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  • Travel Blogger Jennifer in Australia

    12/12/20093:02:59 AM Link 3 comments | Add comment

    Travel Blogger Jennifer in Australia

    My neighborhood, Gordons Bay

    Happy Wednesday all! I hope you have had a momentous week.

    In light of the messages I have received asking for more specifics on the life of an Australia work and traveler, I am dedicating this weeks blog to addressing some of your questions and concerns about apartments and hostel living, expenses, and traveling on your own.

    On the apartment front, the amount of time you will dedicate to finding a place is dependent on similar items as you would have at home: season, budget and location. In Australia – especially in and around Sydney – the earlier you start the search for an apartment this time of year the better. You can usually lock in an apartment or reserve a hostel room up to a year in advance in most locations. (A lot of the beachfront hostels in the Sydney area have been booked since last March for the holiday season!)

    Apartments are actually a bit easier to find this time of year than hostels and conveniently run much cheaper. For instance, I have friends who have reserved shared beachfront hostel rooms for the holiday season and are paying around two-hundred and twenty AU per week, whereas I am in an apartment with my own space for one-hundred eighty AU per week. (My rent is on the more expensive end, but I’m right on the beach so prices are going to be a bit higher- I have friends who have really nice flats about a twenty-minute walk from the beach and are only paying one-hundred fifteen AU per week, which is average year round.) And signing with an apartment does not have to be a long-term commitment either; you can find flats with one month to one-year leases depending on the location and property type. Really all it takes to land an apartment is a little extra time- it might take you anywhere from a couple of days to a couple of weeks to find a suitable place-, and a bit of resourcefulness if you are pressed for time. Fortunately for my roommate and me, I had Cultural Embraces partner company guiding me through rental avenues, locations and other important specifics such as lease agreements, etc. The partner company referred me to several contacts at furnished property companies- which was how I found my flat- other online companies with a good track record, and offered their open list of people looking for roommates in case I needed it. Great help!

    On hostel life, I personally found it to be one of my biggest pre-departure anxieties. I had never lived in a true dorm situation, sharing a bedroom and bathroom with more than one other person, so I honestly wasn’t sure how it was going to go over for me. But despite my apprehension, hostel living was really not anything difficult to get used to. In fact, more than half the people I have kept in touch with since arriving in Australia have been the friends I made in hostels.

    A good item to note is each hostel situation is different, so unless you are getting feedback on a particular hostel, take it with a grain of salt. There are small groupie type hostels that house fifteen to thirty people or so – where you end up knowing everyone pretty well by the end of just the first nights stay -, large hostels that can house over two hundred people and have their own clubs, pubs and restaurants attached, and some that are in between, all depending on the area you are visiting. Most hostels room two to twelve people, with prices ranging anywhere from nineteen to thirty-four dollars a night depending on the capacity. And depending on the availability, some hostels will let you reserve stay for up to a month and without penalties if you choose to leave even after the first night- a huge benefit if your plans are really up in the air! Another important item to note is mixed – meaning guys and girls – shared rooms are much cheaper- up to ten dollars cheaper per night-, easier to come by and most of the time not advertised as mixed rooms, so if you mind, don’t forget to ask.

    And obviously the more cheaply you live the longer you can travel, so anything you can do to save a buck helps. After all, probably the biggest pre-departure concern among most travelers is expenses. So here are a few key items to keep in mind before and during your travels:

    1. Over-shoot how much you think you will spend. I have had days when I have not spent a dime outside of housing, and others when I have blown my daily budget on items I did not think would be as expensive.
    2. If you have several nights reserved in a hostel check to see if you can pay nightly instead of all up front. Plans change pretty quickly depending on people you meet, weather and whims and hostels do not give refunds.
    3. Do not be a diva. Take the bus.
    4. If you are planning to do a day tour, be sure to research and compare all of the companies that offer similar experiences thoroughly. You will find a lot of companies offer the same basic trip at dissimilar prices.
    5. Carry cash. It is an excellent way to see how fast you are spending.
    6. Like I have said before, utilize all of the kitchens you have available to you. Nothing burns money faster than eating out.
    7. Locate the free Internet cafes in your area!
    8. Check around your area for hotel, hostel or other sponsored free barbeques. They usually attract both locals and backpackers, throw in a free beer or two and are weekly gigs.

