Home Articles Posted by Izy Berry (Page 117)
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Keep Your Electronics Safe
Recently, I’ve had two friends who are traveling crop up on Facebook saying their iPhones have been stolen – one in Beijing and the other in Hanoi. Aside from losing the phone, it can be extremely frustrating even when you have travel insurance because you lose a number of things that might have not been backed up – such as photos and contacts. Keeping your electronics safe on the road is more than just preventing them being stolen and here are a few tips I’ve learned along the way.
Get Travel Insurance
While in the Czech Republic, I opened my Toshiba laptop to see that the entire screen was shattered. What had it been doing? It was sitting on my desk, exactly where I’d closed it the night prior. I’m guessing a little stone or bead was stuck under the lid and caused the entire screen to shatter. My camera was stolen by valet parking in Los Angeles and again travel insurance allowed me to get most of my gear replaced without financially crippling me – do not go traveling without it.
Don’t get Blind Drunk
Sorry to say, but a big bunch of my friends who have lost items on the road, particularly cellphones and wallets, have been blind drunk. I’m pretty sure a few girls I know who have had their “phones stolen” were actually busy grinding on the dance floor, drunk and oblivious to the fact their phones fell out of their purse or pockets… If you’re stumbling around somewhere that is very foreign to you and a local person spots you, you will become an easy target. If you are having a big night out, why not lock your valuables in your locker or hotel room? Take an appropriate amount of cash for the evening, and leave anything that you don’t want stolen or lost behind.
Invest in Waterproof Cases
When I was in Spain, I looked in my bag to see that my laptop was in its case in my bag…. Which seemed fairly standard, except it was surrounded by a little moat of water. My drink bottle had leaked, but thankfully I had a waterproof case. I took my laptop out immediately and it was bone dry on the inside. If you’re traveling on boats you can easily put electronics (cords, phones, cameras) inside zip lock bags to give them a little bit of extra protection.
Sleep With Your Valuables
This might seem stupid, but I’ve stayed in a few dorms in dodgy places that haven’t had lockers. Often you can ask if you can leave valuables with the front desk, but when that’s not a possibility I simply sleep with my laptop, phone and wallet under my pillow. If someone wants to try their luck at prying my sleeping, snoring self off my valuables in the middle of the night in the dark, then maybe they deserve them!
Carry Small Locks
I love to lock things! When I’m on night trains I’ll lock my bags, either together, or to a pole or the railing. There’s nothing worse than having a terrible sleep tossing and turning being concerned about the safety of your electronics. Having a few small locks means that you have lots of options to keep your items safe regardless of where you are.
Do you have any tips for keeping your electronics safe? Have you had any crazy electronic disasters on the road?
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How to Start Funding Your Travels
You’ve got your ideal destinations all mapped out, and now all you need is the ticket to get there. Often, finding a way to pay for travelling is a lot harder than planning your trip. It doesn’t have to be impossible, however, if you consider unique ways to save up for it. Here are five methods for funding your travels.
Have a boot sale. There’s no better way to prepare for extensive travels than to lighten your load. You can get rid of belongings you don’t want anymore while raising money for your trip by having a boot sale. First, clear out your wardrobe and other areas of your house or apartment so that you can see what items you have. Then, you can host a boot sale or a garage sale to earn cash.
Sell online. If you’re not keen on boot sales, you could always sell your old belongings on a site like musicMagpie.com or Ebay. musicMagpie even have a free app, so you can get started on selling those old CDs, DVDs and games on the go!
Become an au pair. Never discount the age-old strategy of getting a side job to start funding your travels. Positions like being an au pair or becoming a tutor are a perfect fit for aspiring travellers because they allow you to earn extra money without having to take on the responsibility of getting a second job. Also, being an au pair may just give you a chance to work on your communication skills, which you’ll surely need once you embark on your journey.
Secure a job in a foreign country. Alternatively, you could try to doing a proactive search for work in your destination country. Many people who travel choose a country or a city as their “home base” while they are away, and then search for a job there. You could do bar work, translate or teach English, all while having the freedom and flexibility to travel on the weekends or whenever you have free time.
