When I embarked on my solo backpacking adventure to Australia back in October 2015, I spend months preparing for my travels. Ever since I returned, I had quite a few people who wanted to take off on their own adventure asking me for advice. I figured I could help a lot more people out by writing this blogpost about how I prepared for my trip.
The Working Holiday Visa Program is for any 18 to 30 year old from an eligible country. Find out if your eligible.
Eligible? Great, let’s move on.
Working Holiday Visa: How to be prepared
- Passport
Didn’t see this one coming, did you? Before I left for Australia, I had always travelled inside of Europe, so I never needed a passport before. Don’t wait too long to request your passport, sometimes it takes a few weeks to make them.
- Visa grant number
To enter Australia you will need a special visa grant number that will let the border control know you will be there on a Working Holiday Visa (417 for most Europeans). It’s very easy to request a visa grant number in Australia. I received my email confirmation the same day. The visa grant number will be on the visa grant notification they sent you by email. (Make sure to keep the visa grant number with you all the time while in Australia.)
- Checklist
I can make your life a lot easier! Want to know why? I created a “Backpacker’s Packing List” PDF for you to download. The list holds basically all the important items you will need on your travel. Trust me, with this list, packing and preparing will become a lot easier!
- Tax File Number
When you’ll be working working in Australia, your employer will ask you your tax file number. Keep this close nearby, you will need this when you ask your taxes back after your travels.
- English Resume
Write out an English resume. It’s a lot easier and saves a lot of time to do this beforehand. Print it out or save it on a USB stick.
- Get travel insurance.
Get your travel insurance beforehand.
- Medicare card
Make sure to get a European Health Insurance Card (for 12 months) at your health insurance and bring it with you to Australia. Once there, you will need to get your Medicare Card.
- Transfer money
Make sure to transfer money to your Australian bank account beforehand. I transferred my money two weeks before I left and it had all arrived on time.
- Finances
If you think you have enough money with you, bring more. Australia is insanely expensive. I think I spend most of my money the first two weeks I was in Sydney. There is so much you want to see and do and you’ll spend money without thinking. I recommend minimum € 4000, in case you don’t want to work right away.
- International sim card
Just walk into a nearby convenience store and get a sim card which plan appeals to you.
- Plan a rough itinerary
This is optional. You may want to plan out whether you’d rather go up the East Coast, south to Tasmania or west to drive up the Great Ocean Road.
Tips
- Map your documents
Keep a map full of useful documentation to take with you. This will hold all copies of important documents, a page with useful addresses. Also place all your important documents on a USB stick.
- Rent out your room
Or move back home for a bit (your mum would love to have you back) to save money.
- Stop payments
Don’t forget to stop payments for things you won’t use while your away. (Netflix, Spotify,…)
- Don’t plan ahead
Lastly, if you can, don’t plan ahead too much. The Working Holiday Visa allows you to travel Australia from 1 month up to 12 months. You can work anywhere you want to, but keep in mind that you can not work for the same employer longer than 6 months. Don’t pin point a date of your arrival, just figure something out for yourself. I arrived in October 2015 and was planning on returning home in October 2016, but ended up traveling Southeast Asia for two months and returning home in July 2016 to surprise my family. It’s crazy how things can change if you don’t plan ahead. This is of course a suggestion. I prefer to let the road take me wherever, but if your the kind of person that likes to plan ahead, by all means.
Did you find this article useful? Do you have additional information, something I have missed, or do you simply have a question? Either ask your question below or send me an email to hello(at)itsetty.com & I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.
Happy travels!
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