    Traveling is expensive, but you can do it cheaply if you do a bit of research on the area. And most other backpackers are on tight budgets, leaning towards spending money on a bus up the coast instead of a gourmet meal, so stick close to those who have been there a bit longer and your funds will go farther.

    Taking in tips from locals and travelers experienced in your area is also key in feeling a bit more adjusted, especially if you are traveling alone, which many of you have asked about. And although I have a large group of friends all planning to stay in my area and others relatively close for the next two to six months, I do still have the days where I remember I have come on my own.

    Yes, traveling to another country without mates from home can be a little overwhelming at times and yes there are definitely the bummer moments when you are in the middle of an incredible experience and wish you had someone to take the story back home with, but traveling on your own certainly offers an extremely genuine experience as far as doing your own soaking in. And honestly, it is a lot easier to meet people traveling on your own than it is traveling with your mates (any backpacker will tell you that). So even though my family and best friends are not here to share these experiences, I have not found it difficult to root myself. I have met incredible people who are as eager to explore as I am, and whom I will absolutely keep in touch with for the rest of my life- I honestly do not know if I would have made so many close connections if I had come to Australia with one already. It is also a pretty cool thing to look at yourself in the mirror and know YOU are here, and YOU did it. It can be unnerving to think about traveling so far away on your own, but personally, knowing I have the backing of wonderful family, friends and a very experienced company behind me has kept me in the go, feeling comfortable and secure.

    Thank you so much for your questions and I hope I answered some of them! Please feel free to email me at Jcampbell@culturalembrace.com if you have any questions or want some specifics on the adventures of a Work and Traveler in Australia. Cheers!

    Live fully,

    Jennifer C Campbell

  • Travel Blogger Jennifer in Australia

    12/1/20097:47:03 PM Link 0 comments | Add comment

    Australia, Travel Blogger Jennifer in Australia

    Oy! from Aussie Land,

    The last few weeks in Australia have been filled with some of the most unconventional, even strength of mind searching, but wonderful and real days in my twenty-two years of living. A few curve balls after another such as a job change, a move, new best friends leaving to travel elsewhere, lost items, exploding expensive electronics, etc have made for a pretty interesting time. But even though I have both found and face planted on these and a few other bumps in the road I had been warned about from other travelers, I can honestly say I have still had the magnificent quote-un-quote I cannot believe this is my life moment at least once every day. I am embracing the twists and truly learning the meaning of going with the flow -which I believe is absolutely vital in traveling.

    My brother recently reminded me of John Lennon’s famous quote - Life is what happens when you are busy making other plans. In a traveler’s world, I am taking this to mean your plans are going to scatter and change, so just enjoy the moment and have no expectations for the next. Because that is what traveling is all about right? Taking on new chapters and adding onto your cultural gains whether they are expected or not.

    So in saying this, I will share with you a few pieces of advice most backpackers I have met would agree on:
    1. Never take good people you meet for granted. Enjoy them now and keep as many connections as possible, even if you are traveling with your best mates.
    2. If you take the wrong ferry, bus or train and have time to explore where you have accidently ended up, do it. It will probably make an even better story than you started out to make
    in the first place.
    3. Do not try to cram your day full of attractions, because you will not have enough time to let any single one of them sink in. Pick one or two and really take them in.

    Other important tips worth mentioning:
    4. Take note of EVERY free Internet café!
    5. Combine your travel book advice with the information the locals give you on a destination. You will usually find the destination to be somewhere in the middle of the two.
    6. Watch your spending and use every kitchen you have available to you. Nothing burns money faster than eating out!
    7. Pack light or get ready to get rid of some of your favorite items. There is nothing worse than hoping on a bus and whacking every person sitting in an isle seat all the way to row
    fourteen because you cannot fit everything in your backpack.

