My Travelmonth + Tips & Checklists

My travel month

Tips:

-)it is best to start saving from the beginning of your au pair year but it can also work out if you start saving later on (its much harder though so just start saving right away even if its only 10 $ a week)

-) plan ahead. Figure out where you want to go and what you want to see. Look at flights and bus fares to figure out the best and cheapest way to get to all your destinations. Consider Airbn&bs as well as couchsurfing and hostels.

-) great sights for booking flights: Kayak.com, flighscanner, googleflights, expedia,… make sure to compare everywhere and set your webbrowser on private, sometimes you will get better deals that way.

-) Make sure you keep other costs in mind, such as transfers, public transportation, food, luggage cost (a checked bag usually costs between 25-50$ depending on the airline)

-) get a phone plan for you travel month if you don’t pay for you phone on your own.

-) find a friend or friends to travel with you. Its saver and so much more fun.

-) read blogs and watch travel diaries of your destinations in order to find the best spots to visit

-) do an au pair tour. Its fun, it’s relatively cheap and you get to see great spots.

My travelmoth

I had a good friend and we did everything together. We started in NYC where we both lived and went straight to Hawaii. There we did the Big Island Tour with aupairadventures, which was amazing!

We arrived the day before the tour started and got a room in the Hotel where the tour started. I would recommend going to the Best Western instead, it’s a little bit more expensive but definitely a lot nicer than the Billy Bay Hotel. Make sure to check the Facebook site, most of the time some people who will do the tour with you will want to book a room together to save money.

During the tour we drove all around the Island.

See the itinerary here:

Make sure to pack WARM clothes. It got really cold and windy on some of the camping spots. And I mean really cold. Make sure you pack at least one pair of warm leggings/long pants as well as some warm long sleeved shirts.

Bring loads of sun screen you will need it. Most likely you will be able to buy some on the beginning of your trip but during the trip you wont really have any opportunities to buy stuff like that, so think ahead.

During our tour we saw so incredibly much of the island and had tons of fun. We met new  people and woke up everyday with a great adventurous awaiting us.

If you are interested to see exactly what we saw, here is a link to my travel diary.

After our week was over my friend and I still had a few days left on the island because we rented an apartment through Airbnb which was great. It was a cute little apartment with everything we needed and super nice hosts. (Link: )

We also rented scooters in order to get around the island because there really isn’t any public transportation and I can tell you it was so much fun. The company where we rented the mopeds was really great and again we met some awesome people.

Riding along the coast with the wind blowing though your hair with an amazing view is one of the best feelings I ever got to experience. Obviously you can also rent a car if your old enough and if your budget allows it but riding our scooters was so much fun and definitely something I can recommend. Though a car will get you to placed further away (faster). It all depends on what you want to do.

Back to what we did.

We went back to some of the amazing beaches that we saw during our tour. We also watched sunsets at the pool overlooking the ocean and drove around Kalua Kona with our scooters. Thinking back, it really was the best part of my travel month and an experience that I will never forget.
After our last few days on the island we flew to San Francisco and started the Western Sun Tour there. (Again with aupairadventures)

This tour was really full of obstacles, I will probably do another blog post going into more detail, but it was still a lot of fun and we got to see so much in very little time.

Just look at the detailed itinerary to find out exactly where we went.

If you are not into camping I would not really recommend this tour because that will be what you do for most of the trip. BUT again it makes the experience not only a lot cheaper but also something you will most likely never do in your lifetime again. Believe me when I say that.

Packing list for Hawaii 

-) Sunscreen (loads of it)

-) sunglasses (bring super cheaps ones as well that you can wear in the ocean)

-) swim suits (obviously)

-) warm clothes as well (one or tour pairs of leggings, PJs,)

-) a hat, cap or some sort of protection for your head (you will hike a lot and spend loads of time in the sun, the least thing you want is a heat stroke when you want to enjoy your time on this amazing island.)

-) sneakers (you will walk a lot and will need comfortable shoes)

-) flip flops (obviously)

-) enough underwear, (you wont really get any opportunities to wash your clothes) 

-) your own little first aid kit and any medication that you know works for you

-) a camera (phone) to capture all the amazing things you will see. Maybe also a power bank, because you wont have many opportunities to charge your stuff and that way you can charge everything in your tent as well.

-) a pillow (if you have space even a neck pillow from the flight will do)

-) cash (I know that seems obvious, but bring enough cash because you wont always be able to pay with your debit or credit card.