Turn odd chores into a business. If none of the previous fundraising methods work for you, turn to what you love to make you some extra cash. If you like to wash cars, mow lawns or clean your house, for example, you could market yourself to your family and friends by offering to do these things for them — for a small fee. If you put away all the money you make, it could add up to a large sum sooner than you think, giving you the green light to start your travelling adventures.
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Los Gigantes – My Sunshine Escape
When people think of holidays in Tenerife, Los Gigantes isn’t one of the first places that crosses their minds. A world away from the buzzing resorts of Playa de Las Americas and Los Cristianos, Los Gigantes is a place to take it easy and enjoy the sunshine whilst watching the world go by.
The resort is situated on the western coast of the island and has a mixture of Spanish locals, international residents and holidaymakers. Most of the accommodation is staggered on a steep hill and although the apartments at the top must have amazing views, I certainly didn’t fancy the walk up there several times each day.
Luckily the complex I was staying in – El Sombrero – was about half way down the hill, so I wasn’t too out of breath each time I walked up from the centre of the resort. I was fortunate enough to get a one-bedroom apartment with fabulous sea views – on a clear day I could even see over to the neighbouring island of La Gomera. Although there was a small swimming pool with plenty of sun loungers at El Sombrero, I’m more of a beach person and made my way down to the coast on my first day.
Due to the resort being built on a slope, it was quite easy to get lost amidst the hotels and restaurants, but as long as I was heading downwards, I knew I was going in the right direction. After wandering around a few winding streets, I came face to face with the harbour and knew I was on the right track. I walked behind the complex facing the harbour, past a number of souvenir shops, small cafes and ice cream parlours until I came to the black sandy bay that I was looking for.
Because of its small size, there were no real facilities but that didn’t matter. I lay my towel down on the soft sand and breathed in the sea air as the warm sunshine slowly tanned my skin. As well as being able to do a spot of people watching, I also had a chance to take a look at all the different boats that sailed by as they left the harbour – everything from tiny wooden fishing boats to grand luxury yachts. It was then that I got the idea for the second day of my holiday – a boat trip.
After enjoying breakfast on my balcony the next morning, I retraced my steps and headed down to the port again. In between the cafes, bars and restaurants there was an excursions kiosk which listed all the boat trips and water sports on offer from Los Gigantes. After a quick chat with the person running the kiosk, I opted for a whales and dolphins trip. The boat didn’t leave for another 30 minutes, so I took a leisurely stroll around the harbour.
As well as loads of fancy speedboats and yachts, the harbour was also full of huge fish! There was a young boy throwing his crisps into the water to feed them and I peaked over the edge expecting to see tiny guppy-like things, but these fish were at least 30cm long and were gobbling the crisps up. I checked my watch and noticed it was time for my excursion where I would have the opportunity to see even bigger creatures.
I’d never been on a whales and dolphins trip before and was surprised by how great it was. The price of the ticket included unlimited drinks and a buffet lunch, which everyone on board thoroughly enjoyed. The man at the kiosk had warned me that sightings weren’t guaranteed, which is why I was pleasantly surprised by the number of marine mammals we saw. There were pilot whales swimming alongside our boat and we even saw the odd flying fish. The boat’s captain took us to the nearby fish farms, explaining that’s where the bottle-nosed dolphins usually collected and he was right. We saw a huge pod of dolphins catching fish and jumping out of the water – it was such an emotional experience that I’ll never forget.
Although I really enjoyed spending time at the beach in Los Gigantes, I’d heard good things about the resort’s lido and decided to visit one afternoon. Located next to the harbour, it was easy to find and only cost a few Euros to get in. There was one main pool which curved around in a lagoon-style and loads of sun beds surrounding it. The lido was fairly quiet when I visited, so I managed to get a prime location, grabbing a sun lounger on the little island in the centre of the pool. After I’d had enough of sunbathing, I took a walk to the other end of the lido to see how big it was and discovered there was a whole separate area I didn’t even know about. There were two staircases leading down to two more sun terraces facing the sea. Underneath the terraces was a beautiful natural rock pool which looked incredibly inviting. I grabbed my bag and towel and spent the rest of the afternoon soaking up the sun in this section of the lido, listening to the waves lap against the rocks.
