Gap Year Work and Travel

You keep hearing about people doing work and travel, working and traveling freely in all kinds of countries.
And that is exactly the principle of a gap year of work and travel. Here you have the chance to travel to all kinds of countries of your choice, vacation, get to know cultures and top up your travel budget at the same time.
Below we'd like to show you your gap year work and travel options, which countries await you, which jobs are available and what the pros and cons of work and travel are.

Which countries can I travel to on a gap year of work and travel
?

Basically, in any country at all you have the chance to have a work and travel experience. Currently the most popular are New Zealand, Australia and Canada.

If you want to earn money on a trip in the form of work and travel, you usually need a suitable visa, because not every visa entitles you to take jobs too.
If your work and travel year is limited to Europe, you don't need a special visa, but in countries outside Europe such as New Zealand, Canada, Australia or the USA it is mandatory.
If you have German citizenship, there is the specially created "working holiday visa" for this.

What is the so-called working holiday visa?

The working holiday visa is a holiday work agreement that exists between several countries. Many also call it the work and travel program.
It was created mainly for young people, to give them the chance to stay in countries longer and earn a bit of money at the same time.
As a rule, this visa is suitable for travelers between 18 and 35.

Germany has this agreement with countries such as:
New Zealand, Canada, Australia, South Korea, Chile, Japan, Taiwan, Israel, Hong Kong and Argentina.

Gap year work and travel: the requirements

As a rule, the requirements are tied to each country's visa regulations.
In many countries, for example, a gap year of work and travel is only possible from age 21.
In addition, your passport or travel document must still be valid for at least 6 more months.
For the working holiday visa it's important to hold German citizenship.
In that case you should take out suitable international health insurance in good time.
You should also be aware that although you have the chance to earn money, you'll also have various expenses, so you should have enough financial means.
A criminal record would not be an advantage here either, since many countries may reject the visa application.

Anyone who wants to do a work and travel year should have qualities such as independence, tolerance and flexibility, and should be ready to engage with each country's culture.

Which jobs can I do on a work and travel year?

The variety of different jobs is nearly limitless.
Depending on the country, for example, you can do jobs such as:
diving instructor, au pair, language teacher.
But there are also numerous opportunities to work in hotels, bars, on farms and plantations, on construction sites or in retail.
You can look around for suitable positions beforehand or spontaneously on the spot.