    But apart from recent trials, tips and notes circling around in my head, I have actually had a pretty remarkable few weeks.The Manly Beach Festival of Surfing, which I mentioned earlier this month in my blog, was absolutely top notch. Aside from the Rip Curl and Billabong pro surfing legends and newer to the scene surf pros chatting around and their surf offs to settle twenty-year-old rivalries and competitions to claim new glories, the beautiful weather and perfect surf brought heaps of other wave and sun seekers- all combining to complete my own perfect vision of Australia. Meeting pro surfing world champion Mick Fanning was not a bad touch to the weekend either. I have still been living in a bathing suit, enjoying the sun and surf almost every day in beaches scattered from Seven Mile to Maroubra, etc. - which is an incredible way of living minus the fact that finding last minute hostels in the area you end up in can be tough this time of year and no matter how many showers you take you will still end up with sand in your bed. (Other items I have learned to embrace.) And since I FINALLY moved into my first apartment in OZ (which is fifteen meters from the beach in Coogee- awesome) a few days ago with friends, it is even easier to commit to the beach-bum lifestyle. However, now that I am a bit more settled and done running in and out of hostels for a while, it is seriously time for me to brush the sand off and find another job to pay the rent.

    And thankfully, because of my connections through Cultural Embrace, I have wonderful job-hunting resources. The job database Cultural Embrace hooks you up with is a great tool for starting the search. With the time I have spent on the database I know the kinds of businesses in need of holiday employees, which kinds of jobs are keen on employing travelers and what areas of the city are looking to hire. Another avenue I have been taking, which Cultural Embrace’s partner company helps you locate, are classes that certify you to work in bars, restaurants, and casinos, and other day classes that offer training in several different fields of work. And because the job market, even for simple jobs in retail or bar work, is so competitive at the moment with the extra million travelers in Sydney this time of year, I am glad to have the support of the partner company in my search.

    However, if retail and bar work is not your thing, no worries, there are plenty more professional opportunities available here as well. Most of these opportunities require a six-month commitment, but if you are looking for resume building experience, and maybe even sponsorship to get your once-in-a-lifetime year visa back, it is definitely doable and worth it!

    In the meantime, between online job hunting and stopping around at local businesses, I have indeed found a few things to keep myself occupied. Since moving into my apartment one of my favorite time passers is the amazing 6k Beach Walk – or run - from Coogee to Bondi Beach. On the route are several beaches, snorkeling coves and bays such as Bronte, Clovelly, Gordons Bay and Tamarama and a cliff view cemetery named Waverly. (All of which are Google Image worthy! Beautiful!) And I cannot forget to mention the beer festival going on a street over from me – I am very excited about that one! I also have my flat mates, and the other twenty-five people from all over the world living my beachfront building to keep me company while watching the cricket and off season rugby matches in the palm tree surrounded field across the street, cooking out on our deck sized balconies, and taking exploratory excursions to a few of the less well known areas in our coastal neighborhood. And since I signed a two-month lease (which, in most areas in Sydney- including the outskirt beaches such as where I am living- you can find flats offering one month to one year leases) I have plenty of time to explore, take in my surroundings and report excellent local spots your travel books left out!

    So, because I have had the opportunity to seek and soak in so much the last couple of weeks, I will end with a word-to-the-wise-ish message I have been living by: Whether you are on your own or traveling with your best mates, every breathing moment is an opportunity to learn and progress in your cultural immersion experience. Letting go of your stresses and appreciating everything for what it is, learning from your mistakes and moving on to the next adventure with an open mind and a wiser point of view are all key in the imprinting process of your environs.

    I urge you in your next adventure, whether it is visiting a new area in your city or another country, keep your mind open to all of the possibilities that lay ahead of you. And most certainly, enjoy the person next to you and invest in listening to what they have taken in as well. They might have discovered something you have wondered right past.

    I am so thankful to be able to share details of my life traveling in Australia with you, and hope they give you a better idea of some of the opportunities the Australian Work and Travel visa can give you. I still have itchy feet, and lots of expeditions planned so look out for my blog again next week! Please feel free to email me at Jcampbell@culturalembrace.com if you have any questions or want some specifics on the adventures of a Work and Traveler in Australia. Cheers!