What struck me most about my time in Los Gigantes was the beauty of the area. In English, the resort’s name means ‘The Giants’, which is what the surrounding cliffs are called. There are three viewpoints throughout the resort, which provide amazing views of the cliffs, so on my way out of Los Gigantes on my last day, I made sure to stop off at the highest point to snap a few photos.
I thought the views of the cliffs from the bottom of the resort were amazing, but they were nothing compared to what I saw from the top. Huge, intimidating rock faces plunged dramatically into the sea before me in what is one of the most beautiful landscapes I’ve ever seen and made for a great final memory of my time in Los Gigantes.
Katie is a rookie travel blogger who has recently returned home from exploring southern Europe. You can catch-up with her on twitter at @delightsomeblog
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Taking a late break
This is a guest post by Lee Tillyer
The thought of a fantastic holiday in the sun is always an exciting one. But the effort of visiting a travel agent, or sitting down for an evening’s worth of trawling the internet for a great deal is not everyone’s idea of fun. I find that when I’m looking for a holiday I find it’s really hard to know whether I’ve found the best price, and more importantly whether that ‘deal’ will land me and my wife in a pokey one star apartment in the back of beyond (yes – this has happened to us more than once!). Recently I discovered a way to get a late holiday that combined both luxury and a fantastic price by buying a Getaway Fare on a P&O Cruises holiday.
I had previously signed up for P&O Cruises Cruise Offers e-bulletin, so when the email dropped into my inbox it came at just the right time for me – I’d worked up the will to go away and now I had the deal to make the temptation irresistible. There were a number of amazing deals on offer but a clear winner for me was sailing to the Iberian Peninsula with Oriana.
After a quick phone call to my wife (she didn’t take much convincing at all!) I was soon speaking to one of cruise experts of P&O Cruises who talked me through the booking process and made sure I had all the information I needed about my holiday. I was soon able to use my Cruise Personaliser online to arrange all of the extras to make our holiday just perfect, including booking shore excursions and requesting our on board dining preferences from the comfort of my sofa.
Departure day came around before we knew it! Our springtime cruise whisked us from the dreary and wintry weather of the UK to the warmer waters off the coasts of Spain and Portugal. Oriana took us as far south as the coast of North Africa, stopping in at Casablanca in Morocco. We explored the age old souks in search of some souvenirs to remind us of our adventure (and to make my friends back home jealous, I have to admit!). All in all it was just what we needed after a busy Christmas and New Year. Our holiday came just at the right time for us both and helped us recharge and face the rest of the year with renewed vigour.
The best part for me was that the Getaway Fare I paid was not only great value for money but with the late deal I was able to secure a holiday leaving in just four weeks. This was the perfect timescale for me – it gave me a chance to plan out my workload with my team but it also gave us plenty of time to get together all of the bits we would need for our holiday. Most importantly, we didn’t have to wait months between deciding to go away and being on board ship – a massive plus for an impatient soul like me!
Now I call it ‘tactical holidaying’ as with P&O Cruises late deals we can book our breaks around our busy workloads and family commitments without causing too much disruption – exactly how a holiday should be!
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My Favourite Travel Quotes
I still remember that feeling that overwhelmed me as I boarded my flight to Thailand in November of 2010, after only impulsively booking the flight a week earlier. There was a knot in my stomach: a mixture of excitement, nerves and fear. I was afraid – I was stepping into territory I’d never been before and I was taking a leap of faith.
I was diving into the world, open arms and seeing where it would take me.
That was one of the best decisions I have ever made and when someone asks me about my travel regrets I tell them to only real regret I have is that I didn’t do it sooner.
There are things I learned about the world that I couldn’t have otherwise learned from the comfort of my own home; how stunning the Alhambra is, what it feels like to wake up in Ha Long Bay and all the weird things the Spanish do. But above all of that, I learned so much about myself – what I can cope with, what I can’t, what I will always miss about home and a clearer idea of what I want from my life.
My friend has a tattoo that says “ancora imparo” which is Italian for “I am still learning”. When I first read it I thought it was great – I love to learn, I love to learn facts about the world and fascinating things. But only now do I understand the depth of those words. I am still learning about myself, daily, but nothing makes you learn more about yourself than an adventure.
