Do you want to get to know a new country on your own, but can't decide between Au Pair or Work & Travel? Then you should answer the most important question for yourself in advance: Do you like looking after children? Because as an au pair, this will be your main task. If the answer is clearly yes, au pairing would really be a good choice for you, because this type of trip abroad offers several advantages over work & travel. We would like to introduce you to what these are in our article and give you some additional information.
What does an au pair stay have in store for you?
The term “au pair” comes from French and means something like “in return”. What this means is that young adults like you look after the children of a local family. In return, you will be accepted into the host family for the duration of your stay, including accommodation and meals. In addition, you will receive weekly pocket money.
As an au pair, you will of course be busy: 20 to 30 hours of work per week are usual. The children are usually looked after in the morning, and often one or two evenings too. This includes helping out around the house, for example tidying up the children's room, washing clothes, playing, etc. This involves agreeing on one or two days on which you are free - but this does not necessarily have to be the weekend.
The chances of being placed as an au pair are best in the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Western and Northern European countries. The quickest way to find what you are looking for is through an au pair provider, which is why we have compared the five best providers for you. In order to fully convince you, we would like to present to you five advantages over work & travel that an au pair stay offers in our opinion.
What advantages does an Au Pair year offer compared to Work & Travel?
- Learn a new language: Anyone can learn a foreign language, but you won't get as much practice as you would with an au pair stay, neither in a language school nor during work and travel. You will get to know dialects and specific expressions that no seminar will teach you and you will become particularly proficient in speaking.
- Permanent residence: Sure, if you go on a work & travel trip you can discover an incredible number of facets of the country, since you're basically just traveling around. However, you have to keep looking for cheap accommodation. As an au pair, you live comfortably with your host family and therefore always have a place that feels like home to you.
- Permanent job: As an au pair, you know in a very short time what daily tasks you have to carry out, you can count on a fixed pocket money and when you're done working you can relax or explore your surroundings. With Work & Travel, on the other hand, you have to interview for jobs repeatedly and always expect different activities and varying salaries. In the worst case scenario, you won't be able to get a job at all and will have to travel even more economically.
- Pleasant job: If you enjoy working with children and hearing their laughter warms your heart, a year as an au pair is definitely the right decision for you. You enjoy the job, you get to know a different culture and make new acquaintances that will last a lifetime. With Work & Travel, however, you may have to fight hard for good jobs or take on monotonous jobs, such as spending hours picking fruit. However, there are also other work & travel jobs to discover.
- Pure culture: Of course, you also absorb a lot of culture while working & traveling when you travel through a foreign country, get to know the locals and get tips from other backpackers. But as an au pair with a permanent residence and a host family, you gain much deeper insights and make more than just superficial or entertaining friendships. You take a look behind the scenes and clichés and find out first hand what it's like to grow up as a young person in the USA, Australia, New Zealand, England, etc.
Let’s face it – work & travel is great too
Of course, we don't want to make Work & Travel a bad experience, because just like an au pair year, it is a unique experience - here you can find out what advantages a Work & Travel stay offers you . So that you don't panic and don't forget anything, we also have valuable tips for planning your Work & Travel trip . One of the most popular countries for work & travel is Australia: a completely new world, a new animal on every corner, a new landscape and lots of nice people! If Australia appeals to you, then don't forget that you need a visa for your stay abroad. This informative website provides you with more information about the visa for work and travel in Australia .
Have a safe trip and have fun immersing yourself in another culture!
We have five reasons for you to be an au pair.