    Live fully,

    Jennifer C Campbell

  • Travel Blogger Jennifer in Australia

    11/2/20092:21:12 AM Link 2 comments | Add comment

    Australia, Travel Blogger Jennifer in Australia

    Seven Mile Beach

    Hey guys! Whoa. So much has happened in the last week and a half I am not even sure where to begin!

    An unplanned landing in Fiji on my flight into Australia and catching the most beautiful sunrise I have seen yet, getting to Australia - yooah! Patio Salsa dancing in the harbor across from the Opera house, taking the wrong ferry to the zoo and ending up in Lavender Bay only to stumble across one of the most amazing gardens I will ever visit, Bondi Beach and rock art, Seven Mile Beach and kite surfers, Snakebites and crab racing, finding out what the term mixed shared hostel rooms ACTUALLY means, non-stop live music and beer festivals, meeting tons of awesome people, interviewing and job finding an incredibly unbelievable job, and the list goes on and on!

    Let me just say that when Cultural Embrace, and any one else who has ever been backpacking in Australia, says it is easy to meet other travelers - this is an understatement. Within the first five hours of landing in Sydney I was having a beer with a group of locals at a popular outdoor cafe right in the heart of Sydney Centre and hooked up with an AWESOME group of girls from the UK whom I have been running around with ever since. A few other wonderful people I have seen quite often are the employees of the company Cultural Embrace sets you up with to receive hostel discounts, an orientation, and job, travel and other support.

    The partner company has actually been one of my greatest assets since arriving- I use them way more than I thought I would, and I am so glad Cultural Embrace hooked me up with them. On my second day in Sydney, I attended an orientation with twenty five or so other work travelers, where I had help setting up my bank account, tax file number for paid work, online resume for quick submission when finding jobs on the database, and my phone account. They also walked us through the must sees and dos of OZ, safety precautions for the water and outback and met with us about specific job enquiries and such. Very helpful! And aside from all of the more professional offerings, everyone in the partner company office is incredibly welcoming, and ready to give you tips on fun hot spots around the city, and some are even ready to hit the scene with you! haha.

    Speaking of hot spots around the city, Sydney has it all. Beautiful beaches and running routes, phenomenal museums and architecture, live music spots around every corner, awesome sports bars such as Cheers (perfect for a little football Liverpool versus Manchester United. I am still recovering), Scubar for a little crazy backpackers bar fun, Empire in Kings Cross for a bit of a classier evening- it is a great city for all interests.

    But honestly one of my favorite things about Sydney so far is that there are a million different suburbs (Bondi, Coogee, Surry Hills, Glebe to name a few) so there is a great mixture of cultures offering something for everyone. Even the locals still appreciate hot tourist spots such as Bondi, Coogee and Manly Beach, and the night scene spots as well.

    And although I have had an incredible time running around with my newfound friends from the UK, Germany, Spain, France, Brazil, Holland, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, I have actually had an equally mind-blowing time with the job that I landed six days ago. And actually, I am at work right now! And guess what I am doing? I am lying on the grass, forty yards from the beach, at the camp grounds of Surf Camp Australia, enjoying the sun in between surf lessons, hanging with the surf coaches, crew and twenty plus camp goers. Yep, I am at WORK right now!

    Through the connections that Cultural Embrace offered me, I landed one of the most proper wicked jobs in all of Australia. I am a promotions and marketing rep for Surf Camp Australia. My job requires going to surf camps to surf and hang out with the crew and camp goers at least Monday through Wednesday every week in Seven Mile Beach, Byron Bay, Yamba and/or Gold Coast, promote Surf Camp Australia at their events and parties and any surf festival and event around the Sydney area they attend. What is also pretty cool is that Surf Camp Australia is sponsored by Rip Curl, so this coming weekend, November 5- 8 I am attending the Manly Beach Festival of Surfing by day and Surf Expo by night, hanging out with pro Rip Curl surfer Mick Fanning and I am even getting paid enough to live comfortably and potentially even end up with a bit of savings. Pretty awesome huh? I still can not believe this is actually a job pinch me! Thank you Cultural Embrace!!