I love reading travel quotes. Some of them resonate within me, some of them inspire new adventures and others make me long for adventures long gone. Here are a few of my favourite travel quotes:
“Travel like Ghandi, with simple clothes, open eyes and an uncluttered mind.” – Rick Steves
“When you travel, remember that a foreign country is not designed to make you comfortable. It is designed to make its own people comfortable.” – Clifton Fadiman
“I have found out that there ain’t no surer way to find out whether you like people or hate them than to travel with them.” –Mark Twain
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” – Mark Twain
“A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for” – John A. Shedd
“You lose sight of things… and when you travel, everything balances out.” – Daranna Gidel
“Life is a daring adventure, or nothing.” – Helen Keller
“A journey is like marriage. The certain way to be wrong is to think you control it.” – John Steinbeck
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.” – Mark Twain
“People travel to faraway places to watch, in fascination, the kind of people they ignore at home.” – Dagobert D. Runes
“Once you have traveled, the voyage never ends… The mind can never break off from the journey.” – Pat Conroy
“Travel is glamorous only in retrospect.” – Paul Theroux
“Tourists don’t know where they’ve been, travelers don’t know where they’re going.” – Theroux
“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.”
-Robert Frost
Do you have any favourite travel quotes you’d like to share?
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London City Guide
London is the biggest international hub in England, and serves as a central port for many visitors for Europe. Coming from a commonwealth country such as New Zealand, London is often regarded with a sort of fondness that is reserved for the motherland. All in all, it is an overwhelmingly large city for any visitor that has a lot to offer. I’ve been to London twice and while I thoroughly enjoyed it I know I didn’t even peel under the surface. If you live in Europe, it’s really easy to find cheap flights to London. If you don’t live in Europe and you’re flying to Europe, chances are your flight will probably go through Heathrow, making it very easy to visit this cultural mecca.
Costs in London
Accommodation in London
London isn’t cheap: it’s known world over for expensive prices for shoe box rooms and this proves true for accommodation when you’re visiting. Hostels are likely to cost upwards of 10 pounds. If you want to stay in a private room in hostel you can expect to pay around 30 pounds for the room (so, 15 pounds each). Hotels are pricey, and if you are trying to stick to a budget it might be worth skipping them in London. Many travelers choose to Couchsurf to keep the prices down in London and there’s a great Couchsurfing community here.
Food in London
Food in London is reasonable, compared to other expenses – I was actually pleasantly surprised how cheap it was compared to New Zealand or Australia. You can traditional English “curries” for around 5 pounds and eating out isn’t too painfully expensive – expect to pay between 8 to 15 pounds for a main in an average restaurant. Most supermarkets stock cheap sandwiches for a pound or two and there are a number of bakeries scattered around that offer affordable, delicious snacks. Borough Market is an excellent place to spend a day, browsing the delicious high-end food and enjoying the free samples.
Transport in London
The London Underground was so efficient and far reaching I never bothered using a cab for my time there. I decided to get weekly passes, which make it a lot more affordable, but I found the prices to be quite expensive compared to travel in most other European cities. However, London’s huge and if you want to get around you there’s no better option than the London Underground. Investigate weekly or tourist passes to keep costs down.
Things to do in London
Tate Modern
While this is an incredible art gallery, the building itself is worth a visit. The exhibitions are always changing, so there’s always something to see here. While London literally spoils you with options for museums and galleries, Tate Modern easily ranks as one of the best attractions in all of London. It is a great place to escape when the weather turns dreary and less inspiring. The surrounding area is worth a visit and includes the Borough Markets.
London Museum
Although London is known for being expensive, one of the best things about this city is the fact that the museums are free – yes, free. While in other ciities I found myself pinching on pennies and being selective on which museums I visited, in London I felt free to indulge in as many museums as I could handle. My favourite was London Museum – again, set in an credible building that houses an abundance of artifacts and precious pieces of history. Here you’ll find the story of a city and country that has played such a significant role in the world’s history.
