Ideally we’d all go travelling around the world for a year or more, experiencing new and exciting cultures and seeing amazing things we’d never even imagined and not doing a jot of work for the whole year. Realistically however most of us have to think about a working holiday because we need a way of getting some cash somewhere along the way. In some countries you could sell a kidney for some cash, however this is not really an option for 99% of us!
How nice would it be to be on holiday for a year without working? Easy answer; it would be fantastic!
But… a year is a long time without work and therefore without money. Some people are lucky enough to either have a savings account or rich parents who are willing to fund their overseas adventure, however most of us have to pay for this once in a lifetime experience ourselves, and a working holiday is the way forward.
I decided that whilst I was travelling I wasn’t going to do the usual 9-5 jobs, I wanted to do something different. Something that still made me feel like I was still on holiday.
The first job I got in Australia I sort of fell in to. I’d booked myself onto a 3 day 2 night Great Barrier Reef Trip out of Cairns. I had the best time, and the boat I stayed on was unbelievable (Reef Encounter), it even had a heli-pad! As I was leaving, one of the diving instructors said I should ask about becoming a “hostie”.
Okay so being a hostie meant doing some fairly menial jobs but the perks were well worth it. My typical day went something like this…
6.00 – Prepare Breakfast
6.30 – Go for a morning scuba dive
7.30 – Clean up breakfast stuff, have a shower etc
10.00 – Either clean rooms or help prepare lunch in the kitchen
12.30 – Welcome the new arrivals onto the boat and show them to their rooms
13.00 – Serve lunch
14.00 – Say goodbye to the departing passengers from the night before
14.30 – Go for a dive or sunbathe on the deck
17.30 – Prepare, serve and clean up after dinner
19.00 – Go for a night dive
20.30 – Sit in the spa on the back deck with a beer in your hand!
If your job involves living on the Great Barrier Reef on a 5 star live aboard boat and going scuba diving 2 or 3 times a day, you really don’t mind getting up at 6.00am, and you really don’t mind cleaning a couple of rooms and making a few beds. I spent 3 months doing this job, occasionally going back to Cairns and testing out my sea legs.
Do you really want to ‘work’ during your travels? If you don’t want a “real job”, or if you want a job that still feels like a holiday, then living on the Great Barrier Reef is a pretty great experience. I believe that working holiday visas should be used solely for this type of work!
Looking for that dream in Australia? Find out more about our Working in Australia here.