    Life could not be any sweeter. And it is pretty easy to get all of my friends and family on the phone and Skype. So although I miss all of the people that make my life so fantastic back in the States, I am in touch everyday. So I will leave you with this: take the leap and embrace your adventurous side, it will be one of the best decisions you will ever make. Traveling to Australia has changed my life forever; it is a feeling I can not describe through words in a blog or in conversation. So give it a go!

    Please feel free to email me at Jcampbell@culturalembrace.com if you have any questions or want some specifics on the adventures of a Work and Traveler in Australia.
    Live fully,
    Jennifer C Campbell

    Thank you for all of your love and support family and friends.
    Mom, Dad, Marsha, Dan, John, Katherine, Adam, Claudia
    All of my wonderful friends back home
    And all you superbly awesome Cultural Embracers: Emlyn, Katy, Miranda, and Julie
    You guys rock!

  • Travel Blogger Jennifer in Australia

    10/22/200910:34:58 AM Link 0 comments | Add comment

    Australia, Travel Blogger Jennifer in Australia

    Hello fellow adventure seekers!

    I'm Jennifer Campbell, your Work and Travel Australia blogger.

    A little about me: I'm Dallas, Texas bred, but a definite Austin, TX enthusiast. I love anything outdoors, including deep sea, surf and bay fishing, diving and snorkeling, zip lining, biking, running and hiking, and I'm also a photography and travel fanatic. This past May, I graduated from Texas Christian University with a degree in Advertising, and a craving for a life altering next chapter.

    A year ago, if you'd asked me what I would be doing after graduation, I wouldn't have said "Um, embarking on one of the greatest adventures of my life in the Land of Oz," like I would today. My original life after graduation plan was to attend law school directly after undergrad, work and save a little money before I set off to travel. Fortunately for me, Cultural Embrace helped me find a loophole. It turns out Australia's government recently widened their doors granting work visas for young adults, like myself- between the ages of 18-30, to work in non-technical fields for up to a year. With this opportunity, I will easily pay off the cost of living abroad while roaming the Australian country. Great news! This brilliant concept allows foreigners to travel with "no worries" about any limits of unearthing the awesome Australian lifestyle, sites, people and culture. So although my dream of law school still exists for down the line, I couldn't be more excited to start this new journey and take advantage of being young, string free, and adventurous at the most convenient time I'll probably have in my life. I've embraced the travel and adventure bug, and I couldn't be more excited for my ‘gap break' and to work and travel in Australia using Cultural Embraces support!

    So why Australia? Although I'm not a fan of meat pies (ever so popular in Australia), I do fancy awesome beaches and surfing, a laid-back life style, outdoors, camping, shrimp on the barbie, kangaroos, and the occasional wombat. I even think I'll learn to appreciate cricket! On the more practical side of things, the fact that their infrastructure for tourism is one of the worlds best, helps reassure my (and my parents), with help and safety concerns. The dozens of hostel chain options, campgrounds, transportation options, and about 4 million tourists annually from countries such as the U.S., U.K, New Zealand, and Germany – great for networking - helps too. I haven't found a destination that sets you up to work and travel, and meet other trekkers more excellently than Australia. To top all of these travel Australia perks is the encouraging support I've received through Cultural Embrace with assistance with my questions and concerns, arrival arrangements, and granted access to a national job database with diverse listings across the Australian country (making it that much easier to find casual jobs to off-set my cost of living abroad). It's also comforting to know I have their support and assistance, from their Austin offices, throughout the entirety of my stay abroad. I feel more prepared knowing I have the backing of a company that has such extensive experience arranging (and participating in) travels abroad.

    While I'm Down Under I'll be sharing my experience of a lifetime and the broadening of my horizons every step of the way with you. I'm extremely excited to report an insiders work and travel experience through Cultural Embrace, and answer your questions and even inspire you to take a leap into your own explorations (or better yet, join me in Australia!) Check out my weekly blog, videos and photos documenting my quest to achieve the greatest voyage of my life so far!

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