The London Eye
Yes, it’s for tourists – yes, it’s kind of expensive, but there’s really no better way to get a view of London than from here. Sitting in a large capsule you can look out onto the city, taking in all that this large city has to offer. If you can, plan to go here at dusk so you can watch the city transform from the chaos of the day into the charm of the night.
Kensington Gardens
This is where the Kensington palace is housed, which has been home to a number of royals in the past including the late Princess Diana. The grounds themselves are beautiful and immaculately maintained. Here you will find a number of memorials for the late Princess, including a fountain that the Queen placed in her honor in 2004.
Camden
If you’re seeking an area filled to the brim with art, culture and good cafes then Camden is a must see. Here you’ll find London’s most popular open-air markets, that hustle and bustle even during the week. Don’t pass up the food court here, as it offers intentional cuisines at irresistible prices. There’s a really laid-back vibe here, and although you’re still in London you will feel like you’ve managed to escape the big-city feel of London.
Have you been to London? What was your favourite place to explore?
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Top 4 Museums in Vienna
One of the best things about visiting Vienna is the abundance of great museums that are on offer. Once you find a place to stay in Vienna, the next thing you will need to plan is where in Vienna you are going to visit. There are so many great museums in Vienna that if your time is limited you definitely wont get a chance to see all of them – so here is my list of top four museums in Vienna.
Naturhistorisches Museum:
Housed in a beautiful building, the Naturhistorisches Museum has over 30 million artifacts and will impress visitors old and new. Here you will be presented with the opportunity to walk through a number of floors that present interactive displays ranging from animals right through to the creation of the earth. This museum is perfect for escaping a rainy day, or for entertaining a whole family as there is something for everyone to love here.
Kunsthistorisches Museum:
Sitting opposite the Naturhistorisches Museum, the Kunsthistorisches Museum is housed in an equally impressive building. This museum is home to some of the finest art you will see in Europe and the sheer number of pieces can be overwhelming. While it is close to the Naturhistorisches Museum I wouldn’t suggest visiting both in the same day if you can avoid it, because each museum could easily entertain you for the better part of a day. Easily one of the best museums in all of Europe.
Schatzkammer Museum:
In English the name is “treasure chamber” and this is where Austria’s crown jewels are housed. This collection of jewels, jewelry and historic treasures dates back to the medieval times. However, many of these precious crowns were not preserved – it was an ancient traditional to melt down the old crowns to reuse the materials to construct a new crown for the new King or Queen. Despite this, there are enough gems, crowns and jewels to enchant visitors.
Heeresgeschichtliches Museum:
This is Vienna’s military history museum and is home to an assortment of military relics. This collection is impressive and dates all the way back to the medieval era. Here you can gain a unique perspective into Vienna’s history and Austria as it grew to become an empire, and its eventual fall. This museum contains a great selection of artifacts, including tanks, weapons, uniforms and a number of paintings showing a time long gone. This museum is a great insight to the former glory and breadth of the Austria Empire.
Have you been to any museums in Vienna? Which was your favorite Museum in Vienna?
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Madrid City Guide
Madrid is one of my favorite cities in the world – I spent two months living there during the summer of 2012. It doesn’t matter what time of day or night; you can find something to entertain yourself. Madrid has some of the best galleries in Europe, as well as some incredible shopping streets. Despite being a large city, there are sprawling parks that are perfect for picnics downing a bottle of sangria, sunbathing or just skating around during the weekend. Madrid is the heart and soul of Spain and has so much to offer a tourist it’s almost bursting at the seams.
Costs in Madrid:
Accommodation in Madrid varies considerably depending on whether you are looking to stay in hostels or hotels in Madrid. Hostels in Madrid range between €7 and €21, depending on how modern the hostel is and the facilities it offers. Hotels in Madrid tend to start from €28 for the room – you can split this between two people making it cheaper than some hostels and can go as high as your budget stretches. Compared to other nearby European countries hotels in Madrid are relatively affordable and can provide an excellent break from staying in hostels.
