How to Travel The World Long Term as an Au Pair Part 1

 Are you a young person ready to travel around the world long-term? Work and travel the world as an Au Pair.

Travelling the world as an Au Pair is a great way to travel the world for cheap or when you don’t have a lot of money. 

I was 19, and I had just graduated high school and honestly, at the time I thought Australia was boring. I had a big desire to discover new people, places, languages and cultures. There was more out there for me, I knew it. So, I went on a search to find out how I could live abroad and still earn enough money to travel. I found a solution that suited me and my needs at the time. After a breakup with my first boyfriend, I went for it. I booked a one-way ticket solo to Italy for a one-and-a-half-year adventure in Europe.

Are you ready for an adventure of a lifetime? Maybe you’re searching for cool gap year ideas. Well, I’ve got an idea that will help you travel the world long-term for cheap. Travel the world as an Au Pair. Becoming an Au Pair abroad is a great way to work and travel! 

This post includes:   

Part 1

1. Which countries can you become an Au Pair? 

2. How to find a Job as an Au Pair   

3. Biggest challenge of being an Au Pair 

4. What are the requirements to become an Au Pair 

5. What do you get paid? What is included? And, how many hours a week do you have to work?   

The countries in which you can become an Au Pair, depend on your nationality, marital status, age and whether or not you have children. Each country has their own laws and immigration rules. Here on Aupairworld.com, you can search which countries you will be able to become an Au Pair. For example, as an Australian, I was able to work and travel as an Au Pair in Italy as I met the requirements of:  

•  I was between the ages of 18 and 30 years old.  
• My nationality is other than Italian. 
• I was not married and had no children.
• I could afford the trip to Italy.
• I wanted to go to Italy as an au pair to live with a host family, take care of their children and get to know the Italian culture and language.   

The website that I used to find my Au Pair jobs was Au Pair World. I highly recommend them as I found it very helpful to help me navigate and understand the process of becoming an Au Pair. Altogether, I enjoyed my Au Pair stays that I found through this website. The website is also free to join for Au Pairs.

Other websites that you can find Au Pair jobs through include:  

• Au Pair
• International Exchange
• Go Au Pair 
• Global Work and Travel

Here in this section, I will be sharing the biggest challenge that I experienced during my Au Pair experience abroad. I would have to say as a 19-year-old who went abroad solo to live in Europe, the biggest challenge that I faced was the feeling of being alone. At that time in my life, I was still getting to know who I was, freshly, slightly naively and courageously exploring the world and new people, saying yes a lot, and I didn’t have a lot of self-love back then or even know that I needed to love myself.

In 2020 the pandemic hit while I was living abroad and I felt even more alone. However, I was never fully alone. I had parents who love me, friends around me and back home who supported me and a loving guest family that was there for me. But, I still felt alone in my inner battles. If I didn’t experience this I don’t think I would have cultivated a more self-compassionate, caring, loving relationship with myself that I get to experience today. I got to experience what it means to feel alone with myself and what it feels like to BE with myself. Not easy. But worth it. A challenge is just that, a challenge. When we face our challenges and fears they can provide us an opportunity for great growth.  

The requirements to become an Au Pair are different in each country depending on your nationality, marital status, age, whether or not you have children and if you need to speak basic skills of the language or not.

The work experience requirements also depend on the Host Family’s preference. Some may require you to have Au Pair experience already or experience working with children. Although, other families may be okay with you having no experience at all. In my experience, I had experience babysitting and looking after children in Australia before I applied to work overseas as an Au Pair. This helped me gain more confidence in my ability to be a great carer for the children. I recommend gaining some experience in looking after children wherever you are currently so that you gain more confidence and reassurance in yourself and your abilities and see if looking after children is for you. You can go ahead and check the requirements for your desired host family in their bio and your host country on your chosen Au Pair website.   

The hours that you work vary from country to country and host family to host family. 

My top tip would be to find a family that is offering a work schedule that works for you. For example, I am not necessarily a morning person when it comes to work, so I found an aligned family that was offering me 25 hours a week work Monday- Friday only between the hours of 3-8pm. This suited me perfectly as I prefer working a straight shift only in the afternoons/evenings and I didn’t want to work weekends.  

I feel very grateful for the experiences I got to experience with both of my host families. I got to stay and travel Italy for two European summers (6 months) with my host family. In Italy, I worked casually and helped out with looking after the children and household duties, with no set schedule. I got a cute room that I did not have to pay rent for in their beautiful house near the largest lake in Italy- Lake Garda. During my stay, I truly got to become a part of their family. Truly, this is an experience I will never forget.

We cooked together, we ate together, we did fun things together, we travelled and experienced new things together and they even encouraged me to go out to the ‘Discoteca’! My host family were my kind of ‘crazy’. I would help out most days with looking after the baby and I also had a lot of free time. Additionally, all food was covered by the family when I was with them. There is no official au pair contract for Italy. The pocket money will vary from host family to host family. This is something that you can discuss before the beginning of your stay with your host family based on your experience, the number of hours worked and the exchange you are offering each other. Aupairs do not get paid a salary but rather, pocket money. The recommended pocket money from Au Pair World is 250-300 euros per month.   

In Berlin, Germany for my longer-term stay which was just under one year, I got to receive my own apartment, all food, pocket money of 280 euros per month, a small contribution towards a German language course, transport help (a bicycle to use as Berlin is a very bike-friendly city, and the occasional use of my Host Mum’s unlimited train transport card) and German health insurance. I received all of this in exchange for 25 hours of work per week. This was very viable for me. For my longer-term stay, I knew that I would be much happier with more privacy and freedom to live in my own space separate from my host family. Use your discernment to select a work routine and find a family that fits your vibe and your desires of what you want from your Au Pair abroad experience. 

• What time of day do you work best? What time of day would you prefer to have to yourself? 
• What is your desire for your Au Pair exchange? I.e: to have time to travel the world, to learn a new language and experience a new culture, to earn and save money?   
• Which countries are you most drawn to? What languages are you most interested in?   
• Do you prefer to live in your own space or with the family? 
• How long would you like to stay with a family? Do you want a short travel experience or do you want to experience life living abroad? 
• Do you prefer to look after younger children (babies), or older children or do you not mind the age?  
• What vibe and interests do you have? A vibe and interests example may be adventurous, fun, healthy living, the ocean, etc. Try to find a host family that has something in common with you that you can relate to and share nice experiences with. 
• Which other countries do you want to explore? This can help you if you are staying in one country long-term and want to use your free time and time off to explore other countries nearby.  

You can check out Part 2 of How to Travel the World Long Term as an Au Pair here which includes:

1. My most memorable experiences during my Au Pair work and travel adventure.  

2. How to make the most out of your Au Pair work and travel experience.  

3. Tips for looking after your Au Pair children. 

4. How to write your Au Pair profile bio and tips.

5. BONUS: Other budget-friendly ways to work and travel the world.

If you have any questions, kind comments or blog post requests, please feel welcome to comment them below.