a few weeks or months in return for board and lodging.

See also

literature

  • K. Arlt, M. Schmidt: Work & Travel in Australia: Prepare properly, travel and work - travel and work with the Working Holiday Visa; Requirements, application, agencies ... . 1st edition. MANA-Verlag, Berlin 2015, ISBN 978-3-95503-026-1 (guide, which also compares the providers)
  • Andrea Buchspieß, Johanna Kommer: New Zealand - Traveling and Jobben with the Working Holiday Visa , travel guide, 6th, revised and updated edition 2014, Reise Know-How Verlag, Bielefeld, ISBN 978-3-8317-2476-5
  • Andrea Buchspieß: Australia - Traveling and Jobben with the Working Holiday Visa , travel guide, 9th, revised and updated edition 2013, Reise Know-How Verlag, Bielefeld, ISBN 978-3-8317-2277-8
  • Alexandra Albert: Work & Travel in Australia and New Zealand: Travel and work with the Working Holiday Visa; Requirements, application, agencies ... . 2nd Edition. MANA-Verlag, Berlin 2007, ISBN 978-3-934031-83-8 (guide, which also compares the providers)
  • Jörn Schulz: Job hopping Down Under - jobs, internships and working holidays in Australia . 5th revised and expanded edition. Verlag Interconnections, Freiburg 2010. 240 pages. ISBN 978-3-86040-126-2
  • Christof Hock: BackpackerPack - Work and Travel Australia simply organize yourself . Version 2012, BackpackerPack, 92 pages. EAN 0793573988614
  • Maik Lüdemann, Markus Friese: Work & Travel Super Bible: The ultimate guide for Work & Travel in Australia, New Zealand and Canada , 1st edition, Independently published, 2020, 391 pages, ISBN 979-86-0483066-6

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Application for a visitor permit. (PDF; 34 kB) (No longer available online.) In: South African Embassy Berlin. Archived from the original ; accessed on January 12, 2016 .
  2. ↑ a b Working Holiday | TravelWorks. Retrieved April 26, 2020 .