Food in Madrid:
Ah, food in Madrid is delicious. It is not as cheap as in the south of Spain, but there are so many great places to eat without breaking the bank. Some of my favourite places in Madrid to eat include Mercado de San Antonio and Mercado de San Miguel – both have tapas style food where you can choose to load up your plate with different treats from lots of places. You can spend as little as €1 on a tapas, but chances are you’ll probably end up spending a lot more. You can find delicious kebabs within the city from around €3 and for the same price you’ll notice people trying to mute the heat with frozen yoghurt- it’s almost an epidemic in Madrid. Meals mid range restaurants generally start from around €10.
Drinking in Madrid:
The Spaniards love to drink – it’s no secret. Give them a glass (or bottle) of Sangria and it will be washed down quickly. A number of tapas bars around the city offer free or discounted tapas with a drink (or vice versa). Make sure you try tinto de verano and sangria – they are both equally delicious. It is very common to drink in public in Spain, although it is illegal and carries a hefty fine. When in Madrid, gather some friends (or steal some people from the hostel) and make your way to Temple de Debod to watch the sunset with a bottle of Sangria. You’ll notice that the park will be filled with Spaniards playing music, doing yoga, getting boozy and doing weird Spanish things.
Transport in Madrid:
The Metro in Madrid is amazing; even with the recent price increase it offers great value and is a really easy way to get around the city. If you’re spending a few days in Madrid and you want to cover a lot of ground, it can be a good idea to get a tourist transport card. I would only suggest this route if you think you will use the metro on average at least four times a day. You can choose 1, 2, 3, 5 or 7 day passes. For more information see Madrid’s Tourist Season Ticket prices. There is a great network of night buses, so when the metro closes public transport is working throughout the night. Taxis are relatively affordable, costing around €1,30 per km.
Things to do in Madrid
Head to Sol and Walk to Gran Via:
If you love shopping, you’ll love Madrid. It has almost every single store you could dream of in one central location and prices seem to be a lot cheaper than elsewhere in Europe, especially if you visit during July through to August as this is when everything goes on sale. Walking from Sol down through Gran Via and onto Tribunal is a great way to see and assortment of shops and buskers all while soaking in the real Madrid.
Visit Museo de Prado:
Without a doubt one of the best fine art museums in all of Europe, the Museo de Prado almost always has a long queue – for good reason though. Within this museum is contained a large collection of pre 20th century European art, including a great number of Spanish pieces. This is the most popular tourist attraction in all of Spain and offers a free visiting slot each day – line up early if you want to make it in before closing.
Check out Tribunal:
Probably my favourite area in Madrid; it houses boutique stores, vintage shops, tattoo studios, little coffee shops, cupcake parlours and even a vintage café. There’s an abundance of really cool street art and it just feels really alive. It’s a great place to base yourself during your stay in Madrid as you can easily walk to most places.
Eat Churros:
Yes, churros. Delicious, long almost pastries that are dipped in chocolate so thick you could almost stand the churro up in it – this is my idea of perfection. My favourite chocolatier was San Ginés – open until some ridiculous hour of the morning. I once visited at 5am after a night of drinking and was surprised the chocolatier was packed and filled with people of all ages!
Enjoy Parque de Retiro:
Unfortunately Madrid is very far from the beach, making it harder to make the most of the relentless summer heat. Retiro is Madrid’s answer to the beach and locals flock here during the summer months to sunbathe, roller blade, boat around the river and just to enjoy each other’s company. The grounds are immaculately kept and it’s one of the most beautiful public gardens I’ve visited – the best part is it’s very central, easily within walking distance from Sol.
Have you visited Madrid? What did you think was essential?
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The Problem is you Think You Have Time
The problem is you think you have time – Buddha [Tweet this]
I read this quote yesterday and it’s spent the last twenty four hours resonating within me. We all think we have time. We can go on that trip next year, we can tell that person we love them tomorrow, or maybe we can quit our jobs we don’t love and start doing what we do love… some day. We’ve got time, there’s no rush.
If you’ve been dreaming of Ha Long Bay, or visiting the Plitvice Lakes, or seeing the best of Bangkok, then you need to start working towards it. For most people, especially those that read this blog, travel is a priority – but often there’s something getting in the way, something holding you back.