-) at least two copies of all your important documents (drivers licence, passport, visa, insurance card, etc.) and make sure to pack each copy in a different bag, in case any of your belongings get lost or stolen.

-) Lots of comfortable clothes. (I mostly wore workout pants, sports bras, bikinis and baggy shirts)

The packing list for the Western Sun Tour is basically the same

-) again don’t forget to bring something warm to wear at night and also for the grand canyon because in the mornings and at night it gets really cold there.

-) For this trip also bring something nice because you will stay in Vegas and yoga pants and a baggy shirt wont really do it.

I will add a Cost-Check List as well as Packing Lists here:

Au Pair - Application Process (1)

Hey guys

Today I am finally starting to write posts about my Au Pair experience. In today's post I am going to concentrate on the Application Process, which can be a quite long one. To start with, I chose Cultural Care as my Agency. There are so many to chose from but I knew I wanted Cultural Care because they are a big company that has been in the business for years and is also very well known. I can only say that my experience so far has been great. The most popular agencies as far as I know are Cultural Care, GoAuPair and AuPairinAmerica. Definitely look into those three and if you are not happy with any of those, just google Au Pair Agencies.

What Agency is right for me?

To find an agency that fits your needs most you want to consider a few things.

-Where do you live and where do you want to go?
Decide on where you want to go, every agency has different offers and places you can go to with them.
Find out what agencies are in your country and particularly close to you. For example Cultural Care has an office in Vienna, Austria which was super close to where I live. That made it easy and convenient for me because you need to go to a meeting and be interviewed. With Cultural Care you can go to the United States, which is exactly where I wanted to go.
I think it is important to have an office close by, it makes the application process easier and I think it is good to be able to go there and ask questions.

-Do you want to go to a training school?
You have to decide for yourself if you want to go to a training school or not. It is a great opportunity to meet other Au Pairs and make friends that you can rely on throughout the year. Some of them might live in your area. Furthermore you will get a chance to settle in a little bit and get used to the American Lifestyle before you go to your family. In addition you will learn more about childcare and are able to ask questions that you might have.

-How much are you willing to pay? - Prices vary, but I think in such an important matter the price is not the top priority. You should choose the agency because you like the people and what they have to offer. Some agencies might be cheaper but they might not offer things that more expensive agencies offer. If you are happy with a cheaper agency that  is absolutely fine just make sure that they offer everything you need.

Things to look out for:
training school, 24 hour emergency contact, contact in your home country, office in the country you are going to, insurance, LCC (Local Childcare Consultant, someone you can ask questions who lives close by), monthly meetings with your LCC

Take your time and compare not only prices but also what they different agencies have to offer.


My Agency -- Cultural Care

I chose Cultural Care as my Agency because I had already done a High School Year in the States with EF and EF works together with Cultural Care. I was very happy with all the support I had during my Highschool year, therefore I knew that Cultural Care would be a good choice for me. They are very well known and have been around for years. They make sure you are placed in a good family and have a great support network in each country as well as in the States (Boston Office). They are always happy to help you with any questions you have. You also have a LCC who is a person who lives close to you and organizes meetings every month and is there to help you with any questions or problems you might have.

Cultural Care also has a training school which I liked. (Detailed Post about the Training School will follow soon)

For Cultural Care you have to fill out your online Application (which is quite long) and you also have to come in for an Interview. You also have to go to their office for a meeting where you learn more about the program and where a former Au Pair talks about their experiences and time in the states. As soon as they accept your application you are able to be matched with a host family. As soon as you are matched they might write you or you might write them first. After you talked for a while you might Skype and if you both agree it could already be your final match. If you for any reason do not like the family or you do not like them you can remove the match before I believe 24 hours or something like that. Then you are ready for the next match. That goes on until you find the perfect family for you. It might be the first match but it might also take a while so don't worry. Make sure to plan enough time with your application and matching because it can be a long process. It might only take a week but it can also take months. (More detailed post about the matching process will follow soon)

Later on, sooner to your departure date you will have to get a visa. You will have to go to the US-Embassy in your country to get it. First you fill out a really long form and then you make an appointment and go there for a short interview. Nothing to be scared of- Honestly. They will (hopefully-but pretty surely) send back your passport with your visa in it a couple of days or weeks later. Again plan enough time to get your visa because it might could only take a couple of days but it could also take a lot longer. (More detailed post will follow if you are interested)