I meet so many people who tell me I am so lucky to have traveled and how much they wish they could do it too. The truth is, luck had nothing to do with it – long term travel is cheap and if you come from a first world country then there are barely any barriers preventing you from exploring the world, except for the trickiest barrier of all: you.
How would you be spending your days if you knew you were running out of time? Would that change anything for you?
If my clock was up, I’d have a few travel regrets, but most of all I’d be sad I hadn’t seen more of my own country. People travel to the end of the earth to see New Zealand, and I’m embarrassed there are big gaps in where I’ve been. Part of the reason I haven’t spent more time exploring New Zealand is because it’s, quite simply, more expensive than most other places I could visit. The other reason is because I feel like I have forever to do it, there’s no rush, I’ll get around to it someday.
But the truth is, time isn’t promised to you. There’s no guarantees, no number of years allotted to you.
I’m taking New Zealand off the backburner, and my goal is to explore my own country through the eyes of a tourist.
So, the problem is you think you have time – what would you do if today was your last day?
And where should I go first?
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What’s it like to Au Pair?
I was an au pair in two countries – Spain and the Czech Republic. There were a number of reasons why I decided to au pair, but one of the main reasons (if I’m honest) is that I was running out of money but didn’t want to stop traveling.
I had two completely different experiences in the countries and although I can’t see myself being an au pair again I loved both experiences because I learned a lot and got to do a great deal of travel.
Being an au pair in the Czech Republic:
I ended up choosing a small town called Pocatky which was about 1.5 hours away from Prague. I always wanted to go to Prague – I remember I once saw a photo of Charles’ Bridge and immediately fell in love and decided that one day I would visit Prague. I was set to be teaching English in Seoul, South Korea and when my contract finally came through I freaked out and decided that I wanted to see more of Europe. I joined an au pair website and started searching for families in Prague. I ended up finding a few families that I was interested in, but ended up skyping with the host mother of the family I ended up choosing.
As I later learned when I was an au pair in Spain, it’s much more important that you choose a family you like (and host “parents”) because that will make your time much more enjoyable. My family in the Czech republic were great; I’ve visited them since, still keep in touch regularly and miss them immensely. I had a lot of fun, got to explore a lot of the Czech Republic and surrounding European countries.
I ended up in a really casual arrangement with my family – the boys I looked after were home schooled in the mornings and would spend most of the afternoons with me. I could take long weekends when I wanted to travel (amazing) and took on teaching some of the host mother’s English classes which was a great way to earn a little extra cash and gain some great experience. I was originally supposed to be with this family for three months, but had such a great time I extended it to six.
Being an au pair in Spain:
After living so far away from a city when I was in Pocatky, I had decided I wanted more of a central experience in Spain so chose to be close to Madrid. This was only a summer position and I was with the girls in the mornings and had the afternoons free. The host family gave me a monthly metro pass as well as an allowance and it was a great base to explore Spain – a highlight of which was the Alhambra – and to learn a little more Spanish.
This experience was slightly more challenging as only one of the two girls really spoke much English, so there was a bit of a language barrier. However, it was also really cool to see how much of an impact I had on their English and to see the younger girl experimenting a little more with the language.
Spanish families are quite different to those in New Zealand – just because you have kids doesn’t mean you slow down – it was not uncommon to see parents towing around small children to ice cream parlors at 11pm at night. I also managed to find a great group of girls who were au pairs here and we had a pretty awesome social life together – it was heaps of fun.
Why be an Au Pair?
I probably wouldn’t au pair again, just because I’m a bit older and like the idea of being slightly more independent in my travels. However, it’s a very easy way to get set up in a new country and can be incredible social, too. Depending on your family you will get to see a new side to a culture that would otherwise be difficult to be invited into. It’s pretty cool knowing you can move somewhere, have a room, have food, have some money and the opportunity to easily explore another part of the world. Depending on your language goals, being an au pair can be a great way to get extra exposure to the language you want to learn.
If I ever have children of my own I know that I’ll have an au pair, because it’s a great experience for them too – I noticed that children who had au pairs were a lot more confident, their language skills were better than average and it’s just a great way for them to gain an “older sibling”.
Has anyone else been an au pair? If so, what were your experiences like?
